Let me get the downside out of the way first.

This is a collection of novellas. Novellas are on my list of "Least Favorite Forms." It's a personal foible. They're too short for me to find engaging. By the time I get into them, they're over. This collection gets around that by giving me a little more time in the world, but they're still on the LFF list.

With that in mind, believe me when I say "Holy Moly, these are great stories!"

Javier Aritza is one of those characters that can get under your skin and set up shop in your head. Every time you turn around a new facet of his past, a new layer of personality reveals itself. He's an archetype action-hero who'd rather drink his tea and feed his chickens than engage in derring-do but - sadly (albeit predictably) - needs must. Javier's sarcastic, sometimes caustic, wit sees him through after he and his beloved ship are captured by pirates. Quick on his feet, slow to anger, deadly when provoked - he's James Bond and MacGuyver in space.

The four novellas - four chapters in Javier's life among the pirates - feed nicely into each other. Episodic in nature, each slowly uncovers new aspects of his pirate captors including the enigmatic Captain Solokov and his Amazonian dragoon, Sykora.

In spite of my predisposition to dislike novellas, these characters drew me and and refused to let me go.

Highly Recommended