"Intelligence knows," Avra said airily, "that 'sane' doesn't exist. Nobody is sane. Nobody has ever been sane. Sane is fake. Sane is ..." He waved at his own face. "One of those things you wear to a masked ball."
"... A mask?"
"Yes, thank you, one of those. Behind everybody's sanity mask is someone who is unalloyed batshit in one way or another." [loc. 5067]
Ex-spy Avra Helvaçi is possessed of unusually good luck, a bunch of secret papers from the Shipbuilders' Guild, and a long-lasting fixation on dashing nonbinary pirate captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār. Reunited, the two join forces to become (a) really rich and (b) not dead, with a mutual hope of (c) persuading the gorgeous Brother Julian that vows of celibacy are really boring.
This is a hilarious and heartfelt novel, which I suspect some people will find highly irritating. I loved it and look forward to buying it for all my friends, especially those who are fans of a recent, much-lamented TV show about queer pirates.
Fulfils the ‘Published in a Year of the Dragon’ rubric of the 52 books in 2024 challenge.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy: full honest review closer to UK publication date, which is 13 JUN 2024.
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