I first ran across the Australian author Sean McMullen years ago when I read his Voices in the Light and Mirrorsun Rising (as the original Australian publisher called the first and second volumes of his Greatwinter Trilogy). These were science fiction stories bordering on the fantasy but straight enough then to keep me interested. However the third volume was a long time coming but eventually emerged from a U.S. publisher, Tor Books, and was, I think, written for a younger less mature U.S. audience.

Voyage of the Shadowmoon is McMullen's latest novel but for me, alas, he has moved across from the science fiction to the fully fantasy genre interlaced with slapstick. Not only that, he has added a heavy sexual content that I found repugnant. However if you are a fantasy fan and can stand the teenage innuendo then you may be satisfied with this book.

The story revolves around ten voyages of a sailing vessel cum island trader cum submersible that involve vampires, magical weapons, spells, wizards, war lords, princesses, priests and priestesses of strange esoteric religions. It starts with the use of a magical weapon that various groups of people then try to steal or neutralise. Classic goodies versus baddies fodder. The ship Shadowmoon moves these people from mainland port to island to mainland port, managing most of the time to avoid the marauding armies of a megalomaniac bent on world domination. However for a lot of the time I found it quite difficult to follow where the ship was sailing to, who were on board and why they were there. A map inside the end pages would have been a great help.

On top of this is the frequent sexual fantasy, either a castrated ex-king trying to regain his virility (he has the lost items in a jar pickled in vinegar) or the exploits of some of the more sexually adventurous and, of course, the coarse jokes surrounding these.

There are also the vampires with descriptions of their many meals of unfortunate bullies, obnoxious citizens and wastrels.

Oh, and a kidnapped princess who struggles to keep her virginity. Happily she is rescued in time.

I read an article once that said that there were only nine basic storylines and that the film Casablanca contained all of them. Well, I think the same can be said of Voyage of the Shadowmoon that is, if you can sort them out from each other and the slapstick as well.

Tags: sean mcmullen