2024/049: Running Close to the Wind — Alexandra Rowland

"I'm going to tear down something that the most powerful people in the world very much don't want to have torn down. And I'm going to get away with it." [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. (He is not, however, possessed of any personal dignity whatsoever.) Reunited, the two join forces to become (a) really rich and (b) not dead, with a mutual aim of (c) persuading the gorgeous Brother Julian that vows of celibacy are really boring.

I've reread the novel for a more thorough review, though the summary above encompasses most of the important points. I note that I did not mention the Heralds, the Tarotesque deck (the Alchemist, the Bower (which is not always about sex), the Sea-Serpent) which Avra often uses -- his possibly-Goddess-given luck providing spookily accurate readings -- to assess a situation or predict an outcome; the truthwitch, overwhelmed by Brother Julian's oversharing; the Scuttle Cove cake competition, with its high seagull mortality rate and creative critiques; the subtle exploration of Avra's psyche and Tev's backstory; the crew of The Running Sun, as diverse and characterful a bunch as you could wish for; and the overarching theme of revolution. It's apposite that the author dedicates this book to Terry Pratchett, and says in the afterword that 'the best comedy comes from a place of deep, righteous anger -- and as long as you can laugh, there's still a part of you that's free.'

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: UK publication date is 13 JUN 2024.

"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]