Biggles in the South Seas
From the Baltic in his last adventure, Biggles and the team find themselves somewhere a little warmer this time.
A chance meeting with Sandy Macaster, from 266 Squadron apparently, leads the team to the Marquesas islands on the trail of pearls. There they rub shoulders with Castanelli, a fiendish trader who runs the area. Helped by some local villagers, in particular a young couple called Shell-Breaker and Full-Moon, the team decamp to a small island off Tahiti and start raking in the pearls.
Of course nothing is ever that simple. There are shark attacks, octopi, hurricanes, floods, and the unwanted attentions of Castanelli and his thugs to contend with. Capt Johns definitely has a thing about giant octopi. Twice in this book the beasts cause havoc amongst the team.
Reviews
| KAM |  (10)One of the best of Biggles' adventures between the wars. A classic south-seas tale with all the trimmings -- cyclone, friendly natives, evil pirates, secret cave, sharks, giant octopi and treasure) -- what more could you want? The story is actually an expanded version of the short story "Beauty and the beast" from "Biggles flies again". [edit my review] |
| jason |  (8)cocnuts, palm-trees, cyclones, giant octopi, swordfish, murderous villains, pearls, native help and the vast expanses of the pacific. a fantastic adventure in the mould of Flies West. entertaining from start to finish, and Ginger gets to demonstrate a rare affinity for the fairer sex. [edit my review] |
| bertie | (8) Biggles bumps into Sandy, an old comrade from 266 squadron. Sandy has apparently discovered an amazing oyster bed near the Marquesas, in the Pacific Ocean. Biggles agrees to underwrite an diving expedition to retrieve the shell and any pearls for a split in the profits. Pretty quickly we are up to our armpits in octopii, slugs, centipedes, sand flies, swordfish, puke(!), sharks, a cyclone (of course!), and a nasty piece of work named Castanelli, who is also after the pearls. Good story, very much told from Ginger's perspective, along with his two Marquesan friends, Shell Breaker and Full Moon. I always found this one of the more memorable Biggles stories, and always seems fresh on a re-read. After the awful Biggles In The Jungle, it seemed especially good. Castanelli is one of the more ugly customers encountered in the Biggles stories, who along with his Solomon Island "cannibals", are ready to deal out murder and violence without a second thought. Full Moon is a wonderful character, who proves herself useful even if she does have a "simple mind" and is a "savage"! [edit my review] |
| Steve | (7) Biggles in the South Seas is another great story from Capt John's golden years. A classic tale of adventure, skullduggery and bravery, it is one of the better Biggles stories available. Most enjoyable is the potential love interest (or not as it turns out) between Ginger and Full-Moon, the young girlfriend of Shell-Breaker. The two are often wandering off hand-in-hand for a swim. You get the impression Capt Johns, and therefore Ginger, didn't really know how to handle the free-spirited local girl. [edit my review] |