Watery Graves [Dramatized Adaptation]

The Privateers #1

by Chris A. Jackson

Treasure for the Taking

Unaware of the forces marshaled against him, Captain Phinneus Shae and the crew of the Talion are headed into uncharted waters. With a doggedly determined killer from his past on his trail and cold-blooded pirates all around him, Shae’s contract to recover the treasure from a sunken ship seems destined to fail. But other, more nefarious individuals are after that same treasure, and whatever it is, it is destined to change the future of the Iron Kingdoms. Whether for good or ill all depends on who finds it first and who is buried at the bottom of the sea in the end…

Genres: Fantasy, Steampunk

Audio CD

Published June 3, 2020

About the author

From the sea to the stars, Chris A. Jackson’s stories take you to the far reaches of the imagination. Raised on the back deck of a fishing boat and trained as a marine biologist, he became sidetracked by a career in biomedical research, but regained his heart and soul in 2009 when he and his wife Anne left the dock aboard the 45-foot sailboat Mr Mac to cruise the Caribbean and write fulltime.
With his nautical background, writing sea stories seemed inevitable for Chris. His acclaimed Scimitar Seas nautical fantasies won three consecutive Gold Medals in the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards. His Pathfinders Tales from Paizo Publishing combine high-seas combat and romance set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Not to be outdone, Privateer Press released Blood & Iron, a swashbuckling novella set in the Iron Kingdoms.
Chris’ repertoire also includes the award-winning and Kindle best-selling Weapon of Flesh Series, the contemporary urban fantasy Dragon Dreams, as well as additional fantasy novels, the humorous sci fi Cheese Runners trilogy of novellas, and numerous short stories.
To learn more, please visit jaxbooks.com.

Reviews

[J. Griff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treasure for the Taking

Unaware of the forces marshaled against him, Captain Phinneus Shae and the crew of the Talion are headed into uncharted waters. With a doggedly determined killer from his past on his trail and cold-blooded pirates all around him, Shae’s contract to recover the treasure from a sunken ship seems destined to fail. But other, more nefarious individuals are after that same treasure, and whatever it is, it is destined to change the future of the Iron Kingdoms. Whether for good or ill all depends on who finds it first and who is buried at the bottom of the sea in the end

Graphic Audio does it again with another great performance with this audiobook. This is a a great steampunk/pirate story. Would love to know about the world Chris A. Jackson has created.

[Martel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on my personal tastes, the rating doesn't reflect the quality of this play (the graphic audio version). Two things bothered me: the story contains about 80% battle scenes and nautical descriptions, and 20% story and character development. I prefer it the other way round. And the sound effects were sometimes a bit too much. for example, when the fellows were drinking, I Didn't care much for each swallowing sound. But again, it was well done, well written and is a 5 stars if someone is looking for pure action.
The author deserves a special mention for his strong female characters. Women were as tough, if not tougher than men in this one.

[Lady Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a pleasant surprise! I'm honestly usually a bit skeptical about novels based on RPG or wargaming universes--sometimes they can get a bit campy, and often, they feel forced as the author has to work around pre-built worldbuilding rules rather than letting the worldbuilding come naturally.

Totally not the case here! This was a brilliant story with great pacing throughout. Great characterization, too. I liked all three POV characters to the point that I was conflicted about which one I was rooting for at any given time.

Lastly, one of the things I absolutely loved about this book was the nautical lingo. Don't get me wrong--I know very little about sailing or being a pirate--but the author did an amazing job at making the nautical, piratical theme feel super realistic. At the same time, it was easy to understand. I didn't find myself reaching for the dictionary every few pages to look up nautical terms. Even when something was unfamiliar, the author wrote it in such a way that I could understand it through the context.

So yeah, I didn't think I'd end up being a fan of high seas fantasy, but after reading this, I'm going to check out some of the author's other works. Actually, I'm a bit sad about this one--I get the idea that it was supposed to have been the first of a series, but Privateer Press did away with their press to focus on wargaming only. And then got bought out by another wargaming company, which makes it seem unlikely that they'll ever resurrect the fiction branch of the business. It's a shame--I would have loved to read the rest of this series!

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. This is one of the only pirate books I think I've read recently. The acting was great. I definitely enjoy the narrator! (More Ishmael Jones please). Sound effects very good, not sure GraphicAudio has any other pirate novels, but enjoyed this first one I've heard. The story itself was alright, I don't really enjoy magic characters though and this had one, which I didn't expect, which was a bummer, though the story itself didn't really need it to my thoughts, but magic is in, so I get it.

[Shane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave this about 100 pages, it wasn't terrible, but there was just WAY TO MUCH naval talk. It seemed like about 75% of the writing was using nautical terms to tell what the ships were doing. When they weren't on ships it was good.

Also none of the characters were really blowing me away, though I did like Captain Fromish.