Pirate's Honor (1) by Chris A. Jackson
Have fun with Pirate's Honor by Chris A. Jackson, part 1 of 3 (no translation). I read the 442 pages in English. Age of fifteen + (boys and girls). Originally published 2013.
Torius Vin and his crew of loyal pirates are nearly bankrupt. When the courtesan and spy Vreva hears of a once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity for fortune, Torius and his snake-bodied girlfriend Celeste set sails with their crew – but stealing the Star of Thumen sets of a chain reaction into motion neither of them had ever expected...
A little foreword: This book bases on a game. If you don't know the game or a variant of it, you're probably going to have problems understanding this book. Who does know it, should ask his GM before reading it. There could be SPOILER ALERTS, depending on how your GM will set up the modul.
Well. As I already said, this is a role-play-book, so you'd expect it is a series of fights. But, actually, there aren't that many fighting scenes. The focus lies on the detective part, with very cool ideas and funny and complex characters. Especially the business with Benrahi Ekhan of Azir. Veeeery good. And Celeste's we're doing it – we don't – we do...
The characters themselves were very different from each other. My favourites were Vreva and Celeste. Both are independent, determined and strong women – but that's about everything they have in common.
Celeste is first of all half snake – which is kind of funny, you know – and second, she's Torius' girlfriend, third obsessed with the night sky and a very good navigator, and, last but not least, all about morals, doing good. Which is an interesting feat for a pirate. But she kinda works it out.
As for Vreva... she's a prostitute, and a very good and wealthy one. Not that her job is actually described, but, you know, there are rumours. She's sly, charming and utterly seductive in everything she does. She especially likes teasing Torius, to get to know him better – and his past. The scenes were she teaches Celeste how to win a heart are gorgeous and really fascinating. I hadn't known before how many details catch a man's eye... or don't catch his eye. My my.
Torius himself is loyal and actually kind of nice. It's cool how he manages his addictiveness and his story is interesting.
The rest of the characters are fascinating as well, like the healer of the party. I like her, she's nice. I can't make anything off the new first mate yet, but I am going to read the other books of the series eventually.
But what I liked best and found most fascinating are the tricks they all use to make Benrahi feel like he's crazy. Unfortunately, Celeste let out the coolest ones. But the rest were nice as well! The hair, the magnet, and everything? This is mean – but it's also quite interesting.
All in all, this book is really worth reading. I like it a lot!
In brief:
I give it a star for the story, the ideas, the characters and the style.