Seventeen-year-old Seadon Brinley and his family have traveled through time to an unfamiliar world in search of his elder brother, Bain. In this new environment, Seadon’s curiosity and stubbornness lead to trouble, and he eventually finds himself separated from his parents, captured, and imprisoned on board a pirate ship. He spends several years on the ship with other boys in a similar situation, working as servants and general dogsbodies under the strict and often harsh supervision of the ship’s cruel bosun, Kaliel.
Over time, Seadon adapts to life of piracy and gains the skills and respect needed to become first mate, even if that means becoming the thing he was once afraid of. However, the ruthlessness that helped him rise in rank also contributes to new challenges. One day, a sudden turn of events leaves him injured and alone in yet another unfamiliar world. His future is uncertain. Where will his journey end? And has he forgotten the original purpose of his quest?
CONNECTIONS IN TIME: SEADON’S STORY is the second entry in a new series of time-travelling novels (The Stormwalker Series) that seek to link characters from S.G. Boudreaux’s other continuing sagas. The previous novel told the story of Seadon’s elder brother, Bain, and his adventures through the mysterious light portal at Storm Valley in the family’s home world of Zanchier. In this book, the entire family is transported through time, but the focus is on Seadon and his escapades with the pirates on their ship, the Raik.
This novel is dramatic and hits the expected beats for fantasy-adventure stories. Boudreaux’s plotting keeps the story moving, and her prose is easy to follow with just enough focus on detail to conjure up a believable world for her characters. That said, there’s nothing much here that will surprise readers familiar with this style of YA adventure.
The author cites C.S. Lewis and Tolkien as influences, in light of their Christian heritage. With her aim to provide clean and wholesome family stories, the author plays things very safely. These pirates look and act exactly like so many other pirates a reader will have encountered before: “He was a large, dark-skinned man, with many tattoos, and black, wire-like hair that stuck straight up with wooden beads and a few small feathers braided into it.”
As the story progresses, Boudreaux’s world-building expands—setting out a path for further interlinked stories. Seadon’s adventures and missteps are shown to be a process of learning. “If Seadon hadn’t experienced all the struggles and strife in life, he wouldn’t be the strong, determined man he was today,” writes Boudreaux, suggesting that his circuitous journey had been guided by the “Creator” all along.
S.G. Boudreaux’s CONNECTIONS IN TIME: SEADON’S STORY, Book 2 is a quick, satisfying read whose tidy narrative and concise dialogue will please readers looking for clean, wholesome adventure.
~ Kent Lane for IndieReader