I read this book when it first came out, and I didn't love the re-read as much as I remember loving it the first time. That said, it's an excellent story, that is right up there for a folk take.

Sailor Twain Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson, 10th Anniversary Edition was a book I couldn't really get into now but one I'd like to revisit in the future. I can definitely see its appeal, but it might just not be the book for me.

There are rumors that a mermaid lives in the Hudson River. It is whispered among the sailors to explain all the mysterious disappearances of men and women alike. Sailor Twain is the captain of the Lorelei. The man has a dark secret. The owner of the steamboat is a French man named Lafayette, a living stereotype obsessed by the legend of the mermaid, as he is sure his brother was charmed underwater by the legendary being. He exchanges letters with a mysterious author, specialist of the creature. As the story goes, the three destinies collide. And the mystery of the water nymph is unveiled.

I loved Sailor Twain Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson ! The atmosphere is wonderful, and the story is worthy of the best folktales. The art and absence of colors give a unique, and mysterious atmosphere to the story. It is original, unexpected and really well written. If you love classical 19th century novels by Poe, Twain, Hemingway, or Greek mythology, it is really worth the discovery.

This was such an interesting story. Getting to know, and unravel the story, along with Sailor Twain (not the novelist Mark Twain). There is a lot of intrigue in why the Mermaid of the Hudson is being hunted, what she wants, who knows about her, and keeping her a secret on the ship.

I really enjoyed the style of artwork as it lends itself to the era in which its written. It was hard for me to like Twain as a person, but he's a perfectly great character with plenty of faults that he has to contend with by the end of the book. I was quite surprised (and delighted) by the ending and immediately went back to the beginning of the book to read through again with full knowledge of the story.

This was a wild card, as I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t often read graphic novels but the promise of a mermaid intrigued me.

I whizzed through this, and found it very entertaining. The story is set in 1800s on a steamboat. I’m not a history buff but learning via a comic book (with a bit of fantasy) made it lots of fun. It’s funny too.

An unexpected treat were the pages at the end. Here the author shares how the characters first came to him, all the research, and more of his artwork. I love discovering more behind the book.

I recieved an ARC copy from Net Galley. This is my honest review.

This was a brilliant graphic novel. It was produced entirely in black and white but the pictures were amazing and so detailed. I just loved every second of it and I had to read it all in one sitting it was that good. Yep it's was a fantastic page turning story. This book was produced for adults as there was pictures younger eyes really shouldn't see. It was so much fun to read the quality of the pictures really brought out a fantastic sense of atmosphere and tension. I really loved that between chapters there were detailed maps of the course of the Hudson River. I loved seeing the pictures of the historic paddle steam boats. It really was a great portray of the time period. At the end of the book there was a brilliant section showing pictures of how the author prepared for writing this book. He really made some brilliant models and the whole process amazed me and I was in awe of the authors talents. I really can't recommend this graphic novel enough. I just know if you like historical graphic novels and classic story's you are going to love this exciting story line. 

Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for creating such a wonderful novel that you will become so lost in the outside world will no longer exist. I will definitely be looking out for more books by this amazing author. 
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog yesterday https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/sailor-twain-by-mark-siegel-first-second-books-5-stars either under my name or ladyreading365. Links to retail reviews is on my blog

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a review copy of the tenth anniversary edition of “Sailor Twain: Or: The Mermaid in the Hudson” by Mark Siegel. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I swear I read part of this comic online a long time ago. That’s why I decided to request a review copy as it looked familiar and I didn’t remember finishing the story. I’ve always been interested in mermaids so I decided to try this graphic novel about a mysterious steamboat. The art style lent well to the atmosphere and old timey feel of the story. Unfortunately, I didn’t really care for how any of the female characters were treated. There wasn’t really anyone in the story to root for. But on a positive note, the historical time period and setting were a strong choice that worked well with the art style.

The ending was very rushed and it was hard to tell what was going on at times. I would maybe pick up another work by this author, but first I’d have to check out reviews to see if the female characters were treated any better.

3/5 stars

It's a weird book. I hadn't looked at the art style beyond the cover when I requested it, so I was a bit surprised by it. It's not bad art, it's just very much not my personal preference. I did get used to it after a few chapters. I didn't love it at the beginning, but that may be related to getting used to the art. By the end I was very interested in how it was going, and what was happening, but I have to admit I was never entirely clear on why things were happening.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital copy for review.

A hypnotic mermaid tale, where men are enthralled by the siren's song and battling to escape, or fighting to stay close. Song is love and vice versa.
Ancient curses are tainting this river world and the fables are difficult to differentiate from the "real". Full of twists and revelations, and mystic magic, this comic book has a lot of charm with a heavy atmosphere of shadows thanks to the charcoal illustrations.
This is the kind of graphic novel that shows that despite being read in a couple of hours, those works can leave quite an impression and have a lot of depth.
I was not a fan of the illustrations at first, the main character, the captain was too simplistic with his strange big eyes, he reminded me of a sesame street character, but I got taken into the world anyway. And I was impatient to discover how it unraveled. An amazing piece of art and a great storytelling craft. I really loved it and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of gothic fiction, mermaids and curses.

3.5 stars.
I didn’t dislike the story but it wasn’t my favorite.
I did however, enjoy the black and white simple illustrations.
The story was good and I did like the ending.
I also really like the cover of this edition.
Overall, not terrible; just a good graphic novel.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley. Content warning for suicide.)

Set on the steamboat the Lorelei, which is navigating the Hudson River circa 1887, SAILOR TWAIN is an odd and enchanting story about a melancholy captain named Twain; the seemingly impossibly randy owner of the steamboat, a Frenchman named Lafayette; a reclusive author known as C. G. Beaverton; a cursed mermaid; and the humans she condemns with her song. Their paths all converge along the Hudson, often with deleterious results.

Having arrived at the story with misguided expectations - for some reason, I thought SAILOR TWAIN was historical fiction - I wasn't always sure what to make of it. Part fantasy, part murder mystery (on a ship, at that), part romance, SAILOR TWAIN is a tricky beast. I guess it doesn't help that the digital ARC I received was highly pixelated, making both the dialogue and action difficult to follow. At one point, I hopped on over to the Wikipedia entry on the book for guidance.

There are a lot of interesting threads to sift through, even if they don't always come together to form a satisfying whole. For example, the mermaid's story is captivating, though I don't feel like we - or South - really get a satisfying ending. Likewise, the half-people trapped underwater with South ... it's an interesting idea that also resulted in a ton of confusion (for me, anyway).

Tbh, I also found it impossible to muster up much sympathy for Twain, who left his wife - a newly ill wheelchair user, at that - for South. Seemingly of his own free will, to boot. Gross.

I wan't crazy about the art, either; most of the characters feel (and look) like caricatures and, with one exception, the women are all one-dimensional ... fitting, I guess, since most of the women aboard the Lorelei have little meaning outside of being Lafayette's conquests.

I like the story. I love the inspiration that the story seems to come from. The black and white really fits the atmosphere and plot.

So beautifully dark. I really liked the story and had no idea how it will turn out. The drawing was a little bit different but in the end I loved it.
The story of the mermaid was tragic and it really touched me.

Twain was fun and I liked how he questions everything and tried to do the right thing. The end was so sad but well made.

It is refreshing to see a tale of Mermaids where the creature lives up to the folklore of the past. She sings her song and entrances anyone who hears it. That entrapment usually leads to a watery death under the sea.
In Sailor Twain, we have many who have heard her song. One who heard but has resisted the pull and plots to destroy the monster and another who has made her promise not to sing to him in exchange for saving her life.

I found the story engaging and hypnotic. The love stories involved are both beautiful and so bittersweet.
The artwork is beautiful in it's darkness of blacks and grays, drawn in charcoal. Some of the characters are cartoonish in appearance while the landscape and ships have almost perfect detail, but it works for me.

Highly recomended
Thanks to @netgalley, First Second Boos, and Mark Siegel for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you to First Second and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I read it all in one go. The story was interesting and a unique take on the siren/mermaid temptress fairytale. I was not a massive fan of the art style but the story was engaging so that wasn't distracting. And the inconsistencies in style was explained somewhat in the authors note as this was originally a webcomic, and the more detailed background characters are actully cameos of his readers which is a nice touch.

An fascinating and magical tale set in the late 1800s on a Hudson Riverboat. Sailor Twain hardens back to the lore of mermaids tempting men to their deaths. This tale takes place over the course of months as the captain of a riverboat nurses a mermaid back tu health and is drawn in by her against his better nature.
The art in the novel was an odd mix of beautiful detail and hard-edged, cartoonish work. The images of the river, the boats, and large scenes rendered in detail while the faces of the main characters are stark and simple showing only a few immediately recognizable features and distinct emotions.
The story was more intricate and interesting than it shared at first glance and weaves mythology together with history to tell the tale.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. #sailortwain #Netgalley

This is an interesting historical graphic novel. I enjoyed the plot, but found the illustrations to be inconsistent. Some pages contained more detail than others and Twain seemed more cartoonish than the rest of the characters. The artwork seemed to drag the story down a bit.

Sailor Twain was a compelling and at times disturbing graphic novel, with a great afterword for historical context. Recommended for graphic novel collections/libraries that have a strong demand for historical fiction.

Although the story is very nice, I don't really like the artwork. It is all black and white and not as detailed as the cover might suspect. Pitty.

Alright, so I am a bit late to the party with this one. The original publication of this graphic novel was 2012 but the copy I am reviewing is the 10th Anniversary Edition, due to be published in August 2022.
It isn't often I read graphic novels, but when I do, I usually fail to properly engage with them. I am happy to announce this was not the case with Sailor Twain! I seriously couldn't put this one down (which is why I am writing this review at 1 am!).
The author's simplistic, unsettling charcoal illustrations capture the dark beauty of this historical mermaid tale with ease, hooking in readers and ensuring this book is un-put-downable. The story itself is the kind of stuff that I find myself thinking about for days after I finally put the book down. I also really enjoyed the afterword, which gave some insight into the creative process behind this graphic novel and included some truly stunning colour illustrations.
I am so glad I picked up this novel and gave it a chance!