Customer Reviews

Scimitar Moon

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ahoy there, Matey! Chris A. Jackson delivers a rousing tale of piracy on the high seas. So batten down the hatches and hoist the sails for the journey of a lifetime!

Cynthia Flaxal was born to a seafaring family. Her father, Orin Flaxal, is a sea mage, a magician who can communicate with the denizens of the deep and can even command the waves to obey. Cynthia hopes someday she'll possess these same gifts.

Then when little Cynny is only seven years old, she watches as the dreaded pirate, Captain Bloodwind, attacks their ship and murders her parents and grandfather. Raised by her grandmother, Cynthia is smothered by Julia Garrison's overly protective tendencies. She sneaks away often to frequent the taverns in town. By the age of fifteen, Cynny can spit, swear, drink, and throw knives as well as any sailor on the wharf, and her only friends are the men who sailed on her grandfather's ships. Her heart feels the tug of the sea, and she longs for the freedom of the salty waves.

When her grandmother dies in a tragic house fire, Cynthia takes the reins of the family fortunes and sets about to create a new ship design, faster, sleeker, and better able to fend off the attacks of pirates. Hiring the best architects and builders, her dreams take shape.

Cynthia sets out on her first voyage, an expedition to find crews for her new fleet, and she makes a horrid discovery. She suffers from blinding seasickness. How can a sea mage's daughter be seasick? Mortified by this deficiency, Cynthia travels from port to port, pausing to regain her strength, then interviewing seamen and potential captains. Her father's name is well-known, and everyone waits to see if Cynthia's heritage will eventually kick in. Will she ever be able to command the seas as her father did? And will she be able to face and defeat Captain Bloodwind, avenging her family?

Mr. Jackson populates Cynthia's world with a wide range of magnificent, unforgettable characters. Feldrin Brelak the Morrgrey, the huge man who becomes Cynthia's primary protector; Koybur, her best friend as she grew up, but who harbors a terrible secret; and Vulta Kambeo, the dark-skinned woman who meets and beats the men at their own games. And let's not forget the villainous creatures: Captain Bloodwind, the vilest pirate on the seas, and the evil creature, Hydra, who feeds on humans to gain her power. But my personal favorite is the impish sea sprite, Mouse! Aside from his comedic antics, Mouse is Cynthia's loyal companion and life-long friend. He'll entertain and delight you, and you're sure to add "sea sprite" to your Christmas wish list!

Set sail with Mr. Jackson's newest novel. It will captivate you at every turn, as the plot thickens and the characters take you on a whirlwind journey of intrigue on the high seas. Hollywood, take notice! This book begs to be made into a movie. Mr. Jackson's visual style lends itself to the big screen of the imagination, so nuke that popcorn and enjoy!

Scimitar Moon is a real page turner that is not to be missed. This well paced tale has an engaging plot with swash buckling pirates, revenge, betrayal, magic, and even a bit of romance. Chris Jackson manages a perfect balance of action, description, characterization, and even throws in a touch of humor. (courtesy of an endearing sea sprite) This is one of those books that is hard to put down after you've started reading.

This is, without question, Jackson's best work so far, with engaging characters, abundant suspense, and a strong undercurrent of TENSION. In addition, Jackson gives a fine impression of life at sea, which he knows very well. Great fun.

I go to conventions to meet authors I read and to find new authors to add to my list. I started talking to Anne while waiting for a panel to start at Dragon Con. I was very impressed with them and told them if they see me in the dealer's room, please yell at me as I go buy so I can stop. I am so glad they took me at my word. They had all these books and I had to choose. One of the books I chose was SCIMITAR MOON.

SCIMITAR MOON is a fabulous story with realistic characters and situations. I really liked the main character, Cynthia. The lesser characters are very interesting. Bloodwind, as the villain, was very well written. He definitely is psychotic. His coercion of the children was chilling. I was shocked at who was the spy. I LOVED the ending. It was so appropriate.

I cannot wait to get the second and third books to see where everything goes. I ordered them and can't wait to read them. I look forward to meeting Chris and Anne at a future con to tell them in person how much I enjoyed the books!

I stumbled upon Chris A. Jackson's table at Dragon*Con 2011, where my friend and I stopped to look at the novels arrayed before us. I bought the first three books of this Scimitar Seas series, and my friend bought his Cornerstones trilogy. Believe me, Chris will NOT let you down!

I finished Scimitar moon, and I actually put down the novel laughing and in such a good mood, happy with the entire book. Mouse is such a wonderful character, and I really enjoyed all of the intricate plot twists and comic relief [Thanks to little Mouse, a quick witted seasprite]! There was a fair amount of danger and fear, revenge, betrayal, magic, and underneath it all, was hope of a girl trying to live up to her dreams. I agree with Deborah Cullins review whole-heartedly, and this book should be made into a fantastic movie! [I'd beg to play a role!]

His writing is so captivating, and it leaves the reader on the edge of her seat, itching for more! There were too many times where I just wanted to skip ahead to see what happened, but I waited and enjoyed all of the story. The characters are developed at a good pace, each of them pulling at your heart as you begin to love or even hate them too! Mr. Jackson's got a wonderful personality, and an amazing talent for writing, and his effort in his novels is truly apparent and appreciated! His experience at sea really enriches these novels, giving a great impression of life at sea.

He also took the time to generously reply to my fan mail, which not many authors nowadays takes the time to do. I am thoroughly impressed with his writing, and his personality.

Thank you Chris A. Jackson for writing these wonderful novels!

His dedicated fan,

Sky

I feel I must begin this review with a disclaimer, I have never liked pirate stories. I'm afraid of sailboats (long story, ask me sometime), I can't swim better than a dog paddle, and while I grew up along the Chesapeake Bay I have no affinity for the sea whatsoever. So for me to say that I liked Scimitar Moon by Chris Jackson so much is truly remarkable. Of course it helps that his world includes dwarfs, elves and plenty of magic.

The characters are full and richly imbued with a fair share of flaws each. The protagonist, Cynthia Flaxal, is the spoiled little rich girl daughter of a shipping empire gone to seed. But under her petticoats lies the heart of a sailor and the blood of a seamage. With a vocabulary to rival any drunken seadog(the book is PG however, most of the swearing is verbose and entertaining rather than raunchy) Cynthia is thrust into the unlikely role of ship owner and her troubles only begin with seasickness.

The rest of the cast is no less engaging. The pirate leader Bloodwind is wonderfully not the two dimensional stereotype one might expect. The pirates and sailors don't all go around shouting "argh". And even the family retainers have their own stories to tell. It's a rich cast indeed.

But the character that steals the show is the seasprite, Mouse. I've seen authors try to interject humor into an otherwise tense and dramatic book, but Jackson succeeds where others fail. The antics of this tiny sprite come at at just the right times to accent the dramatic, and sometimes horrific, story with enough humor to ground the reader and make even a die-hard pirate story hater like me hang around for more.

I'm surprised to be giving Scimitar Moon five stars. Really, I only realized in retrospect just how much I enjoyed this read. It does get technical at times, with lists of sails and lines and spars and such, but Jackson always rewards you with something exciting or humorous afterward. It's a well balanced work and I look forward to the next installment of the series.

The fury of the carpenter is not one to be taken lightly. "Scimitar Moon" is the story of Cynthia Flaxal, and her tragedy of losing her parents to a vicious pirate by the name of Captain Bloodsail. Bloodsail leads a nation of pirates, the Shattered Isles, and seems untouchable, especially from Cynthia, who can't fight and doesn't know a lick of magic. But she does have other skills, and through her hands, she will see Bloodsail pay. "Scimitar's Moon" is a fine fantasy of the sea, well worth the read.