Best Laid Plans Books in Order

Rob J Hayes's Best Laid Plans books take the First Earth world out onto open water and into full pirate-war territory. The series is only two books long, but it has the sweep of something bigger, with rival captains, shifting loyalties, naval battles, and the kind of ambition that gets people killed.

This is pirate fantasy with dirty boots and salt in its teeth.

At the center are three captains whose goals overlap just enough to keep them together and clash often enough to make every alliance feel temporary. Drake Morrass wants to unite the Pirate Isles and make himself king. Keelin Stillwater is the gentleman pirate, clever, careful, and far less comfortable with bloodshed. Elaina Black is sharp, ruthless, and every bit as dangerous as the men who underestimate her. Nobody here is chasing a simple treasure map. They are chasing power, revenge, security, and a future they can actually hold onto.

The setting matters a lot. The Pirate Isles are not just a backdrop for ship battles and tavern arguments. They are a fractured place, full of old grudges, competing crews, and outside powers eager to crush pirate independence for good. As the series widens, the map grows with it, taking in hostile fleets, distant shores, and stranger corners of First Earth where old gods and older ruins remind you that the sea is not the only danger.

What carries the duology from book to book is the question of what it would actually take to build a pirate nation and keep it alive. Winning one battle is never enough. Every victory creates fresh enemies, every crown comes with a target painted on it, and personal grudges keep tugging at the bigger political picture. Hayes lets the characters feel both larger than life and painfully trapped by their own choices.

The tone is grim, fast, and often funny in a rough-edged way. These books enjoy sea battles and swagger, but they never pretend swagger solves everything. If you want pirate fantasy with schemers, bruisers, and leaders who may be the worst possible people for the job, Best Laid Plans is a very good place to dock.