Dark Water Daughter

Winter Sea, Book 1

By: H.M. Long

Narrated by: Moira Quirk, Samuel Roukin

A stormsinger and pirate hunter join forces against a deathless pirate lord in this swashbuckling Jacobean adventure on the high-seas—launching the Winter Sea series, full of magic, betrayal, redemption and fearsome women, for fans of Adrienne Young, R. J. Barker and Naomi Novik

Mary Firth is a Stormsinger: a woman whose voice can still hurricanes and shatter armadas. Faced with servitude to a deathless pirate lord, Mary offers her skills to his arch-rival in exchange for protection—and, more importantly, his help in sending the pirate to a watery grave.

But Mary's dreams are dark and full of ghistings, spectral creatures who inhabit the ancient forests of her homeland and the figureheads of ships. Her new ally has his own vendetta, complete with revenge and a lost fleet, locked in the eternal ice of the far north, and disgraced pirate hunter Samuel Rosser is close on their trail. Samuel will stop at nothing to restore his good name and claim the only thing that stands between himself and madness: a talisman stolen by Mary herself. Finally, driven into the eternal ice at the limits of their world, Mary and Samuel must choose their loyalties and battle forces older and more powerful than the pirates who would make them slaves.

Come sail the winter sea, for action-packed, high-stakes adventures, rich characterization and epic plots full of intrigue and betrayal.

©2023 H.M. Long (P)2023 Recorded Books

Slow but builds

Very slow start, but the tail end builds and is magical. An interesting mix of pirate and ethereal other world.

It had a good pacing and the readers good.

I wish, instead of the two readers taking turns based on which of the two characters naration was, that they both read their characters' parts.

Fantastic Narrators and Entertaining Storyline

I really enjoyed this book. I found it because Moira Quirk is one of the readers and I love listening to her!

While the narrative wasn't hugely original, it was reasonably well paced, set up for sequels, and was entertaining overall. I was a bit sad when it finished because I was curious to see what would happen next.

I do wish there was a bit more world-building, or at least explanations of things, but all in all it was a diverting few hours and I will happily listen a sequels, provided Moira Quirk continues as narrator.

Shadow and Bone meets Pirates of the Caribbean

This is one of my favorite reads so far this year. Reminiscent of Shadow and Bone and Pirates of The Caribbean but also refreshing and compelling. Super interesting magic system, world building, and PIRATES.

Highly, highly recommend the audiobook. Moira Quirk’s performance as Mary’s POV is perfect. Samuel Roukin does an excellent job as well for Samuel’s POV chapters, but I had recently listened to Empire of Silence and had a hard time not hearing Hadrian Marlowe.

Overall just a great listen/read, and I will be grabbing the second book ASAP!

LOVED IT

ABSOLUTELY in love with these characters! I can't wait to see what their next adventure holds for them!