Black Cutlass

Okay, it’s official. I just binged all 19 books in Jamie MacFarlane’s Privateer Tales series and now I’ll have to go through withdrawal awaiting Book 20, which should be out later this year. Heavy sigh.

All of these books are stand alone novels but they really are best read in order as the characters grow and develop in each new book. I’m pretty sure I gave them all 5 stars, mostly because they are so incredibly fun to read. There’s plenty of action and excitement to move things along but there’s also plenty of good, zippy dialogue to add spice and humor to the mix. Add an ability to make living in space feel real and you have a truly masterful series of books that will hook you like a trout hitting a well cast fly.

As for me, I’m on to his Junkyard Pirate series next (I’ve already ordered the first 3 books).

I am A avid si fi reader and in this time of great unrest it is wonderful to have a set of books you can get lost in,the characters you get to know as friends, I do not know if there will be a book 20, but that would be fine with me, if not I will check into some ofJamies other books, keep up the great work dont anything about writing but I am sure it is not an easy task.

It is hard for any writer to keep a long term series running and interesting. While not the best writer around, at least yet, the author has managed to keep the series interesting enough to have me want to keep reading it. Additionally, he also tends to put out new stories in a decent time frame. A certain better author has yet to put out his third book in a trilogy in a few years now. So, to recap, thee writing is good and getting better, the stories are still entertaining, and there are new stories written within a decent time frame.

I can never get enough of Liam and his crew. They are all so wonderful together. So it was great to see the old team back together again in this new installment. Liam, Nick, Marney, Tabby, and Ada. And, let’s not forget the surprise return of another old member (you’ll have to read it to find out) as well.

Privateer Tales is my absolute favorite. Jamie McFarlane is a wonderful story teller. My only problem with this series, is waiting impatiently for the next installment.

While this review is for the 19th book in a series, it would be appropriate for the other 18 as well. It’s all about character development vs action. Too much character development and the reader is thinking, “Get on with it!”; all action and you end up with characters you don’t care about or can’t empathize with. McFarland hits a perfect balance for me, creating stories with page turning action involving characters I really like and care about. Liam Hoffen is the leader, but he is surrounded by an ensemble of likable people contributing to the success of each adventure.