Running Close to the Wind
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
A queer pirate fantasy standalone adventure by Alexandra Rowland, the author of A Taste of Gold and Iron
"Come for the irrepressible gremlin of a narrator, stay for the plot-relevant cake competitions! A whip-smart, hilarious and exuberant high seas romp."—Freya Marske, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Marvellous Light
A LitHub most anticipated book of 2024
Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Araşti Ministry of Intelligence, has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world—and the only place to flee with a secret that big is the open sea.
To find a buyer with deep enough pockets, Avra must ask for help from his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār. They are far from happy to see him, but together, they hatch a plan: take the information to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls, fence it, profit. The only things in their way? A calculating new Araşti ambassador to the Isles of Lost Souls who’s got his eyes on Avra’s every move; Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own and a frankly inconvenient vow of celibacy; the fact that they’re sailing straight into sea serpent breeding season and almost certain doom.
But if they can find a way to survive and sell the secret on the black market, they’ll all be as wealthy as kings—and, more important, they’ll be legends.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This humorous if dense pirate fantasy adventure marks another ambitious outing from Rowland (A Taste of Gold and Iron). Avra Helvaçi, an agent with the nation of Araşt's Ministry of Intelligence, stumbles upon, then absconds with, coveted classified information he believes explains how Araşti ships avoid the swarms of mating sea serpents that keep rival ships ashore for weeks every year. He brings the information to his best frenemy and sometime lover, Teveri az-Ḥaffār, captain of The Running Sun, and their new crew member Julian, who would be the perfect person to decipher the information Avra stole, except he's so attractive Avra immediately distrusts him. With serpent season approaching, the unlikely trio must work together to fence the pilfered intel without putting themselves in further danger. The characters and the world they inhabit are developed in striking detail, though extended descriptions, along with the protagonists' many quirks, occasionally drag the pace down to a crawl in the first act. However, many trivial elements become important later on, meaning readers who stick with this will be richly rewarded. Fans of Our Flag Means Death will want to check it out.
