This book is a prequel to The Ballantyne Novels and tells us the story of Mungo St. James and why he is the way that he is. I never read The Ballantyne Novels so I don't know how much this ties back into those novels or not. Mungo is I believe the villain of those novels, but is a complex character. Smith wanted to dive deeper into the character so he decided to write Call of the Raven. There will be spoilers so you have been warned.
To me there were two central characters in this novel, Mungo and Camilla, Mungo's childhood love who became a slave to Mungo's enemy, Charles. This novel is all about Mungo's revenge and him wanting to free Camilla from Charles. Charles caused the downfall of Mungo's father and led Mungo to believe that Camilla was dead.
Mungo creates a fake name Thomas Sinclair and becomes part of Captain Sterling's crew. He befriends Tippoo, a large man who is Captain Sterling's slave, and eventually helps him gain his freedom. The boat is headed for Africa to "take part in trade" aka transport slaves. On the way back Mungo tries to stop a slave girl from being raped which leads to the slaves taking over the ship and killing the crew; only Tippoo and Mungo survive.
Later Mungo gains his own ship and crew. He wants to make a fortune to have revenge on Charles by selling ivory from elephant tusks. Tragedy hits though and he ends up loosing his entire cargo. This leads to Mungo making a choice, transport slaves or make no profit. Mungo decides to transport slaves to help him get his revenge. He learns from one of Charles' partners who is also in Africa, that Camilla is still alive. Camilla, has been living in New Orleans separated from her son, Issac, who was a result of Charles' raping. She has been helping Charles' business by learning secrets from his partners.
Mungo eventually ends up in New Orleans and he and Camilla find each other. He wants to whisks her away, but she refuses to leave without Issac. Everything leads to a big battle where Mungo has a gun pointed on Charles. He learns that Issac is Charles' father and that Camilla lied to him about who the father was. Mungo refuses to back down, even with Issac in Charles' arms. He pulls the trigger, but what's this? Camilla dives in front of them and takes the bullet and dies. Enraged Mungo throws Charles into the moat where he is then eaten by alligators.
We learn a lot from this book about why Mungo is the way that he is, but let's face it a lot of things could have happened if he made different decisions. Mungo focused on his revenge and that is what lead to his misery. He has to choose between his revenge or his love for Camilla and HE MAKES THE WRONG CHOICE!
Overall I did enjoy this book even though I went in with no knowledge of who Mungo St. James was. I like historical fiction in general, it's one of my favorite genres, but I haven't read a lot dealing with the slave trade or the transporting of slaves. I think I enjoyed the chapters that focused on Camilla more than the ones that focused on Mungo. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen to her. With Mungo's chapters I was curious about him, but I liked Tippoo better than Mungo. That man was loyal and a heck of a good friend. This to me could have been a stand alone book, but then again I don't really know how it ties into the rest of his series.
To me there were two central characters in this novel, Mungo and Camilla, Mungo's childhood love who became a slave to Mungo's enemy, Charles. This novel is all about Mungo's revenge and him wanting to free Camilla from Charles. Charles caused the downfall of Mungo's father and led Mungo to believe that Camilla was dead.
Mungo creates a fake name Thomas Sinclair and becomes part of Captain Sterling's crew. He befriends Tippoo, a large man who is Captain Sterling's slave, and eventually helps him gain his freedom. The boat is headed for Africa to "take part in trade" aka transport slaves. On the way back Mungo tries to stop a slave girl from being raped which leads to the slaves taking over the ship and killing the crew; only Tippoo and Mungo survive.
Later Mungo gains his own ship and crew. He wants to make a fortune to have revenge on Charles by selling ivory from elephant tusks. Tragedy hits though and he ends up loosing his entire cargo. This leads to Mungo making a choice, transport slaves or make no profit. Mungo decides to transport slaves to help him get his revenge. He learns from one of Charles' partners who is also in Africa, that Camilla is still alive. Camilla, has been living in New Orleans separated from her son, Issac, who was a result of Charles' raping. She has been helping Charles' business by learning secrets from his partners.
Mungo eventually ends up in New Orleans and he and Camilla find each other. He wants to whisks her away, but she refuses to leave without Issac. Everything leads to a big battle where Mungo has a gun pointed on Charles. He learns that Issac is Charles' father and that Camilla lied to him about who the father was. Mungo refuses to back down, even with Issac in Charles' arms. He pulls the trigger, but what's this? Camilla dives in front of them and takes the bullet and dies. Enraged Mungo throws Charles into the moat where he is then eaten by alligators.
We learn a lot from this book about why Mungo is the way that he is, but let's face it a lot of things could have happened if he made different decisions. Mungo focused on his revenge and that is what lead to his misery. He has to choose between his revenge or his love for Camilla and HE MAKES THE WRONG CHOICE!
Overall I did enjoy this book even though I went in with no knowledge of who Mungo St. James was. I like historical fiction in general, it's one of my favorite genres, but I haven't read a lot dealing with the slave trade or the transporting of slaves. I think I enjoyed the chapters that focused on Camilla more than the ones that focused on Mungo. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen to her. With Mungo's chapters I was curious about him, but I liked Tippoo better than Mungo. That man was loyal and a heck of a good friend. This to me could have been a stand alone book, but then again I don't really know how it ties into the rest of his series.