Good overall. The characters are well developed, interesting plot and great worldbuilding. I found it very slow though

Seaborn is the first novel in the eponymous epic fantasy series, written by Michael Livingston, and published by Head of Zeus. An ambitious first instalment, that throws into a fascinating world with a matriarchal society, and that is used to write a gripping and high-action fantasy adventure, with an excellent cast of characters.

The seven houses of the Seaborn have dominated the seas of the Fair Isles for centuries; until suddenly, one night, a new enemy appeared, the Windborn, raiding, burning and killing. That first night, Bela became a heroine, even if she doesn't want to accept it; for a chance of destiny, she ends together with Shae, a pirate, capturing a Windborn airship and discovering that the captain is a male. However, there's more behind the Windborn attacks that they know, and uncovering the truth behind it will take them in an intense adventure that will shake the pillars of their society.

Interestingly, despite Bela adopts a secondary role at some points, I feel she is the real lead of the story; a humble but brave woman that is just trying to get her worthiness recognized, not to just be the hero of the night the Windborn appeared. Shae is a bit more complicated to analyze, but apart from always being in danger, she's decisive for the story to happen. In comparison, the Windborn captain pales a bit, a man with an oath, but who is open to change his ideas with enough pressure.

The world is absolutely fascinating, portraying a complex society where the genre roles are inverted; the Windborn are the opposite to the Seaborn, using technology to fight against the magic of the Seaborn, with a totally different conception about genre stereotypes. It is true that the pacing is a bit slow, but it is balanced with excellent action scenes.

Seaborn lays a solid foundation for what aims to be an epic series; this first instalment is an introduction to the world, preparing all for a sequel that seems to have a bigger scope. If you like epic fantasy, and want something different, give Seaborn a try!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, however, this pulled me in as soon as I saw it! It is honestly beautiful, so hats off to the cover artist!

Michael Livingston has done a wonderful job with world building, really drawing the reader into the world he has created. His characters are well rounded and really flow through the story consistently. I really found myself immersed into the story and enjoyed every minute!

The concept of the seven houses and the seas of the Fair Isles was a brilliant concept with a feared Bone Pirate. The story then follows the first mate of the Bone Pirate, Shea (Seaborn) and a reluctant heroine Bela (Windborn), who journey to find the truth about the factions to stop a dark magick. It was very well thought through and was a read I didn't know I needed!

This is a thought out novel with good pacing, bringing the reader into a fully built world with intriguing characters.

I highly recommend this book and have even bought a physical copy to read again!

Unfortunately I thought I'd love this but it just turned out to not be for me- I struggled to read it and found it hard to continue reading. A DNF at 30%

Pirates. Not monsters. We took care of our own.


Michael Livingston's Seaborn is an intriguing combination of a fascinating, fast-paced page-turning nautical adventure that still manages to focus on the POV characters of the story and show the reader their unique perspective and ensure that each of them has enough (page) time and space to develop and that the reader can get to know them.

The balance between storytelling and character development was excellent. Although the characters were young I felt that the author managed to realistically capture how a young person would react and behave in a situation depicted in the book. The unpredictability of the ending and the ending itself was a delightful surprise and had me itching for the sequel.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.


Seaborn by Michael Livingston is a fantasy novel set around 7 houses who sale around the 7 seas playing their trade.

All this while being in danger from pirates on the sea, as well as the Windborn, another culture who attack using airships.

Seaborn by Michael Livingston is your typical fantasy novel for me at least, where in the first part of the novel you are trying to work out who is who which you have in most novels, but with this genre you have world building as well.

This is I think were Seaborn, is a cut above most books of this genre, yes there is the stage when you have no clue what is happening, why it is happening and who is doing it. But this is thankfully short before things start sinking in.

This is from someone who enjoys fantasy but is not read it all the time,

As for characters for the story we have one from each of the main protagonists Shae a bone Pirate, Bella a seaborn, and Kayden Mar.

All of whom have a distinct character and objectives throughout the novel which really helps readers to understand what is happening and whose perspective you are following.

While Seaborn by Michael Livingston may noy be the most innovative fantasy out there which may turn heavier readers of the genre than myself from the novel.

I think it holds out for readers new to the fantasy genre and with Seaborn by Michael Livingston being the first book in the Seaborn cycle trilogy then it is well worth a read with airships magic and pirates. What more could you need from a novel.

I enjoyed this. It had an interesting world, based around sailing and islands, enemies that come from the air, not the sea, a different kind of magic system, and a matriarchal society that can be quite cruel to men. Fascinating!

I also enjoyed the clash of cultures when the airborne and seaborne came together and for them to learn about each other and realise that not every society is the same.

The multiple PoVs was good to show the different characters of the story, which was also good. I really liked Shae and Bela and how they are both fighting to live up to something.

I'm looking forward to the next one.

Good book with interesting themes and world building. It’s quite fast paced and easy to follow. Would recommend if you like fantasy

There is a lot to like within this book. The premise is fascinating, and the characters are excellent (I developed many crushes). The world Livingston has developed is deeply intriguing - a matriarchal space where men are used for breeding, manual labour, or their intelligence. I was fascinated to see the issues it raised of equality and freedom, of love and respect. However, there were many parts within the book where the descriptions were too wordy, and the phrasing too clunky. As a result, I was often confused - especially when it came to the descriptions of the ships and the geography.
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Whilst the beginning immediately drew me in, I struggled to connect with the book until the last ten chapters. Here, all of the action, the politics and the plot twists seemed to occur. It’s clear to me that this book's focus was on worldbuilding, so the readers could get to terms with the land, and that the second book in the series will be more adventurous. However, I needed more, because it wasn’t until the last three chapters that I wanted to continue the series.
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That being said, it’s the characters themselves that have drawn me into this book. Shae is incredibly smart and impressively strong, and Bela has this inner battle of wanting to live up to the expectations of her whilst also hating them. There are so many more characters that I want to explore further, and I’m excited to see where their individual journeys lead them as the story progresses.
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For me, this was a book that once I was into it, I was reading a fair chunk of it at a time, but it did often take a bit of pushing for me to fully get into it. The series definitely has promise though!

(3.5 stars)

I was totally absorbed in this world from the very start. Loved the characters, love the setting, loved the fast pace. I’m so glad that this is the first in the series as I am so looking forward to the next instalment.

Firstly, the cover of this? Beautiful! Stunning! The artist has done amazing work here.

The author has done a great job here in creating the characters and the world in which they live. It’s beautifully written and excels in its descriptive language.

The character development is flowing and continues well from start to finish.

When all of these elements are brought together, what we have is an intriguing and immersive fantasy novel, that is a good, well paced, well thought out novel.
I’d definitely recommend this book now and in the future.

This was an exciting adventure story set in an interesting world.
The book opens with an attack on a fishing town by an airborne enemy and that action filled prologue really sets the scene for what comes after.
The story is told through the multiple POV which keep the story moving along although sometimes this is at the expense of getting to know the characters better
I really liked the world building and thought that the matriarchal society was well explained even if one or two aspects were cruel to say the least. The culture shock when some of the characters had to realise that other societies didn’t work in the same way was well done too. It was interesting to read that the idea for the world was actually provided by N K Jemison
I enjoyed the way that the plot gradually built up and the characters were forced to work together against a common enemy but without actually trusting each other and the climax was a real shock. I also loved the mixture of fantasy with some elements of magic and steam punk with the windships.
This was a great start to a new series and I will be interested to see what happens next.
Thank you as always to Net Galley and the publishers, Head of Zeus, for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A fast paced read that will engage every kind of reader. The element of fighting Houses/families was also well done throughout.

A book which works better in concept than execution (and the main concept isn't even the author's idea - it's N.K. Jemisin's). There's some interesting ideas of seaships vs airships, but the narrative all gets muddled up in magic systems and backstory. I didn't mesh with any of the characters, they're all quite flat and blur into each other, and the prose leaves a lot to be desired. This has been out as an audiobook for a while, and perhaps it's better in that format, but there's plenty of better fantasy out there.

I'm not sure why I asked for this book as it is not at all what I usually read, maybe it was the beautiful cover. I'm very glad that I did though because it really is a very good book ! The story tears along at speed, has great characters and is very satisfying. More please .......

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I READ SO FAR! SO LOVELY AND BEAUTIFUL. THE CHARACTERS ARE AMAZING AND SUPER WELL DONE. LOVED IT.