Ahoy mateys! Another port plundered. Arrrr! And this one was super fun to explore. This novel was action packed from the very beginning. It was also a very fast read. Though it did take me some time to wrap my head around the world and its characters due to the fast pace, I managed quickly enough.

The two main characters Safiya and Iseult have a strong friendship that underlies the plot and is wonderful. This bond is filled with love and caring even though they are not lovers nor related by blood. Not that friendships cannot be like that in both novels and “real” life. Think of Frodo and Samwise Gamgee as an example of that type of friendship in novels. I have a few mateys like that in my real life and am grateful for them everyday though I see them only rarely when our ships happen to be in the same port. But ah the adventures we have had . . .

It is lovely to see two women in a novel with a friendship bond of strength that do not spend it talking about men, fashion and gossip. Not that those elements are not in this book. But they are not primary or even secondary to the plot. They come up in the course of the lives of Safiya and Iseult and are dealt with in a mostly realistic fashion. I mean this novel does have magic in it after all!

While the two women are the heart and focus of the novel, I really enjoyed some of the secondary characters. I hold a particular fondness for Prince Merilk, a ship’s captain (Arrr!). But I enjoyed many of the other characters in this novel. The secondary women characters were particularly wonderful – from monks, to ship girls, to empresses.

This book was a New York Times best seller, has blurbs from some of the biggest names in the business, and even has its own website which includes fun items like a playlist, quizzes, chapter excerpts, and videos of the author discussing topics like what kind of magic she would choose. I cannot wait for the next novel in the series.

To see other reviews I have written visit https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/