Dark Water Daughter
The first title in the Winter Sea Series
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4.3 • 12 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
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 readers 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 pirate lord Silvanus Lirr, Mary offers her skills to his arch-rival in exchange for protection - and, more importantly, his help sending Lirr to a watery grave. But her new ally has a vendetta of his own, and Mary's dreams are dark and full of ghistings, spectral creatures who inhabit the ancient forests of her homeland and the figureheads of ships.
Samuel Rosser is a disgraced naval officer serving aboard The Hart, an infamous privateer commissioned to bring Lirr to justice. He will stop at nothing to capture Lirr, restore his good name and reclaim the only thing that stands between himself and madness: a talisman stolen by Mary.
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 characterisation and epic plots full of intrigue and betrayal.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Long (Barrow of Winter) gets the Winter Sea series off to a rocky start with a slow-moving nautical fantasy adventure set in a Jacobian England-inspired world in which Stormsingers, witches who can control the weather through song, are immensely valuable to naval captains and pirates alike. The plot kicks off when stormsinger Mary Firth is mistaken for a notorious criminal and makes a daring escape from public execution with help from her criminal companion Charles Grant. Charles later betrays her, however, using Mary to pay his debts to men who put her up for auction. She's first bought by the abusive Captain Randalf, then kidnapped by infamous pirate Silvanus Lirr, who also keeps Mary's mother as his Stormsinger. Finally, Mary escapes and joins forces with pirate James Demery, a dubious ally, to free her mother and get revenge. Along the way, she begins to question her identity, unraveling a mystery from her past. After a strong start, the narrative gradually loses momentum, bogged down in worldbuilding details about half-baked Lovecraftian creatures called ghistings. While these monsters may have more to do in future books, their presence here does little more than pull the focus from Mary's quest, leaving scant room for Long to explore her abilities. Fantasy readers will be underwhelmed.
Customer Reviews
A Smooth and Accessible Epic Fantasy
Dark Water Daughter is a good novel with very strong writing. The language is easy to follow, making it a smooth and approachable read despite being epic fantasy. The worldbuilding is one of the book’s strongest points. The settings, atmosphere, and locations are vivid and thoughtfully crafted, and the pacing keeps the story moving at a steady rhythm throughout.
My biggest issue with the novel is the characterization. While the characters are interesting on paper, I never felt like I got a truly strong image or emotional connection to them. They could have been developed more deeply. That said, the magic system and the unique elements surrounding the characters help make up for some of that weakness.
It also took me a while to finish, partly because I was dealing with personal matters in life that naturally took priority. Even so, I think this highlights another aspect of the novel: while it is enjoyable epic fantasy, it does not deliver the same unforgettable impact as some of the genre’s standout classics.
Overall, I would say this is a book worth reading, but not necessarily a must-read.