Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean Book Review

by Justin Somper

I’d give this book 4 donors out of 5.

Vampirates…the concept… the title… its one of those things that I wished I had come up with. It’s a great concept.  I must say, though, that I feel bad for the author. As I gathered my thoughts for this review I took a look at other reviews of the book, and some of them are just cruel. The book was a good book, in my opinion, even though it had a few quirks.

This book has a ton of covers. Perhaps that a function of being originally published in 2005, and refreshing the book cover is a way to make it new again (marketing) and drive sales. Either way, the book has several fantastic covers, and as you know, I love a good cover.

The story follows Connor and Grace Tempest, a couple of humble children that live with their father, who man’s the lighthouse. One of their bonding traditions is for him to sing them a shanty as they go to bed. The thing is, its a little bit creepy, as its about Vampirates. Here it is:

Vampirates Shanty

I’ll tell you a tale of Vampirates,
A tale as old as true.

Yea, I’ll sing you a song of an ancient ship,
And its mighty fearsome crew.

Yea, I’ll sing you a song of an ancient ship,
That sails the oceans blue…
That haunts the oceans blue.

The Vampirate ship has tattered sails,
That flap like wings in flight.

They say the captain, he wears a veil
So as to curtail your fright.

At his death pale skin
And his lifeless eyes
And his teeth as sharp as night.

Oh, they say the captain, he wears a viel
And his eyes never see the light

You’d better be good, child- good as gold,
As good as good can be.

Eles I’ll turn you in to the Vampirates
And wave you out to sea.

Yes, you’d better be good child- good as gold,
Because- look! Can you see?

There’s a dark ship in the harbor tonight
And there’s room in the hold for thee!
(Plenty of room for thee)

Well, if pirates are bad,
And vampires are worse

Then I pray that as long as I be
That though I sing of Vampirates
I never one shall see.

Yea, if pirates are danger
And vampires are death

I’ll extend my prayer for thee-
That thine eyes never see a Vampirate…
…and they never lay a hand on thee.

The children’s father abruptly passes away one night and, unfortunately, he has left them with nothing. The children, after listening to the local banker offer to take the children in, or to be forced into the orphanage, decide that their only chance is to steal their father’s ship (it no longer belongs to him) and to test their luck on the open seas.

They do this for some time, and get some distance out into the ocean, until a great storm brews and dashes their boat into pieces. The twins are separated,  each scooped up by a different pirate ship. One crew consists of normal pirates, and the other, you guessed it, the Vampirates.

The rest of the tale explores each of the twin’s experiences on their respective ships, and their efforts to not give up hope of finding each other again.

I felt the quality of the writing was very good, and so was the storytelling, even though the plot seemed to have some holes that could be addressed. The characters were fun, and distinct, even though some of the more critical reviews underscored the characters as something they wanted more from.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but the one thing that I found strange was the ending. The climax built up to what felt like might be an awesome pirate brawl, but it ended up getting resolved by simply correcting a character’s identity, and then all was well. It was a little anti-climactic. Overall, though, it was a good read. I’ll probably continue on with the next book at some point. Happy reading!