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The Seaborn Cycle #3
Stormborn
In this stunning conclusion to Michael Livingston’s Seaborn Cycle, the Fair Isles sail to battle, legends become real, and new magicks threaten to shatter the world.
Bela sails the skies with a reader and a metal man, searching for a path to peace.
Shae faces the truth of what it means to love and what she is willing to sacrifice for it.
Alira leads desperate refugees seeking a new home—and may at last find one for herself.
War rises. Blood sings. And the world of the Seaborn will never be the same.
Helm to the end.
Bela sails the skies with a reader and a metal man, searching for a path to peace.
Shae faces the truth of what it means to love and what she is willing to sacrifice for it.
Alira leads desperate refugees seeking a new home—and may at last find one for herself.
War rises. Blood sings. And the world of the Seaborn will never be the same.
Helm to the end.
11 pages, Audiobook
First published March 9, 2023
11 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Michael Livingston
57 books239 followersA native of Colorado, Michael Livingston holds degrees in History, Medieval Studies, and English. He lives today in Charleston, South Carolina, where he teaches at The Citadel.
In his author life, he is a winner of the prestigious international Writers of the Future Contest (in 2005), and his novel SHARDS OF HEAVEN, the first in a trilogy of historical fantasies, will be published by Tor Books in November 2015. He has also published in a variety of other genres and venues, from a historical retelling of BEOWULF to a brief story about quantum physics in the world-renowned journal of science, NATURE.
In his academic life, he has published more than a dozen articles on subjects as varied as early Christianity, BEOWULF, Chaucer, James Joyce, J.R.R. Tolkien, and digital and practical pedagogies (though never all of them at once!). He has investigated European maps of America that pre-date Columbus, found unrecorded Anasazi ruins and artifacts, and written about the handwriting of fourteenth-century scribes. He is the general editor of the Liverpool Historical Casebooks Series, for which he has edited casebooks on the Battle of Brunanburh (Exeter, 2011), the Welsh rebel hero Owain Glyndwr (co-edited with John Bollard; Liverpool, 2013), and, coming soon, the Battle of Crécy (co-edited with Kelly DeVries; 2015).
In his author life, he is a winner of the prestigious international Writers of the Future Contest (in 2005), and his novel SHARDS OF HEAVEN, the first in a trilogy of historical fantasies, will be published by Tor Books in November 2015. He has also published in a variety of other genres and venues, from a historical retelling of BEOWULF to a brief story about quantum physics in the world-renowned journal of science, NATURE.
In his academic life, he has published more than a dozen articles on subjects as varied as early Christianity, BEOWULF, Chaucer, James Joyce, J.R.R. Tolkien, and digital and practical pedagogies (though never all of them at once!). He has investigated European maps of America that pre-date Columbus, found unrecorded Anasazi ruins and artifacts, and written about the handwriting of fourteenth-century scribes. He is the general editor of the Liverpool Historical Casebooks Series, for which he has edited casebooks on the Battle of Brunanburh (Exeter, 2011), the Welsh rebel hero Owain Glyndwr (co-edited with John Bollard; Liverpool, 2013), and, coming soon, the Battle of Crécy (co-edited with Kelly DeVries; 2015).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 24, 2025
I loved the ending battle but I’ll be honest I drifted in and out of comprehension on this. Something about the narrative didn’t hold me. I think it was the frequent jumps between our main three characters. I started to focus better when they came together in the end. I didn’t care for Shae’s arc at all, that was disappointing and sad she continued to just lose everything meaningful to her. Bela shined and was my favorite throughout. I’m unsure if this is the official ending or if the story will continue. I probably won’t be picking it back up.
September 15, 2023
I enjoyed this series. I wish there was another book to wrap things up a bit more for me.
October 23, 2025
I mostly enjoyed this series- but I really only listened to the trilogy because Elizabeth Evans was the narrator. But I never really connected with any of the characters. In fact, my favorite character was Caden - which I thought ironic considering that I’m a woman, listening to a book written by a man about a world run by women - and my favorite character is a man.
May 20, 2024
Good ending to the series, even if the last chapter felt cut off and the epilogue was a bit off.
Sad that those two characters died :(. But I knew one of them HAD to die (tropes and all that), and I'm not too mad it was them. A hero's death!!
Sad that those two characters died :(. But I knew one of them HAD to die (tropes and all that), and I'm not too mad it was them. A hero's death!!
April 21, 2023
I thought this book was the best out of all of them in the series. It was definitely a good ending to this series. When I first started this series, I had a feeling that the three main characters of this series were going to come together at the end, which they definitely did in his book. It took them a while, but they actually did finally come together. The only thing that didn’t really make sense to me was the fact that the stormborn we’re going to have to move off of their island and over near the airborne because Bela accidentally released dragons into the world. I don’t feel that any moving off of one island to another, is going to help keep dragons away they’re going to find them no matter where they go. The King in this book finally got what he deserved because he was such a jerk. Of course, there were other people in his book that were jerks as well and they pretty much got what they deserved to. Unfortunately for Bela and the other two main women characters, they did not get the happy ending they wanted either. I guess that’s what happens in war. I did like the end of this book, it was good. I did like the fact that the narrators for all three of these books were the same on audible.
December 12, 2023
The was the thrilling conclusion to the seaborn cycle. I loved it. I was sad when it ended but it was a great ending. I want more, but I'm glad the three characters I've been loving to follow this whole time get to team up and save the world. If you ask me they were all doing it separately together anyway.
August 6, 2025
Much more of a tragedy than the preceding two books in the series, and the ending was a bit dissatisfying - I feel like it was a bit rushed, sort of abruptly ending just a few minutes after the action stopped. So many questions left unanswered - although I suppose since half the cast of characters is gone, there wasn't going to be a good way to continue the story to answer them.
The introduction of some magical beasts from another realm that I won't name here also seemed a bit... haphazard? Rushed? I really thought they'd come into play in the end somehow, but they just kind of dropped out of the picture. Perhaps a topic for a future Book 4 (although again, half the cast is gone, so I think the series is considered complete).
On the positive side, I thought the pacing of this one was much better - there was a bit of stage-setting in the beginning that was slower, some recapping of the previous books, but it felt minimal, and the rest of it was pretty consistently building toward the end. I also thought Livingston did a much better job really developing the characters and their relationships in this book than in the previous two. Caden, Shay, Aleera, and Tew - apologies if I'm misspelling the names since I listened to the audio book - especially did a lot of growing in this one (some of which was begun in book 2, but they really seemed to come a long way in understanding themselves and the world in this one).
Overall the series was an enjoyable, easy listen - a good break from my usual nonfiction history or social justice fare. A fun escapist adventure you can just enjoy without thinking too hard about the world, and heroically humble characters you can easily root for.
The introduction of some magical beasts from another realm that I won't name here also seemed a bit... haphazard? Rushed? I really thought they'd come into play in the end somehow, but they just kind of dropped out of the picture. Perhaps a topic for a future Book 4 (although again, half the cast is gone, so I think the series is considered complete).
On the positive side, I thought the pacing of this one was much better - there was a bit of stage-setting in the beginning that was slower, some recapping of the previous books, but it felt minimal, and the rest of it was pretty consistently building toward the end. I also thought Livingston did a much better job really developing the characters and their relationships in this book than in the previous two. Caden, Shay, Aleera, and Tew - apologies if I'm misspelling the names since I listened to the audio book - especially did a lot of growing in this one (some of which was begun in book 2, but they really seemed to come a long way in understanding themselves and the world in this one).
Overall the series was an enjoyable, easy listen - a good break from my usual nonfiction history or social justice fare. A fun escapist adventure you can just enjoy without thinking too hard about the world, and heroically humble characters you can easily root for.
January 21, 2024
Meh, the whole series is probably 2 stars. I mean, for a free download on audible it’s kind of what you expect. I feel like I was supposed to be more compelled than I was. Like compelled by the characters, story, drama, everything, and it missed. I don’t want to write about spoilers but there are just random parts that make you go ???? What’s the point? It seemed like a lot of sh*t crammed into 3 books. Not my favorite.
April 14, 2023
Unfortunately for me I found this book before the 2 that came before it and as such it took me a while to get to know all the different players. But all in all it was good book with strong characters all around.
July 13, 2023
I didnt know there were 2 books prior to this one, and maybe if I had read them, I would have liked this better. It felt like it took 1/2 the book before it started getting interesting. Once all the action started, it was enjoyable.
June 14, 2024
The series come to an end in this book it was exciting and fun and it is nice to have something not as long as other series I am reading.
June 29, 2025
I received a review copy from the publishers in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions.
STORMBORN is an epic trilogy finale with plenty of action and moments of disaster for the cast.
Kayden is back as a narrator! I missed him in ICEBORN so I was glad to hear from him again - and see his and Shae's relationship through his eyes too. He is joined by a new narrator, Menas, one of the guards from the Seaborn fleet. Menas is key to understand what is happening with the fleet, given the women are all off on their own missions.
While the narrators all start off separate, they do come together for the big showdown, of which I was glad. It made it feel like one overall story as they collided, all having a part to play in the finale. Their paths across the book leads there, which also helped their individual tales feel less disparate.
There are other moments of peril and action leading up, and it's teamwork and trust that helps the characters get through, which was nice. I liked seeing character reunite (like Bela and Shae or Bela and Alira) who have been apart a while.
There is a cost to the epic final battle, of which I was glad. I find it hard to believe series enders where everyone gets off scot-free. To me, that feels like it undermines the stakes - how can it all be so terrible if the worst there is are a few scratches? This sort of cost-heavy ending feels so much more satisfying (and in keeping with the tone of the series).
STORMBORN is an epic trilogy finale with plenty of action and moments of disaster for the cast.
Kayden is back as a narrator! I missed him in ICEBORN so I was glad to hear from him again - and see his and Shae's relationship through his eyes too. He is joined by a new narrator, Menas, one of the guards from the Seaborn fleet. Menas is key to understand what is happening with the fleet, given the women are all off on their own missions.
While the narrators all start off separate, they do come together for the big showdown, of which I was glad. It made it feel like one overall story as they collided, all having a part to play in the finale. Their paths across the book leads there, which also helped their individual tales feel less disparate.
There are other moments of peril and action leading up, and it's teamwork and trust that helps the characters get through, which was nice. I liked seeing character reunite (like Bela and Shae or Bela and Alira) who have been apart a while.
There is a cost to the epic final battle, of which I was glad. I find it hard to believe series enders where everyone gets off scot-free. To me, that feels like it undermines the stakes - how can it all be so terrible if the worst there is are a few scratches? This sort of cost-heavy ending feels so much more satisfying (and in keeping with the tone of the series).
October 27, 2025
a nice "free" listen, but wouldn't spend money on it
May 26, 2025
Stormborn was a thrilling conclusion to a fascinating fantasy trilogy.
The book begins with the three groups of protagonists pretty much as they were at the end of Iceborn. All three groups of characters, Bela, the reader and Kolum, Alira with the survivors of the Bloodborn attack and Shae and Kayden up in the lands of the Airborn are taking stock and deciding what their next actions should be. All three groups are facing a common threat but not everyone sees that this is the case.
The book is written as before with different POV chapters but in this book we have the added insight of the captain of the Stoneguard too. I do love this method of keeping each strand of the story fresh in your mind even though every time a chapter ends and we switch to another POV, I groan inwardly as I really don’t want to stop reading about the current characters.
All three of the story strands are brilliantly written and the world building continues to be excellent. I loved each of the storylines and one or two of the plot twists took me completely by surprise. The pace is never slow but as the events converge towards the climax, it speeds up and the last few chapters are as thrilling and action packed as anyone could wish.
I love all three of the main female characters but for me, Bela is still the real heart of this book and the whole trilogy. It was her dramatic actions to save the ships at the beginning of the first book that set the scene for everything that followed and her POV chapters still have an immediacy that the others don’t quite have. She has lost everything but is still determined to do what she can to save her people even if it means that she can never go home. The scenes towards the beginning of Stormborn when she looks back on all that has happened have a real poignancy.
I loved Alira and Shae too but their storylines didn’t quite grab me in the same way. Alira’s part of the story with the Stormborn in particular was a bit slow paced at times. I don’t mind slow pace in books but I felt that she was the least interesting out of the three. One thing that I did love about all three main characters was the way that their attitudes towards men changed over the course of the trilogy. As inhabitants of a matriarchal society, they were all very dismissive of men and their value to society and it was interesting to watch how each of their attitudes changed as they came into contact with men and worked together with them.
I think that the author’s historical background comes through in the sweep and scale of the action as well as in the conclusion. Without giving too much away, this felt very much like a real life rather than a traditional fantasy ending. There are still going to be difficulties ahead and not everyone is going to live happily after.
I enjoyed all three books in this nautical fantasy trilogy and would definitely recommend them
The book begins with the three groups of protagonists pretty much as they were at the end of Iceborn. All three groups of characters, Bela, the reader and Kolum, Alira with the survivors of the Bloodborn attack and Shae and Kayden up in the lands of the Airborn are taking stock and deciding what their next actions should be. All three groups are facing a common threat but not everyone sees that this is the case.
The book is written as before with different POV chapters but in this book we have the added insight of the captain of the Stoneguard too. I do love this method of keeping each strand of the story fresh in your mind even though every time a chapter ends and we switch to another POV, I groan inwardly as I really don’t want to stop reading about the current characters.
All three of the story strands are brilliantly written and the world building continues to be excellent. I loved each of the storylines and one or two of the plot twists took me completely by surprise. The pace is never slow but as the events converge towards the climax, it speeds up and the last few chapters are as thrilling and action packed as anyone could wish.
I love all three of the main female characters but for me, Bela is still the real heart of this book and the whole trilogy. It was her dramatic actions to save the ships at the beginning of the first book that set the scene for everything that followed and her POV chapters still have an immediacy that the others don’t quite have. She has lost everything but is still determined to do what she can to save her people even if it means that she can never go home. The scenes towards the beginning of Stormborn when she looks back on all that has happened have a real poignancy.
I loved Alira and Shae too but their storylines didn’t quite grab me in the same way. Alira’s part of the story with the Stormborn in particular was a bit slow paced at times. I don’t mind slow pace in books but I felt that she was the least interesting out of the three. One thing that I did love about all three main characters was the way that their attitudes towards men changed over the course of the trilogy. As inhabitants of a matriarchal society, they were all very dismissive of men and their value to society and it was interesting to watch how each of their attitudes changed as they came into contact with men and worked together with them.
I think that the author’s historical background comes through in the sweep and scale of the action as well as in the conclusion. Without giving too much away, this felt very much like a real life rather than a traditional fantasy ending. There are still going to be difficulties ahead and not everyone is going to live happily after.
I enjoyed all three books in this nautical fantasy trilogy and would definitely recommend them
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews