Seafire

Written by Natalie C. Parker

Narrated by Rebecca Soler

A warlord killed Caledonia's parents and kidnapped her brother. Now, on the deadly Bullet seas, Captain Caledonia Styx and her all-female crew are ready for revenge.

"This is Mad Max by way of Davy Jones, a high-energy, breathless adventure [about] a group of damaged girls who find home in one another." --Booklist

"The pace of the book is fast and relentless, and the action sequences tense and believable, but the best moments are the ones in which the female relationships shine." --NPR

"One of the most spell-binding adventures of the year. This is female piracy at its best." --The San Francisco Chronicle

"The best kind of fantasy. . . . impossible to put down." --Paste

After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric's armed and armored fleet.

But when Caledonia's best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all...or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?

The first in a heart-stopping trilogy that recalls the undeniable feminine power of Wonder Woman and the powder-keg action of Mad Max: Fury Road, Seafire reminds us of the importance of sisterhood and unity in the face of oppression and tyranny.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9780525638377

Natalie C. Parker

Natalie C. Parker is the author and editor of several books for young adults, among them the acclaimed Seafire trilogy. Her work has been included on the NPR Best Books list, the Indie Next List, and the TAYSHAS Reading List, and in Junior Library Guild selections. Natalie grew up in a navy family finding home in coastal cities from Virginia to Japan. Now she lives with her wife on the Kansas prairie. @nataliecparker

Reviews for Seafire

[kiaya40 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm thinking like 2.5-3 stars and I don't know I simply wasn't feeling it. It seemed kind of blah in parts and it's not bad or horrible but it didn't stand out that much to me either. It didn't really get and keep my interest until the end and I was like I might have to look at the next book cause of the end, but I might not. It was okay, but didn't really work for me.

[xaverie_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Seafire sounds great on the package, young female pirates taking revenge where they can against the bloodthirsty warlord who rules over the ocean.

Caledonia Styx, our main character, lived on a ship with many other families, on the run from the bloody Bullets, who force young boys into conscription and addiction to a dug to control them, until she trusted a Bullet who claimed he wanted to defect. Everyone on the ship was murdered as a result, except for her and her best friend Pisces. Several years later, she is captain of her own ship and leading a crew of women in a series of revenge attacks against the oppressive Bullet fleet.

The adventures lead one into the other, and serve as world-building. Your mind automatically tries to place where in our world these locations could possibly be, how humanity might have built such things after the flooding of the world. However, the book was really held back by the story only being told from Caledonia's perspective. There are a plethora of intriguing characters on the ship, all with their own backstories, yet Caledonia's isolation from them as captain really hinders the reader from connecting with the crew. Pisces, Redtooth, Hime, etc all deserved their own perspective chapters.

The climactic scene where the girls of the Mors Nevis attempt a rescue by attacking a Bullet ship was decent enough, but then the author decided to have Caledonia leave her crew without telling them to attempt to kill her Bullet betrayer even though it makes no sense and she loses. It was out of place and felt incredibly tacked on.

Enjoyable in the way a summer blockbuster movie is enjoyable., Seafire is a cookie cutter YA adventure, complete with rather pointless tacked on heterosexuality. I liked it enough I'll probably read the sequel when I need something light and easy for a palate cleanser at some point.

[deltaqueen50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seafire is the first volume of a trilogy that revolves around Caledonia Styx, the captain of an all female crew who sail the seas looking for vengeance against a brutal tyrant who controls their known world. Caledonia was fourteen when she lost her family in a brutal massacre. She and her friend, Pisces were the only survivors, and four years later they have reclaimed their damaged ship, rebuilt her and recruited an all female crew. Their goal is to play havoc against anything that is under the control of the warlord Aric Athair and his men, known as Bullets. Aric Athair ensures the loyalty of his men by keeping them addicted to a drug, leaving him means a harsh withdrawal from it’s comfort.

This was a fast moving story filled with action and adventure. I found myself quite engrossed in rooting for these young women. When they allow a deserter Bullet to live, they learn that Caledonia and Pisces’ brothers are still alive. They have been turned into Bullets but the girls decide they will attack the ship they are on and reclaim them. This is a YA story, and as such there is the beginnings of a romance added into the story, but really I found myself most interested in the action and the relationships between the women. This is a racially mixed crew, and in this world, skin color and ethnicity are accepted and someone’s worth is judged solely on how well they do their job.

Seafire is the first book of the trilogy and so it did end in a slight cliffhanger, but I expected this so was not too dismayed that the story didn’t come to a full conclusion. I have the second book waiting and when I am in the mood for a fun escape and some female swashbuckling, I know where to turn.

[rosechaser110 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this book a while ago and I'm really excited for the sequel.
I usually don't like pirates or sea themed books, but this one is really good.
It starts in a very powerful way, holding the reader's attention and making you wonder what will happen next.
The characters are great and are a wonderful example of strong females and real friendships, but as the characters were part of a ship crew, sometimes I got confused and couldn't remember who was who.
Caledonia is a very interesting main character, her motivations, fears and personality are very clear and easy to understand, and I loved her relationship with Piscis, but sometimes I got confused about the nature of their relationship.
The only reason I give it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I didn't like the romance, I think it could have worked better if there was no romance in this story to make it more slow burn and believable for the next installment.
This book has action, strong girls and an interesting story, it's centered in family (blood related and friends like family) and I really liked that. So I highly recommend it.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun fantasy series with a familiar theme of heroic rebels battling an oppressive regime. But with a major twist. In this case the good guys are a band of bad pirate girls who wreak terror on the seas. Fast-paced and exciting this was a fun and engrossing read. The only downside is that it looks like this is going to be a trilogy and the second book doesn't even have a title yet.

Avast ye mateys and shiver me timbers -- this was fun!

[karenvg3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I completely enjoyed this book. What’s more to love then a bad ass group of all ladies seeking revenge? This motley crew navigates the waters in search of their enemies and finds a bit more than they set out for. 4?

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book in the Seafire series by Parker (this is a planned trilogy). I got this to review through the Amazon Vine program. The cover is beautiful and the synopsis really drew me in. The story itself was fairly engaging and definitely fast-paced. I am not a huge fan of pirate -themed books and reading about sea battles; so if you don’t enjoy those types of books you probably won’t enjoy this. I ended up liking this book more than I expected, despite the piratic theme.

This book is basically one vicious sea battle after the next followed by periods of running from place to place. The theme that is really driven in throughout the book is sisterhood and how important it is for a self made, self-sufficient group of women to support and care for each other.

The book is very fast-paced and easy to read. The story is fairly engaging, but there wasn’t a lot to it. This was a book where I turned through pages fast and read it fast but in the end I wasn’t really all that eager to read more….if that makes any sense. One of those books where you race to the end and then think “huh, not much actually really happened in here”.

My last complaint is that the ending was an awful cliffhanger. I hate it when authors try to “bully” readers in continuing to read a series rather than letting the quality of the story and characters speak for themselves.

Overall this was an easy fast-paced read about pirates and strong women characters and sisterhood. I loved the fast-pace, but didn’t really enjoy the setting or theme. I am not huge on battles at sea and don’t really like reading about them which is pretty much all this book is. Additionally, the cliffhanger ending was absolutely horrible...you have been warned. I don’t plan on continuing with the series.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Seafire is a really, good, strong start to this series. The story started out with a "bang". The main protagonist, Caledonia is a strong leader. Not just because of her being the captain of her own ship but because she displays it with her actions and emotions as well.

I loved that this book featured an all female ship crew. Usually, the stories feature male captains. Caledonia shows that females can be just as ruthless and capable of managing their own ships. However, this is not the only factor that made this book great. The storyline is a good one and there is plenty of action. I can't wait to continue sailing the high seas with Caledonia and her crew to see how this adventure continues. There will be a big battle.

[kamoorephoto · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book about a ship full of fierce, brave, loyal women ready to take on any battle on the high seas, is definitely an adventure with a strong girl-power message (as promised).

Captain Caledonia Styx takes charge of the ship Mors Navis after losing her family to a corrupt and vicious warlord, Aric Athair, and his fleet of ships who he fills with ‘Bullets’, boys and men who he doses up with the drug Silt. Caledonia vows to avenge her loss, and all those of her ‘sisters’, and leads them on mission to find her two brothers, who she finds are still alive (and also now Bullets), after capturing one ‘boy’ called Orna.

The characters on the Mors Navis are tight friends and fighters, loyal to the end, and they are all written with fascinating idiosyncrasies (and names!). What is so great about this book in general is that this is a story about family, friendships, the importance of bonds and loyalty, and how that carries these self-professed sisters through such adversity together.
Parker has written the book with a lot of sailing lingo (I just read that she grew up in a Navy family), so that took a bit of getting adjusted to, but is totally necessary for it to feel authentic. It’s interesting that she has chosen to have the book read as though it’s in some sort of past, but it’s written with talk of the ‘Old World’ and there is some interesting tech, ie the electromagnetic field around the Bullet ship.

The conflict that Caledonia has within herself, that makes her so hardened, is most interesting; I struggled with it a little though, in connecting with her, but it would be appropriate since that’s how it would be in reality. Other characters are also just as fascinating, and Parker will hopefully develop these further when this adventure continues. The pacing was a bit slow in parts, but when I think about that, I think about how the crew has to actually wait as they sail on the high seas, and would spend time preparing to reach their next port or venture.

Overall, this is an exciting take on a sea adventure, and I expect the reader will end up gunning for the crew of Mors Navis like I did. And unsurprisingly, the ending has left the reader with a major cliffhanger.