The Black Corsair by Emilio Salgari

 A very quick read but not because of its size but because of how it captured me into its world and I was alongside one of our favourite corsairs of the seas, the Black Corsair. He was the most charming character I have ever had the pleasure to meet.

The book starts with the escape of two men accused of piracy and this two come to the fortunate meeting of the Black Corsair's ship and with this encounter, the Captain discovers the unfortunate end of his brother the Red Pirate by the hands of the duke Van Guld. This used to be a family of three brothers and as readers sympathise the pain that the Black Corsair shows towards the death of the last member of his family besides himself.

Previously his other brother the Green Corsair was caught by surprise by the duke's man and he was also killed via hanging in the main place of Maracaibo. And the Black Corsair promised to put them to rest in their designated place, the sea. He once risked his own neck by entering Maracaibo in the depts. of night to capture his brother's body (the green corsair) to lay him to rest. Now in this book we get this same adventure but to rescue the body of the Red Pirate.

The captain leaves his ship with our two new characters and as they arrive it's clear their previous escape made the security much tighter because they take refuge in the forest and in there they meet a new fellow friend who will join our small trio in their dangerous mission.

Our first impression of the Black Corsair is of a strategic man but we can observe his human side when he captures a soldier and he promises that when his mission is finished he will be released. All throughout his adventure he makes sure to stay composed and with his head in a cold aspect. He is mentally prepared for any outcome possible.

One of my favourite parts of the book was when he made hostage of the owner of the house, and people continued appearing and he kept making them hostage till the final man actually fought him but when this man lost, the corsair did not kill him, nor did he embarrass him, he made his intentions clear and said he had no intention to hurt anyone, he only wanted to leave Maracaibo in one piece. After the soldiers from outside make threats to come in and fire their guns he is quick to turn that idea down and threatening the own explosion of the house, but before that actually happens he is going to have a good meal with the hostages. And he does release them and they all eat together. They do explode the house but they make sure to take the hostages now, just regular people to safety.

Thanks to keeping his promise, the last man he fought helped me get to the forest in safety and getting there, he released the soldier.

The corsair is true to his promise and he makes sure to follow them and the funniest thing for me is the astonishment his enemies have when they realize that this man is not as ruthless as the duke made him sound like. And as a reward for his manners and respect he is rewarded back with the same amount of respect.

After he gets to put his brother to rest his adventure is not over. He promises to end the life of the duke no matter what and right after that a Spanish ship is close by enough for them to attack and so he does.  

After completing a strategic attack with very little damage to his own boat, he and his crew attack the ship but before the massacre could continue he stops the fight and states loud and clear "The corsair may be a thief but is not a murderer". He lets the crew leave free in one of the small boats and he plans to salvage this new ship and then sell it so he can divide the profit with his own crew. However before the second in command leaves he does warn the corsair there is a lady with her two ladies of company who was being escorted back to Maracaibo and so she becomes his hostage.

This man, fell as soon as his eyes laid upon hers and how their love develops is the most beautiful thing. He finds her curious and she thinks the same of him, when they go through a storm neither of them leaves the wheel and neither manages to separate from the other. She does not care for her appearance being in a mess and he falls harder thanks to her courage (she did sand by his side as he was taking care of the wheel in the middle of a strong storm).

I adore seeing how he does the smallest acts to leave her comfortable and how his little acts speak for themselves. She was supposed to pay her own ransom as soon as they got to a port but he paid it. She even cooked a meal for him with her own hands, and this is big in my eyes because during this time period women in her class did not have to do that, they had people responsible for those tasks but she did it for him. This not only describes her character but shows how he could fall in love with her.

I can't wait to find more about him and to see how his story continues. I want him to avenge his brothers and I want to see where this love story goes.