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We have come to the end of the character introductions.

And I can’t think of anyone more fun to end with than Mouse.

The first time we meet Mouse, he is described thusly:

Something small and determined affixed itself to his leg and Marik tousled the blond mop of hair attached to the smallest member of his crew.

Today I’d like to introduce you to Shaesta.

Another more minor—but highly important—character intro today!

Shaesta is a longtime friend of the Valdeun Hawk crew. She has worked many jobs with them over the past several years, and has gained both their friendship and their trust (though Oleck will still insist on following protocols before letting her sign up for any new job with them).

Meet Oleck

Oleck is Marik’s right-hand. He’s the bo’sun aboard the Valdeun Hawk and the one person Marik leans most heavily on. Even though he’s four years younger than Marik, Oleck tends to act far older. Quiet and gruff, Oleck is often the voice of reason and wisdom amongst his crew. He’s a classic dependable first born. His general nature is to be serious and a bit skeptical of everything. Teasing tends to go a little over his head at times, which of course makes him fair game for the rest of the crew at times, but they also know not to push him too far.

Back in February, I applied for a couple of reviews for The Orb and the Airship, as I am attempting to do some actual marketing for this book and series to give it the best launch possible. One of those review sites was Publisher’s Weekly review, as well as BookLife (which is a subset of PW). It doesn’t cost anything to apply for PW, but you’re not guaranteed to even get a review from them.

BookLife is Publisher’s Weekly’s “focused on indie books” branch, and while you do have to pay for the review (a la Kirkus) you are not guaranteed a GOOD review. If it’s not a good review, you do not have to make it public… so that’s nice.

So… I’m sure you can understand that it was with much trepidation that I opened up the review they sent me yesterday evening.