Title: The
Pirate’s Wish
Author: Cassandra Rose Clarke
Series: The Assassin’s Curse #2
Published: 4 June 2013 by Strange Chemistry
Length: 336 pages
Warnings: violence,
fade to black sex scene
Source: netgalley
Other info: The
Assassin’s Curse was reviewed here.
Summary : After setting out to break the curse that
binds them together, the pirate Ananna and the assassin Naji find themselves
stranded on an enchanted island in the north with nothing but a sword, their
wits, and the secret to breaking the curse: complete three impossible tasks.
With the help of their friend Marjani and a rather unusual ally, Ananna and
Naji make their way south again, seeking what seems to be beyond their reach.
Unfortunately, Naji has enemies from the shadowy world known as the Mists, and
Ananna must still face the repercussions of going up against the Pirate
Confederation. Together, Naji and Ananna must break the curse, escape their
enemies and come to terms with their growing romantic attraction.
Review: The Pirate’s Wish picks up straight after The Assassin’s
Curse. Ananna has realised her feelings for Naji, and they set about completing
their three impossible tasks. After being picked up by friend Marjani and a
manticore (how awesome is that?!), they travel south, trying to find ways of
completing these things. As they are chased by pirates wanting vengeance and
beings from the Mists, they wonder if
it’s going to be possible to break the curse, and also what they’ll do if they
manage it.
I really enjoyed The Assassin’s
Curse, and was looking forwards to this one. We spend a lot of time in The
Pirate’s Wish in different lands to last time, with visits to manticore
societies, and to courts, and a lot of
time on a pirate ship.
My favourite character was either
Ananna, who was just as smart and sassy as in the first book, and learning a little more magic
and figuring out what she wants to do regarding all this, or the manticore, who had a funny retort for
everything when we first met her, often regarding eating people.
I loved the fact they just get
hold of a boat and command it and the intercrew dynamics are both funny and
touching as it really defines the
friendship bond between Ananna, Naji and Marjani.
The story gets resolved in an
unbelievable way. Magic comes into it, and it really works for the way it was
set up. The very end was a little sad, but I can see a lot of adventures in
Ananna’s future.
I said in my review of The
Pirate’s Wish that I think Angry Robot should do an omnibus edition of this
series. I’m glad that it wasn’t cut down, because the story here is so full and
the happennings so good that if we lost it, then it’d be a shame. But it did seem like The Assassin’s Curse was just cut off midway, and as this is
a direct follow on, I think I’d prefer to read the whole
story in one sitting, megabook or not.
Overall: Strength 4 tea to a fitting end to this
series. Looking forwards to more from Cassandra!
