Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea (1906) is a novel by L. Frank Baum. Although he is more widely known as the author of the Land of Oz series, Baum also used several pseudonyms to make forays into more conventional fiction for young adults. Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea, written under the pen name “Capt. Hugh Fitzgerald,” is a story of discovery, betrayal, fortune, and adventure. “An orphan, now, and alone in the world. This father whom the angry seas had engulfed was the only relative I had known since my sweet little mother wearied of the world and sought refuge in Heaven, years and years ago.” Having already lost his mother as a boy, sixteen year old Sam Steele faces tragedy once more. His father’s ship, the Saracen, was lost at sea near the Lucayan Archipelago, leaving just one sailor alive. All that remains of Captain Steele are his watch, his ring, and a son who never had the chance to say goodbye. Soon, Sam is cut off from his rightful inheritance by Mrs. Ranck, his guardian. Alone in the world, without a penny to his name, Sam reconnects with his maternal uncle Naboth, a sea captain preparing to sail from San Francisco to join the Klondike Gold Rush. Together, they journey into the vast Pacific, where fortune and danger await. While Sam Steele’s Adventures on Land and Sea is far from the fantasy and fairy tale style most of Baum’s readers adore him for, it remains an entertaining work of adventure fiction for devoted fans of the Oz series and newcomers alike.

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