Nothing Left to Wish For

by Andrew G. Schneider

Step onto the deck of the skyship, the Pirate Queen and join first mate Esme, Prince Sasha, and the genie Sting on a spectacular voyage across the Endless Desert. A botched raid on the treasure galleon, the Desert Jewel, earns Esme the enmity of the high wizard al-Hasan and a bounty on her head that leaves her with few friends and fewer options. Forced to choose between her life, her sanity, or secrets best left buried beneath the sands, Esme’s choices will, one way or another, leave her with nothing left to wish for.

492 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

In addition to a compelling plot, I was very impressed by the way the author evokes detailed images and fantastical places without spending a lot of time on descriptions. I was able to picture Esme's world so vividly without any breaks in the action. I also liked that there was a journey of self-discovery woven into the fast-paced adventure. It was both a thoroughly enjoyable read and a poignant tale with characters that really stuck with me even after I finished the book. I can't wait to read more from Mr. Schneider!

[Kali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It made me think that a tale like this might have resulted from a union of Jodi Taylor (St.Mary’s books) or Tanya Huff (The Confederation) and Robert Munsch (The Paper Bag Princess). Space opera meets fairy tale. The characters are interesting and well-differentiated and the world hangs together so that the reader can picture the surroundings and the nonstop action fairly clearly. Lots of surprises, lots of swashbuckling. It does have a rather high body count. I was intrigued by the sentence structure used by the author - writing in third person narrative with both internal and spoken dialog by a character - all three in the same sentence. It gives a kind of intimacy and immediacy to the storytelling.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buckle your space swashes! Nothing Left To Wish for is a swashbuckling tale of piratical heists; sailing over the endless dunes of a water-scarce future; and learning to live with both the ramifications of your choices and yourself. The writing is brisk, the characters complex & engaging, and the plot has some real surprises. Full disclosure: I'm married to the author. Which means that I've read this book (in varying draft stages) hundreds of times -- but I still enjoy it, and find it a page-turningly good read.

[Rolf Bjarne Kvinge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rare gem of a book.

It’s a strange world, but somehow the author manages to make it comprehensible. It’s not a skimmable book, you’d end up missing a lot of significant details, but that’s a good thing. The writing style is unconventional, but it works really well.

It’s well written, unique in an interesting way, and the story grabs you hard.

All in all one of my very few five stars, which I reserve for books I’ll remember for many, many years.

[Rob]

Lots of ups and downs and unexpected plot twists. It was interesting blend of science and "magic".