Review: Brandy, Dame of the Caribbean by Dan E. Hendrickson

A high-seas drama packed with pirate power struggles and bloody betrayals, Brandy, Dame of the Caribbean by Dan E. Hendrickson is the second swashbuckling chapter of his Pirate Princess Saga.

Brandy and Captain John Edwards have carved out their piece of the azure Caribbean in recent years, battling the slave trade aboard The Morning Star and raising their children in paradise, but their idyll can’t last forever. Zhang Yong, Brandy’s dear friend and ally, abruptly leaves his chosen family in Jamaica to track down his niece – a notorious pirate queen of the South China Sea named the Jaded Empress. Not only does she still possess the master swords she stole from Zhang three decades earlier, but her reign of chaos and blood in the East threatens to spill over to the rest of the world.

When this vicious marauder is tasked with a conspiratorial scheme to prevent the heir to the Joshua Shipyards empire from returning to England, she sails into direct conflict with Brandy and her extended family. Brandy may have mastered her fiery rages over the past ten years, but when this merciless legend from her husband’s past threatens the peace she has found, the Shaolin Kung fu-trained dame of this series is plunged into a deadly whirlpool of assassins and emotions. Drawing on the alliances she has forged and her years of training under Zhang, Brandy must confront the most relentless and passionate enemy she and John have ever faced.

Embodying the tenacity of Mulan and the derring-do of Captain Jack Sparrow, Brandy is a captivating protagonist, but the secondary cast is just as fully developed, from Captain Neseem and the wily Lady Adriana to the irascible Terrence Edwards and the sagely clever Zhang. Every scene drives the story forward, while the complex web of intrigue, motives, and loyalties makes it hard to predict the twists of the tale. The author’s attention to detail regarding maritime history, naval procedure, and the cutthroat nature of ship life makes the novel deliciously immersive, as do the cross-cultural themes of Eastern vs. Western philosophy, self-discipline, the toxicity of revenge, and familial honor.

While the prose is rigorously detailed and moves the plot along at a healthy clip, it does tend towards telling, rather than showing, with the narration inconveniently skipping over seemingly dramatic moments, such as when John pilots The Morning Star through a hurricane, which can make some of the writing feel incomplete, rushed, or choppy. The dialogue can also be unrealistic, and heavy-handed, like a Bond villain explaining his dastardly scheme more for the benefit of the audience than the actual characters in the scene. This isn’t always the case, however, as there are stretches of seamless prose and dialogue, but there are moments of flat or procedural language, which leads to a scene feeling less organic and immediate.

Despite these technical critiques, this second book of the series is an entertaining whirlwind of high-stakes emotion, wild fight sequences, heroic exploits, and unpredictable adventure with an unforgettable heroine at the helm.