Eli Brown (1) (1975–)

In 1819, gifted but persnickety cook Owen Wedgwood is captured during a raid led by the ruthless pirate captain, Mad Hannah Mabbot. She promises to spare his life as long as each Sunday he serves her up an exquisite meal conjured from her ship's scant supplies—all while she and her crew sail the world in a quest for revenge, and a hunt for the notorious Brass Fox.

The basic premise, plus the colourful crew who walk the decks of the Flying Rose, make this initially seem like it's going to be an old-fashioned romp of an adventure story. Cinnamon and Gunpowder definitely has such flourishes to it, but Eli Brown is also interested in telling a deeper story: about grief and compassion and exploitation and defiance. At times the seams between the swashbuckling quirk of the book and the points it was making about the devastation wrought by colonialism were too obvious, and the dramatic climaxes perhaps not as big as some of the explosions that accompanied them. That said, this was an engaging and vivid read which made me want to go down to the sea again.… (más)

Cinnamon and Gunpowder is an incredibly fun book that is not particularly funny. Narrator Owen "Wedge" Wedgwood is press-ganged into "Mad" Hannah Mabbot's rag tag crew of pirates with the express purpose of cooking a fine meal for pirate captain Mabbot every Sunday from whatever happens to be available in the middle of the open ocean as she continues on her journey to hunt down the elusive Brass Fox, who has been plaguing the shipping lanes in the early decades of the nineteenth century.

Told from the staunchly anti-pirate Wedge's perspective through makeshift journal entries on whatever scraps of paper he can find, Cinnamon and Gunpowder focuses on his relationships with the crew, the Fox, a mute cabin boy, and the captain herself. Despite constant escape attempts, Wedge's opinion of his fellow shipmates changes, practically against his will, and he gradually finds himself enjoying the company of his compatriots on board.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder was not the book I thought it would be and, for once, it was a very pleasant surprise instead of a disappointment. Eli Brown's storytelling is superb and his cast of characters are richly developed and thoroughly intriguing.… (más)

I feel like I would have rated this book higher if I had read it over a shorter period of time. But the narrative had a hard time holding my attention. I loved the premise, of a pirate queen and a captive chef, forced to cook a new weekly dish for her a la 1001 Arabian Nights.

It was fascinating watching Wedgwood's character development, going from unwilling captive to eventual ally, and seeing Mabbot and her crew through his eyes. I also gained a whole new appreciation for cooking.

There was a lot packed into this book and maybe one day I'll read it again and hopefully get more out of it. My head wasn't in the right place for it, I think.… (más)