Off the Charts – cinnamon and gunpowder (Eli Brown)

Ahoy there me mateys!  Though this log’s focus is on sci-fi and fantasy, this Captain does have broader reading tastes. So occasionally I will share some novels that I enjoyed that are off the charts (a non sci-fi or fantasy) . . .

I picked up this book because of Matey Mogsy’s review, Matey Tammy’s review, and Matey Zezee’s review.  Aye, it be a pirate sea yarn!  Arrr!  And it has this awesome cover.

I am not much of a foodie but this sounded fun.  I loved the female pirate captain, Mad Hannah Mabbot.  She captures chef, Owen Wedgwood, who hates her for it.  Captain Mabbot says that he can stay alive if he cooks her a special meal every Sunday.  She is definitely a foodie.

The book is told from Owen’s point-of-view and I loved him as the lens through which ye learn about the ship, the crew, and the zany captain.  He is a landlubber who hates the crew and everything about the sea.  He is sarcastic and bitter.  Watching his character change was one of the highlights of the novel.

The other highlight was of course all the time at sea.  Sea battles!  Mad pirates! Revenge!  I immensely enjoyed watching Owen try to make meals out of the meagre supplies on board.  Even the romance was fine!  I, of course, loved the scalawags on board.  Mr. Apples was a particular favorite.

Oh and the ending was surprising and actually awesome.  Highly recommended.

Goodreads’ website has this to say about the novel:

A gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate’s ship

The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.

To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.

But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.

To visit the author’s website go to:
Eli Brown – Author

To buy the book go to:
cinnamon and gunpowder – Book

To add to Goodreads go to:
Yer Ports for Plunder List