Running Close to the Wind
A queer pirate fantasy adventure full of magic and mayhem
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- 45,00 kr
Publisher Description
Our Flag Means Death meets Six of Crows in Running Close to the Wind, a queer pirate adventure from the author of A Taste of Gold and Iron, Alexandra Rowland.
‘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
Avra Helvaçi, former field agent of the Arasti 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 work with his on-again, off-again ex, the pirate Captain Teveri az-Haffar. Together, they will have to risk journeying to the isolated pirate republic of the Isles of Lost Souls.
The only things in their way?
A calculating new Arasti ambassador to the Isles . . .
Brother Julian, a beautiful, mysterious new member of the crew with secrets of his own . . .
. . . And 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 importantly, they’ll be legends . . .
‘Uproariously funny, exquisitely witty, brimming with buckling of swashes and scuttling of butts’ – Premee Mohamed, Nebula Award-winning author of Beneath the Rising
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.
