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The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins The Complete Novel edition by James Faro Literature Fiction eBooks

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The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins The Complete Novel edition by James Faro Literature Fiction eBooks

This book takes you for a walk in the past following Tobias Hopkins, the captain of a ship wrecked ship, and who was troubled by the loss of his mother and two sisters in the Great Fire of London and who had set on a travel to Barbados to find the details of his father who had disappeared a long ago. The journey in this book was full of adventure, fine reading, and excitement of what was to happen next. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.


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The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins The Complete Novel edition by James Faro Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews

The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins the Complete Novel is a remarkable high-sea adventure laced with the elements of a compelling, well-plotted mystery. The Quest primarily takes place in the 17th century Caribbean, a hotbed of danger and intrigue where the common sailor is more than willing to trade a life of honest wages for one of hazardous piracy.

At the beginning of the novel, the protagonist, Tobias (Toby) Hopkins, has befallen one of the many curses of the sea—the loss of his ship and, therefore, his livelihood and small fortune. It is from this wreck, literally and figuratively, that Tobias must rebuild his ship and crew. Thus does Toby’s quest commence.

The author, Mr. Faro, deftly shares a treasure trove of fascinating time period elements with the reader during the course of the story, such as the dress, food, weaponry, and anything nautical. Concurrently, he also brings the ‘timeless’ elements of the setting to life as well—the beating sun, whipping winds, lush islands, and ravaging sea—truly immersing the reader in the world of Tobias Hopkins.

The main plot of the story is both thought-provoking and convincing, and is a good fit for the adventurous backdrop. Toby, having lost practically everything at the beginning of the novel (as previously noted), sets his sights on discovering the fate of his long lost father—and just as significantly, the fate of his father’s legacy, which could provide a wondrous boon. Additionally, the protagonist’s main storyline runs parallel to (and, as expected, eventually cleverly intersects) a mystery surrounding some ruthless murders and even more ruthless murderers. How these storylines intersect is a fascinating revelation. Also worthy of note are certain intricacies of the plot, namely a series of characters whose motives and trust are questionable, and yet who (at least in appearances) help Toby in his quest. These secondary characters and their incentives add a compelling sense of uncertainty to the outcome.

Mr. Faro does a commendable job of tying these various themes together in an eloquent and satisfactory manner, and the story is well balanced between the elements of a swashbuckling adventure story, a well-crafted mystery, a treasure hunt, and a record of the lives of those that partook in such settings, including privateers, pirates, common sailors and the like. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone interested in an adventurous tale.
The Assiduous Quest of Tobias Hopkins is a seafaring, and at times swashbuckling adventure in a relatively short volume. The author’s bio states he (the author himself) joined the British Merchant Navy at age sixteen (incredible for such a young age!) and travelled throughout several sea destinations such as Brazil, the Caribbean, and I presume, Europe’s coastline. In addition, he has a post-graduate degree in history from the University of Sussex. Those qualifications alone more than amply qualify him to write this book concerning a British sea captain and his voyages. Indeed, the attention to detail sounds true, and the story brings up many nautical terms I’d never heard of. I was delighted to see the word “poopdeck” used in conversation on the ship!

Having the perfect background (as this author does) doesn’t always qualify one to write a story, though, as this book, while fascinating, could have used a more integrated narrative. Sometimes the story lurches from one scene to the next, without tying them together. Example two characters, constituting a family unit, Magdalena and her boy Edo, are under attack in a scene from two men. But it doesn’t say how they escaped or what happened to them afterwards, other than a message to Toby (the captain) chapters later that they’re alive, and the mother and son don’t appear again in the story. Example An enterprising woman with deep pockets takes a liking to Toby and invests into his ship. But she’s not heard from again by the end of the story. Example A nefarious villain, de Groot, is stranded on an island by Toby. But he re-appears and it’s not said how he escaped. I couldn’t fully keep track of the mystery that inspector Thomas Smithson was tracking down and what the motive was for finding the murderers when it had occurred four years prior to the events of this book. So my hope is that the threads would be connected better into a seamless story.

I truly enjoyed reading about the main character, yet he was portrayed as a sea captain, a role I found hard to believe. He was twenty-five years old, and it’s said that he attained this position through ownership of the ship (as opposed to be a commissioned captain on pay by an employer or government). Yet, I didn’t get how could he afford a ship—which in those days might have been the cost of a large house? I understand his family perished in a fire, while his father served as captain as well, but didn’t see any mention of Toby inheriting a fortune before becoming captain? Also, I wasn’t convinced that Toby acted and spoke like a captain; he seemed more like a lucky dude who was imagined into that position by the characters of the story and they played along with this notion. I know that in those days, men aged twenty, twenty-five, or whatever young age took on senior and responsible roles such as leader of an army, leader of a government, captain of a ship… but still, it was a little bit of a stretch (due to Toby’s meek personality and the lack of a back story as to how he stormed his way into a prominent position) to imagine him as a captain. I think in those days one would have either been a ferocious and ill-tempered brute who has gambled or stole funds, or a very experienced (and older) sea hand with years on a ship under his belt who was called into employment, in order to become captain.

One tiny thing is that a map (especially an olde world map) of the Caribbean (which I finally figured out when Jamaica was mentioned) would have been helpful, with the locations important to the story being highlighted on this map. When Toby's story started in a seaport town called Maracaibo, I thought of a Spanish harbour on the coast of Spain, hoping I wouldn’t have to consult an atlas to figure out where it was. Reading further, I couldn’t figure out where the hijacking of the ship had taken place at the beginning of the story, or even what era in history it was, although I did figure it was pre-Industrial Revolution. Finally more than halfway through the book I figured the year was 1675. As for Maracaibo, I finished he book not knowing where at all it was, and checked an atlas. I was astounded to find out that it is located on the shoreline of Venezuela, in South America. Later, I did check the whereabouts of everything, and found that indeed, there is some clear sailing between Venezuela and Jamaica, although I had no idea beforehand. My point—I think the book needs to flesh in more details as to where, when, what era, what was going on in the world.

Having said all that, it is a fascinating book despite the lack of a firm narrator to keep things on track and to keep the story together, and the main character is very likeable, and I lapped up the seafaring terminology despite knowing nothing.
This book takes you for a walk in the past following Tobias Hopkins, the captain of a ship wrecked ship, and who was troubled by the loss of his mother and two sisters in the Great Fire of London and who had set on a travel to Barbados to find the details of his father who had disappeared a long ago. The journey in this book was full of adventure, fine reading, and excitement of what was to happen next. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end.