The fist part was fantastic, then it lost me a bit.
Contrary to many reviewers I really liked that the book started immediately with some action, it was almost cinematographic. The firs part intrigued me with the back and forth between Zala and Karim showing us that the pirates were falling into a trap, it really added to the tension.
After that i really started to notice the difference in enjoyment between the two POVs. Karim was interesting to follow and the book did a good job in keeping me engaged without hating him considering he's on the villain's side. Zala... I wish we had followed any other character except her! She was just bland and I don't understant why people should follow her since she doesn't have what it takes to be a leader.
The world and the characters have potential but the world needed to be fleshed out more and we have little to no information about the characters so it's difficult to care about them. Why should I care about Zala and Jelani being reunited if I don't feel their bond? I don't even know how they met!
I'll read the sequel, let's hope it gets better.
The narrator did a very good job.

Sadly By Sea & Sky was a DNF for me. I had high hopes for this - I loved that we had an older protagonist who was already married, and the skyship was super intriguing. Unfortunately, I made it halfway through and just didn't care much about Zala or anything going on in the story. It was very action-oriented, but I didn't get the connection to the characters that I wanted. If you are a more action-oriented reader, want an established, older MC, or really like airships, this might well work better for you than it did for me. 2.5 stars.

Thanks to Bandele Books and Netgalley for an audioARC in exchange for an honest review.

An overall okay story but I think it just doesn't serve well as an audiobook. While the narrator was fine, there was a just a lot going on that was a bit difficult to follow audio only. It's probably much better as a physical copy.

I like plot heavy books, but this could’ve done with a little more character development. I liked how it moved, and the world is wonderful and fun.

I came to this book for pirate fantasy and flying ships and that is in large part what I got. If I’m being honest, I never entirely picked up on the intricacies of the politics and geography in this world, but part of that might have been because I was only listening to the audiobook. Contrary to the entertaining romp I was expecting and despite the amount of action scenes I was fed, By Sea & Sky felt rather slow paced, at least for the first half. I kept waiting to get further into the plot and wishing I hadn’t read the blurb which gives away pretty much the first third of the book. Thankfully it did pick up and truly grab my interest in the latter part of the book.

On the plus side, I really did enjoy the characters, finding them distinct and full of personality, which was only added to by the narrator’s performance. Zala, our main character, was a strong lead, and others had complicated motives as well. In fact, one of the most intriguing parts of the book for me was that we had viewpoints on both sides of the conflict, and Bandele did a fantastic job of invoking my empathy for both factions, even if I’m much more naturally inclined to root for pirates than the navy. The magic and the world at large was also refreshing. There’s a lot more about this universe that I want to know, which has me looking forward to the next book.

Unfortunately this book expired before I had the chance to fully read it and therefore cannot give a full review.

This audiobook is great. I'm not sure I would've enjoyed the story as much as I did had I read the physical book, the accents and little noises of the sea in the background really made it for me. I've read quite a few books about flying ships and pirates so the concept wasn't anything new for me but it was really well done nonetheless. Zala is a great main character to read from. Will continue with this author

I had a hard time following this because there were so many different characters. I made it 70% through the book and realized I still wasn't sure what was happening.

I was sent the audiobook for By Sea & Sky.

Unfortunately, I have to DNF the book because I was getting distracted. I really like what I’ve read so far and the action in this story is amazing. The reason why I am DNFing the audiobook is because the narration is not working for me. I think the narrator does a great job using different voices for each character, but for some reason it is taking me out of my reading experience. For narration I am rating it a 3 stars, this does reflect the content in the book.


I am going to put By Sea & Sky on pause until I can get the physical copy.

I wish the audio version of this book had two narrators as it's told from two very separate points of view.

The story was hard to get into for me with not enough backstory of the characters to make me care deeply about them. The action grows and we get to learn more about their motivations but I found the side characters much more interesting than the main. I want a book about the pukka and Fon!

I did like the weaving in of African mythology.

App would not download the book after months of trying so I never listened to it. Which means 3 stars for a maybe recommend. It counts against me if I did DNF so mediocre rating is the consequences of that set up. I really liked the cover and description.

This story alternates between Zala joining a pirate crew taking on the first airship to make enough money for a potion to cure her husband of an illness, and Karim, an Empire officer stationed on the airship.

There was a lot of action in this. Like a lot. So much so that I didn’t feel like I got to know any of the characters as well as I’d like. The world was fascinating, but I wanted more in depth building when everything even vaguely magical is thrown in. I don’t need info dumps, but I was left feeling a little floundering on the lack of Background.

The narrator was superb, making every character distinct. His pacing was excellent, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the sequel.

This story blends a swashbuckling adventure with personal relationships. I enjoyed the writing style of this story. The characters each had their own individual voices and I understood the motivations clearly. For a story where the plot shifted between two different characters’ perspectives, it was easy to keep track of where we are in the plot and which characters are associated with which perspective.

While it was a fun book to listen to on audio, I wasn’t blown away by the overall story. The main point I cared about was that of Zala and her husband, who has fallen ill of a rare magical disease. The urgency of her husband receiving the potion he needs to keep him well was what kept me interested the entire time. After the husband is taken captive, I wanted to know how the pair would find a way to reunite.

As for the rest of the story, the interesting aspect was the characters. I liked many of them and their personalities, even when I didn’t necessarily like their motivations. The plot itself seemed very scattered. Perhaps, I would’ve had a better experience if I physically read this instead of just listening to the audiobook, because there were times when I found myself lost in the midst of all the action taking place. By the end of the book, things were moving back and forth so fast, that I had a hard time understanding what was happening to which characters. I think the pacing would have felt better had the final conflict been more drawn out.

Overall, I liked it but I’m not sure I will understand enough to continue on with the sequel.

*Uncorrected proof provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Unfortunately this book did not captivate me. I listened to the audio version and only made it about 30 minutes into the book before I lost interest.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an audiobook. The world was really interesting, I was hooked from the start, It is a well paced, action packed, really cool book! The characters were interesting and loved the dialogue delivery but I had some issue with the plot. The audiobook production was amazing, loved the different accent!

Fast-paced, enjoyable, with memorable characters. The narrator did a stellar job. Loved the sound effects at the beginning of each chapter that helped to immerse the listener.

This is a great audiobook, complete with multiple character perspectives and identifying sound effects to let the reader know when the story is in the sky, on the sea, or on the shore. The names are more middle eastern and the cultures are interesting to learn about as the story progresses. This is a great beginning to what clearly must become more than a single book.

I am reading and following manga since 2008. And my most favorite is "One Piece" a Japanese comic based on a fantasy world where Pirates rule the world. So when I saw "By Sea & Sky: An Esowon Story" I was very excited. I am happy that I got its copy in exchange for an honest review.


"By Sea & Sky" is my second audiobook from Netgalley honest review copies. I was glad that I waited for app updates because, by the time I started this book, the forward/backward option started working.

The book belongs to "The Sky Pirate Chronicles", a fantasy world. Our two major characters are Karim and Zala. Karim was from the Vaji empire and was stationed on the first-ever sky Shop built by Vaji Empire. They were given tasks to prove the ability of the ship. On their voyage, they apprehended some notorious pirates, one of the key prisoner was Zalani, Zala's husband. Zala and her husband joined pirates to make some quick money so that they can buy the required ingredients for remedies for Zalani's cursed disease. But in that process, they got separated. Zala with 3-4 other members from her crew was stranded on a lone island. Read the book to know whether she was able to reunite with her husband or not.

The plot and storyline have good potential but the portrayal was shallow. The author had sprinkled every bit of things he had in mind for this fantasy. Many of those bits were used or referred to just one time. For the first book in the series, it would be too much for a reader to attach so deeply. I was expecting more details if possible for a few topics.

Coming to characters, though Zala might be the protagonist of the story, I found Karim more interesting. Zala's character was part selfish and filled with folly. Usually, in this kind of book, the author portrays such that the reader gets attached to one side either pirate or marine. But here the author has used an unbiased approach, when I was listening to Karim's part I wanted marine to win, and when I was listening to Zala I wanted pirate to outsmart.

Coming to the audio book, the narrator has done a good job, voice modulation and tone were proper. In many places, background music is also given.

Overall an okay book still deserves 3 out 5.

YA fantasy is a flooded genre which, thankfully, still manages to produce some ripping good yarns. By Sea and Sky is no exception, offering a fresh take on old tropes by taking traditional pirates to the sky.

The story centres around young Zala, who is still learning pirate ways. She’s often fallible but grows and learns from her mistakes while trying to find her place in this world and save her husband. On the other side of the story is naval officer Karim, struggling to accept his Captain’s decisions in the first-ever naval airship.

The characters are well realised and the action is plentiful, “inspired by the West Indies, The Swahili Coast, and Arabia” for added interest. Author Antoine Bandele keeps the characters and situations believable, while introducing us to his fantastic world of flying ships and good vs bad swashbuckling adventures.

Narrator John Rogers is superb. I often struggle to accept a narrator who has a different gender to the main character, but Rogers’ characterisations and general reading are all stellar. He brings every page to life and every character into our hearts. He makes us care, loathe and despair over their perils and victories.

By Sea & Sky is set in a world already established by the author, but this is the first in a new stand-alone series that does not require any previous knowledge of early books set in this magnificent land of Esowon. While targeted at young readers, any lover of the fantasy genre or good old fashioned swashbuckling adventures should find themselves thoroughly immersed in this adventure.

There were a few characters that I really liked, especially Zala, and so that had me staying with the book despite my issues with it. It isn't that the story is bad, because the concept behind it is pretty fascinating actually, I love myself a good sky pirate story. But it was written in a way that made everything drag on, even the scenes that were supposed to be exciting. I'm over here, trying to sympathize with a character but at the same time I'm falling asleep because the story is drawing out and just not keeping my attention.

I don't think I can blame John Rogers, the audio narrator, because honestly I think the story itself lacked depth and clarity. There is only so much someone can do to with a world that felt so one dimensional. I thought his portrayal of the different characters was done acceptably.

As for the end... the thing is, I don't mind cliff hangers, and the book absolutely ended on one. I get their point, to make the reader go back for more. But I just don't care what happens to anyone in this series... and I almost feel bad about it. What this story needs is a good content editor. It has a cool plot and the characters have potential, but it is just... boring.