Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea
Ratings6
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings6
Average rating3.7
When Shek Yeung sees a Portuguese sailor slay her husband, a feared pirate, she knows she must act swiftly or die. Instead of mourning, Shek Yeung launches a new plan: immediately marrying her husband's second-in-command, and agreeing to bear him a son and heir, in order to retain power over her half of the fleet. But as Shek Yeung vies for control over the army she knows she was born to lead, larger threats loom. The Chinese Emperor has charged a brutal, crafty nobleman with ridding the South China Seas of pirates, and the Europeans-tired of losing ships, men, and money to Shek Yeung's alliance-have new plans for the area. Even worse, Shek Yeung's cutthroat retributions create problems all their own. As Shek Yeung navigates new motherhood and the crises of leadership, she must decide how long she is willing to fight, and at what price, or risk losing her fleet, her new family, and even her life. A book of salt and grit, blood and sweat, Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is an unmissable portrait of a woman who leads with the courage and ruthlessness of our darkest and most beloved heroes.
Reviews with the most likes.
Contains spoilers
"In chaos, no one won."
I was expecting something entirely different than what this book delivered. I think there's something here for someone who wants a gendered discussion of a female pirate (co-)captain's life during the age of piracy in China, but that kind of wasn't what I was looking for when I picked this one up. There's no cool pirate captain action, no high seas battles, just a woman trying to keep her fleet together after the death of her pirate captain husband and philosophizing about a woman's lot in life.
Honestly, I thought it was quite a bit dry and boring. I never really came to sympathize with Shek Yeung, and honestly found what she thought of the people around her kind of depressing. I actually found Cheung Po way more sympathetic, (early book plot spoilers) because he clearly cared for Shek Yeung, but she actively avoided sharing those feelings.
There's something here if you're looking for something introspective, but nothing here if you're just looking for a cool pirate book.
