Peter and the Starcatchers

The first in a series that is all a prequel to Peter Pan. It starts out with Peter and four other orphans being put on a ship- they’re not told much, but seems like they were in forced service, and at the end of the voyage, going to become slaves to a king on a distant island. Too much happened for them to ever reach that island, though. Peter had misgivings from the beginning and tried to sneak off the ship, but no avail. He soon meets a young girl who has passage on the ship, and discovers there’s a secret on board- a dangerously powerful treasure hidden in a chest. And there’s certain people (pirates included) who want to get their hands on that treasure, while this girl and her cohorts are trying to get it to safety (“returning” it somehow, to where it came from). So now there are chases and battles with pirates, wild storms at sea, near-drownings, treachery and loyalty displayed equally, encounters with talking dolphins, flying rats and all manner of astounding things. Because Peter and his friends quickly learn that there is actual magic in the world- magic that changes those who get too close to it in unpredictable, and sometimes irreversible ways.

I thought this book was lots of fun, and happily surprised that I made it all the way through without loosing steam. In fact, I’m eager to read the next one, even though it’s longer in page count! It moves quickly, has engaging characters and plenty of adventure. Helps that I was constantly intrigued by how it tied into the original Peter Pan story- giving backstory and explanations to many things, and kind of apologizing for others (the natives on the island of Never Never Land, for example, are depicted much more fairly here). This story posits that magic came from stars- and when it landed on earth, it affected all kinds of things- little origin stories behind Greek and Roman gods, scientific and artistic geniuses, mythical creatures galore. I kind of liked that the mermaids had a nasty, fearsome aspect behind their beautiful faces. And that Tinkerbell used to be a bright tropical bird. I started to get a little lost near the end when the storyline got more complex- telling what happened to three or four different groups of characters at the same time but in alternating chapters, until they all converge at the end. But I enjoyed it enough that I do want to continue! And now it makes me want to read the original all over again as well- to see how much of this is drawn from what J.M. Barrie actually hinted at- how that pirate lost his hand and became Captain Hook (I do remember that part), why Peter can fly and will always remain young, what’s up with the ticking crocodile, to give just a few examples.