Port of Errors (Born of Tyranny Book 1) - Steve V. Cypert

Title: Port of Errors (Born of Tyranny Book 1)
Author: Steve V. Cypert
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 2011
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

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"Port of Errors" by Steve V. Cypert is the first in a proposed series of novels titled "Born of Tyranny". It is an enjoyable and colourful historical fiction novel that involves everyone's favourite anti-heroes, the swash-buckling pirates of the 1700's.

The story is set in a time when relations between the major European powers, England, Spain and France are at a low point and the seas have become a perfect hunting ground for privateers and pirates. Into this world are born Davey and Joseph, two friends who grew up in the same orphanage. However, after an accident they become separated and embark upon very different lives. Joseph is adopted and renamed Daniel prior to becoming a Captain in the Royal Navy, meanwhile Davey turns to piracy and becomes known as the dreaded pirate captain, Black Hearted. Now on opposing sides, these two former friends being a game of cat and mouse in an attempt to hunt down and kill each other, without realising that their foe is actually a long lost friend.

Everything you could expect from a pirate based novel is contained in "Port of Errors", there are tall ships, sea battles, damsels in distress and elements of tyranny, friendship and loyalty. This was all packaged up in a novel that started slowly but soon developed into a fun, fast paced read that included a few elements of dark humour. There was also plenty of action and adventure interspersed throughout and the plot itself was rather detailed and quite intricate at times.

The intricate plot though does have its disadvantages as it results in a large variety of characters and there is a fair bit of jumping back and forth in time. This was made worse by the fact that various characters changed names and allegiances throughout the book so it could get a little bit confusing. In addition, I felt that the Cypert struggled to fully realise all the characters due to the number involved. Some of them were superbly developed and I enjoyed following them, but other just didn't grab me to any real extent and some even felt a little bit unneeded.

I did note that there is a fair amount of graphic violence in the novel, which is to be expected considering the type of people it is based around. However, if you are someone who is not fond of reading a detailed description of someone being keel hauled etc. then you may wish to give this book a wide berth.

Overall, this was an enjoyable adventure novel with an interesting and intricate plotline that really kept me hooked once it got going. The ending also came together very nicely and it leaves an interesting opening for future novels in the series that I now look forward to reading. I just hope that the author doesn't throw many more characters into the next novel or my head may just explode.

Challenges Book Counts Towards:
Ebook Reading Challenge (The Eclectic Bookshelf)
Ebook Reading Challenge (Workaday Reads)
Free Reads Challenge