Sambucina “Buc” Alhurra and her partner Eldritch “Eld” Rawlings are partners in crime. Or, crime-solving partners, to be more precise. As private detectives, they’ve developed a reputation for solving unsolvable cases. And that’s exactly what the Kanados Trading Company needs. Their ships transporting sugar from the Shattered Coast keep disappearing, threatening not just the Company’s share price but the livelihood of the Empire as well. A little bit of blackmail, a little bit of bribery, and Buc and Eld find themselves on a ship, heading to the Coast.
Their trail leads them to a pirate queen, who keeps plenty of secrets of her own. Buc believes the queen is behind the disappearances until another ship appears. This one bearing an army of the dead. Ancient secrets unravel as dead gods stir. The gods have their own plans, but either fortunately or unfortunately, so does Buc.
If you combined Sherlock with Captain Jack Sparrow and put them in a seventeen-year-old girl, you’d have Buc. She’s sharp in intellect, in wit, and definitely in tongue. And oh, how she likes her knives. If you appreciate a girl that always has multiple blades strapped to her person, you’ll have a fabulous time getting to know Buc. She’s brilliant, but she’s incredibly stubborn, convinced of her perspective first. It’s only as she encounters people willing to challenge her perspective that the cracks in her façade begin to show, hinting that maybe things aren’t as black and white as Buc wants them to be. But her decisive nature does keep things moving, even when it may be a better idea to take a time out, which makes her adventures not only a fast-paced read but guaranteed to result in a whole smattering of unintended consequences.
But part of Buc’s charm is her sidekick and partner, Eld. He’s devoted to her, and while there’s a bit of unrequited love in both parties, romance is less of a side plot and more of a distracted afterthought. But the understated romantic yearnings add just the right awkward realism to Buc’s genius and Eld’s geniality. It also highlights the secrets and half-truths they keep from each other. They’ve chosen each other, are loyal to each other, but also take for granted how little they truly know about each other. This gives them compelling and layered nuance, where their own depth and perspective work to either hurdle them together or pull them apart, depending on which of their varied priorities are at play. These clashes are often startling but realistic, adding complexity and unpredictability to their decisions, which just adds another
The world building is spectacular. Beyond lush descriptions that bring every detail to life, whether it’s a library, a tavern, or a ship filled with dead pirates, each location jumps from the page. But Van Loan employs other techniques to add layer, depth, and complexity to his world. While most of the story is told through Buc in the first person, there are chapters told through the third person lens of other characters. These changes in POV are woven in at just the right moments, offering not just a broader sense of the world but the dynamics of the characters moving inside of it. There’s always a sense that there’s more happening than what Buc sees or knows, but like any good magician, Van Loan never reveals too much either. The result is a constant tension that ebbs and flows through the plot, making it impossible to put down.
And then there’s the magic of the dead gods. They’ve created mages––Sin Eaters––who have been imbued with the power of their chosen god. The world itself is largely a glimpse into life of colonial history. There are the rich and powerful, using land and resources as they see fit. It’s easy to see the Kanados Trading Company as a stand-in for the East India Trading Company, sugar trade and all. But the mages throw an interesting wrench in this typical power structure. They work for the powerful, but they are power. And as Eld insists, one can never trust a mage. These mages, along with their cult-like followers, clearly operate within their own rules and follow their own agenda, which adds complications and twists at nearly every turn.
In all, The Sin In The Steel is a swash-buckling adventure wrapped in a mystery and filled with shocking twists and unexpected turns. It’s a phenomenal debut with the promise of more books and expanded characters continuing in this series. The characters are dynamic, the world expansive, and the scenes vivid explosions of action. There’s plenty of sea-faring adventure, complete with cannon fights and planks, but the tense mystery combined with several unexpected twists and turns made for an intense, page-turning read. Anyone who loves pirates, smart mysteries with Sherlock brilliant characters, or lush fantasy reminiscent of our own world will delight in this book. And for anyone who loves all three, The Sin In The Steel is bound to be a new favourite.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A sparkling debut fantasy set in a diverse world, featuring dead gods, a pirate queen, shapeshifting mages, and a Sherlockian teenager determined to upend her society.
Heroes for hire. If you can pay.
Buc: Brilliant street-rat. Her mind leaps from clues to conclusions in the blink of an eye.
Eld: Ex-soldier. Buc’s partner-in-crime.
No. Not in crime–in crime-solving. They’ve been hired for their biggest job yet–one that will set them up for a life of ease. If they survive.
Buc and Eld are the first private detectives in a world where pirates roam the seas, mages speak to each other across oceans, mechanical devices change the tide of battle, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few.
It’s been weeks since ships last returned to the magnificent city of Servenza with bounty from the Shattered Coast. Disaster threatens not just the city’s trading companies but the empire itself. When Buc and Eld are hired to investigate, Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen who sinks all who defy her.
Now all Buc and Eld have to do is sink the Widowmaker’s ship…. Unfortunately for Buc, the gods have other plans. Unfortunately for the gods, so does Buc.
