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The moth and moon #3
We Cry the Sea
After the explosive events of The Lion Lies Waiting, life has returned to normal for burly fisherman Robin Shipp. That is until the innkeeper of the ancient Moth & Moon approaches him with a surprising proposal, and an unexpected arrival brings some shocking news that sends Robin on a perilous journey alone.
While he’s away, his lover, Edwin, anxiously prepares for the birth of his first child with his friend, Iris. Her wife, Lady Eva, must travel to Blackrabbit Island for a showdown over the future of the family business. Meanwhile, Duncan nurses an injured man back to health but as the two grow close, the island’s new schoolmaster makes his amorous intentions clear.
Robin’s search for answers to the questions that have haunted his entire life will take him away from everyone he knows, across a dangerous ocean, and into the very heart of a floating pirate stronghold. Pushed to his limits, Robin’s one last chance at finding the truth will cost him more than he ever imagined.
While he’s away, his lover, Edwin, anxiously prepares for the birth of his first child with his friend, Iris. Her wife, Lady Eva, must travel to Blackrabbit Island for a showdown over the future of the family business. Meanwhile, Duncan nurses an injured man back to health but as the two grow close, the island’s new schoolmaster makes his amorous intentions clear.
Robin’s search for answers to the questions that have haunted his entire life will take him away from everyone he knows, across a dangerous ocean, and into the very heart of a floating pirate stronghold. Pushed to his limits, Robin’s one last chance at finding the truth will cost him more than he ever imagined.
ebook
Published March 15, 2021
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33 people want to read
About the author
Glenn Quigley
11 books78 followersGlenn Quigley is an author and artist originally from Tallaght in Dublin, Ireland, and now living in Lisburn, Northern Ireland with his husband, Mark.
His first novel, The Moth and Moon, was published in 2018 by Ninestar Press.
He has eight novels to date — The Moth and Moon, The Lion Lies Waiting, We Cry The Sea, These Young Wolves: The Knights of Blackrabbit book one, The Star We Sail By: The Knights of Blackrabbit book two, Teacup Promises, Curse of the Stag's Eye, and Heart of the Wren. He has a short story, Use as Wallpaper, all from Ninestar Press, and a novella named The Great Santa Showdown with JMS Books which was collected in the anthology 2023 Top Ten Gay Fiction.
His second novel, The Lion Lies Waiting, was runner-up in the 2019 Rainbow Awards list for Best Gay Book. His third novel, We Cry The Sea, was runner-up in the 2021 Rainbow Awards for Best Gay Book.
When not writing, he paints portraits in acrylics and watercolours. He also designs for the popular brand themoodybear.com. In 2022, he created a series of portraits based on characters from his Moth and Moon novel trilogy which were displayed in Kallio Library, Finland, and at a gay event in Estonia.
His first novel, The Moth and Moon, was published in 2018 by Ninestar Press.
He has eight novels to date — The Moth and Moon, The Lion Lies Waiting, We Cry The Sea, These Young Wolves: The Knights of Blackrabbit book one, The Star We Sail By: The Knights of Blackrabbit book two, Teacup Promises, Curse of the Stag's Eye, and Heart of the Wren. He has a short story, Use as Wallpaper, all from Ninestar Press, and a novella named The Great Santa Showdown with JMS Books which was collected in the anthology 2023 Top Ten Gay Fiction.
His second novel, The Lion Lies Waiting, was runner-up in the 2019 Rainbow Awards list for Best Gay Book. His third novel, We Cry The Sea, was runner-up in the 2021 Rainbow Awards for Best Gay Book.
When not writing, he paints portraits in acrylics and watercolours. He also designs for the popular brand themoodybear.com. In 2022, he created a series of portraits based on characters from his Moth and Moon novel trilogy which were displayed in Kallio Library, Finland, and at a gay event in Estonia.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 29, 2023
Note: At the time of the review this series is available in KoboPlus.
This is book 3 in Glenn Quigley’s The Moth and Moon series. While books 1 & 2 didn’t exactly end on any kind of cliffhanger, it’s definitely a continuation of lives of those characters. I'd strongly encourage reading The Moth and Moon and The Lion Lies Waiting as it helps with understanding the characters and some of the events that lead to their travels. This review may contain spoilers to the previous books.
My fifth Glenn Quigley book and I continue to be completely swept away by his writing. I adore authors who can make me feel all the emotions in a single book and Quigley does that masterfully. I laughed, cried, fretted, rejoiced, mourned, and frankly wanted to shove a few people overboard. Like the previous books in this series - while revolving around the beloved Robin Shipp, this explores the intertwined stories of his family, friends, and residents of Merryapple. It's not only the grand adventures but also all the little details and unique characters that have me completely in love with this series.
While Eva, Iris, and Edwin are preparing for the birth of their child (with three distinct and sometimes hilarious personalities), Robin finds himself sailing away in Bucca's Call to seek answers to questions that have plagued him his whole life. Duncan is somewhat at loose ends with all his friends preoccupied elsewhere and finds himself drawn to two different men for entirely different reasons. George is preparing for Moth and Moon's future and the eventuality he won't always be around to share it's many stories.
Poor Robin faces turbulent seas, pirates, mutiny, and losses he never imagined. He does find answers beyond any he envisioned but at a high cost. I loved the mix of history, mystery, suspense, and action to create the perfect pacing for a story. Even with all the loss, there's definitely a strong sense of hope, love, and happily ever after in the ending. I could gush all day, but feel like if I keep going I'll end up spoiling something.
I'm ready to dive into These Young Wolves, book 1 in the spinoff series Knights of Blackrabbit.
This is book 3 in Glenn Quigley’s The Moth and Moon series. While books 1 & 2 didn’t exactly end on any kind of cliffhanger, it’s definitely a continuation of lives of those characters. I'd strongly encourage reading The Moth and Moon and The Lion Lies Waiting as it helps with understanding the characters and some of the events that lead to their travels. This review may contain spoilers to the previous books.
My fifth Glenn Quigley book and I continue to be completely swept away by his writing. I adore authors who can make me feel all the emotions in a single book and Quigley does that masterfully. I laughed, cried, fretted, rejoiced, mourned, and frankly wanted to shove a few people overboard. Like the previous books in this series - while revolving around the beloved Robin Shipp, this explores the intertwined stories of his family, friends, and residents of Merryapple. It's not only the grand adventures but also all the little details and unique characters that have me completely in love with this series.
While Eva, Iris, and Edwin are preparing for the birth of their child (with three distinct and sometimes hilarious personalities), Robin finds himself sailing away in Bucca's Call to seek answers to questions that have plagued him his whole life. Duncan is somewhat at loose ends with all his friends preoccupied elsewhere and finds himself drawn to two different men for entirely different reasons. George is preparing for Moth and Moon's future and the eventuality he won't always be around to share it's many stories.
Poor Robin faces turbulent seas, pirates, mutiny, and losses he never imagined. He does find answers beyond any he envisioned but at a high cost. I loved the mix of history, mystery, suspense, and action to create the perfect pacing for a story. Even with all the loss, there's definitely a strong sense of hope, love, and happily ever after in the ending. I could gush all day, but feel like if I keep going I'll end up spoiling something.
I'm ready to dive into These Young Wolves, book 1 in the spinoff series Knights of Blackrabbit.
April 13, 2021
We Cry the Sea by Glenn Quigley
The Moth and Moon #3
1780 in a place and time that is on an alternate plane. There are islands and boats, and some similarities with clockwork devices, accepted marriages between non-binary couples and a whole lot more. It was a fictional, fantasy, fairytale feeling world filled with intriguing characters. Again, tis was a story of family, friends, community and more. Romance was abundant and communication healthy and wise. I am not sure this is the end of the series, but I wouldn’t mind returning to Merryapple in the future if the author were to decide to take us there. I would recommend reading this series in order although having not read book one I still thoroughly enjoyed book so much that I was eager to read book three.
What I liked
* Robin: a gentle giant, somewhat damaged by his childhood, eager to find his father, in love with Edwin, important to the community though on a quest of his own most of this book.
* Edwin: a nice guy and Robin’s partner
* Duncan Hunger: Intriguing man, clockwork genius and carpenter, a bit of a romantic and an intriguing fellow
* Iris & Eva: a good partnership and soon to be parents
* George: owner of The Moth and Moon, historian, collector, storyteller
* Vince: half-brother of Robin, a bit of an enigma, might be interesting in a story of his own, more to him than what we have seen so far – I like the direction he is heading at the end of the story
* Being reminded that we all have preferences in the type we might be drawn to. I had not thought much about it but some of the thoughts of various characters in this story had me thinking about this.
* finding out what happened to Daisy…
* Going to the Pirate’s lair
* The fun fantasy fairytale feel of the story
* That couples were so open with their feelings and open sharing of them among others
* The way it made me feel…
What I didn’t like:
* What Robin found out about his father…
* The people I was meant not to like
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
The Moth and Moon #3
1780 in a place and time that is on an alternate plane. There are islands and boats, and some similarities with clockwork devices, accepted marriages between non-binary couples and a whole lot more. It was a fictional, fantasy, fairytale feeling world filled with intriguing characters. Again, tis was a story of family, friends, community and more. Romance was abundant and communication healthy and wise. I am not sure this is the end of the series, but I wouldn’t mind returning to Merryapple in the future if the author were to decide to take us there. I would recommend reading this series in order although having not read book one I still thoroughly enjoyed book so much that I was eager to read book three.
What I liked
* Robin: a gentle giant, somewhat damaged by his childhood, eager to find his father, in love with Edwin, important to the community though on a quest of his own most of this book.
* Edwin: a nice guy and Robin’s partner
* Duncan Hunger: Intriguing man, clockwork genius and carpenter, a bit of a romantic and an intriguing fellow
* Iris & Eva: a good partnership and soon to be parents
* George: owner of The Moth and Moon, historian, collector, storyteller
* Vince: half-brother of Robin, a bit of an enigma, might be interesting in a story of his own, more to him than what we have seen so far – I like the direction he is heading at the end of the story
* Being reminded that we all have preferences in the type we might be drawn to. I had not thought much about it but some of the thoughts of various characters in this story had me thinking about this.
* finding out what happened to Daisy…
* Going to the Pirate’s lair
* The fun fantasy fairytale feel of the story
* That couples were so open with their feelings and open sharing of them among others
* The way it made me feel…
What I didn’t like:
* What Robin found out about his father…
* The people I was meant not to like
Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes
Thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
5 Stars
March 22, 2021
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.5 stars
We Cry The Sea is the third in the Moth and Moon series and really these need to be read in order to appreciate them fully. I accidentally skipped the second book and while I was already familiar the characters from the original novel, I spent a few chapters of We Cry The Sea playing catch up. So save yourself some confusion and enjoy the series from the start with The Moth and Moon.
When I initially read The Moth and Moon, I was captivated by the author’s rich voice and a set of characters who were rendered beautifully and with genuine humanity. We Cry the Sea left me somewhat … disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s still a well-written book, with a strong plot and vibrant characters. But it also reads as somewhat ordinary. The profound aspects that made the first book so powerful don’t really come through with We Cry the Sea. Instead, this book is like visiting with old friends; it’s comfortable and enjoyable, if slightly predictable. But there are still moments in We Cry the Sea that took my breath away, with turns of phrase or descriptions that were truly wonderful.
Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.
4.5 stars
We Cry The Sea is the third in the Moth and Moon series and really these need to be read in order to appreciate them fully. I accidentally skipped the second book and while I was already familiar the characters from the original novel, I spent a few chapters of We Cry The Sea playing catch up. So save yourself some confusion and enjoy the series from the start with The Moth and Moon.
When I initially read The Moth and Moon, I was captivated by the author’s rich voice and a set of characters who were rendered beautifully and with genuine humanity. We Cry the Sea left me somewhat … disappointed. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s still a well-written book, with a strong plot and vibrant characters. But it also reads as somewhat ordinary. The profound aspects that made the first book so powerful don’t really come through with We Cry the Sea. Instead, this book is like visiting with old friends; it’s comfortable and enjoyable, if slightly predictable. But there are still moments in We Cry the Sea that took my breath away, with turns of phrase or descriptions that were truly wonderful.
Read Sue’s review in its entirety here.
March 25, 2021
I received this as an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was my first Glenn Quigley read—I saw the cover and read the plot, and knew I had to read it! I think I was less than ten percent into the novel before I went back and purchased the earlier books in the series, because I knew I would enjoy them!
There’s so much I love—healthy conversations between couples and potential couples, characters who feel read and aren’t all 21 and models, characters with tangible faults but also strengths. And the motivations behind actions feel real. A historical setting without any homophobia or sexism towards women. There is so much that is refreshing about this read, and I can’t wait to talk it up to all my friends!
I think my absolute favorite aspect of We Cry the Sea is that there is true sense of community. Certainly, some of this Found Family trope, but the feeling extends beyond that, to even minor characters who really make the small village come to life.
4.5/5 stars
This was my first Glenn Quigley read—I saw the cover and read the plot, and knew I had to read it! I think I was less than ten percent into the novel before I went back and purchased the earlier books in the series, because I knew I would enjoy them!
There’s so much I love—healthy conversations between couples and potential couples, characters who feel read and aren’t all 21 and models, characters with tangible faults but also strengths. And the motivations behind actions feel real. A historical setting without any homophobia or sexism towards women. There is so much that is refreshing about this read, and I can’t wait to talk it up to all my friends!
I think my absolute favorite aspect of We Cry the Sea is that there is true sense of community. Certainly, some of this Found Family trope, but the feeling extends beyond that, to even minor characters who really make the small village come to life.
4.5/5 stars
June 8, 2021
'we cry the sea' as the third book in the 'Moth and Moon' series was a hard wait for me, I was just so desperate to see how everything turned out for Robin, Edwin, Duncan, and Ladies Eva and Iris. I had been on such a journey in the previous two books that I couldn't wait for it to continue. I was not disappointed. Although I was somewhat surprised as the fantastic writing and storytelling keep you wondering just what will happen next. I still believed I was part of this journey, it was all so real. I experienced huge emotions reading all three books, I held my breath, I closed my eyes, I laughed a lot and I certainly cried a lot too. I have only ever found one series of books that I wanted to read again until I began to read the 'Moth and Moon' series but these are three books that I will definitely read over and over again and be magically transported to a different world on Merryapple. Quite simply the third of three of the best books I have ever read.
April 27, 2021
A real voyage of discovery!
I had been waiting for a while to see where the third book in the series would take us and it really was worth wait ! It is very hard to say much without giving away any of the plot .
If you hadn't read either of the first two books fear not . Glenn makes it very easy to catch up on the 'story so far ' but if you have been following the tale of Robin Shipp you won't be disappointed and soon will be caught up in the adventure . I think this is best of the series.
Give it a go, or better still , treat yourself to the whole trilogy. You will soon be immersed in this unique world of life on and by the sea .
I had been waiting for a while to see where the third book in the series would take us and it really was worth wait ! It is very hard to say much without giving away any of the plot .
If you hadn't read either of the first two books fear not . Glenn makes it very easy to catch up on the 'story so far ' but if you have been following the tale of Robin Shipp you won't be disappointed and soon will be caught up in the adventure . I think this is best of the series.
Give it a go, or better still , treat yourself to the whole trilogy. You will soon be immersed in this unique world of life on and by the sea .
December 20, 2021
Full Review to Come.
July 8, 2021
Epic saga, finishing off the story of Robin Shipp - though I would not be averse to reading more!
Robin ends up on a sort of wild goose chase after a man who could be his father, almost dying in the process and then spending most of the book afloat with pirates.
The other thread is how the residents, particularly Edwin, get on while he is away - births, deaths, long lost family.
Once again a quirky AU tale of a time long gone, enjoyable long read.
Robin ends up on a sort of wild goose chase after a man who could be his father, almost dying in the process and then spending most of the book afloat with pirates.
The other thread is how the residents, particularly Edwin, get on while he is away - births, deaths, long lost family.
Once again a quirky AU tale of a time long gone, enjoyable long read.
April 2, 2023
I just love the world and characters found in this amazing AU historical series. In line with previous books where lovable MC Robin discovers people, oral tradition, township gossip and social histories are not always what he's perceived or been informed ... the final book now takes him on a journey to realize his heart's greatest desire and to confront his idealized childhood memories with his father - the infamous Captain Erasmus Shipp.
Plotted as parallel storylines in alternating chapters - other significant characters left behind in Merryapple Isle are working out their relationship with each other (as parents, as potential romantic material, as newfound blood-kin, as hunted fugitive, as keeper of the town's secrets and keepsakes, as in preparing for one's death/passing). Each and every character brings such added depth and warmth to a town recovering from a catastrophic weather event yet pulling together in support, care-giving and putting aside of long held prejudices and boundaries.
If there would be more but alas - this trilogy comes to a deeply satisfying end. My hope is for the author to give us another trilogy starring the other Shipp brother as I would dearly love to see how he settles into his new role on Blackrabbit Isle and if he manages to lose his heart to another fella. 4.5 stars overall.
Plotted as parallel storylines in alternating chapters - other significant characters left behind in Merryapple Isle are working out their relationship with each other (as parents, as potential romantic material, as newfound blood-kin, as hunted fugitive, as keeper of the town's secrets and keepsakes, as in preparing for one's death/passing). Each and every character brings such added depth and warmth to a town recovering from a catastrophic weather event yet pulling together in support, care-giving and putting aside of long held prejudices and boundaries.
If there would be more but alas - this trilogy comes to a deeply satisfying end. My hope is for the author to give us another trilogy starring the other Shipp brother as I would dearly love to see how he settles into his new role on Blackrabbit Isle and if he manages to lose his heart to another fella. 4.5 stars overall.
July 14, 2025
This book brought closure to many a character, and my own heart.
The end of things is always heartbreaking, and this is no exception. it delivered on moving action, previous mysteries, and tied up character relations so nicely that it left me at peace.
Loved it so much!
The end of things is always heartbreaking, and this is no exception. it delivered on moving action, previous mysteries, and tied up character relations so nicely that it left me at peace.
Loved it so much!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews