“[Chris Roberson] possesses a unique talent and his tales boast a refreshing originality... There is plenty of timber-shivering and manly shouts of ‘all hands on deck’ in this sea-faring romp... A well written deviation from the genre, with satisfying finish and battles aplenty to keep you gripped. Be patient, and adjust to your sea-legs you will...”-- SciFiNow Magazine
Set The Seas On Fire ... admirably provides the very story elements one desires in this kind of novel – not least an exotic tropical island setting that, underneath a veneer of verdant flora and beautiful naked native women, harbours threatening and unfathomable dark spirits that will crush and corrupt the sceptical white man. Bonaventure himself – a paean of empire and empiricism is sorely challenged during his time on the island, his British reserve shattered by experiences both physical and spiritual... Set The Seas on Fire adds another very competent and confident story to Roberson's ever-growing, increasingly impressive interconnected cannon – one can expect more from the characters one has met in this novel, and not necessarily in the same kind of setting.
-- SF Revu
Set the Seas on Fire is a virtuoso performance that combines the sea-faring story with fantasy set in the Napoleonic era. Roberson combines a sense of period with the strong sense of wonder and fear. Untypically for fantasy, his characters encounter the Other and are overwhelmed by it... Set the Seas on Fire is a thoughtful but rip-roaring adventure, combining both Hornblower and Lovecraft with a subtlety certainly not seen in the ‘New Weird’ or other naval stories. The other writing of Roberson’s that I have read has left me astounded at his control of silences and muted responses amidst terrifying situations, and Set the Seas on Fire is certainly in that class. I cannot recommend this book too highly as an intelligent, readable novel.
-- Iain Emsley, Interzone #212
Roberson shows the making of a special kind of person, a leader of men, a lover, an adventurer, a nineteenth-century Odysseus and the first half of his Odyssey. Through flashbacks we periodically visit the childhood and early manhood of Hieronymus, son of a scholar, dreaming of adventure, seeking and receiving the tutelage of an accomplished swordsman, who has lived his own life of adventure. Young Hieronymus contrasts with his older self, Lt. Bonaventure, having experienced some of that adventure in the service of duty for King and Country, yet somehow managing to not live life in the spirit of adventure he craved as a child. His excitement and education at the discovery of an island and its people are tempered as the implications are fully realized. He learns of love, cultural shock, and consequences – he glimpses his future from a shaman and doesn’t have the courage to stop the mistake he knows his captain will make... Set the Seas on Fire is a fun and satisfying adventure through the South Seas. (It) is a highly enjoyable novel, good story, and great view of an interesting character.
-- Neth Space
Set in the period of Napoleon and a Europe descended into chaos, the seas of the world have become a battle ground as nations set to claim far off lands in the name of King, country or republic. In one such battle the HMS Fortitude becomes lost in a violent and mysterious storm forcing her to a magical Eden inhabited by a proud undiscovered race.
It is here that Roberson's best writing is in evidence, while it is obvious he in knowledgeable about all things nautical, it is the creating of an island race, part Maori, part Polynesian, that the story comes alive. Through the careful weaving of custom and myth he has created the Te'Maroans. The interaction between the rational Lieutenant Hieronymus Bonadventure and a race who describe the world through story is well balanced and entertaining, without ever becoming condescending to either culture.
The last few chapters race through the journey to a volcanic land where madness and monsters run wild, similarly strange creatures are encountered too briefly by our hero before being dropped and forgotten. There is a larger story crying out to be told here with only an author's note to give guidance. That said this is an entertaining and fast paced read.
-- Adam J. Shardlow, BFS Magazine
Set the Seas on Fire is an old fashioned sea faring yarn. There are two strands of the book -- one that explores Hieronymus’s (or Hero as he is known) interest in studying swordsmanship at a young age and another where he has taken to sea in the hope of adventure. The two strands of the story enable to book's relatively slow start to work in the tale’s favour as Hero’s fortunes, both past and present, are played out and enables the author to work in cliff hangers that maintain the suspense of the story as events from both timelines unfold. The fact that the crew of the ship are given distinctive personalities and strengths and weaknesses also helps set the scene and carry along the story as Roberson has done an excellent job of ensuring those characters have a specific relevance in proceedings. The tale is given authenticity by the small details considered by the author - for example, language barriers, social hierarchies within the natives and conflicts between the ship’s crew. It’s touches like that which make the book an engaging read and one that must surely fall into the sub-genre of ‘so old it is new’. This book is likely to appeal to anyone wanting a good old-fashioned yarn, or historical fiction and the dash of fantasy along the way adds an appealing twist.
— Sue Griffiths, Concatenation
