Member Review
Review by
Theresa W, Reviewer
You know when the main character is greeted by old mates with approximately seven "No"s of dismay, that this book is not going to be a normal ride. Irrepressibly funny, horny (but not in a weird or creepy way), and sweet, this latest entry into Alexandra Rowland's Mithalgeard/Chantiverse world of books is once again unlike all the others. It's rife with satire, references, and puns. The dialogue, the descriptions, and the situations the crew of the Running Sun get into are all literally laugh-out-loud funny at times, interspersed with some real discussion of emotions, what to do when boat cops pull you over, what happens when governments start to consider people "meat", and the most unhinged cake competition you'll ever wish you could attend. On top of all that, it features multiple LGBTQ+ characters in variety of roles and jobs.
Running Close to the Wind is, in part, a love letter to every pirate movie you've ever seen. Its main characters are all ADULTS - over age 30! - who hilariously refer to the single 17yo member of the crew as "an infant, a baby, still wet." It's so refreshing to see adults having adventures and real struggles.
I cannot summarize what happens, but here's some highlights: a spy cursed with luck, a captain having the WORST time, a celibate monk whose main tenet is Rational Thought, a secret pirate cove, giant sea turtles, ghosts, curry, a new ambassador, boat cops, seagulls, cake competition, luminescence, SO MANY TEETH, and a guy carving a giant skull into a mountainside.
I loved this book so much that I can't even write about it in a normal way - this review would become entirely too long if I listed everything I enjoyed about it. There is SO MUCH BOOK IN THIS BOOK! Even outside the plot, it adds a ton more detail to the world of Mithalgeard that Alexandra Rowland has been creating across multiple books (this is the 8th, and completely standalone).
Audiobook notes - Casey Jones from Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron returns for this one, and does an absolutely stellar job. There are MANY voices and accents, and Avra is an absolute goblin/gremlin/muppet of a man who absolutely cannot carry on a normal conversation for more than half of this book, and Casey does so well with the weirdness. Avra's annoying - and he's meant to be! - but that's balanced by Captain Teveri and Brother Julian's calmer tones as well as the normal 'narrator' voice. When we have group scenes, each character has different accents AND vocal tones, so everyone is easy to keep track of and connect to. This is among my top 5 audiobooks of all time, easily.
Running Close to the Wind is, in part, a love letter to every pirate movie you've ever seen. Its main characters are all ADULTS - over age 30! - who hilariously refer to the single 17yo member of the crew as "an infant, a baby, still wet." It's so refreshing to see adults having adventures and real struggles.
I cannot summarize what happens, but here's some highlights: a spy cursed with luck, a captain having the WORST time, a celibate monk whose main tenet is Rational Thought, a secret pirate cove, giant sea turtles, ghosts, curry, a new ambassador, boat cops, seagulls, cake competition, luminescence, SO MANY TEETH, and a guy carving a giant skull into a mountainside.
I loved this book so much that I can't even write about it in a normal way - this review would become entirely too long if I listed everything I enjoyed about it. There is SO MUCH BOOK IN THIS BOOK! Even outside the plot, it adds a ton more detail to the world of Mithalgeard that Alexandra Rowland has been creating across multiple books (this is the 8th, and completely standalone).
Audiobook notes - Casey Jones from Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron returns for this one, and does an absolutely stellar job. There are MANY voices and accents, and Avra is an absolute goblin/gremlin/muppet of a man who absolutely cannot carry on a normal conversation for more than half of this book, and Casey does so well with the weirdness. Avra's annoying - and he's meant to be! - but that's balanced by Captain Teveri and Brother Julian's calmer tones as well as the normal 'narrator' voice. When we have group scenes, each character has different accents AND vocal tones, so everyone is easy to keep track of and connect to. This is among my top 5 audiobooks of all time, easily.
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