Never thought I’d a book about pirates but here I am leaving a 5-star review

So, you know how lovely it is to pour yourself a cup of tea, burrow in a warm blanket and do some leisurely reading for a few minutes while waiting for your children to fall asleep?

Well, Beyond the Crimson Mists is not a book for that (I mean it could be for that also, but not for that exclusively). This will be a book that you continue reading long after your tea is gone, and then you will set on the dryer as you fold your laundry and continue engaging with the story.

My linguistic heart squealed at the Zulu and Russian tiny gems hidden in the names or creatures and ships. Tiny nods to the great writers gone before us underscore the commonality of the human existence even in the imaginary world of Myr. The story development and suspense build up are just enough, forcing you to return for more but without appearing as if the author is trying too hard. The verbal imagery really helps visualize the characters and their environment. I will be waiting for another installment of the Tidestone Chronicles with great anticipation.

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Content Warnings: I’ll start off with reiterating that these CW are logically expected from a book about pirates, but here we go: language (no obviously foul language, but some rude name calling and borderline expressions of fear and frustration); drinking alcohol; violence.

Trigger Warnings: war, loss of parents1 ThomasAuthor 28 books25

Full disclosure, I received an ARC of this book.

That said, I speak only in truths, and the truth here is this is a good book.

It is a wonderful conjunction of fun worldbuilding, swashbuckling action, and winning character development.

I'm going to avoid spoilers, but I took particular joy from the character Urthanq -- there aren't enough golems in fiction, and Wolf brings him a particular animus that I took delight in.

There's also something more here, a world built on a nonrenewable power source that people are willing to kill and maim for, and the horrors thereof... I dunno. Reminds me of something? Probably just my imagination.

Either way, top notch work, and I look forward to the series continuing.1 Colyn Degraaff1 review2

Nicholas Wolf combines the high-spirited thrills of swashbuckling pirates with the rollicking charm of a beloved Dungeons & Dragons campaign in this sprawling story that serves as a love letter to readers with an adventurous spirit.1 Zac Buzza1 review

Beyond the Crimson Mists is a fresh idea that turns magic into a scarce resource and diplomacy into a joke. There’s more bullets fired in the first few chapters than your average military movie and plenty of tidbits to keep you going through the rest of the book. With fleshed-out characters, a good combat-to-downtime ratio, and steampunk pirate skulduggery, Beyond the Crimson Mists is a literary voyage— albeit with a few turbulent waters along the way.

Crimson Mists immediately places itself outside the parameters of the garden-variety swashbuckling steampunk story with giant and violent machinations, hyena pirates, and magic sea rocks called “tidestones.” With a running tally of 152 wars that have been fought over these tidestones, the hostile atmosphere of the world never goes away. This is seen in nearly all of the characters as well, because each of them would shake your hand one second and shoot you the next. Hawthorn, the main character, is a flawed but lovable person, which lends intrigue to his story and the stories of his associates-- most of whom are just as trigger-hungry as he is.

Despite not being a steampunk enthusiast, I didn’t mind the steampunk aspect of this story. It smacked of the genre, no doubt, but the tropes worked because they were presented in a new way and implemented few and far between. Combat scenes were tight, well-scripted, and visceral. I never felt the weaponry got stale, and each encounter felt new and different than the fights before it. The high-risk, high-reward system of magic made each enchanted item distinct and dangerous, particularly because they could explode the moment a character tried using them.

There were, however, a couple of things that I felt got in the way of the novel. First and foremost is the exposition. At times, expository paragraphs were inserted into the middle of the action and interfered with the pacing of a scene. Additionally, a significant number of later chapters end with cliffhangers and start with expository paragraphs, which meant that every time something dramatic happened at the end of a chapter, I had to read through one or two paragraphs of exposition before I could get back to the action. After a while, this took the wind out of the story’s sails for a second, and in most cases it took some time to recapture that wind.
Colloquialisms specific to the Crimson Mists universe ( “drowned,” “by the Depths,” “Depths take you,” etc.) are used so frequently I found myself wondering if there was another way to say what the author wanted to say. The phrases themselves are fine, but the extent to which they are used negatively interfered with my experience of the story.

Urthanq, Hawthorn’s magical automaton, is the typical robot character, driven by logic and oblivious to things sarcasm and double meanings. However, I struggled to plot out a character arc for him as I was reading. I think partial blame for this lies within his diction. Most times he speaks literally and without emotion, but every once in a while he sneaks in a snarky comment that, while presented in the voice of a robot, still has a uniquely human tone. This happens more often in later parts of the book, which I interpret as part of his character arc, but his motivations and paradigms don’t undergo any significant change— at least, not any that I was able to identify.

The ending is suspenseful enough to grab the reader’s interest, but not quite intriguing enough to make me wait for the sequel on pins and needles. The all-important question of “Then what happened?” remains thankfully unanswered, but I found myself wanting one or two more details about why the events of the final page were unfolding. Even a two- or three-page epilogue of what happens after, told with sparing details, could have been enough to make me bang my silverware on the table and demand book 2 (which I’m still looking forward to regardless).

Do I recommend Crimson Mists? Absolutely. For all the things that stuck out to me as improvable, there were two more things that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s high time we got a good debut for a steampunk-fantasy novel, and I think Nicholas really has something unique here. I’m looking forward to the sequel. Ink595 11

Pirates, Steampunkery, a golem and a whole lot of buckles being swashed, a glorious start to a new series!

A little bit lighter than I usually my pirate escapades, but wholly enjoyable and great fun. Hawk is a great MMC and while the framing and character development was strong, I believe that is a lot of room for a lot to come from this hero and I am here for it!

(Am I the only one who kept thinking "Thank yurrr, instead of Urthanq?)

The core storyline is well thought out and explores the theme of a world where there is war to take power of the last caches of nonrenewable power. The created names easy to follow and keep a track of. Wolf's writing style screams along at a great pace and this series has a lot of potential.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.booksirens Jennifer1 review

This was a really fun, face paced read! It is a bit of pirate-y YA adventure story mixed with fantasy.

Beyond the Crimson Mists follows the MMC Hawk, a struggling young veteran pilot of the Tidestone Wars, as he's hired to safely escort a mysterious young girl (Nyomi) to safety. I don't want to give too much away because the world building, dialogue, and action scenes were well written and worth reading without spoilers. I also thought Hawk's overall character arc made it a heartfelt read.

Loved this one!1 Robbie MacNivenAuthor 89 books84

A rip-roaring yarn from start to finish. While the characters are believable and their trials and tribulations are engrossing, what I particularly enjoyed was the time and effort the author has put into crafting his setting. Stories in this genre can walk a fine line between believability and the truly fantastical, and while still fulfilling expectations I felt all of the settings featured were tangible places with their own fleshed-out environments, histories and inhabitants. Combine that with the romping good plot and this is a winner!1 Shane Reynolds1 review

I hadn't read a book in a while and this book scratched an itch I didn't know I had. I was transported back to my younger years and when I first dove into fantasy adventure novels.

Nick blends the pirate and steampunk genres into a grand tale that captivated me from start to finish. Highly recommend!1 Austin Thomas1 review

Immersive, fast-paced adventure. Loved it. Wolf can sling a heck of a good story - this is up to his usual standard!adventure fantasy fun1 Hanna Belle1,418 65

This was such an awesome pirate fantasy story. A very fun read with plenty of actions and great characters.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.4-star-books arcs-online-review-books books-between-100-and-300-pages ...more Miranda5

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