Review: Great summer read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2014
World Osyssey: Book One in the World Duology is by Lance and James Morcan.  This novel takes one from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the Northwest territory of Oregon; from Kensington in London, England to New Zealand; and from London, England to the penal colony in Australia to New Zealand.  Three characters, Nathan Johnson, Susannah Drake, and Jack Halliday, leave their homes to make a new home in the Fiji Islands.  Little do they know that their paths will cross in that new land.Nathan Johnson is the son of a sea captain.  His father was a brutal and seemingly uncaring man who continually harassed Nathan to shape up and meet his standards.  Nathan never could and ended up running away from home.  His first job on a ship was for his uncle (his mother’s brother) who traded along the west coast of the United States.  Nathan’s first voyage was to be very unlucky as he was the only survivor of his ship which went down in a storm.  Nathan was taken into the Makah tribe first as a slave and then as a son to the chief. Over the years, Nathan only wanted one thing, to escape.  When the time came, he managed to escape and then continue his adventures which would take him to the Fuji Islands.Susannah Drake is the daughter of a minister who is called to be a missionary in Fuji.  She cajoles her father into taking her with him.  Reluctantly, he agrees.  The ocean voyage is very taxing.  Boredom, seasickness, death, pirates, wounded father, all combine to make her voyage exciting.  What will she find when they reach their destination?Jack Halliday is forced to go to work early to help his family survive in London.  Jack works for a blacksmith and works long and hard hours.  He is owed some overtime but the owner refuses to pay him.  Jack breaks into the offices one night and takes some hemp for his back pay.  He is caught and sentenced to years in the penal colony in Australia.  He escapes and ends up in New Zealand.  He has a native wife and four children and is a trader.  What will he find when he goes into the inland in search of plantation owners to buy the rights to cutting trees?  What will happen when he, Nathan, and Susannah meet?It will be interesting to read the sequel Fiji: A Novel (The World Duology #2.