The Left-Handed Fate

The book begins in Baltimore harbor in 1812 with ship-captain's daughter Lucy Bluecrowne, her nine-year-old half-brother Liao ("a child with Chinese features"), and teenage scholar Max Ault aboard the Left-Handed Fate. In a time when England is fighting Bonaparte and America has just declared war on England, Max has hired Captain Bluecrowne to search for an ancient weapon powerful enough to impose peace. With only one of the weapon's parts located, the Fate is captured by an American frigate and the captain killed. Twelve-year-old Oliver Dexter, an American midshipman, is given command of the ship to take it into port, but Lucy and Max persuade Oliver to disobey orders and flee to the foreign port of Nagspeake, there to search for the weapon's remaining two parts. Milford places so much of the initial action in backstory that readers may fear they've missed an entire book before this one (and they can read Milford's self-published standalone e-book Bluecrowne for clues), but once past their initial confusion they'll find a strong narrative arc and outstanding thematic development. The spot-on shipboard settings and fast-paced nautical battle sequences owe a conscious debt to Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, but legendary Nagspeake (also featured in the author's Greenglass House, rev. 9/14) -- a home to magical imagery, recurring motifs, and illuminating stories-within-stories -- is a thickly textured place entirely of Milford's own creation. The idea of achieving peace through superior firepower is effectively questioned over the course of the narrative, but it is the human questions of honor, courage, and generosity -- embodied in decisive Lucy, philosophical Max, impish Liao, and dutiful Oliver -- that will leave readers cheering by the book's rousing close. anita l. burkam

In 1812, teenage scholar Max hires Captain Bluecrowne to search for an ancient weapon powerful enough to impose peace. When the captain is killed, twelve-year-old midshipman Oliver is given command; captain's daughter Lucy and Max persuade Oliver to search for the weapon's remaining parts. The idea of achieving peace through superior firepower is effectively questioned over the course of the fast-paced nautical narrative.