15 reviews for:

Pirate Bound

Carysa Locke

3.91 AVERAGE

snarkybarky's review

4.0

3.5

Received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Talented Pirates have suffered loss. Some years ago a deadly virus swept through the female Pirates, decimating them. Now the Pirates face extinction since they have few viable females to bear talented children. Then the Pirates come across two female Talented, Sanah and Nayla, exhausted and wary, who have escaped from a Talented organisation known as Veritas. Nayla is a biokineticist, able to heal on a cellular level, who's Talent is required by their brother Niall - working for Veritas - for it's killing abilities.

What a fantastic story. Each of the main characters, and a few of the secondary characters, are well developed with differing personalities, goals and desires. Dem's qualities as a protective hero make him very endearing, and I enjoyed his internal battle with his Talents. That really made me chuckle. Cannon was an extremely insightful Pirate King who really keeps his finger on the pulse. It would be nice to one day read more about him, and also about Treon, Dem's enigmatic brother.

Inventive and well-written, I hope to read many more books about the Telepathic Space Pirates. This is excellent stuff right here, reminiscent of the best of Anne McCaffrey.

PIRATE BOUND brought some really interesting world building and I liked the idea of the Talents, people with psychic abilities living on the fringes of space to protect themselves from the nulls, or normal humans. The set up for the pirates was interesting and we meet a lot of people in this short read. That includes our main characters Sanah and Dem, both Talents, who fall in love after Sanah and her sister are rescued by the pirates.

The romance is lightening fast, but it's a novella that so that tracks, and in this world Talent woman are rare so Dem doesn't waste anytime staking a claim. He might be the stoic, silent Killer and head of security on the ship but he can't stop thinking about Empath Sanah. Both characters were likable though we mostly stay on the surface of their personalities.

The side characters were all interesting, including the pirate king Cannon, Dem's arrogant but powerful brother Treon, and Sanah's sweet younger sister Nayla. My only real complaint is that sometimes it was hard to catch who was "speaking" when they were all communicating telepathically, especially in a group with multiple people. That aside, I'm looking forward to seeing where this series goes because the set up was very intriguing.

mamapaigem's review

5.0

I am typically a contemporary romance, or paranormal romance novel reader. I got this book for free and I thought after reading the summary of it, that it may just be on the same level as Sharknado, but in book form. So, of course I had to get it.

I don't know how Carysa Locke managed it, but she made Telepathic Space Pirates not absurd. The story line, the plot, and characters, they all work together to provide an enjoyable read that I'm looking forward to continuing with the next book in the series.
loki930's profile picture

loki930's review

4.0

Space pirates and magic abilities what's not to love?

I really enjoyed this book. There's a bunch of characters that are well developed and the plot ties together nicely.
starlitbooknerd's profile picture

starlitbooknerd's review

5.0

Awesome

It was really cool to read Sanah and Dem’s story and I cannot wait to see more of them in future books!!!
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lolasreviews's review

4.0

Wow am I glad I picked up this book, this prequel was so good! I am already looking forward to read the first book! This book was one of my rare impulse buys. I saw the cover in a newsletter from another author and that red hair and her sidewards facing position somehow sold me on the book before I even read the blurb. Then I read the blurb and I gladly paid some of my won gift card money to get my hands on this book.

Pirate Bound is a science fiction romance book centered around telepathic space pirates and that combination is as much fun to read about as it sounds. I've been wanting to read more sci-fi romances and this book perfectly hit the mark for that. Compelling story, interesting characters and well thought out world building were all present. Then there was a great romance that nicely fit into the story without taking over the plot. I enjoyed both the sci-fi and the romance aspect and enjoyed every second of this fun book.

The story is told from Sanah and Dem their point of view. Sanah is on the run with her sister after finding out her brother has plans to use her sister her powers for his own gain and using her powers to hurt people instead of heal. Starving, tired and desperate they are on the run in a spaceship when they encounter a group of pirates. They are hesitant at first, but the pirates seem honest and they eventually take refuge on their ship. Dem is a pirate and one of the high ranking people on the pirate ship they encounter. He has some rare telepathic talents and doesn't feel emotions, until he meets Sanah.

The set-up was interesting and I liked the way it got all worked out. the story flowed nicely and I felt the progression of elements felt very natural and realistic. Even while the story is shorter it in no way feels rushed and I was kinda glad a certain plot line didn't got dragged out like might have happened with a longer book. Although at the same time I also would like to see more of Sanah and Dem.

The characters were are all interesting, we get a feel for the main characters and quite some of the side characters. Enough to form a picture for the characters and I appreciated how in a few short encounters the authors could still paint a vivid picture of them and their personality. Sanah was protective of her little sister and I admired what she did for her and liked seeing them interact with each other. And while she is protective she also gives her sister space. She is a scientist and likes getting answers and the scientist part gave an fun twist to her personality. She has the gift of empathy and I liked how well we got a feel for her gift and how naturally it was woven into the story.

Then there is Dem, the security chief on board this space ship. He doesn't feel many emotions and when he meets Sanah and he feel an instant connection he isn't quite sure what to do with it. I thought his behavior and actions made sense and he was an interesting character with his strong commitment to the ship and how focused he is to protect the two sisters.

The side characters are also fun to read about. From Phantom, who we see only shortly, to the Doc who plays a nice side role. Then there are Cannon, the pirate king, Treon, Dem's brother and Sanah her sister who all play bigger roles into the story. And I wish we would get all of their stories as well, as they were interesting and I wanted to know more about them. They nicely fill up the story and I liked seeing them interact with Sanah and Dem and the other crew members.

I liked how the romance played out, no unnecessary drama and the conflict and obstacles that were in their path felt realistic and even got solved pretty quickly. I liked these two together and how they figured out how to handle these feelings growing between them. Yes the romance moves kinda quickly as this is a novella length book, but it didn't feel rushed. And I did got a feel for them as a characters and how they got to know each other and I felt their connection.

The world building was one of my favorite elements. I have to admit I haven't read a lot of books with telepathic abilities, so I wasn't quite sure how the authors would work with that. I was really impressed with how they handled the telepathic part. It was intermingled in the plot and the world building, we saw how these telepathic gift got used for things like communication, but also for so many other things like healing, fighting and more. It was everywhere and I liked how much we got to see of the telepathic gifts. Not everyone has telepathic gifts, but most of the main characters do so we get a good feel for their gifts. The only thing I would've liked was to learn more about the world and galaxy as a whole. We get a bit of a feel for the struggle between the Commonwealth and the pirates, but the pirates didn't really feel like pirates. They don't do a lot of bad stuff or pirate stuff in this book, although there are some hints about it and they could be ruthless in some instances, but not without reason. Also this story mostly takes place on one ship, so while I got a good feel for the ship and some of it's crew, the rest of the world and space stays a bit more vague. I hope we see more of that in the first book.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book about telepathic space pirates. The story was compelling and developed naturally and kept my interest. The characters are interesting too and I liked getting to know them and hope we see more of them in later books. Sanah is a scientist and she cares a lot about her sister. She also has the gift of empathy which was interesting to read about. Then there is Dem who has some unique gifts and might seem emotionless, but Sanah breaks through his shields. There is also a great cast of side characters with their own personalities and I would love to know more about them. The romance developed quickly, but it didn't feel rushed. I liked these two together and felt their connection. Then there is the world building, which was well done. I especially liked how the telepathic aspect was handled and how we learn a lot about the different gifts and how they are used. There isn't a lot of pirate stuff though and the focus is mostly on this ship so we learn less about the rest of the world. All in all this was a great prequel and I can't wait to read the first book!

mdlaclair's review

4.0

More of a Sci-fi romance. I really like the set up of this book. so many cool characters and the story line follows two sisters running from an evil brother in the government. Then happening to come across some handsome pirates..... Over all I like the book a lot. The romance did fell a little rushed to me however that happens sometimes with novellas. I was hoping the first full book would be about some characters we have meet in this book. However from what I have found on the writer's blog that is not the case. overall I was very impressed.
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nerdywerewolf's review

4.0

So, this was really cool. Reads like urban fantasy...takes place on a spaceship. Great characters for the small amount of time we had them and exciting buildup to what is bound to be a powerful story.

leesarpel's review

4.0

Sanah and her sister Nayla are fugitives, fleeing their brother Niall who wishes to exploit Nayla’s unique talents. As their fuel is running out, telepathic space pirates capture them. They’re of interest to said pirates because they are psychically talented women, and those are thin on the ground in psychic pirate society due to a gene plague decimating their female population. The pirates agree to provide protection for the women in exchange for…I guess the chance to find compatible mates who can help ensure the survival of the race. There’s no find-a-mate pressure surrounding the deal, and the women agree to work on the fleet to pull their weight.
Sanah carries a guilty secret, and it’s only a matter of time before she has to ‘fess up to the pirates. She’s a talented empath and scientist who is very sympathetic. Her hero, Dem, is head of security, and I guess he’s never met a female empath before because feeling things is new to him due to his inherited Hunter-Killer psychic profile, named a bit on the nose. Thankfully he also likes Sanah because she’s sweet, strong, and smart. There’s a bit of the “oh no I am dangerous to you therefore I must stay away” trope, but he does get over it.
The secondary characters round out the story well. Dem’s arrogant and stubborn brother Treon stuck in my brain, as did Nayla, the ship’s doctor Doc, and Captain Cannon. Choosing a leader with empathic abilities who understands how his people are feeling is a very nice touch. The psychic combat and talents are well-explained and I didn’t feel lost in the story.
The idea of pirates presented here is very romantic. Although they’re presented as needing resources, nobody seems too hard up for food or water to the point of doing anything worse than grand theft. After women are scarce, the story mentions some taking of women, but we don’t meet any unwilling captives. The mores presented are very much in line with Western society today.
Protecting Nayla from her brother is the central conflict in the plot, so this is not a long read. We get glimpses of pirate and Commonwealth society, but there’s some hinting at bigger structures. I love space pirates, I’m curious as to how the series will spin out, and eagerly await the first full length novel.