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Pathfinder Tales: Pirate's Promise

4.80/5 (based on 12 ratings)
Pathfinder Tales: Pirate's Promise
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Freedom's Privateer!

Torius Vin is perfectly happy with his life as a pirate captain, sailing the Inner Sea with a bold crew of buccaneers and Celeste, his snake-bodied navigator and one true love. Yet all that changes when his sometime friend Vreva Jhafae—a high-powered courtesan and abolitionist spy in the slaver stronghold of Okeno—draws him into her shadowy network of secret agents. Caught between the slavers he hates and a navy that sees him as a criminal, can Torius continue to choose the path of piracy? Or will he sign on as a privateer, bringing freedom to others—at the price of his own?

From critically acclaimed author Chris A. Jackson comes a fantastical tale of love, espionage, and high-seas adventure, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

400-page mass market paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-664-5
ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-665-2

Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Sanctioned Content
Pirate's Promise is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.

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4.80/5 (based on 12 ratings)

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*So* Good

—

NO SPOILERS

Pirate’s Promise is my new favourite Pathfinder novel, and I’ve read a lot of them. The story is full of genuine surprises, truly thrilling action scenes, strong dialogue, intelligent use of the setting, and three-dimensional characters. The novel avoids the problems that plague some RPG novels (a series of random encounters, cardboard personalities, the good guys always win because they’re the good guys, etc.). I was on the edge of my seat for this one, and I’m not a reader or gamer with a particular interest in pirates. The novel ends strongly, and I can’t wait to read the next one. Do yourself a favor and read this book (after reading Pirate’s Honor, naturally).

SPOILERS!:

The Stargazers from Pirate’s Honor are back in Pirate’s Promise. The novel has two main threads that eventually connect. In Katapesh, the Stargazers are on shore leave so that the ship’s lunar naga navigator can visit a magical observatory in the desert. This thread has exciting battles against were-jackals and the surprise revelation that there’s another lunar naga at the observatory—one with far more problematic motivations than mere astronomy. Meanwhile, on Okeno, Vevre Jhaffre continues to pose as a mere courtesan while secretly spying for Andoran to help end the slave trade. This is storytelling that doesn’t mess around—in one scene, Vevre has to murder an ally because she knows he’s made a blunder and, if interrogated, could reveal the whole secret abolitionist movement! A major part of the plot here is that Vevre has come under investigation by an inquisitor of the Church of Abadar; Vevre does what Vevre does best and tries to seduce the inquisitor but ends up developing genuine feelings for her. It’s great to see queer relationships in the setting. I also love the portrayal of Vevre’s banter with her familiar; the novel really demonstrates why it’d be worth keeping one around. Just don’t get *too* invested, as this isn’t a book that’s above killing a cat.

The two threads come together when Vevre enlists Torius (captain of the Stargazer) to become her new intermediary with Andoran. Torius’ acceptance makes perfect sense from what we know of his background, but I like how the rest of the crew struggle with the choice—it’s a huge risk, after all. The climax of the book, a massive ship-to-ship battle, really shows off the author’s mastery of real-life naval tactics combined with intelligent imagination about how those tactics would be affected by things like fireball spells and alchemical catapults. It led to several WOW! moments for me, and I don’t remember ever turning pages so quickly to see what would happen next.

Read this one. You won’t regret it.

5/5 —

The best-laid plans of corsairs and courtesans...

4/5 —

Wow, this was quite the follow-up to Pirate's Honor. I very much liked the new place of honor given to Vreva Jhafae, who becomes easily as interesting a character as any of the others. There were some brutal twists in this book which added to the shock value, but it was a rollicking tale.

The relationship between Vreva and the Inquisitor set against her was an emotional rollercoaster. Harrowing stuff by the end. I liked also how this book built upon what came before in a logical fashion (which is continued in the 3rd book, Pirate's Prophecy, of course).

Editing was similar. Better in the 1st half than the latter half; a pattern I can't quite explain.

My only criticism would be the undoing...shall we say...of a particular character's demise. I kept that vague to avoid spoilers. Why I hated that the character perished, it added to the lethality of the stakes underway, and I was a bit disappointed when it was undone.

I love this book and this entire series

5/5 —

I can't believe how shocked I was by the surprises in this book.
Things I liked:
I loved how it started right where the first one ended. I didn't expect that and since I didn't want Pirate's Honor to end and I got my wish. It was really nice.
The relationships deepen and friendships form plus there are shocking relationships in this story that are indefinitely more intense than the relationships in the first book. I was amazed by the intensity that these relationships burn and it continued to make me turn the page and not want to book down. That's what I want in a book.

Chris is amazing and this makes me want to look into his non-Pathfinder titles.

Immensely enjoyable sequel

5/5 —

Perhaps the best of the entire Pathfinder Tales line.

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Webstore Gninja Minion

Announced! Product image and description subject to change.
Paizo Employee Developer

Yay! More Chris Jackson!
Webstore Gninja Minion
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Adam Daigle wrote:
Yay! More Chris Jackson!

More nautical action...Jackson!

Paizo Employee Developer
2 people marked this as a favorite.

And Celeste!
Contributor
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Thanks for posting, Liz!

Yes, more of everyone...Nautical mayhem ensues!!!

And more Vreva Jhafae!

So psyched to see this coming out! Thanks to everyone who enjoyed Pirate's Honor. This one's for you!
Liberty's Edge
Starfinder Superscriber

\o/ I enjoyed that crew in the first novel. Looking forward to more stories about them.
Scarab Sages

Great news!
Liberty's Edge
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Fantastic news! This was one of my favorite books in the Tales line. Looking forward to reading this!

Awesome! I really enjoyed the first book, so I'm sure I'll love this too.
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I also am eagerly anticipating this novel in my grubby little hands.

O_o

*Washes hands*

I also am eagerly anticipating this novel in my clean little hands.
Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

December, but that's in like.....FOREVER!

Moved discussion here out of the Nightblade thread.

Chris A. Jackson wrote:
Itchy wrote:

-Pirate's Honor?

I'm not sure on that last one. See above about that being a foggy period of time...

Well, if you're still fuzzy on that one, catch up quickly. Pirate's Promise will be out in December!

;-)

I know! I was actually fuzzy about whether I read Pirate's Honor during the sleep deprived fugue that I existed in for the first 6 months of my daughter's life, or if I read it before then.

What I KNOW for SURE is that I have loaned Pirate's Honor out to multiple folks as one of the "introduction to Pathfinder Tales" books. I enjoyed it that much! Sooooooo... I am eagerly anticipating getting this book in my dishwater-soaked hands!
Shadow Lodge

I am so far behind on my Pathfinder Tales novels (and every other series I read) but I just started Pirates Honor. I am excited to know that there is more Torius and Celeste waiting for me around my birthday. Guess I better hurry.
Sovereign Court
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I was just thinking the other day about how I hoped there'd be more books with Captain Vin. And now I'm happy.
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I received the first book in the series as a Con gift. I read it in one sitting yesterday (and am on a intravenous coffee this morning as a result). I am happy that my body will be recovered by the time the next novel releases!
Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.

So much excited, can't word properly!

Pirate's Honor was the best Pathfinder Tale so far, so I am really looking forward to this!
Silver Crusade

Loved Pirate's Honor so I definitely can't wait for this.

Given the theme presented in the synopsis up there I wonder if

Spoiler:
Pok-Nal will make an appearance?
Webstore Gninja Minion
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Cover image and description updated.

Ooh! Shiny!
Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Can I say Arrr now?

Nice new cover! And December is not farrr away!

When does the PDF come out? looking forward to reading it.
Webstore Gninja Minion

December 17th is the retail release date.
Contributor

Free sample chapter, and artwork of Vreva Jhafae on the Paizo Blog page: http://paizo.com/paizo/blog

Enjoy!
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Just got this and I like it a lot
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I finished reading this book this morning. For no reason, I woke up at 3:30AM. I got children back into bed that ALSO woke up at 3:30AM for no particular reason. When I couldn't get back to sleep, I read until the book was done 2 minutes before my alarm went off.

This book was very good. I will work on getting a review written and posted tonight. Well done, Mr. Chris Jackson. Well done.
Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Yeah, this was really good. I thought it was very well-built and the story did a great job of putting all the major characters through the wringer. The stakes really felt like they mattered and the outcome was far from certain -- and that's a hard trick to pull off within the constraints of a continuing series!

Top-tier Tales for me, can't wait to see what the crew gets up to next. :)

Forgot to post this last night when I initially put the review up.

Reviewed here and at The Grassy Gnoll.
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Just finished it in less than 24 hours...which I have not done with a book in a long time(though it helped it was a Friday night so it was not like I had work or anything.)

But my compliments to Chris Jackson for a great novel one I am certain to read again. Can't wait till the next one.

....Well....I can see I'll be in the minority here but - no. Didn't like it. Couldn't, in fact, finish it. Just like "Pirates Honour" actually. I thought the writing was flat & the characterisation two dimensional. Boring, to be blunt. "Pirates Promise" will be part of the VERY short list of Pathfinder novels I've purchased (all of them, thus far) that will be headed towards the 2nd hand bookstore.

A question to Chris, if Torius or any of the rest of the crew to find a stowaway, what would they do with him/her ?

How does the crew of the Stargazer go about recruiting new members who won't cause any issues with Celeste ?
Contributor
Shadow_Charlatan wrote:

A question to Chris, if Torius or any of the rest of the crew to find a stowaway, what would they do with him/her ?

How does the crew of the Stargazer go about recruiting new members who won't cause any issues with Celeste ?

Hmm...I suppose that would depend on the stowaway. They're not so heartless as to simply throw a stowaway overboard, and circumstances would certainly enter into the decision whether or not the person was put ashore at the first convenient port, taken to someplace safe, or taken on as one of the crew. Nothing is impossible, but if said stowaway turns out to be a soul-eating demon from the Abyss in the form of a harmless looking, doe-eyed halfling waif...well that would be an entirely different dilemma...

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Chris A Jackson wrote:
Shadow_Charlatan wrote:

A question to Chris, if Torius or any of the rest of the crew to find a stowaway, what would they do with him/her ?

How does the crew of the Stargazer go about recruiting new members who won't cause any issues with Celeste ?

Hmm...I suppose that would depend on the stowaway. They're not so heartless as to simply throw a stowaway overboard, and circumstances would certainly enter into the decision whether or not the person was put ashore at the first convenient port, taken to someplace safe, or taken on as one of the crew. Nothing is impossible, but if said stowaway turns out to be a soul-eating demon from the Abyss in the form of a harmless looking, doe-eyed halfling waif...well that would be an entirely different dilemma...

"Spoilers" ;-)

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