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fi_reads_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
carduelia_carduelis's review against another edition
5.0
This is the third book I've read in the Milford-verse and I loved it! The narrative is completely switched up, instead of the low-fantasy modern-day mysteries of the Greenglass House books we have a high-fantasy historical adventure!
The book follows Greenglass House's Owen's ancestors, the Bluecrownes as they prepare for a landlocked life after growing up aboard the Left-Handed Fate - a schooner letter of Marque privateer in the service of His Majesty's navy in the war against Napolean. Lucy, daughter of the captain and sailor-in-training, feels alive at sea and struggles with being brought ashore - even if it is to Greenglass House that her father commissioned with some very specitfic design details in mind! She is joined by her younger step-brother, Liao, who grew up in China and has special skills with explosives, fireworks, and firepower. Add to this mix some time-travelling, a man who stole coals from god to create his own hell, and Taoism... well there's a lot going on.
Weirdly though, Milford never loses control of the narrative. The books carefully follow the thoughts and feeling of the four central characters but especially spend time with Lucy - who is trying to be brave and help her family even as it goes against her own wishes.
I really liked this book and how it joins to the rest of the Greenglass books so far. I've already ordered the rest of Milford's work and her website assures me it's all connected. I'm reading in her recommended ordering as listed here: https://clockworkfoundry.com/faq/in-what-order-should-i-read/
I also appreciate how seriously she took getting the details of sailing, Chinese mythology, and even 'spherical trigonometry' correct, she lists extensive research in the back of the book. Although I should note that a lot of her nautical research was reading all the Patrick O'Brien books!
Anyway, this is a great book for kids and teens/adults seeking escapism. It's engaging and emotionally intelligent. Recommended.
The book follows Greenglass House's Owen's ancestors, the Bluecrownes as they prepare for a landlocked life after growing up aboard the Left-Handed Fate - a schooner letter of Marque privateer in the service of His Majesty's navy in the war against Napolean. Lucy, daughter of the captain and sailor-in-training, feels alive at sea and struggles with being brought ashore - even if it is to Greenglass House that her father commissioned with some very specitfic design details in mind! She is joined by her younger step-brother, Liao, who grew up in China and has special skills with explosives, fireworks, and firepower. Add to this mix some time-travelling, a man who stole coals from god to create his own hell, and Taoism... well there's a lot going on.
Weirdly though, Milford never loses control of the narrative. The books carefully follow the thoughts and feeling of the four central characters but especially spend time with Lucy - who is trying to be brave and help her family even as it goes against her own wishes.
I really liked this book and how it joins to the rest of the Greenglass books so far. I've already ordered the rest of Milford's work and her website assures me it's all connected. I'm reading in her recommended ordering as listed here: https://clockworkfoundry.com/faq/in-what-order-should-i-read/
I also appreciate how seriously she took getting the details of sailing, Chinese mythology, and even 'spherical trigonometry' correct, she lists extensive research in the back of the book. Although I should note that a lot of her nautical research was reading all the Patrick O'Brien books!
Anyway, this is a great book for kids and teens/adults seeking escapism. It's engaging and emotionally intelligent. Recommended.
magicaltats's review against another edition
4.0
Loved it
I loved seeing all of the connecting bits with the Greenglass House books, but I also loved Lucy and her brother. I also loved the hints of the magic (technology). This was a great story.
I loved seeing all of the connecting bits with the Greenglass House books, but I also loved Lucy and her brother. I also loved the hints of the magic (technology). This was a great story.
angiebayne's review against another edition
4.0
Lucy Bluecrowne is not happy to be leaving The Left-Handed Fate and moving to Nagspeake. She is a privateer not a landlubber. She can't change her father's mind. He is determined to keep his family safe and has built Greenglass House for them. Lucy and her brother Liao and her stepmother Xiaoming are settling into their new home when they meet traveling peddlers. However, Trigemine and Blister are not who they appear to be. They are shady characters on a mission through time and the Bluecrowne family is their target.
I love how Kate Milford weaves all her works together into a cohesive world. I need to go back and read [b:The Broken Lands|12329486|The Broken Lands|Kate Milford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333397090s/12329486.jpg|17308289] and [b:The Boneshaker|6909642|The Boneshaker|Kate Milford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1258612594s/6909642.jpg|7134937] to get the backstory on these characters introduced here. I was truly excited to read about the beginnings of Greenglass House as I have thoroughly enjoyed the books set there. I was also really happy to see Lucy and Liao back after their adventures in [b:The Left-Handed Fate|25774386|The Left-Handed Fate|Kate Milford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444601707s/25774386.jpg|45623193]. I can't recommend Kate Milford more.
I love how Kate Milford weaves all her works together into a cohesive world. I need to go back and read [b:The Broken Lands|12329486|The Broken Lands|Kate Milford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333397090s/12329486.jpg|17308289] and [b:The Boneshaker|6909642|The Boneshaker|Kate Milford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1258612594s/6909642.jpg|7134937] to get the backstory on these characters introduced here. I was truly excited to read about the beginnings of Greenglass House as I have thoroughly enjoyed the books set there. I was also really happy to see Lucy and Liao back after their adventures in [b:The Left-Handed Fate|25774386|The Left-Handed Fate|Kate Milford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444601707s/25774386.jpg|45623193]. I can't recommend Kate Milford more.
rskennedy1066's review against another edition
4.0
This one was hard to read bc I loathed Trigemine and Blister so much and very much needed them to STAY AWAY FROM THE CHILDREN. Excellent villain creation.
chriskoppenhaver's review against another edition
4.0
An engaging, almost-swashbuckling tale of adventure and danger in the nearly-nautical setting of port city-state Nagspeake. My first Kate Milford book was Greenglass House, and this provides some of the history for that story's setting. Whereas I loved that book and the two that follow it chronologically in Milford's universe, I merely enjoyed this one.
Lucy Bluecrowne and her family are moving into a new home, where her dad hopes she'll be safe from the (government sanctioned) piratical life they've lived until now. She is not happy about being stuck on land, left behind by the ship that has always been her home. It doesn't take long for them to learn that life in a city might just be more dangerous than anything they've encountered at sea.
Intriguing and exciting.
Lucy Bluecrowne and her family are moving into a new home, where her dad hopes she'll be safe from the (government sanctioned) piratical life they've lived until now. She is not happy about being stuck on land, left behind by the ship that has always been her home. It doesn't take long for them to learn that life in a city might just be more dangerous than anything they've encountered at sea.
Intriguing and exciting.
colinandersbrodd's review against another edition
5.0
Bluecrowne - I borrowed this book from the children's section of the Providence Athenaeum as the third book in the Greenglass House series (it also participates in 2 other series, as author Kate Milford has written multiple, interbranching series set in the same world). This one involves some odd time travel stuff, and the story of the family that built the Greenglass House at the turn of the 19th century but never really got to live there . . .
greenmtgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Took quite a turn to the unexpected and mythological!
jacquet_mipa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0