A pretty maiden is captured by pirates and held ransom, all the while discovering her true independent spirit. Sound familiar? I’d wager so. To me, it sounds like just about every other major pirate-themed entertainment available.

So what sets "Raging Gail" apart? Nothing, really. It’s your standard pirate stock, complete with such staples as pirate lingo (ye, Davy Jones, etc), singing, lewd pirates, and the token pirate of color that becomes an early staring point for the sheltered, kidnapped, and rich white chic. The author attempts to be unique by making it a female captain, but that just isn’t a shock to my modern sensibilities (particularly not after all the other major pirate themed work that attempt to play on the idea of a female pirate being new and exciting).

As for the kidnapped maiden, well, she doesn’t put up much of a fight. She’s taken hostage and forced to work on the crew, and still only manages a vaguely indignant huff every now and then. Perhaps it’s my modern perspective, but I’d prefer that the main character get a bit more indignant about having her belongings tossed and her life repeatedly threatened by pirates. It’s not that the author doesn’t try to inform us that the maiden thinks the pirates are "horrible," simply that there’s no truth behind it. None of her actions seem to support it, and she only uses the most bland language to describe her displeasure with what’s happening to her. And yes, I consider using the term "horrible" repeatedly to be bland.

While I’m at it, the maiden’s name irritated me every time I read it. Hope is the first name of the maiden that’s kidnapped, and the author takes every chance to remind us of the pun by putting her name to good use in chapter titles ("Hope is Plundered," etc). The name strikes me as Mary Sue-ish and trite, and I really wish the author had gone with one of the other thousands of available names from that period.

When it comes to web design, the font of the series is so small that I had to squint to read it. After suffering through one installment of the tiny font, I ended up having to C&P the rest to maintain my sanity. There aren’t any special features, but the banner is bold and intriguing.

Over-all, if you like pirate stories and are looking to read everything out there, go for it. There’s not much dimension to the characters at the moment, but I’ll admit that I wasn’t intrigued enough to read beyond my usual commitment of ten installments. It’s possible it gets better, but really, you’d have to be devoted to the genre to read enough to find out.

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