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The Scimitar Seas #1
Scimitar Moon
Scimitar MoonGold Medal winner for Fantasy in the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2009The pirates of the Shattered Isles live and die by on simple By blood, by wind, by water and wave, loyal as one, or a watery grave… With that oath, their lord, Captain Bloodwind, would build a nation of pirates. He doesn't want much, after all… just everything. And what he cannot have, he will destroy.The only man to ever stand against him, the legendary seamage Orin Flaxal, paid that price. But his orphaned daughter, Cynthia, has plans of her own, and revenge is top on her list. She is no warrior, and thanks to Bloodwind's murder of her parents, she will never be a seamage. But she has one family trait that nobody can she can build ships, like her grandfather did. She will build ships that no corsair can match, and use them to starve the pirate nation to death. And with the help of a bedraggled seasprite, a crippled old sailor and a retired ship's cook, who could stand against her? But Bloodwind has spies and assassins in every port, and Cynthia's new ships would make fine additions to his pirate fleet. Meanwhile, Odea, goddess of the sea, has her own plans for Cynthia Flaxal. So when Cynthia's ships finally set sail, both Captain Bloodwind and Odea are ready.Scimitar SunGold Medal winner for Fantasy in the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2010Scimitar's HeirGold Medal winner for Fantasy in the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards 2011
346 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2007
10 people are currently reading
288 people want to read
About the author
Chris A. Jackson
90 books192 followersFrom 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 14, 2012
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I want to start this off by saying this book is 4.5 stars. It is pretty darn close to 5 stars. There is just one piece that keeps it from breaking that barrier. Here is the break down.
Wins
World Building - If you are reading a fantasy story, this has to be a win. If the author does not build a world that sucks you in, they missed the point of reading fantasy. This world is surprisingly grounded despite the fact that it is fantastical. The story focuses on a human character in a human town. Nothing out of the ordinary. Mages, dwarfs and elves are spoke of as though they are spoken of as though they are uncommon. I like this because they are fairly uncommon in my human life as well. There is a sea fairy that keeps the fantasy element prevalent while the rest of the very rest of the natural world is established.
Characters - The characters felt like real people. I never questioned why I should care about any of the characters, because each of them earned it. The protagonist came to her motives naturally through character progression. The relationships developed naturally. The antagonist was a down right nasty pirate who used fear and manipulation to gain terrible power in a disturbingly real way. The pirates did terrible things, but you understood why they did it.
Issue Resolution - There is magic in the world. Both sides utilize magic, but it does not solve the problems. The use of magic by the antagonist causes him as many problems as it resolves. The protagonist does not even learn her magic until nearly the end of the book. This forces the characters to solve their problems with their own two hands. The author did a good job of keeping away from Deus Ex Machina.
Dialogue - The dialogue in this book read like a sailor got of his boat, went to shore side pub and wrote a book. I do not know sailing terminology; so maybe if you do, you may find fault in it. Most authors should not write accents, because it just reads terribly. I felt like the author knew enough about grammar to ensure the accents read properly. This also added to how real the characters and world felt.
POV Change - This is something that I like in some instances and hate in others. To many POV changes hinders the readers attachment to the protagonist. There were a lot of POV changes in this book, but did not hurt the character development at all. It was used more of a plot device than anything. The reader had this broad view of what was happening in the world, but was keenly aware of the small things each character was doing. There was this feeling of Macro and Micro that really worked well.
Enjoyment factor - The pace was good. It held this feeling of adventure that we have all had since the first Pirates of the Caribbean. I said in one of my status updates that I wished it had another 100 pages. It was so much fun to read that it excited me. That is what a good story should do.
Loses
Cover - this seems silly, but I thought I was getting a youth pirate adventure story when from the cover. This is actually an adult fantasy story. There is swearing and drinking and lots of violence. It just caught me off guard when I read the first swear word. The cover is okay, it just does not represent the book properly, in my opinion.
Magic System Development - I made stated the development for a specific reason. The magic fit in the world properly. I lied it a lot. The issue I have, which kept it fro 5 stars, is that I do not fully understand the magic system. I understood this through most of the book because the protagonist did not understand the magic system. There is a section in the book where the protagonist is learning how to use her magic. There were some good descriptions, but the system as a whole had some gaps.
I do not know if you can get this book in your library or not, but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure. This was a blast to read.
I want to start this off by saying this book is 4.5 stars. It is pretty darn close to 5 stars. There is just one piece that keeps it from breaking that barrier. Here is the break down.
Wins
World Building - If you are reading a fantasy story, this has to be a win. If the author does not build a world that sucks you in, they missed the point of reading fantasy. This world is surprisingly grounded despite the fact that it is fantastical. The story focuses on a human character in a human town. Nothing out of the ordinary. Mages, dwarfs and elves are spoke of as though they are spoken of as though they are uncommon. I like this because they are fairly uncommon in my human life as well. There is a sea fairy that keeps the fantasy element prevalent while the rest of the very rest of the natural world is established.
Characters - The characters felt like real people. I never questioned why I should care about any of the characters, because each of them earned it. The protagonist came to her motives naturally through character progression. The relationships developed naturally. The antagonist was a down right nasty pirate who used fear and manipulation to gain terrible power in a disturbingly real way. The pirates did terrible things, but you understood why they did it.
Issue Resolution - There is magic in the world. Both sides utilize magic, but it does not solve the problems. The use of magic by the antagonist causes him as many problems as it resolves. The protagonist does not even learn her magic until nearly the end of the book. This forces the characters to solve their problems with their own two hands. The author did a good job of keeping away from Deus Ex Machina.
Dialogue - The dialogue in this book read like a sailor got of his boat, went to shore side pub and wrote a book. I do not know sailing terminology; so maybe if you do, you may find fault in it. Most authors should not write accents, because it just reads terribly. I felt like the author knew enough about grammar to ensure the accents read properly. This also added to how real the characters and world felt.
POV Change - This is something that I like in some instances and hate in others. To many POV changes hinders the readers attachment to the protagonist. There were a lot of POV changes in this book, but did not hurt the character development at all. It was used more of a plot device than anything. The reader had this broad view of what was happening in the world, but was keenly aware of the small things each character was doing. There was this feeling of Macro and Micro that really worked well.
Enjoyment factor - The pace was good. It held this feeling of adventure that we have all had since the first Pirates of the Caribbean. I said in one of my status updates that I wished it had another 100 pages. It was so much fun to read that it excited me. That is what a good story should do.
Loses
Cover - this seems silly, but I thought I was getting a youth pirate adventure story when from the cover. This is actually an adult fantasy story. There is swearing and drinking and lots of violence. It just caught me off guard when I read the first swear word. The cover is okay, it just does not represent the book properly, in my opinion.
Magic System Development - I made stated the development for a specific reason. The magic fit in the world properly. I lied it a lot. The issue I have, which kept it fro 5 stars, is that I do not fully understand the magic system. I understood this through most of the book because the protagonist did not understand the magic system. There is a section in the book where the protagonist is learning how to use her magic. There were some good descriptions, but the system as a whole had some gaps.
I do not know if you can get this book in your library or not, but I would recommend this book to anyone who likes adventure. This was a blast to read.
September 28, 2010
I feel I must begin this review with a disclaimer, I have never liked pirate stories. I'm afraid of sailboats (long story, ask me sometime), I can't swim better than a dog paddle, and while I grew up along the Chesapeake Bay I have no affinity for the sea whatsoever. So for me to say that I liked Scimitar Moon by Chris Jackson so much is truly remarkable. Of course it helps that his world includes dwarfs, elves and plenty of magic.
The characters are full and richly imbued with a fair share of flaws each. The protagonist, Cynthia Flaxal, is the spoiled little rich girl daughter of a shipping empire gone to seed. But under her petticoats lies the heart of a sailor and the blood of a seamage. With a vocabulary to rival any drunken seadog(the book is PG however, most of the swearing is verbose and entertaining rather than raunchy) Cynthia is thrust into the unlikely role of ship owner and her troubles only begin with seasickness.
The rest of the cast is no less engaging. The pirate leader Bloodwind is wonderfully not the two dimensional stereotype one might expect. The pirates and sailors don't all go around shouting "argh". And even the family retainers have their own stories to tell. It's a rich cast indeed.
But the character that steals the show is the seasprite, Mouse. I've seen authors try to interject humor into an otherwise tense and dramatic book, but Jackson succeeds where others fail. The antics of this tiny sprite come at at just the right times to accent the dramatic, and sometimes horrific, story with enough humor to ground the reader and make even a die-hard pirate story hater like me hang around for more.
I'm surprised to be giving Scimitar Moon five stars. Really, I only realized in retrospect just how much I enjoyed this read. It does get technical at times, with lists of sails and lines and spars and such, but Jackson always rewards you with something exciting or humorous afterward. It's a well balanced work and I look forward to the next installment of the series.
The characters are full and richly imbued with a fair share of flaws each. The protagonist, Cynthia Flaxal, is the spoiled little rich girl daughter of a shipping empire gone to seed. But under her petticoats lies the heart of a sailor and the blood of a seamage. With a vocabulary to rival any drunken seadog(the book is PG however, most of the swearing is verbose and entertaining rather than raunchy) Cynthia is thrust into the unlikely role of ship owner and her troubles only begin with seasickness.
The rest of the cast is no less engaging. The pirate leader Bloodwind is wonderfully not the two dimensional stereotype one might expect. The pirates and sailors don't all go around shouting "argh". And even the family retainers have their own stories to tell. It's a rich cast indeed.
But the character that steals the show is the seasprite, Mouse. I've seen authors try to interject humor into an otherwise tense and dramatic book, but Jackson succeeds where others fail. The antics of this tiny sprite come at at just the right times to accent the dramatic, and sometimes horrific, story with enough humor to ground the reader and make even a die-hard pirate story hater like me hang around for more.
I'm surprised to be giving Scimitar Moon five stars. Really, I only realized in retrospect just how much I enjoyed this read. It does get technical at times, with lists of sails and lines and spars and such, but Jackson always rewards you with something exciting or humorous afterward. It's a well balanced work and I look forward to the next installment of the series.
October 1, 2011
By blood, by wind, by water and wave, loyal as one, or a watery grave! I'm certainly now a loyal fan!
I stumbled upon Chris A. Jackson's table at Dragon*Con 2011, where my friend and I stopped to look at the novels arrayed before us. I bought the first three books of this Scimitar Seas series, and my friend bought his Cornerstones trilogy. Believe me, Chris will NOT let you down!
I finished Scimitar moon, and I actually put down the novel laughing and in such a good mood, happy with the entire book. Mouse is such a wonderful character, and I really enjoyed all of the intricate plot twists and comic relief [Thanks to little Mouse, a quick witted seasprite]! There was a fair amount of danger and fear, revenge, betrayal, magic, and underneath it all, was hope of a girl trying to live up to her dreams. This book should be made into a fantastic movie! [I'd beg to play a role!]
His writing is so captivating, and it leaves the reader on the edge of her seat, itching for more! There were too many times where I just wanted to skip ahead to see what happened, but I waited and enjoyed all of the story. The characters are developed at a good pace, each of them pulling at your heart as you begin to love or even hate them too! Mr. Jackson's got a wonderful personality, and an amazing talent for writing, and his effort in his novels is truly apparent and appreciated! His experience at sea really enriches these novels, giving a great impression of life at sea.
He also took the time to generously reply to my fan mail, which not many authors nowadays takes the time to do. I am thoroughly impressed with his writing, and his personality.
Thank you Chris A. Jackson for writing these wonderful novels!
His dedicated fan,
Sky.
I stumbled upon Chris A. Jackson's table at Dragon*Con 2011, where my friend and I stopped to look at the novels arrayed before us. I bought the first three books of this Scimitar Seas series, and my friend bought his Cornerstones trilogy. Believe me, Chris will NOT let you down!
I finished Scimitar moon, and I actually put down the novel laughing and in such a good mood, happy with the entire book. Mouse is such a wonderful character, and I really enjoyed all of the intricate plot twists and comic relief [Thanks to little Mouse, a quick witted seasprite]! There was a fair amount of danger and fear, revenge, betrayal, magic, and underneath it all, was hope of a girl trying to live up to her dreams. This book should be made into a fantastic movie! [I'd beg to play a role!]
His writing is so captivating, and it leaves the reader on the edge of her seat, itching for more! There were too many times where I just wanted to skip ahead to see what happened, but I waited and enjoyed all of the story. The characters are developed at a good pace, each of them pulling at your heart as you begin to love or even hate them too! Mr. Jackson's got a wonderful personality, and an amazing talent for writing, and his effort in his novels is truly apparent and appreciated! His experience at sea really enriches these novels, giving a great impression of life at sea.
He also took the time to generously reply to my fan mail, which not many authors nowadays takes the time to do. I am thoroughly impressed with his writing, and his personality.
Thank you Chris A. Jackson for writing these wonderful novels!
His dedicated fan,
Sky.
March 15, 2009
Solomon's grave is a chilling tale of a Baptist minister, Nathan Denneck, who is thrown into a search for the Ark of the Covenant. A mind-controlling Ammonite (demon worship) priest also seeks the Ark as a gateway for the hordes of Hell to invade Heaven. Keohane has a good grasp of suspense building, and creates characters who are believable and react in human ways... no superheroes here, just folks, which I like.
The only negative, if this is one, is a fairly abrupt ending. I felt like I was being set up for a sequel, which would be welcome...
The only negative, if this is one, is a fairly abrupt ending. I felt like I was being set up for a sequel, which would be welcome...
August 3, 2016
This is the reason I give obscure fantasy authors a try. This. Sure, doing this you run the risk of encountering some crap storytelling and the kind cliché, formulaic fantasy that gives the awesome genre a bad name, but some manage to capture the innovation, imagination, and magic that made me fall in love with the genre in the first place, and, to me, those books are worth searching for. And it is with great happiness that I report Scimitar Moon is such a novel.
Perhaps my favorite thing about this book was the avid love of sailing and the sea throughout that reminded me of Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic with a dash of Pirates of the Caribbean thrown in for extra excitement. I know the author of Scimitar Moon succeeded in sharing in his love of the sea when he can make me (a landlubber from the Midwest who has never even seen the ocean) want to scamper up rigging, shout orders from the helm over the roar of the surf, and give chase to pirates with cutlass (or boarding axe) in hand. If that is the type of book you are looking for, I suggest you give Scimitar Moon a try. Jackson knows his stuff (From what I can tell. I don't know jack about ships or sailing, but the images and terms I looked up seemed to agree with him) and isn't timid about showing it, so keep a dictionary and Google Images on hand for the nautical terminology if you are unfamiliar. I've always found ships interesting, but don't find many opportunities to learn about them outside of strictly informational texts, which I find incredibly dull. As a firm lover of fiction, I need some context in which to care about the information before I'm willing to put forth the effort to learn it, and this is a novel that gives me just that. Any book that can make me fall in love with a place I have never been and teach me something about a topic that interests me in the process is a win by my estimation.
However, this alone does not a good story make. Fortunately, Scimitar Moon excels in the important storytelling areas as well. The world-building, for example, was the perfect combination of the familiar and the new. Elves, dwarves, and an empire were all mentioned, but they were in the background and not the main focus of this story. Jackson managed to allude to many things that piqued my interest and added depth to the world, but never gave me enough to entirely sate my curiosity. In a good way. I was left wanting to know far more about the rest of the world, but this wasn't a problem because these elements weren't the heart of the story. This wasn't a story about elves or dwarves or the politics of an empire; these elements just added credibility and depth to an already interesting world. The story is really about the sea, and the sea (and its surrounding ports, islands, and other related geography and peoples) is what we get to explore most, and the exploration does not disappoint.
But where Jackson's storytelling prowess shines brightest (besides his nautical know-how) is his characters. Every single character had their own personality, motivation, and, most importantly, their own flaws. Obviously the villains are flawed (although still portrayed as mostly relatable) because they have a warped view of the world, but even our heroic protagonists, while still good people, have their human flaws. For example, Cynthia realizes at one point that she may be a little too prideful, which made her seem all the more human and not just another "flawless protagonist" type. There was also a sequence with Feldrin Brelak that really impressed me. This impressed me because I feel like many other authors would have used this as an opportunity to show their main characters were unyielding paragons of virtue, and they would have written their character dropping everything else to do what is 100% right while shouting "HONOR!" at the top of their lungs. But Jackson didn't write it this way. He managed to make Feldrin look the good man by doing the right thing, but make him seem human in that he wasn't willing to drop his entire life to do it. All of his characters were similarly multi-dimensional, realistic, and relatable.
I would also like to give a hearty feminist shout-out and speak for a moment about our strong female protagonist Cynthia Flaxal. Now, I don't usually get up-in-arms about feminism unless there is active chauvinism (*cough* Jim Butcher's Storm Front *cough*), because I think actively looking for reasons to get worked up is silly. Do I call myself a feminist? Yes. But this, to me, just means that I believe men and women are equal. I also believe murder is wrong, but one doesn’t protest a murder before it happens or before there is intent for it to happen; this is how I believe it should be with feminism (which is not to be confused with misandry.) If I see an offense, I will call it, but I don't actively scan books in the hope I will catch an instance of it. So why did I give you all this context before contradicting myself and talking about it without cause anyway? I don't really know. I think I'm still a little sore about it after having read Butcher's Storm Front, and Lord knows I've seen "strong female protagonists" written wrong numerous times before. Maybe it is just nice to talk about it in the positive sense after having so recently been forced to talk about it in the negative. I don't know, but I feel the urge to talk about it. So here we go.
Anyway, I love how Cynthia managed to be a strong female character without that being equated to "badass warrior-woman." There are certainly cases where this works, and I actually love when it does work, but I feel that it is sometimes a misconception that this is the only way a woman can be strong. Cynthia isn't a warrior and doesn't pretend or want to be one. She is simply a person with goals and desires and is strong because she has the determination and courage to work towards them. There were even a handful of circumstances where she was put in the perfect position to become a damsel in distress, and I would begin to roll my eyes. However, she didn't sit idly by until rescue could reach her. She usually managed to kick more ass tied up than her rescuers did trying to free her. (Does that seem contradictory with my not-a-warrior statement? Read the book; you'll see.) This was just especially refreshing after having so recently read other, less positive examples of treatment towards female characters. A palate cleanser, if you will. It made my heart smile, so I thought it worth mentioning.
Now I feel it is time to explain the loss of a star. There are a couple complaints so minor they aren't worth mentioning, and many of my complaints early on were addressed in a satisfying way later. So maybe some of my major complaints will likewise be rectified in later books (which I definitely intend to read, by the way). But I have three not-that-serious complaints in this book that caused me to reign in my joy over it just a little.
The Romance Problem
You know, I really liked the romance for the majority of the book, because, paradoxically, there wasn't much of one. I liked, first of all, that Cynthia seemed pretty indifferent towards romance, which brings us back again to her being a strong female protagonist. She was concentrating on her goals and dreams, not finding a man, and she could meet men without having to think about them in a romantic way and without drooling all over herself, which was, again, somewhat refreshing. Second, when the romance was introduced it was very subtle and promised to be of the slow-burn variety, of which I am a fan. This, to me, showed great promise of being a romance I could get behind. I don't know if Jackson felt rushed to finish it or what, but the ending of this romance (dealt with in the short epilogue) was rather unsatisfactory for a number of reasons.
1) It felt rushed and, therefore, was pretty cheesy. Sure, there were hints of something deeper between them, but that's all they were. Hints. This is what led me to believe I was in for a nice, realistic slow-burn romance. But the epilogue gave me whiplash from the 180 from subtle, slow-burn to "CYNTHIA, I LOVE YOU!"
2) He not only pulled a 180 out of nowhere, he also got really whiney about it. He just went on and on about how much he wanted to be with her and "Why doesn't she want to be with me?!" and UGH! It was beyond annoying.
3)
While the ending of this romance was rather unsatisfying, it isn't a story-breaking problem. I absolutely love both of the characters as individuals, which means I don't disagree with their pairing. I just don't care for how their getting together was handled and that I was promised a slow-burn and given an insta-love. But because I'm not in disagreement with their union, I will just politely pretend the epilogue didn't happen and that they fell in love gradually as was promised.
The Magic System Problem
As with the romance (besides the epilogue, which didn't happen), I love the magic system. I won't go into detail about it, but it is cool. However, I have a few problems with it.
1) The system as a whole could use a little elaboration. I thought it was described excellently in most areas, but in the end, I was left with a few critical questions. I just don't know the answers to these, and I really wished I did. As I said, though, perhaps these will be explained more thoroughly in later books.
2) I'm also concerned that there is no real price or consequence to the magic.
3) This is perhaps my most grievous complaint about this system, though.
Again, I really enjoyed the magic system, but these things confused me somewhat. But, again, I found that most of the other problems I had early on in the book were addressed satisfyingly farther in, so perhaps my confusion will be cleared up in the other books. Because I found the magic system interesting and intriguing regardless of these problems, the problems themselves aren't story-breaking either.
The Pacing Problem
This is the most minor of my complaints, and I almost didn't even include it here because I find that I am almost willing to forgive it entirely. The problem here is that, like the romance, the plot felt like it wanted to be a gradual, slow-burn one, but ended up feeling a trifle rushed. This book not only reminded me of Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic because of the love of the sea and some very minor content similarities; it also, for the majority of the book, had the same gradual, patient pace while still remaining interesting and while still making me fall in love with the characters and world. In other words, they both felt not only like "beginning books," but they felt like freaking awesome beginning books that promised great, epic things to come while still being awesome in and of themselves. However, where they differ is that Ship of Magic, being the first of a trilogy (i.e. the first third of one overarching story), has two entire following books to fulfill the promises made in the first one. Scimitar Moon, however, ended up wrapping itself up in this one book. In other words, it started out feeling like it was going to be the beginning of a larger single story, but then decided it wanted to be a standalone. There actually are sequels, but I guess they concern other conflicts. It wasn't that the promises of this book weren't fulfilled; far from it. I thoroughly enjoyed the climax, and it wrapped things up in a satisfying manner. I guess the length of time it took to set up the promises felt disproportionate to the length of time it took to fulfill them, if that makes any sense. I was looking forward to the slow journey to the climax, I guess, and felt I arrived there a little too soon. And saying I liked the world, plot, and characters enough that I wished I could spend even more time with them is hardly an insult, let alone a damning problem. Because I ended up loving the setup and loving the climax, there is hardly a problem at all. There was just a brief period between the two where I kept thinking, "This can't be happening already."
But you know what, these minor problems didn't stop me from loving Scimitar Moon; they just made it a very good novel as opposed to a great one. Would I reread it? Probably. Will I continue reading this series? Most definitely (and I will probably seek out other series by this author as well). Would I recommend it? Of course.
Perhaps my favorite thing about this book was the avid love of sailing and the sea throughout that reminded me of Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic with a dash of Pirates of the Caribbean thrown in for extra excitement. I know the author of Scimitar Moon succeeded in sharing in his love of the sea when he can make me (a landlubber from the Midwest who has never even seen the ocean) want to scamper up rigging, shout orders from the helm over the roar of the surf, and give chase to pirates with cutlass (or boarding axe) in hand. If that is the type of book you are looking for, I suggest you give Scimitar Moon a try. Jackson knows his stuff (From what I can tell. I don't know jack about ships or sailing, but the images and terms I looked up seemed to agree with him) and isn't timid about showing it, so keep a dictionary and Google Images on hand for the nautical terminology if you are unfamiliar. I've always found ships interesting, but don't find many opportunities to learn about them outside of strictly informational texts, which I find incredibly dull. As a firm lover of fiction, I need some context in which to care about the information before I'm willing to put forth the effort to learn it, and this is a novel that gives me just that. Any book that can make me fall in love with a place I have never been and teach me something about a topic that interests me in the process is a win by my estimation.
However, this alone does not a good story make. Fortunately, Scimitar Moon excels in the important storytelling areas as well. The world-building, for example, was the perfect combination of the familiar and the new. Elves, dwarves, and an empire were all mentioned, but they were in the background and not the main focus of this story. Jackson managed to allude to many things that piqued my interest and added depth to the world, but never gave me enough to entirely sate my curiosity. In a good way. I was left wanting to know far more about the rest of the world, but this wasn't a problem because these elements weren't the heart of the story. This wasn't a story about elves or dwarves or the politics of an empire; these elements just added credibility and depth to an already interesting world. The story is really about the sea, and the sea (and its surrounding ports, islands, and other related geography and peoples) is what we get to explore most, and the exploration does not disappoint.
But where Jackson's storytelling prowess shines brightest (besides his nautical know-how) is his characters. Every single character had their own personality, motivation, and, most importantly, their own flaws. Obviously the villains are flawed (although still portrayed as mostly relatable) because they have a warped view of the world, but even our heroic protagonists, while still good people, have their human flaws. For example, Cynthia realizes at one point that she may be a little too prideful, which made her seem all the more human and not just another "flawless protagonist" type. There was also a sequence with Feldrin Brelak that really impressed me. This impressed me because I feel like many other authors would have used this as an opportunity to show their main characters were unyielding paragons of virtue, and they would have written their character dropping everything else to do what is 100% right while shouting "HONOR!" at the top of their lungs. But Jackson didn't write it this way. He managed to make Feldrin look the good man by doing the right thing, but make him seem human in that he wasn't willing to drop his entire life to do it. All of his characters were similarly multi-dimensional, realistic, and relatable.
I would also like to give a hearty feminist shout-out and speak for a moment about our strong female protagonist Cynthia Flaxal. Now, I don't usually get up-in-arms about feminism unless there is active chauvinism (*cough* Jim Butcher's Storm Front *cough*), because I think actively looking for reasons to get worked up is silly. Do I call myself a feminist? Yes. But this, to me, just means that I believe men and women are equal. I also believe murder is wrong, but one doesn’t protest a murder before it happens or before there is intent for it to happen; this is how I believe it should be with feminism (which is not to be confused with misandry.) If I see an offense, I will call it, but I don't actively scan books in the hope I will catch an instance of it. So why did I give you all this context before contradicting myself and talking about it without cause anyway? I don't really know. I think I'm still a little sore about it after having read Butcher's Storm Front, and Lord knows I've seen "strong female protagonists" written wrong numerous times before. Maybe it is just nice to talk about it in the positive sense after having so recently been forced to talk about it in the negative. I don't know, but I feel the urge to talk about it. So here we go.
Anyway, I love how Cynthia managed to be a strong female character without that being equated to "badass warrior-woman." There are certainly cases where this works, and I actually love when it does work, but I feel that it is sometimes a misconception that this is the only way a woman can be strong. Cynthia isn't a warrior and doesn't pretend or want to be one. She is simply a person with goals and desires and is strong because she has the determination and courage to work towards them. There were even a handful of circumstances where she was put in the perfect position to become a damsel in distress, and I would begin to roll my eyes. However, she didn't sit idly by until rescue could reach her. She usually managed to kick more ass tied up than her rescuers did trying to free her. (Does that seem contradictory with my not-a-warrior statement? Read the book; you'll see.) This was just especially refreshing after having so recently read other, less positive examples of treatment towards female characters. A palate cleanser, if you will. It made my heart smile, so I thought it worth mentioning.
Now I feel it is time to explain the loss of a star. There are a couple complaints so minor they aren't worth mentioning, and many of my complaints early on were addressed in a satisfying way later. So maybe some of my major complaints will likewise be rectified in later books (which I definitely intend to read, by the way). But I have three not-that-serious complaints in this book that caused me to reign in my joy over it just a little.
The Romance Problem
You know, I really liked the romance for the majority of the book, because, paradoxically, there wasn't much of one. I liked, first of all, that Cynthia seemed pretty indifferent towards romance, which brings us back again to her being a strong female protagonist. She was concentrating on her goals and dreams, not finding a man, and she could meet men without having to think about them in a romantic way and without drooling all over herself, which was, again, somewhat refreshing. Second, when the romance was introduced it was very subtle and promised to be of the slow-burn variety, of which I am a fan. This, to me, showed great promise of being a romance I could get behind. I don't know if Jackson felt rushed to finish it or what, but the ending of this romance (dealt with in the short epilogue) was rather unsatisfactory for a number of reasons.
1) It felt rushed and, therefore, was pretty cheesy. Sure, there were hints of something deeper between them, but that's all they were. Hints. This is what led me to believe I was in for a nice, realistic slow-burn romance. But the epilogue gave me whiplash from the 180 from subtle, slow-burn to "CYNTHIA, I LOVE YOU!"
2) He not only pulled a 180 out of nowhere, he also got really whiney about it. He just went on and on about how much he wanted to be with her and "Why doesn't she want to be with me?!" and UGH! It was beyond annoying.
3)
While the ending of this romance was rather unsatisfying, it isn't a story-breaking problem. I absolutely love both of the characters as individuals, which means I don't disagree with their pairing. I just don't care for how their getting together was handled and that I was promised a slow-burn and given an insta-love. But because I'm not in disagreement with their union, I will just politely pretend the epilogue didn't happen and that they fell in love gradually as was promised.
The Magic System Problem
As with the romance (besides the epilogue, which didn't happen), I love the magic system. I won't go into detail about it, but it is cool. However, I have a few problems with it.
1) The system as a whole could use a little elaboration. I thought it was described excellently in most areas, but in the end, I was left with a few critical questions. I just don't know the answers to these, and I really wished I did. As I said, though, perhaps these will be explained more thoroughly in later books.
2) I'm also concerned that there is no real price or consequence to the magic.
3) This is perhaps my most grievous complaint about this system, though.
Again, I really enjoyed the magic system, but these things confused me somewhat. But, again, I found that most of the other problems I had early on in the book were addressed satisfyingly farther in, so perhaps my confusion will be cleared up in the other books. Because I found the magic system interesting and intriguing regardless of these problems, the problems themselves aren't story-breaking either.
The Pacing Problem
This is the most minor of my complaints, and I almost didn't even include it here because I find that I am almost willing to forgive it entirely. The problem here is that, like the romance, the plot felt like it wanted to be a gradual, slow-burn one, but ended up feeling a trifle rushed. This book not only reminded me of Robin Hobb's Ship of Magic because of the love of the sea and some very minor content similarities; it also, for the majority of the book, had the same gradual, patient pace while still remaining interesting and while still making me fall in love with the characters and world. In other words, they both felt not only like "beginning books," but they felt like freaking awesome beginning books that promised great, epic things to come while still being awesome in and of themselves. However, where they differ is that Ship of Magic, being the first of a trilogy (i.e. the first third of one overarching story), has two entire following books to fulfill the promises made in the first one. Scimitar Moon, however, ended up wrapping itself up in this one book. In other words, it started out feeling like it was going to be the beginning of a larger single story, but then decided it wanted to be a standalone. There actually are sequels, but I guess they concern other conflicts. It wasn't that the promises of this book weren't fulfilled; far from it. I thoroughly enjoyed the climax, and it wrapped things up in a satisfying manner. I guess the length of time it took to set up the promises felt disproportionate to the length of time it took to fulfill them, if that makes any sense. I was looking forward to the slow journey to the climax, I guess, and felt I arrived there a little too soon. And saying I liked the world, plot, and characters enough that I wished I could spend even more time with them is hardly an insult, let alone a damning problem. Because I ended up loving the setup and loving the climax, there is hardly a problem at all. There was just a brief period between the two where I kept thinking, "This can't be happening already."
But you know what, these minor problems didn't stop me from loving Scimitar Moon; they just made it a very good novel as opposed to a great one. Would I reread it? Probably. Will I continue reading this series? Most definitely (and I will probably seek out other series by this author as well). Would I recommend it? Of course.
September 29, 2018
3.5 stars. Not bad but don't like enough to read next 3 books in series
October 26, 2010
Nathan Dinneck has returned home as the pastor of the Baptist church he grew up in. Unfortunately he has brought with him recurring nightmares of a long march to a sacrificial altar; nightmares that have begun to bleed into his waking life. He has also returned home to find his parent’s relationship strained due to his father having turned from church and into the arms of the somewhat shady Hillcrest Men’s Club lead by the sinister Peter Quinn. Thus begins Solomon’s Grave by Daniel G. Keohane, a finalist for the 2009 Stoker Award for First Novel.
The template for Keohane’s novel lends it on the one hand a prodigal son vibe while on the other it ties undeniably with the countless films and stories embodying the classic cliche about returning home only to find that you can’t really go home again. Solomon’s Grave includes a bevy of other familiar notes: a sleepy New England town, a lost love, ties to the ancient past, and a sinister organization with ties to the criminal underworld (and the underworld underworld). It’s all there but carefully constructed within a solid framework of biblical history and judeo-christian theology.
My main issue with Solomon’s Grave is that it reveals a bit too much too fast so it never really builds an overarching atmosphere of fear or dread. With the novel split into several sections buffered by sojourns into the Crusades it becomes fairly obvious (or so one thinks) what the “secret” being protected is and the villains of the story are revealed outright pretty early in the proceedings. Indeed, the novel seems predisposed against maintaining an air of mystery at all. There are still several scenes, including the climax, that manage to convey a tangible threat of physical, and spiritual threat to the characters.
As Lovecraft puts it the supernatural tales must contain:
"A certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; and there must be a hint, expressed with a seriousness and portentousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible conception of the human brain — a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space."
But what if those “unknown forces” are countered with a known, if not necessarily quantifiable, source? In the case of Solomon’s Grave that is exactly what happens. While the threat of the novel is most certainly a malign and powerful force the carefully constructed faith and overt hand of God in the events of the hero’s life subverts the supernatural threat. In a novel in which Christian theology is accepted as real providing an outside threat is difficult since, given that the constraints of the novel assert the truth of a Christian God, no outside threat can trump that truth (did that even make sense?). The weak point then, as in many a Bible tale, is the man (such as the titular Solomon). Unfortunately, for Solomon’s Grave Keohone goes slightly too far in casting Nathan Dinneck as a paragon of faith and virtue. Reverend Dinneck is the exact antithesis of ‘Salems Lot’s doubting Father Callahan, the Reverend never once doubting the power of his faith and his conviction in God remains an unwavering constant throughout the novel.
None of that makes Solomon’s Grave a bad novel. Indeed Dinneck’s relationship with God and his family and friends are one of the novel’s strongest points and, while Dinneck’s faith might never wane the tension generated by less certain faith of those around, especially in the face of the novel’s threats, makes for some particularly gripping reading. However Solomon’s Grave certainly functions less well as a novel of supernatural horror; it’s ultimate message one that seems to reinforce the message of hope and redemption that embodies the Christian faith a fact that, for this reader at least, stands counterpoint to the atmosphere of hopelessness and dread that defines horror as a genre.
The template for Keohane’s novel lends it on the one hand a prodigal son vibe while on the other it ties undeniably with the countless films and stories embodying the classic cliche about returning home only to find that you can’t really go home again. Solomon’s Grave includes a bevy of other familiar notes: a sleepy New England town, a lost love, ties to the ancient past, and a sinister organization with ties to the criminal underworld (and the underworld underworld). It’s all there but carefully constructed within a solid framework of biblical history and judeo-christian theology.
My main issue with Solomon’s Grave is that it reveals a bit too much too fast so it never really builds an overarching atmosphere of fear or dread. With the novel split into several sections buffered by sojourns into the Crusades it becomes fairly obvious (or so one thinks) what the “secret” being protected is and the villains of the story are revealed outright pretty early in the proceedings. Indeed, the novel seems predisposed against maintaining an air of mystery at all. There are still several scenes, including the climax, that manage to convey a tangible threat of physical, and spiritual threat to the characters.
As Lovecraft puts it the supernatural tales must contain:
"A certain atmosphere of breathless and unexplainable dread of outer, unknown forces must be present; and there must be a hint, expressed with a seriousness and portentousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible conception of the human brain — a malign and particular suspension or defeat of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the daemons of unplumbed space."
But what if those “unknown forces” are countered with a known, if not necessarily quantifiable, source? In the case of Solomon’s Grave that is exactly what happens. While the threat of the novel is most certainly a malign and powerful force the carefully constructed faith and overt hand of God in the events of the hero’s life subverts the supernatural threat. In a novel in which Christian theology is accepted as real providing an outside threat is difficult since, given that the constraints of the novel assert the truth of a Christian God, no outside threat can trump that truth (did that even make sense?). The weak point then, as in many a Bible tale, is the man (such as the titular Solomon). Unfortunately, for Solomon’s Grave Keohone goes slightly too far in casting Nathan Dinneck as a paragon of faith and virtue. Reverend Dinneck is the exact antithesis of ‘Salems Lot’s doubting Father Callahan, the Reverend never once doubting the power of his faith and his conviction in God remains an unwavering constant throughout the novel.
None of that makes Solomon’s Grave a bad novel. Indeed Dinneck’s relationship with God and his family and friends are one of the novel’s strongest points and, while Dinneck’s faith might never wane the tension generated by less certain faith of those around, especially in the face of the novel’s threats, makes for some particularly gripping reading. However Solomon’s Grave certainly functions less well as a novel of supernatural horror; it’s ultimate message one that seems to reinforce the message of hope and redemption that embodies the Christian faith a fact that, for this reader at least, stands counterpoint to the atmosphere of hopelessness and dread that defines horror as a genre.
August 23, 2011
Cynthia, heir to a shipping family and a sea mage, is orphaned as a child and swears vengeance on the pirate that killed her parents. Through her brilliance she devises a plan that will see her enemy bankrupt and disgraced while restoring her family’s fortunes, but in a world of spies and trickery how can a young woman succeed against the most infamous, murderous pirate ever born.
Rarely a book comes along that reaches past our defences and touches us. For me parts of this book did just that. A love of the sea runs deeply through the text and in places the prose is almost poetic. This atop a solid conflict and interesting characters makes for a great read. Oddly enough I found the greatest villain of the piece not to be the Pirate Bloodwind, who is evil enough, but the grandmother who fights Cynthia’s wishes and destiny every step of the way. There is a poetic irony to be found in this dynamic of villains but I won’t spoil it for you.
All the supporting characters are well fleshed out and human with strengths, weaknesses and agendas of their own. While I’ve given the book five stars I would prefer to give it four and three quarter stars since nothing is perfect. For me the book’s one flaw was it seemed to slow down about two thirds of the way through then picked up again for the climax. Others might not find this and I’ve read entire books where the best bits were on par with the worst bits of Scimitar Moon. In short, I highly recommend this book and doubly so if you have even a faint echo of the sea in your veins.
Rarely a book comes along that reaches past our defences and touches us. For me parts of this book did just that. A love of the sea runs deeply through the text and in places the prose is almost poetic. This atop a solid conflict and interesting characters makes for a great read. Oddly enough I found the greatest villain of the piece not to be the Pirate Bloodwind, who is evil enough, but the grandmother who fights Cynthia’s wishes and destiny every step of the way. There is a poetic irony to be found in this dynamic of villains but I won’t spoil it for you.
All the supporting characters are well fleshed out and human with strengths, weaknesses and agendas of their own. While I’ve given the book five stars I would prefer to give it four and three quarter stars since nothing is perfect. For me the book’s one flaw was it seemed to slow down about two thirds of the way through then picked up again for the climax. Others might not find this and I’ve read entire books where the best bits were on par with the worst bits of Scimitar Moon. In short, I highly recommend this book and doubly so if you have even a faint echo of the sea in your veins.
September 5, 2012
Solomon's Grave is Daniel Keohane's first book. Although this is not your typical Bible read it does teach us something about Faith. It opens up the mind about whether or not Evil can manifest itself into something unseen and the power God has if you believe. I read this book after I read Keohane's second book, "Margaret's Ark". As with his second book it lags in areas and becomes a bit of a struggle but after you pretend to read through the boring parts it is a good read. The other issue I had was the ending...it doesn't address Dennick's decision not to contact his mother. I was disappointed that she was somewhat forgotten although Keohane did attempt to pacify us by telling us the mother, Beverly, was sitting by the window waiting...still it wasn't enough.
February 7, 2014
While the seafaring is quite real and captivating, the characters are flat, some are superfluous (seasprite Mouse), the villain is super evil, no gray zones here. There is an half-baked effort to color Bloodwind with some empathy in a one paragraph-back-story, but it flutters and is quickly forgotten.
The surprise is seen from a mile away and the rules governing the mystical differences to our world, which would be the capturing reason to read this book, are very fuzzy, if there exist any, since many things happen rather coincidentally in the main character's favor..
The sailing is fun, but the story wrapped around those parts is unfortunately not gripping.
The surprise is seen from a mile away and the rules governing the mystical differences to our world, which would be the capturing reason to read this book, are very fuzzy, if there exist any, since many things happen rather coincidentally in the main character's favor..
The sailing is fun, but the story wrapped around those parts is unfortunately not gripping.
March 27, 2015
good start to the series
I enjoyed this book thoroughly and I look forward to the next in the series. My only complaint is that I know nothing about sailing, so I found myself having to look up a lot of the terminology used in the book. It is clear that the author is an experienced seaman. That being said, I was still able to enjoy the book despite my lack of knowledge.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly and I look forward to the next in the series. My only complaint is that I know nothing about sailing, so I found myself having to look up a lot of the terminology used in the book. It is clear that the author is an experienced seaman. That being said, I was still able to enjoy the book despite my lack of knowledge.
January 19, 2011
An interesting YA novel about a girl who wants revenge on a pirate for killing her parents, and the pirate who wants to rule the oceans. Contains: magic, sailing, slaves, and fingers which sometimes aren't attached anymore.
January 5, 2010
Very DaVinci Code type book. It was an easy read and I really enjoyed it and looked forward to picking it up.
Want to read
June 1, 2010This is the 2009 ForeWord Fantasy Book of the Year award winner. Might be fun to pick up sometime.
Want to read
June 9, 2012as of today 2012.06.09 this book is a free download for the Kindle.
November 13, 2018
Sort of reminded me of the DiVinci Code.
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