This review contains non-contextual plot spoilers and general thematic spoilers for all three books in The Seaborn Cycle.

If any proof is needed that A Memory of Light was not the ending, it can be found in the words of the many fantasy series written by Wheel of Time fans. It's fun to spot threads of Robert Jordan’s influence woven into series like The Magic of the Lost by C.L. Clark or The Mystic Trilogy by Jason Denzel. In The Seaborn Cycle series by Dr. Michael Livingston, author of Origins of the Wheel of Time, the threads of inspiration run deep, straight from the owner of Jordan's desk itself.

For someone who likes to pack light, Livingston wears a staggering amount of hats in the worlds of writing, media, and historical scholarship. With Seaborn, the “fantasy author” hat suits him quite well. And though The Wheel of Time echoes within its pages, the series stands strongly on its own as a bold, exciting, and modern adventure.

The Seaborn Cycle is the expansion of Livingston’s best-selling audiobook novella, Black Crow, White Snow, the success of which led Audible to request a trilogy. The series’ eponymous first book, Seaborn, and its third book, Stormborn, provide the before and after for Black Crow, White Snow, which is now folded into the series’ second book, Iceborn. Thus, for readers who plan to tackle the trilogy and want to avoid spoilers, it’s best to skip Black Crow, White Snow—or revisit it after completing the series. 

Until 2025, The Seaborn Cycle was only available in audiobook format. The recently published paperback editions by Head of Zeus are gorgeous: the three books—respectively, the color of deep sea, crisp snow, and blood red—are trimmed with glimmering gold and fantastical art, designed by Simon Michele. They are irresistible to the eye of the pretty-fantasy-book collector, and even more so when signed first editions are available for purchase from the author’s personal collection.

Buying pretty books to support the author of Origins of the Wheel of Time may be a no-brainer for many Wheel of Time fans, but for those on the fence, rest assured you can judge these books by their sparkling covers: they deliver on their promise of treasure inside. 

The series follows the adventures of Bela, a driven and competent Shipmistress turned reluctant “Hero of the Harbor,” after her actions during the first bombing attack by the airship-flying Windborn on the matriarchal Seaborn of the Fair Isles. 

As Bela falls deeper into the perils of a battle much bigger than just Windborn against Seaborn, a core group of main characters emerges, including the timid shipmate Alira, the fierce pirate Shaesara, and the clever Windborn captain Kayden Mar. The main characters are immediately likeable, as are the many memorable side characters like Menes, the dutiful Captain of the Stoneguard, and Aro Lanser, the mistrustful “lumicker”—an expert on a mysterious power source that powers airships while also driving the series’ villains.

To describe a story about sailing and pirates as “swashbuckling” may seem cliche, but it’s an apt descriptor here. A great deal of the joy of reading Seaborn is following the daring acts and narrow escapes of the main characters—everything from commandeering a pirate ship while it’s in the middle of battle, to climbing ropes in the sky to board an airship, to battling terrifying island dwellers who use their own blood for magic, to facing off with fearsome beasts and giant mechanical beings. And that’s only what can be said without major spoilers.

Given Livingston’s expertise in battle reconstruction and military history, it’s no surprise the action scenes stand out. And while the fighting is described with precision, the characters and their emotional beats are never lost, nor are the series’ themes of ignorance vs. knowledge; grief vs. acceptance; sacrifice and resiliency. When it comes to character growth, Livingston pushes his heroes to the brink. They learn to adapt to extraordinary circumstances, many of them fully letting go of their past identities in order to assume—and embrace—new ones.

The opening book, Seaborn, begins with an attention-grabbing prologue and almost non-stop action, despite some bits of choppy exposition as the magic system and Seaborn politics are explained. Iceborn is the series’ strongest work, containing some of the most harrowing and heartbreaking moments for the characters, as well as its most compelling writing. 

Stormborn is the weakest of the three, mostly because the first half is a bit bogged down by recap and setting up the finale, though it’s nice to have room to breathe after all the action in the first two books. Stormborn also contains a surprising twist, almost out of nowhere, that abruptly changes the course of the plot and feels underdeveloped in terms of how it influences a major change for the Seaborn. But the payoff is worth it as the story approaches its final climactic moments, which feature a peak Livingstonian battle sequence and a satisfying ending that does not pull any punches. 

A satisfying ending, and yet… unanswered questions linger. How will the Seaborn feel about the decision they made, and is it really the solution they think it is? What will happen to the Seaborn’s matriarchal society as social norms are challenged in a new era? Will the characters, still reeling and forever changed by all they have been through, be able to find their footing again, and will it be on sea, land, or air? What about the fact that there are at least two other “-borns” that could be future book titles? 

In the acknowledgements section of Stormborn, Livingston teases a possible future for Seaborn: “...the series can go further, if you wish. This book is an ending, but it need not be the ending.” He appeals to his audience to “spread the word” if they want more Seaborn—and so we, at Dragonmount, are doing just that: Read The Seaborn Cycle! Not only is it a fast and exciting read, it is an innovative and immersive series that stays with you, long after the last page is turned.

If you’re still not convinced you should read Seaborn, at the risk of being reductionist and not entirely accurate, we’ll leave you with what many people consider its simplest and strongest selling point: “lesbian pirates.”

For further discussion of  The Seaborn Cycle, follow The Livingstans fan club, join their Discord server, or watch their Q&A’s with Dr. Livingston for Seaborn and Iceborn (Stormborn to come mid-February 2026).

Grace is a licensed mental health counselor who believes in the healing power of found family in fantasy novels and IRL. Also known as Bain & Chiad, Grace has been reading The Wheel of Time since 1998, when she and her high school sweetheart dressed up as Elayne and Rand for Halloween. She fell in love with present-day WoT fandom and was inducted into Far Dareis Mai in 2019. She is the writer of Maidens’ List and a cohost of The Light’s Work.