The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton is a novel set in the near future where hurricanes ravage the southern state of Florida to the point where it becomes near impossible to inhabit. It has been such a long while since I could remember reading a more grounded story about humans dealing with real natural disasters and I couldn’t have picked a better novel than this. The Light Pirate is a roller coaster ride where we follow the Lowe family in ravaged Florida. The rising sea level along with other calamities surrounding the town forces the state’s inhabitants to seek new shelter. To many, this may seem like a simple enough choice. However, the Lowe family remains firmly rooted desperately in the hope that things will get better.

It isn’t that he wants to leave Rudder behind. It’s that he wants to learn how to save it.

Lucas

I simply couldn’t get enough of this story. The novel is divided into four parts: power, water, light, and time. Each section forces the family to face different and dangerous situations. However, there are also equally bright parts that give them hope and sound reasoning for the choices they make. This makes the readers want to root for the Lowe family that much more as the story goes on. The author strikes a perfect balance between the dire situation the characters must face head-on while also providing that spark and hint that things can improve if they try hard enough. While The Light Pirate I wouldn’t consider a true dystopian novel, I really, really hope that the author can take this to the next level in her future books. I believe she has the talent to publish a dystopian type novel!

What is magic but science that is not yet understood? What is science but magic with an explanation?

Phyllis

There’s not much more that needs to be said. The Light Pirate is a big winner in my opinion and I honestly didn’t feel that would be the case going in. Living in a state where hurricanes do occur and having lived through a pretty nasty one during my younger years, I can definitely see how this natural disaster can totally wreak havoc to the point where the situation in this novel comes to become non-fiction in the far future. There is one element in the story concerning Wanda that is sci-fi/fantasy that caught me by surprise. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first but it didn’t cause too big of a distraction to the overall story. Either way, The Light Pirate is a winner of a novel and I can’t wait to see future works from her.