Gold Winner, Fantasy: Foreword Magazine Book of the Year AwardsThe pirates of the Shattered Isles live and die by on simple oath: By blood, by wind, by water and wave, loyal as one, or a watery grave... With that oath, their lord, Captain Bloodwind, would build a nation of pirates. He doesn't want much, after all... just everything. And what he cannot have, he will destroy. The only man to ever stand against him, the legendary seamage Orin Flaxal, paid that price. But his orphaned daughter, Cynthia, has plans of her own, and revenge is top on her list. She is no warrior, and thanks to Bloodwind's murder of her parents, she will never be a seamage. But she has one family trait that nobody can destroy: she can build ships, like her grandfather did. She will build ships that no corsair can match, and use them to starve the pirate nation to death. And with the help of a bedraggled seasprite, a crippled old sailor and a retired ship's cook, who could stand against her? But Bloodwind has spies and assassins in every port, and Cynthia's new ships would make fine additions to his pirate fleet. Meanwhile, Odea, goddess of the sea, has her own plans for Cynthia Flaxal. So when Cynthia's ships finally set sail, both Captain Bloodwind and Odea are ready.