A HEART-STOPPING TRILOGY THAT RECALLS THE UNDENIABLE FEMININE POWER OF WONDER WOMAN AND THE POWDER-KEG ACTION OF MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, SEAFIRE REMINDS US OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SISTERHOOD AND UNITY IN THE FACE OF OPPRESSION AND TYRANNY.
After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet.
But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all . . . or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?
4 stars
"There's a storm on our tail, ladies. Not a small one. But we're fire on water."
I needed an action fantasy series, and man did Seafire deliver. A kickass, all-female crew, a tyrannical villain, and the ships! Ocean battles! Pirates! There was never a dull moment throughout Seafire. In this world Parker has created, there is the tyrant Aric Athair, who rules with an iron fist, and Caledonia and her crew of rebels are determined to take him down. Aric takes children from his lands to fill his fleet, keeping them subdued with a drug called Silt. He controls them, uses them to his own means and ends. Caledonia's crew will not stand for this. They have all lost family to Aric, and they are determined to strip his power, destroying his ships one at a time. The beginning and the ending of this novel were the strongest parts, in my opinion. Immediately we're sucked in by the action, and it never really stops. And the ending, wow I could not put the book down. I needed to know how Caledonia's plan was going to play out. There's a certain character too, whose prescence just steals any scene they're in. Parker shines with this character on the page.
One draw back with the action - there's just so much of it, I feel like it blocked character development and growth. We have so many girls on Caledonia's crew, and I feel like I hardly knew any of them throughout most of the novel, including the Captain herself. They hate Aric and the people who work for him (called Bullets), and they want to destroy his fleet. But I wanted more - what do they envision for themselves after this? What are their roots? I love the bloody action scenes, but I feel like everything moves too quickly. I wanted to take a breath to get inside these characters' heads more.
*Although the action with the climax of the story was perfectly executed - just when we thought things were calming down -- bam! curve ball! More action and it's even deadlier!! I actually had in my notes '3 stars' for this novel, but the last 25% was so awesome and had my heart racing so fast, it got bumped up a whole star.
There were a few things that did surprise me in this novel (in a good way). I have so many questions for book two, and I need answers!! I love the use of ships and the ocean, and the map Parker has created in her mind - although I do wish we had a physical map to reference, I think that would be really cool to see.
It took me awhile to pick up Seafire, but I'm okay with that cause now I can dive right into Steel Tide. I cannot wait for book three. If you want an action-packed story about badass heroines, sisterhood, and battles on the sea, then this is the one for you.
"Remember, when they call you girl, they're trying to tell you that they're more than you, that the body you're in makes you less. But you know, and I know, that you're exactly what you need to be."
About the Author
Natalie C. Parker grew up in a Navy family finding home in coastal cities from Virginia to Japan. Now, she lives surprisingly far from any ocean on the Kansas prairie with her wife where she writes and edits books for teens, including the acclaimed Seafire trilogy.