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The Jupiter Pirates: Curse of the Iris by Jason Fry Book Review

The Jupiter Pirate: Curse of the Iris by Jason Fry
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: December 16, 2014

In the future, pirating isn't just a space thing, but a family affair. Tycho Hashoone's family has been pirating for centuries except now they have a privateer's license and their pirating business is completely legal. Tycho and his two siblings are not only part of one of the greatest pirate...err...privateer vessels this side of Jupiter, but they are also in competition with one another to see who will become the next ship's captain. It has been a tough year since we last saw the Hashoone family. Since we last saw the Hashoones, it has been a tough year. Hostilities between the Jovian Union and Earth have reached a tipping point. They have had a run of terrible luck in the privateering department. But none of them realize that their next haul, a derelict ship floating through space, may be just what they need. Soon they are on the track of a long lost treasure, one with ties to their family, one that may reveal the truly piratical and cruel nature of what it means to be a pirate.

As I reviewed in the first book, The Hunt for Hydra, this is a high seas adventure set in space. As I had hoped, this second book did give us a bit more of the politics surrounding this "world" and as I suspected, it slowed down the plot considerably. Instead of a space race treasure hunt, this story was bogged down in political maneuverings.

This book has a lot of positives though. I still love the family dynamic, how well everyone works together and I find it almost sad by the prospect that they may all be split up one day. Tycho too is bothered by this and as this book progresses, he becomes more and more convinced that there has to be another way. They aren't pirates anymore. They have helped the Jovian Union numerous times. There has to be a way that his entire family can still sail among the stars rather than forcing them planetside, which would be a real waste of talent. I desperately want Tycho to become the captain (which is what I think the author is leading toward), but can also see that Tycho could do a lot of good if he were forced down to earth. He is not as headstrong as his sister nor as brash as his brother and he has just the right amount of compassion and intelligence to make him brave.

As in the first book, I also love that the children are given a lot of free reign with their parents permission to learn and grow. This is seen as necessary if they are to ever become captain. I wish there had been a bit more interaction with the people below decks as they are just mysterious people who obey and follow with seemingly no traitors among them, but perhaps that will be in the next book?

On the whole, another fun space adventure with a bit more politics than I would have liked, but plenty of space battles to make up for it.

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