I thoroughly enjoyed this second instalment in Long's The Winter Sea. The magic and world building continues to be fascinating and engrossing and the plot completely fascinating as it grows in complexity. I'm very much looking forward to reading the third book.

I just read Black Tide Son by H.M. Long and here is what I thought about it:

Thanks to Titan for the free copy.

As one of my most highly anticipated releases of 2024, thank god this lived up to my expectations. Nearly every other book I was dying to read this year utterly flopped, so thank you H.M. Long for writing a good fantasy book with good characters and a high stakes story.

The Good
Let’s get this out in the open right now… I am in love with Mary Firth. The main characters of this book, Sam and Mary continue to be fully realized, interesting, beautiful characters and in addition to them, we also see a lot of development with the supporting cast, especially Samuel’s brother Benedict. It takes precises writing to take a character you hate tooth and nail and make them lovable (not good, but definitely sympathetic and interesting). The development of the magic system was seamless, and the world was more fully fleshed out during this entry in the Winter Sea Saga. I loved it.

H.M. Long’s writing also continues to impress. The prose was elegant and composed. Nothing felt underdeveloped and at the same time nothing felt overly flowery. I was impressed by the character dialogue and the information that was included in moments of tension and banter.

I also appreciated the decision making as the plot progressed. The book never took the easy way out and made multiple, small decisions with confidence that led the book in an unexpected, yet fully deserved direction.

The Bad
There isn’t much to say here other than I think the book had a pacing issue from the ~50% mark to about the 75% mark. I felt my interest wane a bit as an issue took too long to resolve. Other than that, there was an ineffable quality that had me feeling that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first one, but I think that’s pretty typical.

I can’t wait for Red Tempest Brother next year. More fantasy like this please. I am dying for well told stories.

4.75/5

4/5

The Winter Sea, a series that combines piracy, romance, and fearsome magic in one fantasy world is back with Black Tide Son, and from the get-go, I could not have been more excited to dive into this extraordinary sequel. Taking place in the months following the events of Dark Water Daughter, Black Tide Son brings us back to our characters meeting new challenges in its wake. Mary and Samuel are hot in pursuit of his brother Benedict after learning a key piece of information that necessitates his rescue. But rescuing will involve more than they expected, and have consequences they did not intend. H.M. Long quickly flew to the top of my list of favorite fantasy authors with the first in this series - bringing an intense action adventure on the seas together with stormsinger magic and a sensational slow-burn romance. The high stakes and lovable characters were in perfect tandem and it ultimately left me wishing for more fantasy novels involving pirates (seriously how are there not more). Safe to say this sequel meets much of the same in balancing the romance with greater plot elements and the development of key characters. Samuel and Mary continued to delight with their witty back-and-forth and underlying romance as Long ups the stake with the political landscape and battle sequences. Benedict even gets a redemption arc that I found completely unexpected but still enjoyed all the same. Maybe I'm becoming more of a villain apologist as I read more from this genre, who's to say? Black Tide Son doesn't lose anything to being the second book in a fantasy series. The pacing is magnificent, the characters are at the top of their game, and the series' core themes are reaffirmed and expanded upon. I really think this is one of the more underrated fantasy series out there right now and I am so excited to read book three!!

Even better than the first one! I love this series so much. I didn't think I was into pirates but it turns out I am. Or maybe I'm just into pirates written by H.M Long.

I enjoyed this installment a lot better than its precedent. We got a lot of adventure and more character development. I also enjoyed the deeper dive into the world building. I enjoyed the slow burn and seeing how Mary and Sam’s relationship developed.
The magic system was also really good and I really liked how we get to know more of it

I have enjoyed HM Long’s other titles, and the trend continues with this one! The book is a strong follow up to the first in the series, and I very much enjoyed it.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

BLACK TIDE SON was a highly anticipated sequel for me after enjoying so thoroughly the unique fantasy setting H.M. Long created in DARK WATER DAUGHTER. The world building and lore definitely continued to expand, which I really liked seeing, and our characters continue to become more layered and fleshed out.

I did feel like this book put a lot more emphasis on the romance between Mary and Samuel. And while I am absolutely rooting for them and love their slow burn, I felt like the romantic emphasis took away from the rest of the story that I was enjoying. I just don't think I anticipated it becoming more romance heavy as it did.

All that to say, the ending has me hungry for book three! I can't wait for its release!

3.75/5 stars

Another good novel in this exciting series: fast paced, full of adventures, entertaining.
I love the storytelling and the world building. Fleshed out and likeable characters
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read an ARC of Black Tide Son. As the sequel to Dark Water Daughter, I was excited about the premise of a pirate fantasy set on winter seas. While the book didn’t fully resonate with me personally, I can appreciate the world the author created. Unfortunately, I struggled to stay immersed in the story and found it hard to connect with the characters. That said, I know other readers may find the adventure and setting much more engaging, and I look forward to seeing how this series continues to develop.

I am so in love with this series. Black Tide Son was a phenomenal follow-up to Dark Water Daughter and I am on the edge of my seat waiting for Red Tempest Brother.

Black Tide Son deepens character relationships and world politics. I was a bit uncertain about a plot motivated by rescuing Benedict given his behavior in book one. But I loved how the story unfolded. Benedict’s character arc was incredible. I loved getting more insight into the complexity of the brothers’ relationship. I also loved Benedict’s snarky support of Mary and Sam’s relationship. I am so intrigued to see the future of his character and his potential role in the unfolding conflict.

I adore Mary and Sam’s relationship. It is a slower burn that takes up a bit more page time in this sequel as they have to decide the future of their relationship. I love that Mary was a bit more lawless, reckless, and assured in their relationship. Sam’s fixation on honor, duty, and the law was a touch ridiculous and insanely endearing. Mary and Sam are such incredible characters. They have so much depth, emotion, and personality to them.

I love how this sequel deepens the magic system. The time skip between books does bypass a good amount of growth—especially with Mary’s Stormsinger magic. But it was interesting to explore the Black Tide cult, amplification, the Dark Water, and other gifts. I also love how the book dives deeper into the political conflict that was lurking in the background of Dark Water Daughter. The ending conflict was so tense and well-written; I was losing my mind.

Once again HM Long’s Winter Sea trilogy will be at the top of my yearly favorites.

Return to wintry, blustery seas and high adventure in this follow up to Dark Water, Daughter.

Disclaimer: I did do a tandem read with the physical and audiobook. The physical book I purchased myself but the audiobook I did read through NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I could not wait to dive back into the icy waters of the winter seas. This was absolutely spectacular from start to finish. It was high action. It was quickly paced, and the character development and political intrigue got even deeper and more interesting. I really loved the progression of the relationship between Sam and Ben. I feel like we got a lot of context through the few flashbacks into their childhood as well as their progression of relationship throughout the book. I was happy to see the relationship between Sam and Mary continue to develop as well and I'm really happy with the way that is heading. I do like that the romance is not the main focus of the book, but only a catalyst to further along the character development. I would call this more of a fantasy than a Romantasy.

I feel like they're political intrigue is definitely getting more interesting and more complex. I liked the introduction of other cult like entities within the novel. I feel like everything that is melting to create this amazing plotline is working really well together. I wish we had more of Grant and his character honestly. I feel like he's very interesting but what is going on with him is very much sub plot. I was thinking that will be accelerated in the third book.

This book was so tense and suspense fail. If you like high seeds, adventure, and tons of worships battling, then this is absolutely the sequel you wanna read. I really loved the development of the powers of each person and how they are integrated within the plot.

As good as the first one! She nailed it again! This series is my first foray into pirate adventures and I love them! I cannot wait to finish the story! Why do I have to wait so long?

Ah! What a phenomenal sequel to my favourite book of last year. I absolutely ate this up - and it just kept solidifying HM Long as one of my favourite fantasy authors ever. Her ability to write a connected series so far is super impressive; seeing as we've only seen her work as a collection of connected stand alone stories. The way this trilogy has been just stepping up the intensity and intrigue and building such a fantastic world that HM Long is dabbling in with INCREDIBLE characters.

I absolutely LOVED the way this story continued on from the previous book, having brought in our characters at roughly a year later from the events of the first; it offers up a new mystery, more political movements, and more intrigue on the high seas. The play with magic and HM Long's worldbuilding in these books is just amazing, and I cannot get enough of it.

Mary Firth and Samuel Rosser are some of my favourite characters that I've read in the past two years, and they have stuck with me so deeply since reading the first few pages of Dark Water Daughter last year, and I cannot wait to see where they end up in book three when that comes out.

For a book two, which are usually the worst books in series because they act like a bridge between the epicness of a book one and book three, this one blew me away. It amped up the stakes, it raised the intrigue and opened up the world even more, and stood very well on its own as a story while still leading into the next book's intrigue.

I LOVED dwd, but this one unfortunately really didn't work for me. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what the problem was, but here are some loose thoughts:

1) Mary and Samuel had a bunch of development happen off page in between books, so now what was a simmering will-they-won’t-they slowburn in the first book instead feels tensionless and inevitable and bland.
2) Samuel, in general, feels pretty bland in this one.
3) The plot feels incredibly disconnected from the plot in the first book, and I just simply don’t care about it nearly as much. I miss the folklore and the ghistings and the pirate lord and the nautical setting. We’ve spent way too much of this book on land, and I don’t care about the stuff they’re exploring and discovering - I just want them to get back out to sea.
4) More vaguely, the plot just feels… overly convenient. Too nebulously strung together. It’s like a random series of events that just happens to lead them into these grand discoveries, and something about it feels frictionless and too easy.

Anyways, this isn’t a “bad book,” it’s just missing too much of what I loved in the first one, and I feel completely apathetic about it. I'll keep an eye on book 3 when it's announced and may still try continuing the series.

this is a phenomenal sequel. Top notch characters who have only gotten better and a really fantastic middle book that gives a clear indication of where the story is going from here without ever feeling like you’re just slogging through to get to the next one. Intentional and well crafted. This series continues to be absolutely buckets of fun.

You guys KNOW I love this series, like the first book was an instant five star read for me and one of my favourite books of 2023, so naturally I was not so patiently waiting for this sequel and WHAT a sequel it was.

10/10, I actually have no notes like this a strong sequel. Strong enough to stand on its own, honestly, and it never once felt like you were dragging yourself through a load of filler to get from A to B. Like yeah, things ARE set up for the next book and you can see where it’s headed with the Usti, but that’s not the main focus of the book. It doesn’t exist purely to bridge the gap between books until things get going again.

The plot was well structured, and while setting a few things up, it also had a clear direction of its own both tying it to the previous book and leading us towards the next like it kinda reminds me of the POTC movies honestly.

The world I loved so much in the first book only expands in this one and you get both see and explore more of it while tensions slowly rise and more discoveries and developments erupt throughout the book. There’s a great mix of humour, action and a splash of romance with some truly epic naval battles as well as prison break and plenty of intrigue with a focus on the magic of this world, specifically Benedict and Sam’s.

Speaking of, imagine my surprise when I went from ‘must we rescue Benedict?’ to ‘damn, I kinda like him’ like the pure SHOCK when I actually chuckled at his antics!? The me reading Dark Water Daughter would NEVER have imagined such a shocking development but…I actually kinda like Benedict?!

I feel like he really did redeem himself, like he’s still not perfect but the complexity of the characters is honestly what I like about this series not to mention the occasional moral greyness to them. You know who else redeemed themselves? Charles!

I’m ngl, I was stoked that my favourite highwayman turned pirate made a reappearance, along with some other familiar faces from book 1, but Charles really made up for some of his more questionable actions in the previous book and honestly? I lowkey ship him with Benedict, like their friendship was such a highlight for me along with their banter! The epilogue didn’t help matters either, I’ll be honest!

There’s a lot of character development in this book, not just for Charles and Ben, but also for Sam and Mary and their super slow burn romance! Which I live for, by the way, but it truly is a wonderfully done slow burn romance! I’m genuinely looking forward to seeing how it as well as the characters, continue to develop throughout the next book!

The plot for this one is just as complex as the first book, with multiple threads woven throughout. Some of which tie into the next book and have laid the groundwork for what comes next but as I said, there’s a clear purpose to this book and while the world expands, so too does the magic system and lore alongside the characters who have their fair share of growth and development too.

They ‘level up’ as it were, which is a good thing considering things are set to ramp up and be even more explosive in the third book!

Genuinely, I love this series it’s like it was made for me specifically and the writing truly leaves me in awe, like the amount of plot threads woven throughout which all end up wrapped up by the end of each book with a handful left to lead us into the next book never fails to amaze me while the author has a particular knack for writing scenes that leave me with the chills.

I mean, Mary and the other stormsingers during the battle? Chills, truly.

Epic, brilliantly written and a hell of a lot of swashbuckling fun, I really can’t wait to see what happens next and I’m lowkey hoping for a Demry reappearance!

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for this arc!

4.5/5 stars rounded up!

I was soooooo excited for this book, and it did not disappoint! It was full of the magic and mystery like the first one, but the way the story went was a complete surprise - which I liked!! The only thing that annoyed me was how much Ben was in this, but thats a me problem lmao. I just don't like him and I know that like you're not supposed to, but dammit is don't like him 😤😤😤 😂 some things that happened at the end were a little confusing, but I feel like they'll be explained more in the next book as it feels like that's how the story is leading us. I can't wait for the next one!! Definitely going to read Long's other series this winter, yes yes

I rarely DNF books but I have been trying to read this for months and it unfortunately just isn't keeping my interest. I made it about 30% in and I haven't felt compelled to keep going which is a shame because I truly enjoyed the first book! I will revisit this at some point and try to push through, but unfortunately will be DNFing for now.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Titan Books for the eARC!

When I read Dark Water Daughter, I did not enjoy it as much as I expected to. I just did not connect to the story. But it was still very well created and written and so I gave it four stars. I found myself having the exact same problem with Black Tide Son.

The world Long has created is super detailed and fascinating with interesting magic and creatures and compelling characters. However, for most of the story, I could not care less about Samuel’s perspective. I was hopefully I would enjoy Samuel’s POV more in this book than I did in book one but that was not the case. He is just like cardboard for me. I do like the romantic. tension between him and Mary though, fighting their feelings for the good of society.

I felt the chapters in Samuel’s POV that jumped back in time to fill in the gaps very disjointed and they often took me out of the rhythm of the story. They didn’t seem to flow well with the rest of the narrative and the timing of them felt very abrupt. It was good to learn more about Sam’s backstory but I felt like these jumps in time didn’t actually fill in many of the blanks.

I feel like these books would make a great TV show. All the scenes and battles on ships, plus the politics and the intrigue and missions off of the ships. The characters are great and the story is always moving and shifting but for some reason I just cannot seem to connect to it.

It’s nice to see the male character (Sam) be so rigid in his desire to do what’s honourable and follow the rules. It is often the female character who these traits fall to. Mary is a more selfish character, still willing to be selfless at times but always looking out for her own self interests. Mary was the shining beacon of both books in the series to me and I wish we’d spent more time with her in this entry.

The climax of this one is just as action packed as book one but for me, I am finding the frustrating more than anything else. Why was the rest of the story always so frightfully dull for me until this point? The end always draws me in and leaves me thinking I could pick up the next book in the series right away. Here’s hoping book 3 is more captivating for me.