“On the back of the sea, who do we trust?
Our Sisters!
When our ship falters, who do we trust?
Our sisters!
In a storm of Bullets, who do we trust?
Our sisters!
We fight together!
Or not at all!”
I picked up Seafire written by Natalie C. Parker in an Austin, TX bookstore about three years ago expecting a book with a little bit of pirates, a little bit of adventure, and a little bit of romance. What I got instead was a riveting story about sisterhood, mercy, and the strength in trusting yourself.
Caledonia Styx, Captain of an all girls fleet sails her ship, The Mors Navis, through seas that have been taken over by a tyrannous warlord, Aric Athair. Athair and his army of Bullets rule the seas; terrorizing coastal towns, killing entire crews on ships unlucky enough to cross their paths, and stealing children to add to their own numbers. Caledonia never allows mercy for a Bullet, not after she was tricked into giving away her ship’s location on fateful night resulting in the death of her family, leaving only 14-year-old Caledonia and her closest friend Pisces.
Years later she commands her own crew on the very ship she gave away that night and has one goal in mind— to take back the seas from the hands of Bullets. When Pisces brings a Bullet boy aboard the Mors Navis, Caledonia immediately tries to kill him despite the fact that he saved Pisces’ life, never again wanting to be fooled by a Bullet’s pleas. Instead, for the first time since being captain she is challenged by her second in command, Pisces. Digging a dagger into old wounds and putting tension on the crew to either stick to their code or take mercy on the Bullet, Caledonia begins her transition from a simple rogue captain to the pivotal piece in ending this tyranny.
Being a huge fan of pirate lore, this series was exactly what I wanted in the young-adult world. Not only do you get fierce lady pirates, but it was the first time I had read female relationships in a book that prioritized love and forgiveness on top of accountability. Having only each other in a dangerous world, the crew of the Mors Navis trust each other in battle and the backs of the seas. Oftentimes throughout the series Caledonia would be in a no-win situation, her crew of girls always reminding her that there “are no good options” but they were “the steeliest crew” on the seas and that had to stand for something.
The female relationships went outside the bounds of platonic relationships, Parker expertly includes LGBTQ+ representation throughout the entire series but also allows romance to take a back seat to the main point of the series, the action. Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community herself, it was obvious Parker wanted it to be apparent that you love who you love, regardless of who they are— and her characters feel the same way.
On top of the beautiful relationships painted throughout the series, Parker also includes crew members who sign instead of speak, one of the first times I’ve seen this type of representation in young-adult media! ‘Lovely Hime’ as she’s known by the crew, was rescued from a Bullet ship by Caledonia, finding her way into the command crew of the ship. Her ‘sisters’ all learned to sign with her, never allowing her inability to speak to take away her voice. This is a beautiful aspect of the series, allowing anyone to feel like they could be a part of Caledonia’s crew.
Another aspect of inclusion that Parker nailed on the head was diversity. In the young-adult world, it feels sometimes that authors throw in diversity to meet a quota for representation— but Parker makes sure that every single character physically described has their identity represented and used. Honestly, and I never say this, I hope one day this series makes it to the ‘page-to-film’ adaptation world. The range of Parker’s literary characters would make for an incredibly diverse cast, hopefully giving a lot of younger kids the ability to say, “someone looks like me up there!”
Natalie C. Parker did an incredible job with this series, it honestly might dethrone my current favorites. Throughout the series I felt like I was on deck with Caledonia, listening to her commands in the heat of battle as I wonder with the rest of the crew how we could possibly make it out of this alive. The incredibly immersive, story-telling in this series will not let a single reader down.
“Hoist your eyes, and hoist the colors!”
The Beat @APU 