Disclaimer: I have no connection to the author other than the fact we’re both here on the Dope (he’s iiandyiiii) and he mentioned his novel in a couple of threads with a link to Amazon, which is how I first found out about it. The opinions that follow are just that, opinions, and they’re mine so they may or may not agree with anyone else’s.
The book: Sailor of the Skysea
The setting: A sort of alternate-history/universe North America/Caribbean. This is not the sort of alternate history with recognizable historical figures, it’s a world with similar geography but a very different history. Even the similar geography has very different names so it’s roughly based on the south east coastal areas of North America and the Caribbean islands these locations are not called “North America” or “Caribbean”. The ethnic groups you’d expect are there, but their relationships are a bit different than in our world. Christianity does not exist but there is a sort of equivalent.
The story is set some time after the “Calamity”, a plague that utterly cuts off the old world and the “younglands”.
The hero: Ytzak is man of mixed ancestry who earns his living as a sailor, prize fighter, and sometimes laborer who desires his own ship. He is slightly better educated and slightly smarter than most others in the setting but he’s imperfect and he makes mistakes.
My opinion(s): I think one of the things that stand out are the fight scenes. Fight scenes are often badly done in literature but these are both believable (even the winner gets hurt) and the action is easily followed. Indeed, the fight scenes stand out as some of the most vivid parts of the story.
I mostly read it over my lunch hour and the clear progression of the story made reading it in daily episodes quite enjoyable. The plot is not one of those baroque, overly complex mazes that almost requires note-taking to keep track of what’s happening, no, this is a straight-forward adventure/action tale. Occasionally I want to smack Ytzak when he’s doing something less than smart, but that’s part of what makes him a well-rounded and interesting character.
There are some outright villains in the book, but most characters are shades of grey rather than black/white.
Initially, I did have trouble caring much about the characters but as time progressed I found myself rooting more and more for Ytzak. Although the book seems to end rather abruptly I wouldn’t mind a sequel, the “further adventures of Ytzak”. I was puzzled for a bit because a good portion of the book doesn’t involve Ytzak sailing on the sea at all, but traveling up-river on the Mississippi-equivalent (Mahapan River).
Criticisms: As noted, the fight scenes are very vivid. Some of the rest of the world is only thinly sketched. This isn’t necessarily a flaw, as quite a few adventure tales are scanty on filling in the background except where necessary to the plot but I wouldn’t mind a little more background detail, a little more worldbuilding. Again, what’s there is adequate to the story, I’d just like to see more - and really, any time an author gets a reader to want more that’s usually a good thing.
I really did not care for the framing device for the story proper. I didn’t feel it added anything and was a distraction, however, it’s not an uncommon device and perhaps if it added a bit more to background it would have seemed more relevant.
Given the title, I expect more about actual sailing.
This is basically low fantasy. I’m not sure it needs the mystic/magic elements at all, few though they are, and I think the story would suffer if there were more of that in the story.
Who would like to read this?: If you like action/adventure without a firm anchor in a specific, real time/place you’ll like this. If you like straight-forward plot without complex webs of interpersonal reactions you’ll like this, in fact, you may find it downright refreshing compared to the overly-long doorstops that often pass for novels these days. It reminds me in some ways of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels, though less fantastical. In other ways it’s somewhat reminiscent of Westerns (both novels and movies) though obviously the setting isn’t the American West. Great for episodic reading and diversion.