Review of “The Devil's Conquest” by K.M. Taylor

Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)

Are you up for a seafaring adventure story full of pirates, romance, and a touch of magic? The Devil's Conquest by K.M. Taylor sweeps you into the treacherous waters of the Caribbean, where a fearless young woman discovers her true destiny amidst ancient powers, ruthless captains, and a secret that could change everything.

K.M. Taylor was an Ultimate Champion in our 2024 Summer Contest for her ambitious and thought-provoking novel, Codex Sohrakia.

Via Codex Sohrakia, Taylor proved she could create and portray compelling, deep, and interesting characters. She can also weave together complex and dense storylines—perhaps overly complex and dense at times, to the point where it disrupts the pacing and flow a bit.

The Devil's Conquest shares a lot of the same pros and cons as Codex Sohrakia. In summary, that amounts to interesting characters and concepts that get somewhat derailed by the author/narrative attempting to do too much at once. We'll get back to that later in the review, but let's ease you in.

Let's set the scene.
The novel kicks off in Port Royal, Jamaica in the late 1600s. So, this book is actually a bit of a historical fiction novel.

On that note, we have to give credit to the author for their research and for attempting to bring this time-period to life, which can't be easy. It almost seems like nothing Taylor does with her writing is easy, she apparently loves to challenge herself.

The book follows Elsa Janeway, a young woman who has endured a tumultuous upbringing. Elsa’s traumatic experiences including growing up in a brothel and witnessing her mother’s hardships shape her character. After a devastating earthquake, Elsa inherits a tavern, which she transforms into a thriving brothel named "The Rose Palace." Throughout her journey, Elsa is marked by resilience, learning to manage her business while maintaining her personal integrity despite her past.

Beside the curve ball of the earthquake and the passing of her mother, Elsa encounters two more huge curve balls in the form of two competing pirate captains: the handsome, chivalrous, and noble Captain Eduard Thane and the sadistic, lecherous, and bloodthirsty Captain Alexander Morvin.

Captain Eduard Thane serves as the main male protagonist, deuteragonist, and love-interest of the novel.

Meanwhile, Captain Alexander Morvin serves as the book's main villain.

The contrast between these two male characters is stark, practically night and day.
One is very clearly good while the other is practically pure evil.

On one hand, it's very good to have someone we can clearly root for and someone we can root against.
On the other hand, it's pretty cartoonish, a little goofy, and a quite hard to believe. If we were going to compare it to something, it's kinda like Popeye the Sailor Man and Bluto, his mustachioed nemesis who constantly imperils Olive.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Check out the book HERE if you love pirate-themed adventure stories like Pirates of the Carribean!
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REVIEW CONTINUED...

First and foremost, Thane is arguably TOO good. Thane is supposed to be a pirate captain. You know? The guys who are historically known to rob ships while raping, pillaging, and killing their unwilling victims? However, almost everything that has to do with Thane is euphemized, excused, and put in the best light possible. He's a good pirate. So, that makes piracy ok, right?

We had a similar issue with Captain Tim from The Pirate's Conquest by Charlene Centracchio, which is actually a very similar book. Tim & Thane are indeed very similar characters.

Now, you could argue that Thane shows a slight dark side when he talks about the time a female stowed away on his ship and he had to “share” her with his crew as part of the pirate code of conduct (yes, pirates have a terms of service, apparently; leave it to honorable Thane to bring that up). However, even that is excused by several statements including Thane saying he didn't get directly involved in what is essentially gang banging. It can also be argued rather easily that Thane uses this story to warn and protect Elsa out of a feeling of love and chivalry—in other words, he says these terrible things for a good reason. He doesn't want Elsa to be victimized and targeted because of him and/or caught up in his pirate lifestyle in which these bad things could happen to her.

So, like a true politician, he makes himself seem like a white knight, a hero, and a good guy even when he's admitting to his supposed worst deeds. How convenient...

Meanwhile, literally everything that Captain Morvin does is horrific, sadistic, and terrible to the most extreme extent. The man lacks one good bone in his body. He has no scruples. No conscience. He is evil incarnate. He is willing to backstab and betray anyone and everyone for his own personal gain. He brutalizes and forces himself upon women including, it turns out, on Elsa's mother.

Really quickly, on that note, it is kinda strange how Elsa's scar is explained. Her scar was inflicted through a traumatic yet heroic event involving guess-who, but it's covered by a tattoo that is—in itself—a story. While that's poetic and all, it really seems like one thing tacked onto another thing at the last minute because it seems like it would be cool.

Yes, you could argue that it's romantic how Captain Thane is the one dude who recognizes the scar under the tattoo, but it still seems off. If Elsa was going to have this big, traumatic, personal experience that involves Morvin, then why wasn't it brought up or mentioned in the earlier sections when Elsa was 12—you know, before the earthquake? Why not start the book talking about that traumatic event instead of talking about Mama Janeway's other affairs? The fact that it seems omitted from that early section makes it seem like the plot-thread was added at the last minute or in a later revision.

Furthermore, if Elsa was going to have this injury on her cheek, then why add this whole other injury with the magic rock being implanted in her back tied to the Legend of Pasan? Oh, and by the way, there seem to be two separate magic stones or possibly two separate origin stories: one that got embedded in Elsa's back when she got washed away during the earthquake and one that Thane found and gifted to her after finding it in a shipwreck or something (as implied in the book description). The stones apparently resonate with each other. However, it really seems like two separate origin stories for the same magical object that the author possibly couldn't decide on, so they left both in. At least it feels that way.

It's actually a good analogy for how Elsa herself is written as a character. She sounds like multiple different characters and multiple different stories crammed into one character. She is a character on top of another character living inside the shell of another character, like if you gave legs to Ariel from The Little Mermaid, then squeezed her into a Princess Leia costume, then shoved her into a Mary Magdalene disguise. These are three separate and very different characters who, though they might share similarities, don't necessarily mesh well. It's like putting chocolates, raisins, and sardines on a pizza. Separately, they're fine. But together? Together, they make it seem like a cook went out of their way to make your dining experience confusing and chaotic for no reason.

See, Elsa is supposed to be the owner and madame of a major brothel, the aforementioned Rose Palace. Yes, she's a bit on the young side for a business owner—thrust into that position by circumstances including the loss of her mother and financial insecurity—but you'd still expect her to have a good head on her shoulders, to be responsible, strong, firm, tough, and smart. You wouldn't expect the owner of a large brothel to be thrown around and tugged from here to there like a flimsy piece of paper caught in a gale.

However, that's how she comes across.

It doesn't help that she's thrown and tossed around like she's a hot potato in a game of, well... hot potato. On one page, she's a captive on Morvin's ship, on another page she's a stowaway on Thane's. She gets bullied on both ships, which really doesn't help her character.

She's kinda treated like Olive from Popeye the Sailor Man.

On that note, there is a really bizarre part of this book in which we're expecting Morvin's betrayal and a huge battle with the Royal Navy, but then the book keeps cutting away to other things. It's hard to describe. The best way we can describe it is it seems... unmoored. And, with that, comes a feeling of disjointedness.

Anyway, going back to the previous point, Elsa comes across as someone who can be easily taken advantage of. She has no security. She has no safeguards. She couldn't talk herself out of a wet paper bag. She can't say no to anyone. She runs her brothel like it's a McDonald's or—at best—a Sizzler's. Anyone can come in and out. They can eat everything they want, do anything they want, pay any amount they want, and what's Elsa gonna do? Yell at them? Politely ask them to leave?

Heck, she seriously proposes running away from her business and stowing away on Thane's pirate ship. This isn't something a strong, independent, assertive, steadfast character would say, this is something a dependent, needy, weak character would say.

Her dialogue normally doesn't come across as strong or assertive. It comes across as soft, apprehensive, tentative, shy, and even submissive.

She just comes across as so... weak. She really shouldn't.

If there was ONE CHARACTER in this entire contest who should be a lady boss, it's Elsa, a brothel owner.

You cannot allow yourself to be pushed around when you're in the position she's in.

Imagine if Oren Ishii from Kill Bill just let all the other crime bosses push her around, kidnap her, and tell her what to do. Do you see how weird that would be?

And by the way, who is running the Rose Palace while she's kidnapped or away adventuring?
Like, the Rose Palace itself seems like its tacked onto Elsa like an accessory that can be taken on and off. Running that place should be a HUGE responsibility, but it's only a huge responsibility when the narrative has time and room for it to be. The Rose Palace and the scar/knife/tattoo subplot only seem relevant when it's convenient, then they get relegated to the background and ignored.

It's like they're only in the book because the author had a list of cool things they wanted the character to have because they would be cool.

A good argument against that would be that Elsa being a brothel owner—a woman of ill repute--makes her a foil and a contrast to Ivy, Thane's other lover in this love-triangle. Oh, and by the way, there's a love triangle.

To be fair, it's actually quite interesting. Ivy can best be described as a pompous, highfalutin rich girl. While she could choose to be kind, generous, and loving like Abigail from Ironborn by Andrew Cavanagh, she chooses not to be. Instead, rather predictably and stereotypically, she comes across as arrogant, selfish, and manipulative. She outright states that Thane is beneath her (as a pirate/former pirate) and that he exists only to serve and please her. His happiness, in her opinion, should be dependent on her happiness.

This dynamic, surprisingly, works. She's a great contrast to Elsa, proving that social status doesn't dictate or determine your personal character and moral value. You can be a good person in a bad industry and you can be a bad person who comes from a white collar or aristocratic background. With that said, like with Morvin, Ivy's villainy is a bit caroonish and over-the-top. It almost comes across as a character assassination, making the romantic choices of the characters rather obvious. To put this into perspective, you might as well have had Ivy and Morvin kill kittens and puppies, it really does seem that forced at times.

Anyway, one last thing that both interested and bothered us about this book is the whole magical/supernatural aspect of it. You CAN have magic and supernatural elements in a historical fiction book. Absolutely! We see it all the time. But like a lot of the things in this book, it seems tacked on and unnecessary. It really seems shoehorned in—forced in at the last minute in some later revision.

Case in point is the convoluted, over-the-top, and needlessly risky/complicated way that Morvin chose to take revenge on Thane by targeting Elsa, because of course...

Put yourself in Morvin's shoes. You're an evil A-hole. You are a PIRATE. You want to hurt your rival by using his girl, Elsa, to get to him. Here are some options Morvin has:

A. Kill Elsa and send her head to Thane
B. Skin Elsa alive, make a book out of the skin with her scar/tattoo as the cover, then send it to Thane (perhaps autographing it for kicks)
E. Pry a magic rock from her back, then leave her guarded by only one dude who doesn't know the significance of the person he's guarding so she can easily disguise herself as a dude and escape

If you chose E, then you'd be correct!
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Maybe Morvin isn't so much evil as he is incompetent.
Did he go to the school of Bond villainy? What gives?

How is a pirate captain—someone who is supposed to be a leader of men with some degree of navigational intelligence—this short-sighted and incompetent?

Yes, vengeance and hate blind a person. Ok, that's fair. But we're supposed to believe that he sat back, thought about it, and this was the best payback scheme he had? Set up his rival to get killed or arrested by the Royal Navy, then pry a magic rock from his girlfriend's back? Are we in Narnia now? Is this Looney Tunes?

Speaking of the Royal Navy... how incompetent is the British Empire with these pardons for piracy? A big part of this book is this edict by the British Crown to forgive/pardon former pirates to encourage them to return to lawful society, all the while simultaneously persecuting and hanging them. Apparently, this is based on an actual decree by King George I in 1717, which also affected Blackbeard, interestingly enough, who rejected it until he was hunted down.

First of all, if you're the government, why the heck would you go out of your way to invite seasoned murderers and thieves into your society?

Second of all, if you're a pirate, why the heck would you trust the government to live up to its word rather than using this as an opportunity to nail you with an admission of guilt and an expedited sentence to the gallows?

In all fairness, the book does kinda explain this via Ivy and her father, a powerful aristocrat who reluctantly pushed for the the decree to make his daughter happy, allowing her to marry Thane. The dynamics of that whole Ivy/Ivy's father situation is as awkward and weird as it sounds, though admittedly interesting.

Anyway, let's get back to how Elsa evolves into a stranger and stranger character.

So, let's rehash: she starts off as an orphan who acts as the owner of a large brothel.

But wait, there's more!

Apparently, the magic Pashan rock unlocks something in her: the ability to find a secret treasure.

But wait, there's more!

The magic rock also gives her a variety of magical powers including the ability to burn things and generate electricity. So, she kinda becomes a sorceress.

But wait, there's more!

The magic rock gives her visions and some sort of precognition. So, she starts to fill the archetype of a pirate seeress, guiding the pirates to a treasure.

But wait, there's more!

Not only is she an orphan, the owner of a large brothel, a sorta-sorceress, and a pirate seeress, she can apparently transform herself into a mermaid.

No, we're not pulling your leg.
And she does this with so much calm, confidence, and poise that you'd assume she has done this a hundred times before. It's bizarre.

We get it, she's undergoing an arc in which she grows from a vulnerable person to a strong person, an apprehensive person to a confident person. However, it doesn't seem earned.

Why is that? Well, because a lot of her strength and confidence doesn't come from her, it comes from the magic rock and the powers.


It's not something she earned, fought, and struggled for, it's something she happened upon or that was forced on her.

It also creates an issue of becoming overly convenient. It gets to the point when Elsa can pull a new magic power out of thin air whenever the plot calls for it. It kinda ruins the tension and sense of danger that pervaded the first half of the book. How are we supposed to worry about Elsa when she becomes so overpowered?

And, again, who is Elsa by the end of this book? Her character seems all over the place, like a composite or amalgamation of numerous different character concepts: a seeress, a mermaid, a madame, a sorceress.

At the very least, we can say that these are interesting characters. At least the lines between good and evil are clear in this book, albeit a bit over the top.

One last thing that's both good, interesting, yet a bit funny is how Thane speaks. He speaks in pirate talk. What's funny is that few of the other character talk like him. He can be talking to Elsa or Ivy, speaking all piraty, then Elsa or Ivy will just talk to him in clean, plain English. It's hilarious. It's like in King of the Hill when all the characters are listening to Boomhauer's Southern mumbling, then respond as if they understood everything he said in plain English.

Similar to Codex Sohrakia, this is a very ambitious book that clearly had a lot of thought put into it.

There's some interesting romance, adventure, and pirate drama to be found here.

Check it out on Amazon!