Seafire

Seafire continuously surprised me. Initially, I thought this was a fantasy alternate history type of setting. Turns out, it's actually post-climate catastrophe solar punk. What I thought was a pirate story was more like a dystopia on water, where a power-hungry overlord has taken control of an entire region and Caledonia Styx and her crew are determined to be the constantly sharpening thorn in his side. When I began to think that this story would likely not move beyond an unextraordinary adventure, it delivers a fantastic climax and a gut wrenching finale.

The Mors Navis is a ship helmed entirely by young women, captained by Caledonia Styx and her second in command, Pisces. Caledonia and Pisces built their ship out of their remains of their old home - the Ghost - a ship that was decimated and burned at the hands of Aric Athair and his fleet of Bullets. When a Bullet defects from Aric after saving Pisces' life, they discover that the brothers they thought they lost in Aric's attack are in fact still alive - and serving their enemy. Caledonia and Pisces then have a new directive - not just to hinder Aric Athair, but take back something that he took from them. Even if that something is not what they remember.

I love when tropes that we often see women in the middle of are subverted. The obvious one that happens here is Oran's presence among the crew of the Mors Navis - the inverted Smurfette. The other is Ares and Donnally - Pisces' and Caledonia's brothers respectively - as the damsels in need of rescue. Granted, they are likely far from helpless, but they are a prize to be won. Caledonia and Pisces have to struggle with the reality that their brothers are no longer the boys they remember, but rather men who have been made into soldiers and murderers. When Caledonia worries to herself about Ares' fighting spirit and Donnally's more delicate, artistic nature, you know which one is going to be the problem. But still, Parker goes in a way I didn't anticipate, and the idea of a boy as treasure to be saved lives on.

The middle portion of Seafire feels largely episodic. It might be an aspect of having a story set at sea. If a conflict arrives, it has to come to the crew, unless they come ashore which by its very nature slows things down because they have to divert from their path forward. Many of the problems that Caledonia and her crew encounter seem contrived and too easily resolved, and after a while it felt a little like Parker was going through the motions - throwing up obstacles and diversions just because that's what plots do. At one point, when Caledonia was considering whether to go in one direction where they may run into pirates that we had met the chapter before, or try the uncharted grassy waters, you knew it was going to be the grass. Its a bit like a video game, the next level can't look just like the last. In this sense, Seafire could be very predictable, but in other ways not at all.

I also struggled with the characters and what made them distinct. Most of the characters are identified by their hair color and style, which is really not enough. Especially when the Mors Navis has a crew of 54. All these girls are going to be tough, all battle-hardened. I think Parker could have done more to differentiate them. Caledonia herself I liked but I also never got a clear picture of her. The monkey on her back - the knowledge that she was responsible for the destruction of the Ghost - never felt right to me. She's so convinced that Pisces will not only judge her for this secret, but completely cast her out when its utterly obvious that she won't. Its clear by the end that Caledonia's guilt is supposed to be defining characteristic, but it just never connects for me. I almost feel like she should be, I don't know, a bit more narcissistic to believe such a thing - that everything that happens is entirely her responsibility or a consequence of her decisions and actions.

But again, the ending was just so good. It stayed with me. Its exciting, gripping, an emotional roller coaster. And while I wasn't sure the story that came before really justified Caledonia's decision at the end, I got why she was willing to do it. And I'm still thinking about Donnally. You know it was his voice that she heard at the end. You know it, I know it, we all know it. And the idea that Lir is likely holding him captive to draw Caledonia out is just *clenches fist* it ticks all my boxes, lemme tell ya. A part of me is hoping to see his point of view in the second book, Because yeah, I'm pumped for the second book. I'm not going to rate this above three stars, even with the stellar finale, because I think there's still a lot of progress to be made. There were too many story elements that were just too predictable, but the stuff Parker decides to subvert she does really well.