Series: The Winter Sea #1
Release date: July 11 2023
Publisher: Titan Books
Pages: 457
Find it: Goodreads Waterstones
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis

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.

Review

The first in a new series from H M Long, Dark Water Daughter is a tense and gripping tale that follows stormsinger Mary Firth who finds herself forced on board the ship of infamous pirate Silvanus Lirr. In order to escape him she seeks protection with Lirr’s rival, but he isn’t all that he seems and has dark secrets of his own. Samuel Rosser is working on board The Hart, a ship determined to bring Lirr to justice. Rosser, once a naval officer is determined to capture Lirr and restore his good name. Will the two be able to succeed and at what cost?

Dark Water Daughter is a rich and engaging story, one that took me a little while to get into. While there is plenty of action the story feels quite slow paced, giving the reader a chance to understand the world and setting. Long has created a really fascinating world with the ghistings and different types of magic. I am hoping we get to explore even more of that in the next book in the series. I love pirate books and stories set at sea and this one was brilliant at bringing the sights and sounds of swashbuckling pirates to life. I really liked that the story had a cold and wintry setting and that really shone through in the story. This is my first book from H M Long but I really enjoyed their writing style and am definitely keen to read more work from them in the future.

Dark Water Daughter has some compelling characters and I really liked both Mary and Samuel. Each one felt complicated and well crafted and I really enjoyed getting to know them and exploring their histories. Mary, in particular, was my favourite, she is strong willed and determined to succeed despite everything she faces. Dark Water Daughter is a gripping, detailed pirate fantasy and one I think plenty of fantasy fans will fall in love with. If you’re looking for a tense, compelling tale set at sea, full to the brim with action and magic, this could be exactly what you’re looking for.