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A review by tashachowdory
Sailor of the Skysea by Andy C.F. Crawford
3.0
*NOTE* I was offered a free copy of this copy book in return for an honest review.
This is very much outside my genre. In that the protagonist is male and there are very few women and it's set in a world where slavery has recently been abolished and the 'Church' (in this incarnation) is still powerful.
The bad points - the women are very poorly written. In a very standard fantasy/medieval trope. The women are in very traditional roles- mother, widow, nun, young girl, whore. And not many of them are credited with much intelligence (other than his mother). I appreciate that the story focuses on Yztak but there is no appreciation of women whatsoever, in pretty much any of the dialogue. The men all frequent brothels - but that's about it. And the women are all very vulnerable - just waiting for a strong man to come by. That's probably what's stopped me from giving this book 4 stars.
The title is actually pretty misleading as well. As I'm not sure we're ever told the origin of the name. I may be reading too much steampunk' but skysea makes me think of sky pirates not islands dotted around a very obliquely disguised Caribbean.
The good points - the story is actually pretty good and Yztak is likable if overly perfect for what he is - aka half black slave-son with a great head for numbers, can fight and most people like him from animals to women and children. I think his adventures were the best part and how each melded into the other with a believable passage of events. The ending was a bit iffy to me, just because it was a bit too cliffhanger-esque and I'm almost sure that the man telling the story is either Yztak himself or his son or something similar. But guess I'll have to keep reading for that. And I do want to keep reading!
This is very much outside my genre. In that the protagonist is male and there are very few women and it's set in a world where slavery has recently been abolished and the 'Church' (in this incarnation) is still powerful.
The bad points - the women are very poorly written. In a very standard fantasy/medieval trope. The women are in very traditional roles- mother, widow, nun, young girl, whore. And not many of them are credited with much intelligence (other than his mother). I appreciate that the story focuses on Yztak but there is no appreciation of women whatsoever, in pretty much any of the dialogue. The men all frequent brothels - but that's about it. And the women are all very vulnerable - just waiting for a strong man to come by. That's probably what's stopped me from giving this book 4 stars.
The title is actually pretty misleading as well. As I'm not sure we're ever told the origin of the name. I may be reading too much steampunk' but skysea makes me think of sky pirates not islands dotted around a very obliquely disguised Caribbean.
The good points - the story is actually pretty good and Yztak is likable if overly perfect for what he is - aka half black slave-son with a great head for numbers, can fight and most people like him from animals to women and children. I think his adventures were the best part and how each melded into the other with a believable passage of events. The ending was a bit iffy to me, just because it was a bit too cliffhanger-esque and I'm almost sure that the man telling the story is either Yztak himself or his son or something similar. But guess I'll have to keep reading for that. And I do want to keep reading!