Here are 99 books that Isaac the Pirate fans have personally recommended if you like
Isaac the Pirate.
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I grew up and have often lived around water and ships—Norfolk, VA, Aiea, Hawaii, Savannah, Georgia—and I’ve always had a fascination with things nautical. As a cartoonist, I’m of course always on the lookout for comics that overlap with this interest. Curiously, these sorts of stories seem to be few and far between in the U.S. but more of a genre staple in Europe—France in particular. I tried to highlight here not just books that I particularly like, but books that are representative of the breadth and depth that the comics medium can offer in art style, tone, and intended audience. I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I have!
This is the first book in what was conceived of as a series about various members of the (fictional) Crogan family and their adventures throughout different periods in history. This initial volume starts with a West Indies pirate adventure featuring “Catfoot” Crogan, who’s forced to join a pirate crew and winds up making a mortal enemy of another member of the crew. The series unfortunately seems to have stopped with only three books, but this first one is well worth reading on its own. Note that this book was initially published in black and white as Crogan’s Vengeance.
Chris Schweizer's award-winning historical adventure
series returns in this new FULL COLOR edition of The Crogan Adventures:
Catfoot's Vengeance. When "Catfoot" Crogan becomes the new favorite of an
infamous pirate captain whose crew he was forced to join, he incurs the wrath of
the murderous first mate D'or. Can Catfoot keep his new crewmates safe when D'or
hatches a scheme that will bring the full might of every navy in the West Indies
down on their heads?
Previously published in black and white as Crogan's
Vengeance.
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
I grew up and have often lived around water and ships—Norfolk, VA, Aiea, Hawaii, Savannah, Georgia—and I’ve always had a fascination with things nautical. As a cartoonist, I’m of course always on the lookout for comics that overlap with this interest. Curiously, these sorts of stories seem to be few and far between in the U.S. but more of a genre staple in Europe—France in particular. I tried to highlight here not just books that I particularly like, but books that are representative of the breadth and depth that the comics medium can offer in art style, tone, and intended audience. I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I have!
Another great nautical adventure from a stellar French cartoonist, Esteban is a sprawling tale of a Native American boy who winds up as the ship’s boy on a whaler, The Leviathan. This is a great nautical coming-of-age story with some absolutely stunning artwork—gorgeous waves, ice flows, and renderings of tall ships abound. Fortunately, it’s been translated recently and is available in English digitally.
When Esteban, a young Native American boy of just 12-years-old, presents himself to the captain of the Leviathan for the post of 'harpooner', he's the laughing stock of the whole crew. But when the captain finds out that Esteban is the son of Suzanna of the Tehuelches tribe, he decides to take him on... as ship's boy. Despite his lowly post, this is Esteban's chance to discover the sailor's life, with all its hardship and its happiness, and maybe even a chance to prove what he's made of!
I grew up and have often lived around water and ships—Norfolk, VA, Aiea, Hawaii, Savannah, Georgia—and I’ve always had a fascination with things nautical. As a cartoonist, I’m of course always on the lookout for comics that overlap with this interest. Curiously, these sorts of stories seem to be few and far between in the U.S. but more of a genre staple in Europe—France in particular. I tried to highlight here not just books that I particularly like, but books that are representative of the breadth and depth that the comics medium can offer in art style, tone, and intended audience. I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I have!
This is a beautiful little book in an interesting format—a single image per page—that tells the story of a poet whose romanticizing about life on the sea is put to the test when he’s shanghaied and made part of a crew of sailors heading for Hong Kong. Don’t be fooled by Drew’s stunning cartooning that evokes the glory of the heyday of newspaper cartooning (think E.C. Segar, Walt Kelly, etc.); this is a book for grown-ups.
A poet is shanghaied and adventures on the high seas in this graphic novel: now in paperback.
The central character of Set to Sea is a big lug and an aspiring poet who runs up tabs at the local bars by day and haunts the docks by night, writing paeans to the seafaring life. When he gets shanghaied aboard a clipper bound for Hong Kong, he finds the sailor’s life a bit rougher than his romantic nautical fantasies, but he learns to live―and love―a Conradian life on the sea, all the while writing poetry about pirates, bad food, unceremonial funerals,…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
I grew up and have often lived around water and ships—Norfolk, VA, Aiea, Hawaii, Savannah, Georgia—and I’ve always had a fascination with things nautical. As a cartoonist, I’m of course always on the lookout for comics that overlap with this interest. Curiously, these sorts of stories seem to be few and far between in the U.S. but more of a genre staple in Europe—France in particular. I tried to highlight here not just books that I particularly like, but books that are representative of the breadth and depth that the comics medium can offer in art style, tone, and intended audience. I hope you enjoy some of these as much as I have!
As captivating as it is disturbing, this nautical tale of a schoolteacher who’s accidentally shanghaied (this seems to be a theme with nautical comics!) and winds up having to figure out how to survive amidst a crew of sadists—the worst among them the captain, who’s devoted his life to committing the most depraved acts possible, a scheme designed to ensure he’ll meet his dead wife in Hell.
In this graphic novel cartooned by a promising up-and-comer, a schoolteacher and a gangster team up when pirates shanghai them.
Chris Wright’s Blacklung is unquestionably one of the most impressive graphic novel debuts in recent years, a sweeping, magisterially conceived, visually startling tale of violence, amorality, fortitude, and redemption, one part Melville, one part Peckinpah. Blacklung is a story that lives up to the term graphic novel, that could only exist in sequential pictures ― densely textured, highly stylized, delicately and boldly rendered drawings that is, taken together, wholly original. In a night of piratical treachery when an arrogant school…
I am an author of romantic historical fiction and a book reviewer of more than 1,000 books. I also have a blog: Historical Romance Review. I love deep historicals—both my own and those written by others--that bring history and realistic love stories to life. Adventure and love on the high seas is my favorite setting.
This is an enthralling tale of Queen Elizabeth’s Sea Dogs and a great love story. Few authors can come close to the masterful storytelling of Laurie McBain, which is why I am one of her fans. With an amazingly complex plot, this one features prejudice, treachery, threats to the queen, spies, gypsies, and high seas adventure making it one of her best.
She thought her love for him was unrequited, but when they meet again, she may just find that she's the one he can't forget
West Indies, 1571. Shipwrecked on an island for most of her young life, Lily Christian is rescued by the dashing sea captain, Valentine Whitelaw. On the voyage back to England, Lily falls hard for the sun-bronzed man, but her love is not returned.
Back among the glittering halls of court, Valentine tries to forget the young beauty he plucked from the Caribbean. But when he discovers innocent Lily is caught up in a treacherous plot to…
A giving heart must also be a receiving heart was a phrase that always stuck with me. We all need a little help from our friends, after all. And it should be a two-way street. Seeing healthy, giving, and loving friendships always makes a good read that much better. Friendships will always play an important part in the books that I write. Below is my list of the best Christian romance books with strong friendships.
The author has a great YouTube channel that offers writing advice for Christian authors. After getting so much value from her channel, I was happy to buy her first novel Free. It’s such a clever book that had me quickly rooting for the main character. She overcomes so much. And I found the process of the ship’s crew and captain slowly warming up to her to be heartwarming. It’s a great story of a person without a family finally finding one on the high seas!
17-year-old Ruth is used to being independent and trusting God to provide for her needs, even with the little protection life in the 17th century provides her. But when a strange turn of events lands her on a cargo ship with no immediate way off, what is Ruth to do? The sailors are rough and rowdy, but Ruth finds First Mate Leonard particularly intimidating. What is hiding behind Captain Edward’s passive nature? Will she ever be free? As the sailors face the trials of ocean travels, they realize their young servant holds a key to peace and happiness that they…
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
I’m an award-winning author whose books are all set on my beautiful island of Barbados. Reading and writing have always been a part of my life and I’m obsessed with books that explore other cultures and lifestyles. There’s nothing more intoxicating than reading about new foods and new environments all interconnected by our shared humanity. They could be fantasy books with great world-building or literary fiction that explore a tiny Asian city I never heard about. All of these incredible books have influenced my writing and expanded my knowledge of the world around me.
This book was mandatory reading for most of us going to the Caribbean in secondary school.
For that reason, it may elicit a groan from those who have less than pleasant memories of school-enforced reading. But for me, it really was the first time I remember reading a book set in my home country of Barbados.
It’s a heart-warming coming-of-age story that takes you back and makes you wish for the good old days.
Nearly forty years after its initial publication, George Lamming's In the Castle of My Skin is considered a classic narrative of the Black colonial experience. This poetic autobiographical novel juxtaposes the undeveloped, unencumbered life of a small Caribbean island with the materialism and anxiety of the twentieth century.
Written when Lamming was twenty-three and residing in England, In the Castle of My Skin poignantly chronicles the author's life from his ninth to his nineteenth year. Through the eyes of a young boy the experiences of colonial education, class tensions, and natural disaster are interpreted and reinterpreted, mediated through the presence…
I have always had a lifelong passion for all things maritime. In the early 1980s, I crossed the Atlantic Ocean as a crew companion to the late famous Captain Ted Falcon Barker, author of The Devil’s Gold. The expedition made landfall in the Bahamas, so this area became a focus of fascination. I also have a very strong historical sense, reflected in my poetry and two of my other works of fiction, the novels Charity Amour and No Gentle Bondage.
Michener’s work is an historical panorama, embracing pre-Columbian history, the colonial era – including piracy, right up to the rise of Fidel Castro’s regime. ‘No holds barred.' An absolute ‘must’ for anyone wanting a full background perspective. I found this a fantastic broadener of my horizons.
In this acclaimed classic novel, James A. Michener sweeps readers off to the Caribbean, bringing to life the eternal allure and tumultuous history of this glittering string of islands. From the 1310 conquest of the Arawaks by cannibals to the decline of the Mayan empire, from Columbus’s arrival to buccaneer Henry Morgan’s notorious reign, from the bloody slave revolt on Haiti to the rise of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Caribbean packs seven hundred dramatic years into a tale teeming with revolution and romance, authentic characters and thunderous destinies. Through absorbing, magnificent prose, Michener captures the essence of the islands in all…
I’m the author of two YA fantasy novels – We Are Blood and Thunder and We Are Bound by Stars. They’re set in a fantasy world, Valorian, governed by a (literally) colorful magic system and a pantheon of gods, and are all about power, fate, and discovering your true self. Both novels are dual narrative and feature a host of female main characters, who I think are complex, flawed, and relatable. As a child, I was obsessed with Lord of the Rings but always wondered why all the real heroes were men, which inspired me to write these books – partly, too, because of the wonderful female-led fantasies which have come out in the interim.
Viper mixes the best bits of Pirates of the Caribbean with a bold, fun, and traditional kind of magic in a female-led fantasy adventure that will grip you until the very last page. Our heroine, Marianne, is fated to become the Viper: the leader of a pirate empire protecting the Twelve Isles… only the current Viper stands in her way. He’s corrupt, merciless, and leaves a trail of despair and destruction in his wake… and he happens to be her father.
Marianne has been training to be the Viper for her entire life - to serve and protect the King and the citizens of The Twelve Isles - but to become the Viper and protect the islands she loves she must find the strength to defeat her father.
Power, politics and pirates collide in this epic fantasy trilogy for fans of Pirates of the Caribbean.
He will make me a killer. Or he will have me killed. That is my destiny.
Seventeen-year-old Marianne is fated to one day become the Viper, defender of the Twelve Isles.
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
I’ve written three historical novels, all centered around how women’s roles in society began to change. While accustomed to writing about Victorian traditions on land, I can’t tell the difference between an oar and a clam. So imagine my panic when a captain showed up in my head and insisted that I write a novel about sailing a tall ship in 1894. I crawled into the local library to see if I could even write such a thing. The books on this list and others became my portal into naval traditions so I could write accurate fiction with a modern soul.
There’s a lot of romantic flak about pirates out there—how brave, handsome, and sexy they were.
Cordingly cuts through that very efficiently to reveal that they were scoundrels and thieves with a code of ethics that applied only to their lifestyles. Most were poor; few ever got rich.
Even if you want to write a romance that stars sexy pirates, it’s always good to be aware of the reality.
This book sets out to discover the truth behind the stereotypical image of the pirate. Examining the rich literary and cultural legacy of piratical icons from Blackbeard to Captain Hook, the author compares the legends with their historical counterparts and comes up with some surprising conclusions. In a wider overview of the piracy myth, he explores its enduring and extraordinary appeal and assesses the reality behind the romance, answering in the process questions such as: why did men become pirates; were there any women pirates; how much money did they make from their plundering and looting; what effect did their…
