High Skies Piracy

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

On Solam, pirates raid the skies armed with deadly magic.

Stephan has lived a quiet, sheltered life of hard work and academic pursuits. He married for business, not for love.

Truth be told, he's a pansy.

Now he's on a pirate ship held aloft with arcane energies. Trapped in a steel box with criminals of the worst sort.

How does a reasonable man survive in a place such as this? Will he return home, or will he be seduced by the wild vices of freedom and open air?

Cover illustrated by Rude Rubicante:

https://twitter.com/RRubicante

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2019
Author: Elliot Moors

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.5/ 5.0
Followers: 172
Views: 141,381

Chapters(100 total)

Reviews

No reviews yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!

Community Reviews(10)

ReindallRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Reviewed at chapter 21.
So far this is a fantastic, fast paced pirate story with likeable characters, a believable setting and an intersting plot.
#Style 5/5
I really like the style, the amount of descriptions and dialogue is, for my taste, on point. The descriptions themselves are very well executed, no to long, not to short, while the dialogues are very lively and show the unique character of every person.
#Grammar 5/5 (non-native view)
Nothing much to say about this, I haven't found anything that I would take issue with.
#Story 4.5/5
Even though i'm only 21 chapters in, there is a lot of side plot going on, which keeps the story entertaining, even tho nothing much about the main plot is known yet, except, that they're looking for a treasure map. So far it reads a bit like a slice of life pirate story, thus my rating.
#Character 4.5/5
Every character on board of the ship is quite individualistic and in some form superior to most of the other side-characters, they met so far. They personalities are fleshed out and seems to have a background story, that will probably be adressed in the later chapters. The only small issue is, that i got the impression, that some of the crew would have killed each other long before the mc arrived.
RigamarollalamodeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I tried to resist reading this fiction.
I saw it appear on Trending one day, was interested by the name and the cover, and checked on the reviews, which were all positive. Even one from L Nimbus, who doesn't know me but who I recognized from floating around this site as a man of culture and taste. That tipped me over the edge.
Still, I was nervous. This looked... well, how to put this delicately? Good. Filled with all those things a good story is supposed to have, like character development, an interesting cast of characters and original setting. But I was nervous. Because I've been subsisting off of LitRPG, isekai junk food filled with all the generic tropes you know and love, and which take virtually no effort or thinking on my part. I try to maintain a certain standard for grammar and syntax, but beyond that I'll consume about any junk that limps its way onto the Trending page. Was I really ready to read something of... merit? With an MC that's not the generic isekai insert that takes no effot on my part? With a world that doesn't conform to all the tired tropes?
Then one day, the answer turned out to be yes. Barely, but yes. So I read one chapter. It was as bad as I'd feared. A main character that doesn't instantly know everything they need to be an awesome badass and... (throws up in mouth a little) room to develop as a character. That almost clinched it for me. But I read on. And again. And now I can't stop.
So you should give it a try.
MrBadWithNamesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
What can I say...
Great characters, a world with flying ships and a fair share of light-hearted moments make for a great series (cough cough Gintama)
I have to admit I was never one of those people that got hooked on pirate centric media like one piece and the sort but it's shown in an interesting way in this story - it doesn't feel like I'm watching a superhero movie with a pirate skin plastered over it.
I've yet to have to give out about grammar to anyone... so I'm not sure why I'm always mentioning it, the grammar in the book is great as always.
World and character building are the two main things I enjoyed - especially when I click onto chapter one only to see a map! I love the fact the author went through the trouble of attacking a map to immerse the reader.
At first, I was a little worried that the mc might end up as a generic mc archetype but I'm glad to say that this is not the case.
TL;DR...
Good world-building, good characters, the story is good.
SideBoardTechRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Great story with exciting characters filling out a great world.
I love the found family we have here, and i also like how each of the characters undergo their own arcs that explain their interpersonal relationships with each other. You get enough PoV's to really get to know them, see how and why they act the way they do and what makes them tick.
That being said. The MC has a habit of getting a bit lost in the dialogue. He is often a spectator to the more whacky characters antics. This is especially true in scenes taking place on board ships. Where the crews knowledge, teamwork and skill is on display. Meanwhile the MC kind of just.. exists.
That being said, combat is done excellently. fast paced and frantic conveying the motion of the fights through simple and easy to understand language. Though i did have to look up a few weapons being used later on as they get quite exotic. We do get to learn with the MC about much in this world. But after the first couple of arcs, and most of the learning is done, the problems i meantioned earlier start to arrise.
9/10 for the first 28 chapters
8.5/10 for the later chapters as stephan is forced to share the spotlight more.
Sly K.C OkamiRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
It's like borderlands but driving a science/magic pirate ship! Albeit few grammar issues which could easily be fixed later on as the Author familiarizes themselves better with tenses, it is very easily legible and easy on the eyes with the text format unlike some word blobs I've seen in my time.
The overall story is very interesting with a world I can't wait to know more about, between the technology of the ships themselves, the society that makes them possible and the vastly interesting kinds of different characters atop them.
As for the characters themselves, between the, at first, rather average Protagonist... on his journey through a strange new world and cast, fresh characters like Torch and more keep you entertained as the Protag himself grows alongside them.
Whilst as a combat buff myself, the action could use some more spicing up in my personal opinion, but keeping it unbiased? It's well written and scripted with abundant fantasy elements to keep most readers jittering to continue.
This story is very much the "Putting base fantasy completely aside" sort, bringing enjoyment for both new readers of the genre and old with fresh ideas and creations by the Author whilst not going into too much detail too quickly, keeping you curious and guessing on what the actual f just happened.
If I had advice to give to the Author, is go through the early chapters and check on some rather jarring mistakes in the past to present tense. such as;
' They panicked as their clothes caught fire, bumping into one another and screaming as they patted themselves down.
Torch rose to his feet.'
The second sentence's start can feel like a hiccup, personally I would go for; Torch as he rose to his feet, "XxXx" he began digging into his coat before producing-
Like that it flows a bit better, other than some more of these scattered about the early chapters, good show sir! or madam! I don't know! :D
sleeplessbanterRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Who in the world does not love pirates, throw in some magic and you got yourself one hell of a story. High Skies Piracy is a story that is well worth the read. The pacing is great, awesome fight scenes and let's not forget FLYING SHIPS. So far this story has not let me down and just seems to get better as I read it. Like always I'm not an expert when it comes to doing reviews, but I do know what I like and this I like and I think my fellow royal road reader would like it too.
Chaos_is_HarmonyRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
This review will actually consist of two separate reviews:
1.) One for those who I think would enjoy this piece
2.) One for those who have seen this same formula far too often
The review is also spoiler free.
15 chapters in, my thoughts are thus:
STYLE:
1.) Like an old shoe, comfortable and familiar. This is an easy read, doesn't require much thought (discourages thought, might be a better way to describe it).
2.) Unremarkable except for in the vivid description of the over-the-top fight scenes and the occasional interesting turn of phrase. Honestly, it feels like any one of a million different writers could've written this (i.e., it's impossible to hear Mr. Moors' voice through the writing).
STORY:
1.) Clearly thought out with a consistent and satsifying pacing.
2.) Cliche and with scenarios that are very contrived/unbelievable.
GRAMMAR:
1.) Proofread and edited to near perfection.
2.) Proofread and edited to near perfection. (why did I even bother repeating this?)
CHARACTER:
1.) Wide variety with varied and interesting talents. If you think of them as purely caricatures of real people, they'll be satisfying.
2.) Characters are inconsistent. Make bizarre decisions when they should know better or perform heroic deeds when they are not really capable of it.
OVERALL:
1.) This is the same story you've read and loved (the high ratings are to facilitate this piece getting into the hands of those who crave more of the same).
2.) This is the same wall, just with a different coat of paint. Has entertainment value, but I doubt you'll look back fondly on the characters with even a few weeks distances.
ADDENDUM:
For writers interested in improving their depictions of action sequences, this is a good work to study.
Avery LightRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
Written after chap 15
Already a lot of reviews talking about the good things here so I won't add much.
Great worldbuilding with maps! It's clear to me how much detail and attention the author put into this story.
Style and grammar are very good and smooth. If there are any mistakes, I don't even realize it.
The shinning thing about this novel is the characters. The chemistry between them, how the interact with eachother really clicking it for me.
The pirate crews have their own types, their way of talking, and clear characterization. The author synthesizes gold from a bunch of normal ingredients like an alchemist!
My only regret is there was no pirate ninja assassin. (at the moment) ^^
ZaxihkRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
Well written story without any grammar mistakes, and quite an easy read. Not too much a fan of the story itself sadly. Still worth the read if you can keep interest in the story, unlike me :)
UravityRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
I found the opening to be rather intriguing. The predicament that Stephan found himself in at the start of the plot was interesting; I wasn't sure at first how he would get out of it. From the very start, I found myself invested in Stephan's situation. It was easy to get a sense of how dire being held captive by the slavers was for Stephan.
The characters introduced over the course of the next chapters all felt like they had distinct personalities. I thought that Yin in particular was a fascinating character. I interpreted her behavior around Stephan at the start to be a result of shyness. The dynamic she has with Stephan was interesting, which I think is a result of the way it was written. We have the scene where Stephan wants Yin to help him cook, as well as the one where Yin shows up to help Stephan with the two men. The scenes are spaced out in a way that I couldn't help but want more of Yin and Stephan's interactions.
Overall, the prose is solid and flows fairly nicely. I like the way the world is introduced as the plot progresses. It isn't too fast or too slow-- I think the pace in which the world is revealed is a perfect balance.