Reviews

In the beginning I was strongly reminded why I prefer to read high fantasy in my native language, it took me a couple of chapters to work out which unknown words are just the nautical vocabulary that my English lacks and which are Barker's unique Hundred Islands words. I got there, eventually - but never got used to ships being male in this world, even though it makes sense in context of the world.
The worldbuilding is the strength of this book. I'm not the most avid fantasy reader anymore, but at least to me the ideas seemed fresh and creative. They make sense, fit well together and we get a vivid glimpse into a world that is very different from ours, but not less harsh.
Unfortunately, the prose itself is just not very good. The style feels clumsy while desperately trying to be regal and maybe even poetic and in the end it just reads pretentious without any real finesse.

Content Warnings

thebookwormsfeast's review against another edition

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5.0

"Come to me!" she shouted to those on the sea. "Come and die at the hand of Lucky Meas and her crew!"

Ok. This is a strong contender for a new favourite book right now!!!

I absolutely adored this story, and the characters we meet are all close to my heart already. To think of how we meet them and where they stand by the end, I'm awed. I want to be part of it. The feeling of belonging, and camaraderie - but still with that hint of spiciness that you get from stories set on the sea. I think that's why I was so obsessed with Pirates of the Carribbean growing up.

This reads like a grimdark out on the seas. There's ships made of the bones of sea dragons. A constant war. A harsh, unforgiving, and absolutely diabolical society. And we follow along from the perspective of a ship full of criminals.

Although bleak, the world feels so rich - and there still feels like there is still so much to uncover and unpick. I do have a small gripe of it felt repetitive at times (bits of information were often repeated throughout the book, like boneglue being flammable, to my mind a tad excessively). But it really is the smallest of gripes. The overall work completely swept me away and had me hooked from start to finish.

I can't wait to read the next - and love that I won't have to wait too long for the final in the trilogy either.

austinpowersbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

I finished this book a month ago and I held off on doing a review to confirm this is a 5 star for me...and it is. WOW. This was amazing. The world building, characters, ACTION, everything was written so well.

Joron Twiner is a great character alongside lucky Maes who helps him find his place and purpose in the world aboard the tide child. As I was reading I realized there was no romance and honestly loved that as I felt it did not need it at all. This is as high epic fantasy as it gets and I can't recommend it enough.

Gullaime stand out to me more than anything. What an interesting concept to have in your fantasy world, specifically a pirate ocean themed story. I can't wait to read more on them in this trilogy.

The fighting scenes were so detailed and not a single piece left out, I felt as if I was standing in the battle just observing. The ship battles weren't boring or stalling at all, as I thought they'd be. I found myself not being able to put this book down.

I can't think of a single character that didn't belong, wasn't written well, or could have been whatever. Truly this is a masterpiece and will go down as one of my favorite books ever and I'm sure the series as a whole will follow!

I highly recommend to Any high fantasy lover!!!

keary's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

astronad's review against another edition

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5.0

I had a rocky start with this book. It took me a while to warm up to it because I felt like the way the way the world was revealed to the readers wasn't as elegant or masterful as others I've read but once I became familiar with the worlds vocabulary, culture, and lore, it became immediately much more enjoyable. The characters were great, the world (after everything clicked for me) was so unique and different from the other fantasy worlds I've visited.

I also realize now that I'm a sucker for nautical fantasy. I love ships, and pirates, and dragons which is why this along with Robin Hobb's Ships of Magic and the Red Ships under Red Skies installment of the Lock Lamora series will be my go-tos for rereads.

Really excited to read the next one!

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