Kate Milford

Lucy Bluecrowne lives aboard her father's schooner, the Left-Handed Fate. As a British privateer, the Fate has been hired by Maxwell Ault, a teenager who has taken on the project his father was working on before his death. He's trying to assemble an ancient device which he believes is a weapon strong enough to end all wars. As Britain battles Napoleon's forces on one hand and the Americans on the other, this device could be all too timely. But finding the pieces and assembling them is no easy task, especially since they are pursued by a French vessel in search of the same device, as well as some mysterious men in black who pursue them for reasons known only to themselves. The search will take them to the independent city of Nagspeake, where strange happenings are a matter of course...

So, I love Nagspeake and could read about it all day. Kate Milford's world-building is top-notch. I didn't love the sailing-ship bits as much, despite the fact that I normally enjoy books set at sea as well. I found the plot a little too run-around after one macguffin or another; I enjoyed the different scenes and characters that they met, but I had a hard time believing in the importance of the device itself. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this type of book. It probably also didn't help that I was confused about series order, and read this book before reading Bluecrowne. I'll come back to that book soon, as I'm still a big fan of Milford's work, even if this one wasn't a favorite for me.… (more)

This is another book written in the world of the Greenglass House. It's the book that is used and read by Milo in the Greenglass House and gives more information, backstory, and folklore on Nagspeake and such. I love all of these Greenglass books by Kate Milford, they've become some of my favorite books and I'd recommend reading them all to better enjoy and understand the stories, world, and all in them.
In this book, it's like a collection of stories, but at the same time, they fit together and tie into each other, the world, and all about the characters who sit in the Blue Vein Tavern and sit together telling stories each night. This seems to be the beginning of the great tradition in the Greenglass House World of people sitting down together to tell stories and become friends and not just guests staying at the same place. This collection of stories has somewhat of an eerie vibe and all sorts of folklore and fairy tales all put together.
All these characters are also trapped in the inn by a storm when they begin to sit down each night to share tales and get to know one another and as the nights pass, the tales that are told begin to weave together and explain what is going on with each of the guests and ultimately why they're stuck in the inn while the storm rages on outside.
This like the other Greenglass House stories are easy to get lost in and transport you to another time and place. This story can also be read by itself and doesn't need to be read in order or with the other Greenglass House books, but it's a much better and more enriched experience if you read it in order with the other stories. I would highly recommend this along with all the other stories. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it can easily be entertaining to those both young and old.… (more)