Not to be mistaken with Michael Tod’s book of the same name, which tells the darling little tale of squirrels in Dorset, this Silver Tide contains nothing remotely cute and cuddly as it storms its way to conclude the adventures of The Black Feather Three.
Wydrin, Lord Frith and Sir Sebastian join forces once more as the employees of a treasure-hungry pirate who, just to complicate matters, happens to be Wydrin’s mother, Devinia the Red. The treasure in question resides on a cursed island, Devinia hoping that Frith’s magical abilities will help her ship navigate the deadly waters that others have failed to cross.
As Captain Jack will tell you, no pirate mission ever runs smoothly, and after an ambush the crew find themselves separated, each faced with their own conveniently perilous situations. The remaining crew find themselves the subjects of a beautifully constructed subplot that has essence of Jason And The Argonauts about it after a treasure haul goes desperately awry and a big old golden man joins the party.
The Silver Tide does not fail to take us on a non-stop ride, only this time there is the added element of time travel. It’s a contrived concept for some storytellers, but not for Williams, as not only does she allow us access to some much loved and gone too soon characters, we are also treated to a devastating butterfly effect as Wydrin and co crash into the war that saw the mages defeat the Gods.
It is almost bittersweet to say goodbye to such unique and engaging characters, so for anyone yet to meet this trio of misfits, in the immortal words of The Copper Cat, Wydrin of Crosshaven: “Ye Gods and little fishes” what are you waiting for?
