I was the right age to get wrapped in pirate hype when Pirates of the Carribean came out, and Our Flag Means Death is very much on my list of pirate media to check out. That said, I wasn't a Treasure Island girl (book, play, movie, or muppets), so my experience with pirates in book form is weirdly minimal. That said, when this book crossed my feed with its promise of pirates, magic, and a veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slow-burn romance, I was excited. And having finished the book, I have thoughts. Let's talk Dark Water Daughter.
As makes immense sense for a pirate-y novel, despite having two clear protagonists/POV characters, I would actually tell you that this book has an ensemble of characters. Perhaps not in the traditional sense, where every member of the ensemble gets development and more or less equal screen time, because to say that would be to mischaracterize the book, but the line between main and secondary characters is narrow and fuzzy. In addition, Mary and Samuel both have actual besties (that word is doing some HEAVY lifting where Charles Grant is concerned, but it's the best I've got) who spend bigass chunks of the book supporting and calling them out as the plot moves on. I actually genuinely love that we get actual friendships in this world, because the world of pirates and stormsingers is often harsh and cruel and you really, REALLY need these moments of genuine care and warmth to balance that out.
I also absolutely love our pirate antagonist, because Captain Silvanus Lirr is a motherfucking evil bastard in the best way. He's not an Opal Koboi, he's more of a Captain Barbossa. This man is dangerous because he is a deadly combination of intelligent and experienced in the magical extremes of the world. He's also got a vision, and as most fanatical visions are, it's just twisted enough that he has convinced himself that he is doing something worthy, even righteous. And if he has to murder, torture, enslave, and other nasty things along the way, well...the ends justify the means, don't they?
The one thing that was a bit strange for me while reading this is that while the character work is good and I enjoyed it, I couldn't shake the feeling of being at arm's length from every single character. This didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book--the vibes and worldbuilding were amazing--but it was an odd experience of reading, and your mileage may vary.
Speaking of the vibes and worldbuilding, this book did the coolest thing with combining the distinctly European mythology around trees and potentially scary things that live in trees (I'm trying so damn hard not to say tree spirits here, y'all, you have no idea...) and the mythology inherently baked into pirates, their ships, and ghosty ships and a Davy Jones vibe. Ghistings are tied to the trees in their wolds, so when those trees are harvested to become figureheads for ships, the ghistings become tied to the ships themselves. This was such a cool bit of lore and worldbuilding and really helped tie piracy to the land in a way that lots of pirate stories (in my admittedly limited experience) do not.
Then there are the sooths and stormsingers. These are our magic users, and the magic system is extremely soft, but I like a good soft magic system, and I loved what we saw of them in this novel.
Overall, this was a good, engaging read, and I am looking forward to the sequel!
First, apologies. Although this post was meant to be filed under Final Meals, there will be no sumptuous tidbit of final choices to consume and ponder. Rather, this post is a nod to my failing as a writer: I’m easily distracted. The upside? I think you’ll be interested in this distraction.
Originally designed in the 18th century to keep the general…
