The Legend of the Firefish by George Brian Polivka

Polivka has burst onto the writing scene with an innovative and creative alternate world book, The Legend of the Firefish. Perhaps the best thing about it is that no one from our world gets in.The seafaring world of Nearing Vast is simply there, wherever it is.
The story is about Packer Throme, a young restless man in the town of Hangman's Cliffs, who stows away aboard the Trophy Chase, the prize ship of a resident pirate. Their mission is the hunt the nortoriuous Firefish, a mysterious monster of the deep. At first, the plot seems predictable and a little boring. But near the middle and through to the end, nothing is predictable about, except the very end.
His characters are imperfect and believable, the kind of characters we are looking for. One interesting part is that several Firefish are characters themselves, narrating certain scenes. It's interesting to see the world form their perspective.
One problem with the world he has created is that it repeats history and Biblical stories from our world, which makes no sense. However, we don't know what he should have done instead.
The Legend of the Firefish is one of the best debut novels we have ever read.
3 stars

The Hand That Bears the Sword by George Brian Polivka

Following up the innovative The Legend of the Firefish, The Hand that Bears the Sword is longer and is twice as good as its predessecor, mostly because of its complex plot structure. Unlike the first book in the Trophy Chase, The Hand that Bears the Sword has three to four parallel stories along with the main plot.
The plot itself is basically about a war between Nearing Vast and Dramune. Packer is called out on the Trophy Chase, which has been seized from Scatter Wilkins. Panna is "asked" to stay at the palace while he is gone, but Prince Mather has ulterior motives for her. Meanwhile, Talon is back in her own country. Polivka does a good job at developing her character instead of letting her become a ridiculous villain. All the rest of the characters from the first book are back with more.
Not a single page is boring, all the way up until the end. And I'm not just saying that.
The Hand that Bears the Sword is one of the top ten best books ever and keeps the reader wanting the next book.
4 stars

The Battle for Vast Dominion by George Brain Polivka

Though The Battle for Vast Dominion was not as good as the other two books in this series, this book was an appropriate and logical end to this series.
As Nearing Vast and Drummune battle for the secret of the Firefish, the Achauwak are caught in the middle. Now that Packer is the king of Nearing Vast, he must read its armies out against Talon and the Drammune.
Unfortunately, though the plot was fast-paced, it was more predictable than the other two books in the trilogy. And unfortunately, I knew how the book was going to end before I read the end.
Though it disappointed me and let me down from the previous book, there is nothing wrong with it, and I'm glad Polivka realizes that all good things must come to an end. I'm excited to see what he will next.
3 stars

Blaggard's Moon by George Brian Polivka

I'm always wary about books following popular trilogies. I'm also always wary about authors who start out unpopular who end up popular. This can lead to being manufactured. However, there's always an exception to the rule.
Blagaard's Moon is the exception to this rule. It's a prequel to the Firefish Trilogy (I'm also wary about prequels and sequels) that starts out with Smith Delany sitting on a post in a lake filled with deadly creatures. These creatures are original, but I shouldn't tell you what they are.
Anyway, he begins thinking back to a story one of his fellow pirates told about Jenta, a female pirate. Jenta apparantly got herself tangled into quite a web that wasn't very easy to untangle.
The story is not suspense, but a tangled web of good characters. The format of the story is interesting, having Smith think back to someone thinking back. There is one really good thing Polivka did at the end that most authors would not do.
The characters are believableand enjoyable, as usual for Polivka.
The only problem I could find about the book is its title. It's makes no sense. Nonetheless, I was pleasantly surprised by this book.
On a side note, the trilogy should have been in this order:
1. Blagaard's Moon
2. The Legend of the Firefish
3. The Hand That Bears the Sword
If this were so, it would have been the best trilogy on earth.
Nonetheless, I rate Blagaard's Moon 3.5 stars.