Once you start reading, you should fly through this serial launch pretty easily. I read the paperback version, so I assume I’d have read even quicker on my phone. In many ways, I can see this as being part of a thicker book vs a chunked-out affair. The setting is fun – the majority of civilization is under water. This tale takes place in Europe, so I wonder if future adventures – and future stones – will call for high winds on the seas? The story revolves around James’ hunt for his wife and daughter whom were taken by pirates. James, too, was taken and then used for deep-dive excursions hunting for various treasure in the aforementioned sunken civilizations. Don’t call James a Merman though – Zoolander would kick you in the sack for it. Siren. This book has loads of sirens. Yeah, with the ocean taking over the land – humans – those that actually survived had to adapt. And with the help of mages, they transformed into sea/land creatures with the ability to breathe in both environments. Pretty cool. Sign me up already.
So James and some other sirens, one being Pierce, are slave-labor, treasure-hunting mega-swimmers. As the book blurb suggests – you will encounter pirates and beasts. Now, for me… some higher-level thoughts: It feels like this would read better as a full story. Weighing in at 200 pages, it is a rather fast read. IDK, maybe there will be enough for 6-8 books when all is done, so cramming everything into a big [redacted] book would be too much. There is a betrayal scene. And it was over as quickly as it started. I was left thinking – no build up? No contextual clues or foreshadowing? If you were reading fast, you may have missed it. Relationship. Warm. Cold. Hot all pretty quick. Didn’t feel, to me, normal. ARC provided by author 4 of 5 Stars
From the Publisher
Family comes first in the epic, sea-faring adventure: The Viking Throne.The Henihans, a family of sirens, are brutally separated. James Henihan failed to protect his family. He will dive into the murderous depths of the Cursed Seas of Europe to find his family on a voyage wrought with bloodthirsty pirates, supernatural beasts, sorcerous legends, and environments not fit for the living. Will James find redemption? Or will his enemies both above and below the Cursed Seas quell his hopes of a family reunion?