By Sea and Sky: An Esowon Story
The Sky Pirate Chronicles, Book 1
By: Antoine Bandele
Narrated by: John Rogers
Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 05-18-20
Language: English
Publisher: Antoine Bandele
Book Blurb
With no magic, no brawn, and no pirate crew, Zala seeks to steal back the one treasure that matters to her most: Her husband.
To succeed she needs a ship – and not just any ship, but the latest, secret invention by the Vaaji Empire. An airship.
Zala will have to use her wits to overcome scoundrels and nobles alike on her journey through the clouds.
But if she’s smart enough, she may just have what it takes to save her husband – and go down in history as the first sky pirate.
Delve into a pirate fantasy inspired by the West Indies, The Swahili Coast, and Arabia, where Zala will encounter ruthless raiders, arrogant aristocrats, and imperial secrets.
My Review
Zala and Jelani are some of the nicest pirates you’ll ever meet – and that sometimes was a little boring for me. There’s plenty I liked about this story and yet I never really bonded with these two main characters. It’s the pirate life, as the story keeps reminding us. That means ruthlessness, cunning, selfish behavior, cursing, peeing into the wind, and sometimes blatant murder, right? And yet we have these sweet characters to follow around. They felt out of place in this incredible, complex setting.
I really enjoyed the world building for this book. It’s an us versus them tale – pirates versus the over-controlling empire. Sometimes it’s even Zala and her crew versus brutal pirates. Then there’s the magic – different kinds, different ways to use it. Toss in an airship and you have a great fantastical tale in the making. I also liked that not all the characters were human. WE have a cat-like humanoid and another with wings.
Zala seems too trusting and nice to win in this world of pirates. She’s always watching out for her friends and crew, polite helpful, etc. Yet pirates do as they do when pirating, right? I never could really see Zala murdering and stealing with a joyful heart. Karim, an officer of the Empire, was a more compelling character because he fit the mold. He was as expected and that made it easy to grasp his purpose in the plot and fill in the blanks with my own imagination.
Over all, it was OK. I didn’t find it compelling but it was nice to have on in the background while I did chores. 3/5 stars.
The Narration: John Rogers did a decent job. I thought he was an interesting choice since the bulk of the story is told by Zala (our heroine). He did plenty of accents and had unique voices for all the characters. His female character voices usually sounded feminine but sometimes they needed a little polishing. The pacing was good especially for the fight scenes. I liked how he expressed Zala’s impatience, anger, and frustration throughout the story. There were no tech issues with the recording. 4/5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. my opinions are 100% my own.