Ahoy there me mateys! This be the sea tale of Caroline Oresteia, a lass who wants nothing more then to sail the river on the Cormorant with her father and their crewmember Fee. She longs for the day when the river god will finally speak to her and looks towards the future of inheriting the wherry from her father someday. But it seems fate might have other plans. Her father is jailed on trumped up charges. He can be freed if Caroline agrees to transport a crate to its final destination. But curiosity gets the better of her and she opens the crate to find a unexpected passenger. Can she get her cargo to its final destination with seemingly everyone on the river out to stop her? And what about her hopes and plans for the future? What will she have to lose in order to gain back her father’s freedom?

It an absolutely brilliant debut if ye like any of the following:

- ships of all kinds
- pirates (Arrr!)
- magic
- a head-strong heroine
- consensual romance
- family involved in their teen’s life
- frogmen
- drakon
- diversity
- swashbuckling
- commandeering
- fun!

Fall in love with Caroline and her crew like I did. This be one story I need more of. Luckily there is a second book currently due out on 6/5/18. I need to get me mitts on a copy. Arrrrr!

Check out me crew members’ reviews of this one:

Beth @ readingeverynight’s review – “This is a rare fantasy book in that Caro’s parents are a very present part of her life, and it’s not only her parents but her extended family as well. Song of the Current was a brilliant debut, and I feel it’s left the series open to go anywhere in the second book.”

Lila @ hardcoverhaven’s review – “HOLY WOW ! Talk about an awesome book! Song of the Current fulfilled all of my needs–the ones I knew I had, as well as the ones I didn’t know I had! Now this is what I call a great book! I’m pretty positive you’ll hear me raving about this one for the rest of time!”

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there mateys! Though this log’s focus is on sci-fi, fantasy, and young adult, this Captain does have broader reading tastes. So occasionally I will share some novels that I enjoyed that are off the charts (a non sci-fi, fantasy, or young adult novel), as it were. Here is a very fun historical fiction:

dragon teeth (Michael Crichton)

So I have gushed about me love of this author before in me Broadside No. 7. I first heard about this particular novel while researching for that post back in October 2016. This book was discovered by Crichton’s wife in his archives and published post-humously in 2017. Most readers likely know of Crichton from his dinosaur books. Well this one has dinosaurs too! Just not in the way ye might think.

Set in 1876, this novel showcases the real-life rivalry of two fossil hunters in the Wild West. Yes cutthroat dinosaur hunters. Their names were Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. Their rivalry is known as the “Bone Wars.”

The story is told through the eyes of fictional student, William Johnson, who ends up on an expedition because of a bet. He gets way more than he bargained for when he is immersed in the rivalry of the two scientists. The hatred of the two men, the backdrop of the Sioux Wars, and William’s personal growth make for a very engaging novel.

Though the history is condensed and partially changed for the purposes of the story, the novel does a fantastic job of having exciting action while also showcasing the changing times. There are the Native Americans in the horrifying process of losing their land, the “settlers” trying to get ahead and just survive, political machinations of war, new technology, discussions of evolution, etc. mixed in with gunfights and some famous folk. As always, I love a book that makes me think and then due further research after reading. I read more about General Custer, the Sioux Wars, the Bone Wars, and two fossil hunters themselves.

If ye love Crichton’s previous works then I suggest ye pick up this western served with a side of paleontology. I very much enjoyed it. Arrrr!

Side note: I listened to the audio book and thought Scott Brick did an excellent job!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys! This be one of me reads in me May BookBum Club Challenge where the theme be “around the world: a book by an author who is from another country.” This author be from South Africa. I was reminded of this book’s existence from me recent look at me NetGalley Rejections – Part Two. I had requested it back in the day and was denied. So what better time to read it then for this challenge?

The blurb starts with “Zinzi has a sloth on her back.” A women who is bonded with a sloth? Ummm yes! So this is a fantasy book with a gritty atmosphere, awesome protagonist, and lyrical writing. It also won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel back in 2011.

The magic in this world is weird and awesome. So basically, if ye commit a crime then ye be bonded with an animal familiar. If yer animal dies then ye get dragged to the Underworld i.e. hell. So of course the people who have these animals are at the bottom of the social ladder and be pariahs. Because obviously if ye have an animal it is proof that ye be bad. But a positive to yer animal is that ye be granted a magical power. There is no rhyme or reason to what animal or power a person gets. Zinzi has a sloth and the ability to find lost things – keys, wallets, people. It is her ability to find people that causes her so much grief in this story.

Zinzi doesn’t normally do missing person cases because of the complications involved. But her debt to her ex-drug dealers is skyrocketing, she hates being a part of the 419 scams they give her, and this might be her ticket out of debt and into more freedom. I have to admit that I adored both Zinzi and her Sloth companion. Yes Zinzi made mistakes. But I couldn’t help but root for her anyway.

Zinzi has to find the missing person while dodging murder charges, finding clues, and trying to survive in the slum. For me the unique world-building and characterizations are what made the novel. The plot was okay but had some holes, some unanswered questions, some predictable plot twists, and a less-than satisfactory ending. But I adored Zinzi and the world the author created. I believe this be a stand-alone but I wouldn’t mind more stories set in this world. And I do believe I love the author’s writing style enough to give another novel of hers a try.

Much thanks to the BookBum Club for giving me the incentive to read this delightful “around the world” novel.

Ahoy there me mateys! While drawin’ up me lists of 2016 for me log, I realized a curious thing – out of 134 books read, not a single one was a re-read. In me enthusiasm of discovery and taking suggestions from me crew, I did not revisit a single old port for plunder! And part of what I love about readin’ is re-visitin’ old friends. So I decided to remedy that and thus created me new category where I take a second look at a previously enjoyed novel and give me crew me second reflections, as it were, upon visitin’ it again . . .

alanna: the first adventure (Tamora Pierce)

Now I had touched upon this novel and the author in me previous log post, Broadside No. 4. I adore Tamora Pierce and have read over 25 of her books. I had a hankering for a feel-good favourite and so I listened to this one in audiobook format narrated by actress Trini Alvarado. I have to admit that when I listened to this, I didn’t recognize the narrator’s name. But I did enjoy her reading.

I honestly couldn’t say how long it has been since I re-read this book. Over the years I tended to reread the Immortals series and the Protector of the Small series most often. And then of course read each new Tortall book as they were published.

So the first thing I realized upon listening was that I had really squashed the details of the books together overall. I honestly forgot how young Alanna is when the first book starts. I also forget how much bullying there is and how Alanna chooses to deal with it on her own and not ask for help. Even though people want to help her. As a younger reader that made sense to me. Now I look back and find disgruntlement in how it’s handled.

But ultimately listening to this brought back me sense of love for Alanna and the world that Tamora created. I like that important issues like puberty and menstruation are discussed in this book. I love that Alanna is strong, intelligent, determined, and fierce. I love that girls can be the heroes. I love magic and nobility and friendship and fun. So basically I am so glad to have revisited Alanna in her first adventure and will likely listen to the remaining three stories some time soon. Arrr!

Ahoy there me mateys! So a while back I listened to the wonderfully fabulous fortunately, the milk, which I adored. I immediately added all of Mr. Gaiman’s audiobooks to me list. I have a wee bit of an obsession (for details click here) and so when I had a short bit of time I decided to listen to this one.

I have to admit that while I thought this was an enjoyable fairy-tale retelling, I am not sure if I would listen to this again. It does have the beautiful imagery inherent in Gaiman’s works. I loved the sleeping masses that seemed almost zombie-like in their shuffling rambles. I loved the idea of everything being covered in spider silk and spiders. I loved the tangles of vines blocking the castle. I loved the strong women present within. The ending was wonderful. The book just didn’t catapult me into another time and space. I wasn’t sure if that was just because I was missing out on the illustrations.

I do remember there being a bit of a controversy when this came out due to one of Chris Riddell’s illustrations showing a woman kissing a woman (eek!?!). Even that kiss is more than it seems when taken in context with the story.

I did look up some of the illustrations online after listening to the story and found them to be compelling. The “dreaded” kiss one was achingly beautiful. In fact there is a lovely article in the Guardian in which Chris Riddell gives insight into the images he created for the book. I recommend this. So yes while the images were wonderful and magical in their own way, I still wasn’t mesmerized by them. So while I am glad to have listened to this, I am not sad that I don’t own a copy of me own.

Ahoy there me mateys!

Some fun geeky things about book two. It has a map! I know, I know, a lot of books have maps these days. But this one was fun because I am so not a visual person and I loved seeing a picture of how the United States was divided and how the landscape changed. Additionally the book had better fonts (I read the hardbacks). Why should this matter? Because in the first book the character Day had his point of view chapters in a brownish font and June’s were in black. I understand how for most people would be fine with this but I am rather blind and the brown hurt my eyes. Book two was much nicer to me and had black again for June and a blue color for Day. Made me happy.

Now as for the story itself, I enjoyed book two much better than the first. This book was full of the facts that I wanted like more history of the Republic and a better understanding of exactly how the Colonies were different (and similar for that matter). The relationship between June and Day is filled with its trials and tribulations which overall kept me feverishly up reading as much as book one did. This one overall was rather action packed and the story flowed nicely.

The other pleasant aspect of this novel from being more familiar with the characters was how different certain aspects of the storytelling helped differentiate between Day and June. Each chapter still alternated points of view between the two and I really did enjoy that element. June’s chapters, however, tended to show her sense of timing and specialized training in the details. Details like how much time has gone past to the seconds or in her surroundings like how much a rug in the room cost in Notes. Day’s chapters had less detail about time or environment but it did not lessen his character. There was just a focus on other things like the people around him and he seemed more emotionally based. And while book two ended somewhat how I expected in terms of the seeming outcomes of relationships, there was a nice twist I hadn’t quite expected and that I truly enjoyed. Have to read the third book!

If you liked this review see me others at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys!

What a fantastic conclusion overall! I have to say that I liked this series’ ending way better then the hunger games, divergent series, or the testing trilogy. I mean, each of those trilogies were fun in their own way and I loved reading them but I think all three of them were lacking, specifically with the third books. (Disagree with me in the comments if you so choose).

Now while I won’t spoil the ending, that likely most of you already know about, I will say that it was both bittersweet and yet hopeful. I just loved what the author chose to do here. The sacrifice of June and the potential resolution were lovely. It just felt more realistic than other series. I also appreciated that we got to see a sort of decision to how June and Anden resolved their outstanding issues. Fun.

Now the book was a little bit slow in pacing in the middle on how it dealt with the Eden situation and especially the cure. In addition, the fighting sequences in this book were just okay. But small potatoes, really. The peace treaty ended up setting up an interesting solution. It was not something that I saw coming at all.

I will admit that I would have loved more of how and why Antarctica works the way it does. The glimpse we had of it was tantalizing. I want to know about the points system and what people do there. Please write us a book set there, Miss Lu!

In any case, I am so glad I finally joined the rest of the planet in reading this series. Yay!

If you liked this review see me others at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys! I heard about this amazing book from a review by me crew member, Mogsy @ thebibliosanctum. It is getting five-star reviews by tons of me crew. Split into three distinct sections, this story follows a war orphan named Rin. Very briefly, the sections are 1) school testing; 2) magic training; and 3) war.

This be a story that grows darker as ye read. At the beginning, the book almost feels like a YA book where ye cheer young Rin on. But as Rin matures, so does the book’s tone. School is a place of bullies, lectures, and hard lessons. And then war comes and it is graphic and unflinching. But the world-building is lovely and the detail impeccable.

Me only small quibble is that the last part of magic training and the first part of war dragged a little for me. Other readers did not seem to have this problem. I do think that if ye can handle the darker subject matter then ye should give this a go. I certainly want the next book!

Side note: Isn’t this cover fabulous?

Check out me crew members reviews of this one:
Melanie @ metotheany’s review – “And ultimately, this is a story about a girl who has been given nothing but pain in a world that constantly reminds her that she is lesser. And she overcomes every single hurdle and becomes not only what the world said she couldn’t be, but she becomes what she wanted to be. Like, this book is powerful, empowering, and a love letter to all girls that are told they can’t do something daily.”

James Lafayette Tivendale’s review – “I can safely say that this will be the finest debut of 2018 and I’d be surprised if it isn’t one of the top 3 books of the year full stop. Spectacular, masterclass, brilliant, awesome… All the complimentary buzzwords you can imagine don’t quite do The Poppy War justice for how amazing it is.”

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys! A little while back, I was introduced to Robert Silverberg’s work with his novella the emperor and the maula.. Like I said then, I had absurdly never heard of him. Now if ye be unaware of the author:

I learned from sandy @ fantasyliterature that Mr. Silverberg has written no fewer than “78 sci-fi novels, almost 450 short stories and novellas, around 70 books of nonfiction, and around 185 novels of, um, “adult fiction,” in addition to having edited over 130 anthologies.” Talk about prolific! He is currently 82 years old. Goodreads says that he has won 5 Hugos and 5 Nebulas. Also he is a 2004 Grand Master from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Sheesh!

At the time I reached out to the crew for recommendations of what else to read out of his many, many works. Me matey, calmgrove, said “I’ve really enjoyed his Majippoor novels, all set on a giant planet. The first, “Lord Valentine’s Castle”, is very accessible, but to be honest if you don’t want to read the rest if the loosely linked series you won’t feel too denied!”

I liked the idea that it was a series that 1) if I liked it I could read more; and 2) it was a self-contained story. Plus a local library had it for free on audiobook. Decision made!

It turned out to be an okay read. I didn’t love it but I am glad I read it. I actually loved the world-building, the characters, and the wonderful set-up. The titular character, Valentine, was extremely fun. When ye start the book, Valentine is entering an enormous city in time for a festival. What ye learn is that Valentine has no memories at all. They start at the moment the reader meets him – on the hill on day of his arrival in the big city. Where did he come from? Why is he there? He doesn’t know what to do with himself so he joins a juggling troupe! Fantastic.

There were two major problems for me and unfortunately both are pet peeves. The first was that it is a travelogue. I love that ye get to see new places and people but here each are touched on only briefly. I don’t tend to like books where the characters wander around and nothing really exciting happens. In this book, the focus is on Valentine’s struggle to remember his past and then his reluctance to believe it. That reluctance is me second problem. Valentine waffles and hems and haws about his identity even when it has already been proven to the reader and even other characters in the book.

I do not like wishy-washy characters or angst. I did understand why Valentine wouldn’t want to take up his old position. I understood why he might want a choice in his life’s path. Who wouldn’t? But I would have liked, after a brief inter-personal struggle, to have seen him embrace his past and then decide how to tackle his future. Instead, the situation is resolved in almost a laughable way with very little action or suspense. Also there are convenient people who happen to come along and offer help at just the right moment. Sigh.

Dreams are also a major part of this book. They have real-world consequences and send messages to the people. There are dream readers and dream rulers. Dreams are tied into the ruling of the government. According to Wikipedia “The planet is ruled by an unusual tetrarchy: an adoptive Coronal rules in a highly visible and symbolic manner from his palace atop Castle Mount; the previous Coronal retires to become the Pontifex, the head of the bureaucracy in an underground Labyrinth; the Coronal’s mother becomes the Lady of the Isle of Sleep, promoting the morals of Majipoor by sending dreams to its inhabitants; while a hereditary King of Dreams on the distant continent of Suvrael punishes wrongdoers by visiting them with nightmares.” Again cool concept but I was more than a bit confused how they impacted Valentine’s journey.

I did happen to love Lisamon Hultin, a giant warrior woman mercenary. She was so fun! And there was an excellent part dealing with the sea and sea serpents. I, of course, adored that section. And truly, I was rooting for Valentine the whole time. While the plot didn’t excite me, I was glad to have this introduction to Majipoor world. I am not adverse to readin’ the second book as it seems to be a collection of individual stories set in a larger framework. Arrr!

Check out this interesting article on the Tor.com website about the novel.

Also check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there me mateys! This was an audiobook that I picked up because I was looking for a fluffy young adult book. I think somewhere I had heard there be dragons. Well, there be no dragons here. But there are cool flying animals, airships, silly fish-loving chefs, sea-adventures, pirates, lost islands, smart feisty girls, daring kind-hearted boys, and adventure!

The other appeal of this particular audiobook was that is was performed by Full Cast Audio. According to their website “Full Cast Audio (FCA) has a simple mandate: to produce unabridged recordings of fine children’s novels using a full cast rather than a single reader. Whenever possible, we invite the author to serve as narrator.” They are located back in me (very) old stomping grounds of Syracuse, New York where it snowed every day from Halloween to April. I heard about this company because mateys of mine worked as voice actors for the company. At yet I had never listened to a single book. This is back in the day where audiobooks really weren’t a thing and these productions were treated more as radio plays. So I was delighted to finally hear one.

I absolutely loved the main character, Matt Cruse, and his love for the airship, Aurora. The ship felt real and lived in. Ye got a real sense of Matt’s life onboard. Matt was poor but plucky, hard-working, and ambitious. The story is told from his perspective. Joining him on the ship is Kate de Vries, an upper class passenger. She likes science and photography and out-witting her chaperone. She is out to solve a mystery and draws Matt into the chase.

I thought overall that this was an excellent foray. Matt could get a bit overbearing and Kate was a bit short-sighted and stubborn. But the world building was lovely, the pirates were dastardly, and the science behind both the ship and creatures was fascinating. The plot was intense and full of action. I loved the voice performances and the sound effects. The side characters were as wonderful as the main duo. It was an engaging and quick read. It could work as a standalone though it is part of a larger trilogy.

I want me an airship!! Arrr!!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/