Sir Oliver Tressilian is the elder son of a man remembered by people as a foul-tempered despot and some of that bias has passed on to his son. Sir Oliver has paid of his father's debts and made his fortune by privateering in the name of the Queen, piracy by a gentler name. Now he is in love with Lady Godolophin, who has had a gentling effect on his troubled soul. But all is not well, for Lady Godolophin's borther, Peter, intensely dislikes Oliver due to their Guardian's dislike of the man, a grudge his father held against Oliver's father and the fact that he is amorously involved with a harlot with whom Oliver's brother, Lionel is also involved with. Lionel kills a somewhat drunk Peter, in a fight over the strumpet in a duel, but without witnesses, he is afraid of being called a murder. Oliver loves his brother dearly so he gives his word not to reveal Lionel, even though people begin to suspect Oliver himself, even the Lady he loves. Slowly the countryside turns against Oliver, but the biggest betrayal comes from Lionel himself, whose cowardly mind projects his own deficient scruples onto his brother, framing him and arranging for him to be trepanned, kidnapped and sold into slavery to the Barbary Coast.Oliver is kidnapped by an old aquaintence who seeks to reveal to Oliver the betrayal of his brother, at a profit to himself, but his ship is overtaken by a Spanish galleon and sunk. The captain and Oliver are pressed into slavery, manning an oar on a Spanish ship, until Oliver's humanity is almost completely stripped from him. He is liberated by the chief of the Barbary corsairs, Asad. Oliver, in contempt of the way he has been treated by his Christian brethern and Lady Godolphin, converts to Islam and becomes one of Asad's lieutenants, carving a legend from his vengeance against the Spaniards and any other Christian ship that he happened up. His followers give him the name Sakr-ul-Bahr, the Sea-Hawk.Oliver is infamous across the Chrisitan world, and lauded the greatest sword of Islam in the Muslim world. He is rich beyond any man's desires, commands a fleet of ships and is beloved as a son to Governor Asad. But his own rage agains this brother and former love, coupled with the conspiring wife and son of the Governor, everything begins to fall apart.This book is written with a decent amount of research, but in parts is inaccurate in regards to Islam, perhaps based on the fact that Sabbatini only had access to Orientalist material. Despite this biased starting point, i.e. overly obsessed with fabled riches, hareems, colourful garments and slavery, Sabbatini does well to rise above the misinformation. A few points that I would like to clear up is that the treatment of slaves seems at odds with Islamic laws that compell the owners of slaves to treat them as if they were members of the family and the fact the freeing slaves was considered the greatest act of charity, the overall aim becoming then to abolish slavery by making it untenable. But profiteering of slavery seems to have overpowered these values, and the lot of galley slaves was the most abominable, both by Christians and Muslis. Also the ill-treatment of women, especially wives, goes against what is taught by Islam. Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, Sabbatini's understanding of Islam seems to model it on Christianity, giving Mohamet (the Prophet Muhammad) almost a similar status as Jesus holds in Christianity. The Prophet Muhammad was very clear in his instructions that he is only a man that has been sent as a Messenger from God, albiet the last of all Prophets.Despite my misgivings of these details, important details from a historical point of view, they have little bearing on the actual plot. The story is well-written as is to be expected from the author of Captian Blood and Scaramouche. As a character, I prefer the genius and gentlemany ways of Captain Blood to the vindictive Sir Oliver Tressalian, but I feel that the story-telling itself and the structure of the novel, the Sea Hawk, is superior to Captian Blood and its sequels.Again, this is a must for Sabbatini fans, those who enjoy a good adventure story and fantasy readers too. A thoroughly good read.
I first came to Rafael Sabatini through his excellent 1922 pirate novel Captain Blood, and then read his fine 1921 swashbuckling tale, Scaramouche. Continuing this journey through Sabatini's novels, I've just completed his 1915 pirate intrigue, The Sea-Hawk. The Sea-Hawk doesn't disappoint, living up exceedingly well to the high standards of Sabatini's other novels. It's got everything - adventure, drama, romance, and exotic locales. There are some elements that echo Sabatini's other stories, but they're used with a new spin and combined in different ways, so it still seems fresh, and the setting helps with that a great deal as well.Our hero, Sir Oliver Tressilian, lives in England in the late 16th century under the cloud of his deceased father's bad reputation. Like Peter Blood, the titular Captain Blood, he is victim of a great injustice, finds himself enslaved, gains freedom, and becomes a pirate, all while having a complicated relationship with a woman whose political background is a challenge. However, his injustice is of a much more personal nature, and his saga of piracy, love, and redemption doesn't take place in the Caribbean, as Blood's does, but along the Barbary Coast, where Sir Oliver becomes known as Sakr-el-Bahr, the Hawk of the Sea, a feared corsair and major political power in Algiers.The setting and the political intrigue are what really stand out for me with The Sea-Hawk. There are countless tales about piracy in the Caribbean, but the Barbary Coast pirates are often forgotten, despite their effectiveness. Seeing Sir Oliver plunged into the Muslim world of Algiers is fascinating. This is Sabatini at his historical fiction finest. He really immerses you in the culture, the religion, and both the glamour and unpleasant realities of the time and place. It's not just window dressing, either, as important facets of the religion and culture play crucial roles in the plot. There's also some excellent political scheming, as Sakr-el-Bahr is a favorite of the Basha of Algiers, and his conniving wife and jealous son try every trick in the book to turn them against each other. Oh, and the romance? Yeah, that gets caught up in all of this as well.I listened to Tantor's 2001 production of The Sea-Hawk, read by John Bolen. The audio quality was a bit rough, but I believe that's likely a result of the library's e-audio book over-compression, as I haven't noticed it with other Tantor productions. As for Bolen himself, he does excellent work with character voices, but his general narration is oddly a bit flat. Overall, he's perfectly capable. I did find myself wishing that Simon Vance (who also records as Robert Whitfield) had recorded The Sea-Hawk, though, as I've enjoyed his narration on Sabatini's Captain Blood and Scaramouche immensely. The unabridged recording runs approximately eleven hours.I highly recommend The Sea-Hawk. Fans of Sabatini's other work will immediately take to it, as will fans of pirate fiction, historical fiction, political intrigue or stories that take place in exotic locations. The Sea-Hawk has helped cement Sabatini's place as one of my favorite authors.
What do You think about The Sea-Hawk (2002)?
A couple of quotes from Rafael Sabatini's books—used as examples of great description—introduced me to his writing. Thanks to public domain and a Kindle, I downloaded two to read.Being in the mood to be at sea, I chose to begin "The Sea-Hawk" as a light read for a busy time. The lack of much nautical action was disappointing, but that was about the only disappointment.Sabatini keeps his readers guessing as to what will come next. The action moves one quickly along, yet the characters come to life along the way. Almost every character achieves a right to be loved and to be despised at least once during the story. Yet, one can't help but care about almost all of the lives that hang in the balance.A very enjoyable read.
—Kpent
'Tis a wonder that one so cunning could have a brother so stupid. Must be his mother. In the end this book has an original star-point for Oliver's character - that is, for his wit, his intelligence and cunning, for I have never met his like.One point for a natural-ish plot, it didn't seem forced to me, and there was no other way clear to me that could have spared the characters the grief.One point for the other stupid characters that were there to compensate for Oliver. In faith, if not for that Harry, I would have given up hope, even Rosamund. There is a pride next to a natural evil that is the like of her brother's that bade her think a man beneath her and condemn him and his last attempt to reach out.One more point because this book deserves a 4 and I'm lazy
—Mina Soare
My least favorite of Sabatini's so far.I don't understand why this is one of the most popular of his works. If you are expecting much in the form of action and adventure you will be disappointed. The "Part One" of the novel kept my interest but after that first ship battle it really slowed down. The book was too long for how uneventful it was and yet the ending was too sudden. The setting is quite exotic and vivid and one chapter: "The Slave-Market" although it does seem to deviate from the main plot it really immerses you in the culture of Algiers which I enjoyed as well as the side story of the rivalry between the Basha's Wazeer and his wife's Eunuch at the Sôk-el-Abeed with it's many colourful and diverse characters described there, makes you care more for the brave but short lived Andalusian maid than the week and gloomy Rosamund who we the readers are supposed to be sympathizing for.
—Remus
