Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review.
Loved the concept of dinos x pirates. Such an entertaining premise. I had fun but also had some trouble when reading dialogue along with the perspective shifts if it was slightly shorter like a novella I probably could've finished but this was a Dnf for me. Not bad at all but I had other reads that were more appealing to me.

very cool and very peculiar as a type of work. but dinos and pirates are a pretty good combo interestingly enough. would recommend.

This book was good fun, pirates and dinosaurs together? Wild. Definitely gory. It took some time to acclimate to the style of speech since it’s different from most books but once I was into it, it was very engaging and a fun world.

Of Black Flags and Devil Birds by Christopher Robertson is a wildly imaginative blend of prehistoric creatures and swashbuckling adventurers that delivers a unique premise sure to capture the interest of readers looking for something truly out of the ordinary - it certainly captured me that way. Robertson deserves praise for the sheer creativity of the setting—a world where time itself seems to unravel (quite literally), allowing dinosaurs to roam on an island alongside pirates and cannibals. This inventive backdrop is where the book truly shines, offering a fresh take on both genres and presenting an endless array of possibilities for action and intrigue.

I appreciate the historical accuracy in depicting pirate life. Robertson clearly put in the effort to research the period, seamlessly incorporating details about pirate culture, seafaring practices, and even the nuances of pirate codes and governance - and their dialect (more on that in a bit). The dinosaurs, while obviously a work of fiction due to time travel shenanigans, are described with a surprising amount of detail. Many people would opt for the Jurassic Park lizards instead of the more accurate chicken references, so I'm a massive fan of the rather accurate term of "the devil's own chicken" when faced with a raptor. Yay for feathers!

However, despite these strong points, this book stumbles when it comes to execution, particularly in the writing style and narrative structure. One of the most glaring issues is the overwhelming use of written-out dialects. While dialects can add authenticity and flavor to characters, in this case, they’re overdone to the point of distraction. Many characters speak in such heavy dialects that it becomes a chore to decipher their dialogue, breaking the immersion and making it difficult to follow the story. This choice might have been intended to enhance the atmosphere, but it ultimately detracts from the reading experience, turning what could be an engaging tale into a frustrating exercise in translation. The little vocab list at the end of the book does nothing to help with this. The amount of times not even context told me what Bucky was saying...

Another major flaw is the rapid shift in perspectives between the vast cast of characters. The number of perspectives wasn't so much the problem here, but the constant back and forth sometimes without even a hint of a shift in the same chapter. I had to take more than one double take to figure out in whose head I am. It results in a chaotic and disjointed narrative. Just as you begin to settle into one character’s story, the focus abruptly shifts to another, often without clear transitions. This constant bouncing between perspectives not only disrupts the flow but also makes it challenging to develop a strong connection with any one character. I was only interested in the villain of the story but not because I had time to settle with him. I liked him because he did the most badass things. Rooting for the british admiral in a pirate story? Whoops.

Let's speak about plot, or rather the lack thereof, the book seems to suffer from a case of too much going on and yet not enough direction. The concept of pirates and dinosaurs colliding in a time-bending adventure is fantastic, but the narrative lacks a clear, cohesive plot to anchor all the action. Instead, the story meanders through various set pieces and character interactions without ever building towards a satisfying climax or resolution. The result is a series of entertaining moments that never quite come together to form a compelling whole. Just like the cast, who is constantly splitting up so we can see more set pieces and more dinosaurs in this pirate story.

In summary, Of Black Flags and Devil Birds is a book with an exceptional premise and impressive attention to historical detail, but it’s hampered by excessive dialects, erratic shifts in perspective, and a weak, unfocused plot. It’s a novel that might appeal to readers who are willing to wade through its flaws to enjoy the unique setting, but for me personally, these issues proved too frustrating to overlook.

This was a fun fast paced read for fans of the show Black Sails. I enjoyed the multiple POVs. It felt very cinematic. Just when you think you know what’s going on, you get layers and back story of something else. It was an interesting way to tell such a deeply interconnected story.

The found family dynamic is not one that I’m particularly drawn to, but it works very well here. You get a great sense of which characters like each other and which don’t, but that doesn’t always tell you who is an enemy and who might be brimming with internal hate.

I love that this story doesn’t really let you get attached to anyone, isn’t afraid to assign flaws and still gives you a satisfying conclusion to a pretty wild ride.

Great idea for a story but I didn't enjoy this at all. Between having to constantly interpret the dialogue to switching where we were in time over and over and over, it was a struggle. The characters also seemed more like types than people.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I anticipated this to be a Jurassic Park x Pirates of the Caribbean type adventure and it was more an ARK survival x Pirates of the Caribbean type adventure. This didn't phase me at all, just a note for other folks who are interested!

Now for the review: holy moly, I had a blast reading this book! It was a rollicking, occasionally gory and raunchy adventure with plenty of pirates and dinosaurs. Despite the fantastical events, the historical elements (namely pirate and dinosaur stuff) was clearly meticulously researched. I also found the characters to be very endearing despite their rough and tumble demeanor (I mean they're all pirates, so that's a given). I also found the villain quite complex! For an action/adventure romp, this book surprised me with both its great sense of humor and huge amount of heart.

My one complaint about the book was the storyline jumps at the beginning. These felt very theatrical and I think had this been a film, it would be clearer when the narrative dipped back into the past. As it is in written form, sometimes these shifts weren't very obvious from the get go and it took me a little too long to figure out that I was in flashback territory rather than a continuation of the present plot line. Other than this, it was a really heckin' good time.

Publication date: April 29, 2024

One huge, rip-roaring swashbuckling adventure story packed with all the authentic pirate trappings you could ask for and some amazing characters to boot.

I had so much fun with this! It is certainly a pirate book. There are scenes of intensity and gory but there are also scenes that are funny. I do however wish the ending had more of a closure, in particular being in the darkly lit tavern.

This book, sadly, didnt work for me. I felt like the editorial process wasn't thorough, a lot of scenes seemed like they were only there to set a vibe instead of having a narrative point, and even for a story with man-eating dinosaurs, a concept I deeply respect, there were way too many inconsistencies.

I loved the concept of this one, and the variety of characters was a lot of fun -- loved seeing a queer woman and non-white men as swashbuckling pirates! But I really struggled with the heavy use of dialect in the dialogue. I took too much effort for me to decipher some of the Scots dialect in particular, and I think the author could have gotten the character across with so much less of it. I wound up deciding not to finish because I found myself squinting at the page in the dialect-heavy scenes and giving myself a headache. It's unfortunate, because the rest of the book was very fun.

This started out well. Good fun wordplay, as I imagined the story being told by Mr Gibbs from the PotC movies. OK, pirate adventures!

But very quickly, things became frustrating. The perspective jumps about a LOT, which brings the action to juddering halts. Characters I liked were killed quickly, and those that remained were pretty stereotypical (again, PotC leapt to mind).

And it all didn't really matter, because then Pirates va Dinosaurs.

Good fun if you like that sort of thing, but I found it increasingly difficult to engage with and DNF. Rather wishing it'd been shorter and faster.

This was a fun read. I love dinosaurs and I love pirates so I knew I had to read this one! It was a fun romp, but if you aren’t a scallywag who speaks like one, you may not enjoy it as much. I enjoyed the writing style. This book was, overall, a fun read that flies by quickly with lots of battles…and Dinos!

This wasn't what I expecting. It wasn't bad but it wasn't a book where I was like "oh my goodness or holy crap that was amazing". Would I read it again? Probably not. But I'm also not upset that I spent time reading it. It was just okay in my opinion.

If you're into pirates, and have some familiarity with their language and practices, and enjoy seeing dinosaurs chomping them up, then this is your perfect read! It's great fun, but it requires some experience in the genre to enjoy it fully. The premise and the situations felt a bit like a Disney movie, though this is definitely not a family movie-kind of tale. It's also a slow-burn, with a rather jarring use of the flashbacks device. So you need patience and some free time in your schedule. The book comes into its own in the last third, I believe, after everything has been set up and it's clear what the threat exactly is, This is not the kind of book you read twice; the thrill comes from how the author manages to bring everything together and surprise you in the end.

Many thanks to NetGally and DarkLit for the chance to review an ARC of the book!.

A highly entertaining opening volley in the Dark Lit Sails line of Pirate Horror. Of Black Flags is populated with wonderful characters and was kinda exactly what I needed even though I had no idea that I actually need it. More of this vibe, please. I am all for this print line.

Thank you Dark Lit and Netgalley for the opportunity to read.

I managed to read a couple chapters but couldn’t read it any further as the language while trying to be pirate-y was way too dense and difficult to comprehend. I loved the cover but there were a lot of gore mentioned in the first few pages, which is why I won’t be further reviewing this book.

Rating - 1/5

I couldn't really get in to this book. The narration being in mostly modern language with some pirate speak was throwing me off. The premise seemed so good, but I can't get past the use of pirate speak.

"And yet it seems the fate of those who sail the sea of thieves to end their days by knife, shot, or hempen jig. Treachery and betrayal run through a pirate's blood like ale and rum, and spills just as quickly."

Of Black Flags follows a badass crew of pirates as they launch a last ditch effort against the British Navy to preserve their scallywagging way of life. After a storm hits and they wake up on a (not so) deserted island, they find themselves facing a far more sinister enemy.

(It's dinosaurs!)

The story is fun and action-packed - there are a lot of epic battle scenes and many sword swinging shenanigans. I found my attention often wavering as the novel bounces between characters like a rapid fire pistol. I appreciated the narrator's "pirate accent" throughout, but some of the characters dialogue was incredibly hard to parse. I had to stop quite a few times to decipher what they were saying, which took me right out of the action.

I think this book tried to take on too much, honestly. There were too many side plots and a lot of jumping around that made things hard to keep straight. Too many convenient solutions to problems. If you're looking for some bloody, cannon firing fighting, this will definitely be your cup of tea.

Of Black Flags and Devil Birds
By Christoper Robertson

Complete ARC Copy Review


A sea battle, a storm, and… dinosaurs? Come along as a rag tag group of pirates find themselves on a mysterious island full of death.

Wow, if you like pirates this book is for you. And if a pirate adventure wasn't enough, it's pirates vs dinosaurs? The only thing that could be cooler is maybe if ninjas were to sneak in there somewhere. Seriously though, I have never read any of Christopher Robertson's other works and I started this book fully expecting the B-movie equivalent of a book. Boy was I surprised. This is a non-stop action, non-stop fun novel that is very worth your time.

The book flows fantastically. In fact, it seems like it was more of a movie than a book if that makes sense. The scenes were well written and described. The characters were actually characters, not all just generic throwaways. But speaking of generic, this book has every pirate trope... well... every trope "in the book". But that is absolutely not a knock against it. It was so fun trying to guess what pirate mainstay would pop up next. There was one that I slapped my forehead thinking "why didn't I think of that?!".

From villains to heroes and from dinosaurs to cannibals, everyone adds to the fun of this book. I wish this was the first in a series so I could keep reading. I have liked a lot of the books I've read recently but this by far has been my favorite. From swinging from vines, to trying to take down a Deinonychus (which by the way has been my favorite dinosaur since I was little, and they got totally hosed by Michael Crichton replacing them with giant Velociraptors) with a cutlass, this book has thrills and action to spare.

Would I recommend this book to friends and family? Absolutely and already have. I will also be checking out other works by Robertson very soon.

4.5 out of 5 stars.