Dark Water Daughter

Long (Barrow of Winter) gets the Winter Sea series off to a rocky start with a slow-moving nautical fantasy adventure set in a Jacobian England-inspired world in which Stormsingers, witches who can control the weather through song, are immensely valuable to naval captains and pirates alike. The plot kicks off when stormsinger Mary Firth is mistaken for a notorious criminal and makes a daring escape from public execution with help from her criminal companion Charles Grant. Charles later betrays her, however, using Mary to pay his debts to men who put her up for auction. She’s first bought by the abusive Captain Randalf, then kidnapped by infamous pirate Silvanus Lirr, who also keeps Mary’s mother as his Stormsinger. Finally, Mary escapes and joins forces with pirate James Demery, a dubious ally, to free her mother and get revenge. Along the way, she begins to question her identity, unraveling a mystery from her past. After a strong start, the narrative gradually loses momentum, bogged down in worldbuilding details about half-baked Lovecraftian creatures called ghistings. While these monsters may have more to do in future books, their presence here does little more than pull the focus from Mary’s quest, leaving scant room for Long to explore her abilities. Fantasy readers will be underwhelmed. (July)