THE HOUSE OF WINDJAMMER
V. A. Richardson, . . Bloomsbury, $16.95 (300pp) ISBN 978-1-58234-811-7
In this first volume of a projected series, a potentially fascinating setting—trade-happy Amsterdam in the early 17th century—is made dull by muddled plotting and a crew of characters straight out of central casting. After the deaths of his uncle and father, Adam, 15, is named the head of the Windjammer family, a proud merchant clan now on the verge of losing everything. For reasons that are never adequately explained, the Windjammers have become the target of the ambitious and grandly vindictive ("I have the power to destroy you utterly, Adam Windjammer!") banker Hugo van Helsen, who seeks to take over their remaining assets. Van Helsen's predictably spitfire daughter, Jade ("I want to do more than just raise children.... I want to have adventures and be free. I want to
Reviewed on: 07/14/2003
Genre: Children's