The Pirate’s Game is the third episode in Heidi Cullinan’s Etsey series. This chapter in the epic tale of Charles Perry and Timothy Fielding fills the pages with drama and love and heartache as the two try to resolve their fractured lives; not an easy task with time and space in an uproar and armies on the verge of battle.

There’s a desperation and urgency in the characters as they all struggle to come to some important point. James Gibbs, the Pirate Captain moves onto the stage and The Pirate’s Game focuses on how he relates to Charles, Timothy, Jonathan and Elliean, the dual gender androghenie.

Charles, the Lord of Life is the bed slave of Gibbs, while his lover and the Lady, Timothy’s spirit inhabits Gibbs body. This is a complex tale; Cullinan manages to keep the details straight and the action moving. The Pirate’s Game tells the tale of a couple of seemingly all-powerful beings who cannot set themselves free from the turmoil they’ve made of their existence.

Other characters occupy the stage with Charles and Timothy. Jonathan and Madeline make changes in their relationship. Elliean, one of the good guys and Bassam, the prime villain in Temple Boy come to an understanding. Still the Lord and Lady remain at odds and this is the crux of The Pirate’s Game.

Cullinan is an excellent storyteller; her characters in the Etsey series are richly developed and the scenes are dramatic. There are three more books in the Etsey series. Readers are in for a treat.

Stars: [rating=5]

Reviewed for Blackravens Reviews
Publisher: Loose Id
Image courtesy of Loose Id