bound by a centuries-old oath
a Knight
determined to prove her calling
a Legacy
demanding surrender
As Keeper of the Seahorse Legacy, Cazien de Pollis is a King among pirates, divinely appointed to dispense justice on the seas. Bound by the sacred oath of a long-dead ancestor, he must fulfill a contract to wed the green-eyed Oracle’s Daughter named therein — or risk losing everything he and his people hold dear. But at nineteen, with the identity of his betrothed only recently revealed, Cazien resents the contract — and the urgency within him to see it satisfied.
Erielle de Gladiel returned from the quest for the Remedy, changed. Not only are her formerly-blue eyes now a brilliant shade of green, but she must don gloves to hide inky evidence that her prophetically-bestowed title, the Oracle’s Daughter, demands more from her than the task already completed. Erielle’s dearest-held dream is realized when she is knighted by her King, but unbeknownst to her, that very honor jeopardizes the prophesied purpose to which she and Cazien have been called.
Just as Cazien summons the courage to collect his bride, dark rumors and darker deeds crawl up the coasts, calling its guardians, the Seahorse Pirates, into action — and Cazien away from Erielle. But even though the Oracle’s Daughter knows nothing of the contract to which she has been consigned, Cazien’s enemies have somehow learned of his interest in Erielle. And if they reach her before his ancestor’s weighty oath is executed, the Seahorse Legacy will be forfeited . . . and darkness will be given reign.
Subtly paying homage to several classic tales including Peter Pan, Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, Much Ado About Nothing, and even The Three Little Bears, THE SEAHORSE LEGACY begins an epic re-imagining of the classic Grimm fairy tale, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, which will conclude in Eyes of E’veria, Book 4: THE SUNKEN REALM.
Through My Window
I will admit, this book wasn't the story I was expecting. THAT story will be told in the NEXT book. =D
Without a doubt, Serena Chase has a very confident beautiful writing style. Her characters and world step into life within a page. The magic fits so comfortably into her world that it takes me a moment to realize something extraordinary is happening.
Probably the biggest problem I had with this story was not liking the characters. After falling in love with Cazien in the brief few scenes in the first two books, I was so excited for his return here. But he...didn't really seem the same. He had me frowning rather than grinning for most of the books...though there were some really great moments. Now although Erielle sort of frustrated me a lot, I did think her lack of maturity and rashness was realistic. I didn't love her as much as before, but she was still well thought out.
Violence: As this is a tale with knights and pirates, it is violent: people are killed, a woman is found shot with an arrow, and a bad prisoner is killed without a second thought by a "good" guy, which was kind of shocking behavior for a crew I thought were supposed to be noble, despite being pirates. Also, a female prisoner is whipped, roughly handled and branded.
Sexual: This same female prisoner's honor is threatened and is saved only by grace of the author and that alone. Besides this, there are are also flirtations, male and female. A large story arc is a girl's honor being called into question. One kiss, though characters have obviously experienced more. Cazian doesn't consider himself a philander like his father was, even though he doesn't have any problem playing with girl's hearts and leaving them. (Really, Cazien??)
Language: I don't recall much. Possibly d--m, h--l, bas---d, wh--e, but I'm not sure.
Spiritual: This was a lot more muddled than the previous two books. I know the main message was to trust God even when his plan doesn't make sense, but...the plan didn't make sense in this book. That wasn't really a reason why it was so dead important for Cazien and Erielle to marry. Yeah, if they didn't, his fleet and stuff was doomed, but that seemed more like a punishment than a consequence. Perhaps the importance for their marriage will become more clear in the next book, but I would have liked a reason to be present to the reader at least, since it was the entire plot.
In the end, this story was one really long prologue to the next book for me. I am eager to read The Sunken Realm and find out what happens to Cazien and Erielle next and how it will be a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Sigh..so now I'll just have to wait...
Probably the biggest problem I had with this story was not liking the characters. After falling in love with Cazien in the brief few scenes in the first two books, I was so excited for his return here. But he...didn't really seem the same. He had me frowning rather than grinning for most of the books...though there were some really great moments. Now although Erielle sort of frustrated me a lot, I did think her lack of maturity and rashness was realistic. I didn't love her as much as before, but she was still well thought out.
Violence: As this is a tale with knights and pirates, it is violent: people are killed, a woman is found shot with an arrow, and a bad prisoner is killed without a second thought by a "good" guy, which was kind of shocking behavior for a crew I thought were supposed to be noble, despite being pirates. Also, a female prisoner is whipped, roughly handled and branded.
Sexual: This same female prisoner's honor is threatened and is saved only by grace of the author and that alone. Besides this, there are are also flirtations, male and female. A large story arc is a girl's honor being called into question. One kiss, though characters have obviously experienced more. Cazian doesn't consider himself a philander like his father was, even though he doesn't have any problem playing with girl's hearts and leaving them. (Really, Cazien??)
Language: I don't recall much. Possibly d--m, h--l, bas---d, wh--e, but I'm not sure.
Spiritual: This was a lot more muddled than the previous two books. I know the main message was to trust God even when his plan doesn't make sense, but...the plan didn't make sense in this book. That wasn't really a reason why it was so dead important for Cazien and Erielle to marry. Yeah, if they didn't, his fleet and stuff was doomed, but that seemed more like a punishment than a consequence. Perhaps the importance for their marriage will become more clear in the next book, but I would have liked a reason to be present to the reader at least, since it was the entire plot.
In the end, this story was one really long prologue to the next book for me. I am eager to read The Sunken Realm and find out what happens to Cazien and Erielle next and how it will be a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. Sigh..so now I'll just have to wait...
4 comments:
I might have to read this one. I tend to dislike pirates, so I would like to see them taken in a noble light.
That was one of my problems. From the first two books I thought the Seahorse pirates were supposed to be really noble. In this book they were...less so. :/
Bleh. : (
I mean, for pirates they were pretty noble...not just as noble as I expected them to be.
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