As with all books of short stories, this one was a mixed bag. Some were more enjoyable than others. Some interesting takes on the traditional notion of pirate, and good rep in the stories, but overall left me wanting a bit more substance.

About a year ago I requested this ebook from NetGalley, however I did not get a chance to download the book before it was archived by the publisher. I reached out to the publisher two months ago and was provided a ebook copy to read and review for Goodreads and Amazon. So I went on my own voyage to get this collection of literary treasure.

Treasured Island by Ginn Hale - I was not quite sure if this took place on a alternate earth or a alien world, but I found it's moving living islands (which I couldn't help picturing as jellyfish turtles), fascinating backstory of the pirate and how such islands were grandmothers or ancestors, enchanting. Would love to read more short stories of it!

The Seafarer by Ashley Deng- Drasio's pirating of a old enemy uncovers a ship of slaves, who are taken to a magical isle and freedom - would love to know more of the backstory of the two mage pirates.

Saints and Bodhisattvas by Joyce Chng - I had the impression of Nemo's child telling me a story of falling in love with Maria, (this maybe the fault of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman comics) I enjoyed it very much.

The Doomed Amulet of Erum Vahl by Ed Grabianowski - I think this one was a bit of a cliffhanger, with the doomed amulet traded between lovers and the captain choosing to battle the evils of Erum Vahl rather than risk visions coming true...(So I do hope there's a conclusion someday!)

Serpent’s Tail by Mharie West - I adored this one about a Viking, his wife and children and their male lover fleeing together into piracy. (Wish Vikings had saved Athelstan this way with Lagertha and Ragnar!)

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Megan Arkenberg- Sham and Cat flee from old enemies toward a promised refuge, but not before Sham escapes the devil one last time!

Andromache’s War by Elliott Dunstan - I utterly adored this one. Andromache drowns Neoptolemus and takes his ship and crew as hers, pirating the ships of fleeing Greeks and later encountering a ruined Odysseus. I would have happily read a whole book of Andromache's travels.

Andromache in myths is taken off by Neoptolemus, who keeps her as concubine and marries Hermione, Neoptolemus also took the seer Helenus (Cassandra's twin), who is married to Neoptolemus' mother Deidamia, and after her death, and the death of her son when Hermione goes to marry Orestes - Helenus, brother of Hector, marries Andromache. It's a very strange mythology and I think Andromache’s War makes for a better ending.

Rib of Man by Geonn Cannon - The captain of the Rib of Man finds unlocked for treasure in a navigator of a looted ship. I loved how very queer and cooperative diverse community the crew and captain felt.

A Smuggler’s Pact by Su Haddrell- A pact between a witch and a swamp smuggler spells doom to a abusive captain (wish there was a sequel to this one where we see the pact enacted).

The Dead Pirate’s Cave by Soumya Sundar Mukherjee- A science fiction spin to Treasure Island's theme, but I would love to read the investor's adventures with his family of there was one day more.

Rosa, the Dimension Pirate by Matisse Mozer- Rosa crashes into Jack's boring life and the fleeing daughter of a pirate and her engineer save a world's treasure with his help.

A Crooked Road Home by Caroline Sciriha - A fascinating son of a Shadow leader and his memory of his mother may save him with the strength of songs in his people. Would love to explore more on how all this came to be...

After the Deluge by Peter Golubock - New York underwater is troubled by the pirates of it's watery streets. Although the bigger threat may be it's police...

Tenari by Michael Merriam - A former military ship turned pirate finds the ship full of children fleeing a old alien enemy mystery. Wouldn't mind reading more on how the mystery unfolds!

Search for the Heart of the Ocean by A.J. Fitzwater - This was a very cute and furry captain of a marsupial and mer ship go in search of the Heart of the Ocean, quickly getting involved with magic and kraken and affaires between stars and seas.

I got this book as an ARC from Netgalley.

I found this book's collection of various pirate stories well-made. Traveling all across the world in different time periods with different characters opened my mind to the worlds of the many people who contributed to this anthology and made me want to read other works by these authors. While a variety of representation of characters were given of all sorts of backgrounds, I did feel that some of these stories could've been expanded upon and made into a novella even. Having LGBT representation was a pleasant but welcome surprise and it did made me wish there were more stories with similar content in full novel form that are enjoyable to read. Some of the characters did make me question my own notions of what a pirate truly is as a person and made me look into my own writing of pirates and reconsider certain elements I incorporated prior to reading this book that I could improve upon in the future. Overall, a solid book for pirate lovers anywhere!

Ahoy there mateys! This book should have completely floated me boat. But for reasons I cannot articulate, I just couldn't get into these stories. I tried mutliple times with no success. So I sadly have to abandon ship. Arrr!

This was really a mixed bag when it came to the stories. There were some I really adored and some I skipped altogether. I definitely liked the more sci-fi style one than the traditional as they were more fun and more enjoyable. The collection was a bit too full but I did appreciate the range of stories told and the queer characters portrayed.

This unique book had all sorts of stories on... you guessed it! Pirates! Lol

The pirates were not always “good” pirates and were more often than not(in my opinion) accurately presented in the numerous stories . Real life pirates were/are not funny , “heart-of-gold” people men as portrayed in the never ending “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise but were ruthless, cutthroat individuals whose sole aim was to get riches or die trying.

The stories ranged from the okay, to the intriguing, weird(in a good way) and best of all, they all had one or more characters featuring on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

All in all, I enjoyed this anthology and found it a breath of fresh air from my usual types of books

This books is a collection of short stories about pirates; sometimes theses pirates are on sea vessels, sometimes space vessels, and sometimes on something completely different. The stories take place in many different time periods with many different types of people/non-people. This collection of stories is excellent. The stories focus on strong female heroes, which I appreciated, and there are a few LGBTQ stories. Each story is vastly different. Some are better than others, but I was only really disappointed in one. That disappoint came from the world/backstory feeling far too complex to fit into a short story. The stories were exciting and enticed me to keep reading.

I must admit I was expecting slightly longer short stories going in. I prefer stories that are at least 25-30 pages, whereas I believe this collection averages about 14. So while the stories in this collection were well written they just weren't a good match for me.

This was a wonderfully diverse collection of short stories all focused on pirates. It's something I've never seen before, and it was well worth it. The collection featured a wide range: from genre, to sexuality, gender, ethnicity, time, and space (including actual space!) One of the stories even revolved around a pirate crew of rodents, one of whom identifies a gender-fluid. The stories heavily featured plenty of kick-ass women, too, which was really refreshing to see. I loved how the majority of the stories were focused on women in power -- as captains and second-mates. Some of the stories, I will admit, didn't quite capture my attention fully. I didn't dislike any story completely, but I did like some over others. That being said, though, no story felt out of place. With all of them revolving around diversity and LGBT+ pirates, each story still offered something unique. In the end, this was a wonderfully edited collection.