Book Log - Backlog 50 - 57. The Last of 2010

I should have done this months ago, but here are the last few book log writeups from 2010.
Spoiler warnings in force, especially for Cryoburn.

50) 29/11/10
Lois McMaster Bujold
Cryoburn

I read the e-ARC copy of this, intending to wait for the paperback before I bought it, but then discovered that the hardback came complete with a bonus CD with e-copies of all the other Vorkosiverse books. I own them in book, form, of course, but now I can also take them with me on my iPod Touch. Nice touch. So now I have the shiny hardback and CD, too.

This is a fairly lightweight story for Miles Vorkosigan in his role as the Emperor's Auditor (that's a troubleshooter on Barrayear, not an accountant). In this case he does save the empire from some dodgy double dealing by those who would seek to gain a foothold in Barrayar via their practice of not only storing the near dead and recently dead in the hope of a revival when a cure for what ails them is found, but also the dubious practice of holding the proxy votes for all the not-quite corpses. Miles, as usual, gets into trouble, but he's grown up (now nearly 40) and never really in over his head. In this book he's more of an authority figure and we see much from the viewpoint of a child whom he helps to reunite with his (illegally) frozen activist mother.

But much of this book is about death and the consequences and acceptance of it and Miles thoughts on his ageing father who may soon be in need of the kind of cryo treatment he's been recently observing. The end of the book, therefore, comes as no surprise when the inevitable happens.  Yes, we knew that Bujold had said it was time to let Aral, now the old and frail warrior, rest in peace, but it was still a bittersweet moment to hear Miles addressed as Count.


51) 2/12/10
Megan Whalen Turner
The Thief

This came highly recommended so I stuck with it despite not liking the main character much. It was, in the end, worth it, though I still have a gripe. This is a YA book and the first in a trilogy (at least) followed by 'The Queen of Attolia' and 'The King of Attolia.' Gen is a thief and when his stupid bragging lands him in the king's prison his only way out is to agree to steal a hidden treasure from another land. But all is not what it seems and random chance tends to be not so random after all and Gen travels with the magus, his mentor and guard on a dangerous mission.

It turns out that Gen has his own agenda and as a reader I was moderately irked by the fact that even though we are told the story in Gen's first person viewpoint he never lets his agenda or identity slip – even right at the end when he comes face to face with someone he knows and still conceals it from his first person narrative. All along he's concealed his own personality, identity, background, intelligence and education from his narrative. I hate it when information is deliberately withheld for the purpose of confusing or surprising the reader. I would have felt better if this had been told in the third person say from the viewpoint of Sophos, one of his companions on the quest, who was totally taken in by the deception.

52) 10/12/12
Patricia Briggs
Wolfsbane

This is a sequel to one of Patricia Briggs very early fantasies, 'Masques,' about Aralorn and her attachment to the flawed but intriguing Wolf, the shapeshifting son of the supposedly dead ae'Magi, brought up steeped in illicit dark magic. It's now ten years after the events in Masques and Aralorn returns to her family hold for the funeral of her much loved father, only to discover that he is not dead, but held in a dark spell that has been woven as trap for her and Wolf. The characters are intriguing and the peril very real with a chance that in saving her father Aralorn will lose her lover.

A good read, but at times it didn't feel that a decade had passed since the events in 'Masques'. Nothing much seemed to have happened to develop Aralonrn and Wolfe's relationship in the intervening time and I felt as though we were p[icking up very soon after we'd left off. That's a small nitpick. Patricia Briggs is always well worth reading.

53) 14/12/12
Robert Swindells
A Candle in the Dark

This has been on my bookshelf unread for years and random chance brought me to it now. Jimmy Booth  goes from picking oakum in the Union Workhouse to a new life as a pit brat, bought by a burly collier to replace his previous 'hurrier' who met with a mysterious accident. Rather than a life of employment Jimmy soon discovers that there are worse things than picking oakum. When he's sent down into the depths of Rawdon Pit.  But he's befriended by Trapper Joe and when they discover that there are nasty goings on happening at the mine the boys run away to find Mr Croft, a local reformer who helps pit brats like them. But Croft is in trouble himself, his brother and a large amount of money have gone missing. The two pit brats finally see the truth revealed, but this gritty and realistic book is not going to deliver a complete happy ending, though it does deliver a satisfying one.

54) 16/12/12
Rachel Caine
Total Eclipse (Weather Warden series #9)

Finally – and end to Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin's cliffhanger escapades in search of happiness with her beloved David, leader of the New Djinn, though, of course, the world almost has to end before she finally gets her man and a bit of peace to enjoy him. Frankly this series lost the shine off its charm for me after book five or six, but Rachel Caine's cliffhangers always tempted me to just one more and just one more. This ties up all the loose ends and they save the world – again.

55) 19/12/12
J P Buxton
I Am The Blade

When I started reading this I didn't realise it wasn't a standalone and I didn't realise it was a retread of the Arthurian legend – yes, another one. There was certainly nothing to tell me that in either the blurb or the title page. I was a little annoyed by that, but it didn't really matter. Finding out that Tog was Artognu one step at a time suited the pace of the story. A bastard boy brought up by a surly shepherd, strangely able to teach him Latin, the bible, reading and writing and some fighting skills, Tog is able to escape when his guardian is killed and a stranger follows him with intent to kill. Finding an ancient sword in a hidden barrow, Tog makes a run for it, On his journey, which is eventually to take him to the High King at Glastonbury, he rescues Jenna –  who layer turns out to be a Pictish princess – and meets up with Kai and Melanius and the legend begins. Set in a Britain of many kingdoms after the retreat of the Romans this visceral story sweeps to a satisfactory conclusion – to the point where Tog claims his inheritance. I'll b keeoing a look out for the next ione - The Heartless Dark.


56) 30/12/12
Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book

When his parents are gruesomely killed a toddler manages to evade the murderer and ends up in a graveyard where he is befriended by the resident ghosts, adopted by a dead couple, the Owens and named Nobody, or Bod, for short. Though he's a normal boy his education and his adopted family imbue him with certain skills, but he can't stay in the graveyard forever and outside  there are dangers, especially from the man, Jack, who killed Bod's real family and is still hunting for the one that got away. This was neat, but a bit slower than I expected and not as totally engrossing as I'd been led to believe. Still beautifully constructed and well worth reading, though.

Book Log - Backlog 50 - 57. The Last of 2010

I should have done this months ago, but here are the last few book log writeups from 2010.
Spoiler warnings in force, especially for Cryoburn.

50) 29/11/10
Lois McMaster Bujold
Cryoburn

I read the e-ARC copy of this, intending to wait for the paperback before I bought it, but then discovered that the hardback came complete with a bonus CD with e-copies of all the other Vorkosiverse books. I own them in book, form, of course, but now I can also take them with me on my iPod Touch. Nice touch. So now I have the shiny hardback and CD, too.

This is a fairly lightweight story for Miles Vorkosigan in his role as the Emperor's Auditor (that's a troubleshooter on Barrayear, not an accountant). In this case he does save the empire from some dodgy double dealing by those who would seek to gain a foothold in Barrayar via their practice of not only storing the near dead and recently dead in the hope of a revival when a cure for what ails them is found, but also the dubious practice of holding the proxy votes for all the not-quite corpses. Miles, as usual, gets into trouble, but he's grown up (now nearly 40) and never really in over his head. In this book he's more of an authority figure and we see much from the viewpoint of a child whom he helps to reunite with his (illegally) frozen activist mother.

But much of this book is about death and the consequences and acceptance of it and Miles thoughts on his ageing father who may soon be in need of the kind of cryo treatment he's been recently observing. The end of the book, therefore, comes as no surprise when the inevitable happens.  Yes, we knew that Bujold had said it was time to let Aral, now the old and frail warrior, rest in peace, but it was still a bittersweet moment to hear Miles addressed as Count.


51) 2/12/10
Megan Whalen Turner
The Thief

This came highly recommended so I stuck with it despite not liking the main character much. It was, in the end, worth it, though I still have a gripe. This is a YA book and the first in a trilogy (at least) followed by 'The Queen of Attolia' and 'The King of Attolia.' Gen is a thief and when his stupid bragging lands him in the king's prison his only way out is to agree to steal a hidden treasure from another land. But all is not what it seems and random chance tends to be not so random after all and Gen travels with the magus, his mentor and guard on a dangerous mission.

It turns out that Gen has his own agenda and as a reader I was moderately irked by the fact that even though we are told the story in Gen's first person viewpoint he never lets his agenda or identity slip – even right at the end when he comes face to face with someone he knows and still conceals it from his first person narrative. All along he's concealed his own personality, identity, background, intelligence and education from his narrative. I hate it when information is deliberately withheld for the purpose of confusing or surprising the reader. I would have felt better if this had been told in the third person say from the viewpoint of Sophos, one of his companions on the quest, who was totally taken in by the deception.

52) 10/12/12
Patricia Briggs
Wolfsbane

This is a sequel to one of Patricia Briggs very early fantasies, 'Masques,' about Aralorn and her attachment to the flawed but intriguing Wolf, the shapeshifting son of the supposedly dead ae'Magi, brought up steeped in illicit dark magic. It's now ten years after the events in Masques and Aralorn returns to her family hold for the funeral of her much loved father, only to discover that he is not dead, but held in a dark spell that has been woven as trap for her and Wolf. The characters are intriguing and the peril very real with a chance that in saving her father Aralorn will lose her lover.

A good read, but at times it didn't feel that a decade had passed since the events in 'Masques'. Nothing much seemed to have happened to develop Aralonrn and Wolfe's relationship in the intervening time and I felt as though we were p[icking up very soon after we'd left off. That's a small nitpick. Patricia Briggs is always well worth reading.

53) 14/12/12
Robert Swindells
A Candle in the Dark

This has been on my bookshelf unread for years and random chance brought me to it now. Jimmy Booth  goes from picking oakum in the Union Workhouse to a new life as a pit brat, bought by a burly collier to replace his previous 'hurrier' who met with a mysterious accident. Rather than a life of employment Jimmy soon discovers that there are worse things than picking oakum. When he's sent down into the depths of Rawdon Pit.  But he's befriended by Trapper Joe and when they discover that there are nasty goings on happening at the mine the boys run away to find Mr Croft, a local reformer who helps pit brats like them. But Croft is in trouble himself, his brother and a large amount of money have gone missing. The two pit brats finally see the truth revealed, but this gritty and realistic book is not going to deliver a complete happy ending, though it does deliver a satisfying one.

54) 16/12/12
Rachel Caine
Total Eclipse (Weather Warden series #9)

Finally – and end to Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin's cliffhanger escapades in search of happiness with her beloved David, leader of the New Djinn, though, of course, the world almost has to end before she finally gets her man and a bit of peace to enjoy him. Frankly this series lost the shine off its charm for me after book five or six, but Rachel Caine's cliffhangers always tempted me to just one more and just one more. This ties up all the loose ends and they save the world – again.

55) 19/12/12
J P Buxton
I Am The Blade

When I started reading this I didn't realise it wasn't a standalone and I didn't realise it was a retread of the Arthurian legend – yes, another one. There was certainly nothing to tell me that in either the blurb or the title page. I was a little annoyed by that, but it didn't really matter. Finding out that Tog was Artognu one step at a time suited the pace of the story. A bastard boy brought up by a surly shepherd, strangely able to teach him Latin, the bible, reading and writing and some fighting skills, Tog is able to escape when his guardian is killed and a stranger follows him with intent to kill. Finding an ancient sword in a hidden barrow, Tog makes a run for it, On his journey, which is eventually to take him to the High King at Glastonbury, he rescues Jenna –  who layer turns out to be a Pictish princess – and meets up with Kai and Melanius and the legend begins. Set in a Britain of many kingdoms after the retreat of the Romans this visceral story sweeps to a satisfactory conclusion – to the point where Tog claims his inheritance. I'll b keeoing a look out for the next ione - The Heartless Dark.


56) 30/12/12
Neil Gaiman
The Graveyard Book

When his parents are gruesomely killed a toddler manages to evade the murderer and ends up in a graveyard where he is befriended by the resident ghosts, adopted by a dead couple, the Owens and named Nobody, or Bod, for short. Though he's a normal boy his education and his adopted family imbue him with certain skills, but he can't stay in the graveyard forever and outside  there are dangers, especially from the man, Jack, who killed Bod's real family and is still hunting for the one that got away. This was neat, but a bit slower than I expected and not as totally engrossing as I'd been led to believe. Still beautifully constructed and well worth reading, though.

Meme for World Book Day

(From several LJ Friends)

The book I am reading: Patrick O'Leary: The Gift
The book I am writing: 'Between Wind and Water' - yet another revision - and 'Your Horse Sees Dead People' just delivered to my agent.
The book I love most: Lois McMaster Bujold: The Curse of Chalion
The last book I received as a gift: Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (A freebie with a Kindle app for my iPod touch. My friends and relatives don't buy me books as they don't know what I've got already. They tend to buy me Amazon tokens instead.)
The last book I gave as a gift: I wish I could remember. It might be Eric Carle: Very Hungry Caterpillar.
The nearest book on my desk: I have a pile of six recently read books by my elbow. The closest by a whisker is Megan Whalen Turner: the Thief

I'm going to add one question that really should be on here:
The last book I bought for myself: Patricia Briggs: River Marked (pre ordered and just shipped by Amazon but not yet arrived) and Dan Cruickshank: The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital

Meme for World Book Day

(From several LJ Friends)

The book I am reading: Patrick O'Leary: The Gift
The book I am writing: 'Between Wind and Water' - yet another revision - and 'Your Horse Sees Dead People' just delivered to my agent.
The book I love most: Lois McMaster Bujold: The Curse of Chalion
The last book I received as a gift: Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice (A freebie with a Kindle app for my iPod touch. My friends and relatives don't buy me books as they don't know what I've got already. They tend to buy me Amazon tokens instead.)
The last book I gave as a gift: I wish I could remember. It might be Eric Carle: Very Hungry Caterpillar.
The nearest book on my desk: I have a pile of six recently read books by my elbow. The closest by a whisker is Megan Whalen Turner: the Thief

I'm going to add one question that really should be on here:
The last book I bought for myself: Patricia Briggs: River Marked (pre ordered and just shipped by Amazon but not yet arrived) and Dan Cruickshank: The Secret History of Georgian London: How the Wages of Sin Shaped the Capital

Book Log 1/2011 - Anne Aguirre: Killbox

Anne Aguirre: Killbox
Sirantha Jax # 4

Sirantha Jax's 4th outing in which she's relieved of her ambassadorial duties and together with her lover, March, heads up the Conglomerate's new space navy – too little, too late – but it's all they've got to stave off the ravening Morgut. March is in charge and he's building up a navy incorporating every reformed pirate he can sweet talk into signing up. Jax has to develop skills she never suspected she had to train the Conglomerate 'jumpers' to guide ships in and out of Grimspace as quickly as the Morgut can do it. As usual Aguirre manages to keep her two lovers wrongfooted and alone during most of the book to ramp up the sexual tension. It's obvious this is not the final episode for Jax and March. In some ways it felt like a bit of a filler in the series, but it's still a good read. Jax is a great character.

Book Log 1/2011 - Anne Aguirre: Killbox

Anne Aguirre: Killbox
Sirantha Jax # 4

Sirantha Jax's 4th outing in which she's relieved of her ambassadorial duties and together with her lover, March, heads up the Conglomerate's new space navy – too little, too late – but it's all they've got to stave off the ravening Morgut. March is in charge and he's building up a navy incorporating every reformed pirate he can sweet talk into signing up. Jax has to develop skills she never suspected she had to train the Conglomerate 'jumpers' to guide ships in and out of Grimspace as quickly as the Morgut can do it. As usual Aguirre manages to keep her two lovers wrongfooted and alone during most of the book to ramp up the sexual tension. It's obvious this is not the final episode for Jax and March. In some ways it felt like a bit of a filler in the series, but it's still a good read. Jax is a great character.

Book Log 2/2011 - Galen Beckett: The Magicians & Mrs Quent

2) 1/2/11
Galen Beckett: The Magicians & Mrs Quent

The three Lockwell sisters, Ivy, Rose and Lily, form an attachment for Rakish Mr. Rafferdy and his impoverished friend Eldyn Garritt. Mr. Lockwell, once a magician, is quite mad and spends all of his time in the attic library of his house while Ivy holds everything together, wishing she knew more of magic, but accepting that as a woman she can never be a magician and cure her father. There's a slow build up of a burgeoning relationship between Ivy and Rafferdy (her social superior in a Regencyesque society) which leads down a blind alley of unfulfilled reader expectations. When Mrs Lockwood dies suddenly, the house is entailed away to a stuffy and overbearing cousin, so Ivy determines to re-open their derelict old house in a disreputable part of town, but for this she needs money. When an invitation arrives from an old acquaintance of her father's, Mr. Quent, she accepts the offer to be a governess for his ward and travels out of town, sending her wages home as her sisters and father are now living on the cousin's charity.

In the meantime Rafferdy and Garritt, both with differing magical talents (as yet unrecognised), have problems of their own. Rafferdy is pushed into learning magic despite his dislike for his tutor, and it turns out that he has a real talent for it. Garritt loses his money to a pair of con-men and the need to take care of his sister leads him to form an association with a notorious highwayman and – as it turns out – revolutionary. Once in, he can't get out until he crosses the highwayman and finds new lodgings where he hopes he and his sister will be safe.

Ivy – forgetting Rafferdy's affections very easily – has adventures which show that she has some talents in the witching direction. Things are stirring in the countryside and there are strange and dangerous magical risings. Ivy falls for her stolid but dependable employer, the somewhat unexciting Mr. Quent, and accepts his offer of marriage, discovering that he's an agent of the King charged with monitoring the risings.

A faux-Regency-with-magic book set in Altania closely based on English society. A little slow at first because of alternating chapters between three protagonists, one of whom is much less engaging and less central to the plot than the other two. It becomes quite engaging once we reach the middle section (in the country) which suddenly switches from third to first person from Ivy's viewpoint (on the pretext of keeping a journal for her father). The last section – back in Town - switches back to third person and three character viewpoints alternating again.

Though the society is very 'Regency' the setting has an unusual magic scheme and Altania is a strange place where days and nights (lumenals and umbrals) are weirdly irregular and their lengths can only be predicted by checking an almanac on a daily basis. Polite society surfs the underbelly of stews, taverns, highwaymen, dissenters and disreputable illusionists, while reputable gentlemen magicians remain disengaged from the real world and show dangerously bad errors of judgement. There's a strange planetary conjunction coming which will allow the darkness to take over and only cryptic clues left by Ivy's mad dad can help Ivy and Rafferdy to defeat the magicians who would let the 'ashen' through, and undo the bindings that Ivy's father gave his sanity to make.

Though the ending is satisfying in itself there are enough loose ends to lead into another book. My only hope is that Mr. Quent himself becomes a more fleshed out, less reserved character in the next book. Despite that one lack, this is nicely written. If you like the Regency period, magic and underlying strangeness, I recommend you give it a try.

Book Log 2/2011 - Galen Beckett: The Magicians & Mrs Quent

2) 1/2/11
Galen Beckett: The Magicians & Mrs Quent

The three Lockwell sisters, Ivy, Rose and Lily, form an attachment for Rakish Mr. Rafferdy and his impoverished friend Eldyn Garritt. Mr. Lockwell, once a magician, is quite mad and spends all of his time in the attic library of his house while Ivy holds everything together, wishing she knew more of magic, but accepting that as a woman she can never be a magician and cure her father. There's a slow build up of a burgeoning relationship between Ivy and Rafferdy (her social superior in a Regencyesque society) which leads down a blind alley of unfulfilled reader expectations. When Mrs Lockwood dies suddenly, the house is entailed away to a stuffy and overbearing cousin, so Ivy determines to re-open their derelict old house in a disreputable part of town, but for this she needs money. When an invitation arrives from an old acquaintance of her father's, Mr. Quent, she accepts the offer to be a governess for his ward and travels out of town, sending her wages home as her sisters and father are now living on the cousin's charity.

In the meantime Rafferdy and Garritt, both with differing magical talents (as yet unrecognised), have problems of their own. Rafferdy is pushed into learning magic despite his dislike for his tutor, and it turns out that he has a real talent for it. Garritt loses his money to a pair of con-men and the need to take care of his sister leads him to form an association with a notorious highwayman and – as it turns out – revolutionary. Once in, he can't get out until he crosses the highwayman and finds new lodgings where he hopes he and his sister will be safe.

Ivy – forgetting Rafferdy's affections very easily – has adventures which show that she has some talents in the witching direction. Things are stirring in the countryside and there are strange and dangerous magical risings. Ivy falls for her stolid but dependable employer, the somewhat unexciting Mr. Quent, and accepts his offer of marriage, discovering that he's an agent of the King charged with monitoring the risings.

A faux-Regency-with-magic book set in Altania closely based on English society. A little slow at first because of alternating chapters between three protagonists, one of whom is much less engaging and less central to the plot than the other two. It becomes quite engaging once we reach the middle section (in the country) which suddenly switches from third to first person from Ivy's viewpoint (on the pretext of keeping a journal for her father). The last section – back in Town - switches back to third person and three character viewpoints alternating again.

Though the society is very 'Regency' the setting has an unusual magic scheme and Altania is a strange place where days and nights (lumenals and umbrals) are weirdly irregular and their lengths can only be predicted by checking an almanac on a daily basis. Polite society surfs the underbelly of stews, taverns, highwaymen, dissenters and disreputable illusionists, while reputable gentlemen magicians remain disengaged from the real world and show dangerously bad errors of judgement. There's a strange planetary conjunction coming which will allow the darkness to take over and only cryptic clues left by Ivy's mad dad can help Ivy and Rafferdy to defeat the magicians who would let the 'ashen' through, and undo the bindings that Ivy's father gave his sanity to make.

Though the ending is satisfying in itself there are enough loose ends to lead into another book. My only hope is that Mr. Quent himself becomes a more fleshed out, less reserved character in the next book. Despite that one lack, this is nicely written. If you like the Regency period, magic and underlying strangeness, I recommend you give it a try.

Book Log 3/2011 - Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher

3) 10/2/11
Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher
Crosspointe # 1

Lucy Trenton is a member of Crosspointe's Royal Family, but that doesn't mean she gets a free ride. They all have to work for a living. Lucy is a customs officer and a damn good one, but she has a secret; she can feel the presence of magic. Which is a bit unfortunate because Crosspointe runs on small magics made from the raw magic of the dangerous sylveth which infests the sea, contaminating and changing anything it touches into living monsters, infectious and dangerous. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Lucy is the officer on watch when a magical knucklebone reef rises, wrecking ships outside the magic-protected harbour bar. At great psychological cost Lucy heads the crew responsible for dragging the salvage on shore, making it safe and dutifully killing the human horrors changed by the sylveth. In this she's helped by two captains, her childhood friend, Jordan, and the rakish Marten Thorpe, a good captain, but a notorious gambler when not at sea, whom she doesn't trust but is attracted to. Amongst the salvage is a true cypher – an illegal magical artifact – which fastens on to Lucy. Convinced that it will kill her very soon she allows herself some comfort in Marten, and from then on her troubles multiply.

Accused of stealing a hugely valuable cargo (which she didn't) she's blackmailed by someone who knows about the true ciphers that she's collected over the years (enough to get her executed and to destroy her family and friends) and at the same time her attached cipher starts to play up in unpredictably dangerous ways. She ends up on the run and hiding in the bad part of town.

The Jutras – Crosspointe's enemy – are set to invade and Lucy becomes embroiled in political intrigue which involves an old enemy from her childhood who turns out to be a Jutras spy in league with Marten's older brother. The brother, powerful but evil, bankrupts Marten (deliberately) and then buys him back from the debtor's block, effectively enslaving him.

But Lucy's cipher isn't the death sentence she presumes it to be and when sent outside the safety of the harbour bar at the mercy of the sylveth it comes into its own. Marten and Lucy discover hidden magical talents and a way to save the city. This offers a satisfying ending while leaving some loose ends for future books.

Book Log 3/2011 - Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher

3) 10/2/11
Diana Pharaoh Francis: The Cipher
Crosspointe # 1

Lucy Trenton is a member of Crosspointe's Royal Family, but that doesn't mean she gets a free ride. They all have to work for a living. Lucy is a customs officer and a damn good one, but she has a secret; she can feel the presence of magic. Which is a bit unfortunate because Crosspointe runs on small magics made from the raw magic of the dangerous sylveth which infests the sea, contaminating and changing anything it touches into living monsters, infectious and dangerous. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Lucy is the officer on watch when a magical knucklebone reef rises, wrecking ships outside the magic-protected harbour bar. At great psychological cost Lucy heads the crew responsible for dragging the salvage on shore, making it safe and dutifully killing the human horrors changed by the sylveth. In this she's helped by two captains, her childhood friend, Jordan, and the rakish Marten Thorpe, a good captain, but a notorious gambler when not at sea, whom she doesn't trust but is attracted to. Amongst the salvage is a true cypher – an illegal magical artifact – which fastens on to Lucy. Convinced that it will kill her very soon she allows herself some comfort in Marten, and from then on her troubles multiply.

Accused of stealing a hugely valuable cargo (which she didn't) she's blackmailed by someone who knows about the true ciphers that she's collected over the years (enough to get her executed and to destroy her family and friends) and at the same time her attached cipher starts to play up in unpredictably dangerous ways. She ends up on the run and hiding in the bad part of town.

The Jutras – Crosspointe's enemy – are set to invade and Lucy becomes embroiled in political intrigue which involves an old enemy from her childhood who turns out to be a Jutras spy in league with Marten's older brother. The brother, powerful but evil, bankrupts Marten (deliberately) and then buys him back from the debtor's block, effectively enslaving him.

But Lucy's cipher isn't the death sentence she presumes it to be and when sent outside the safety of the harbour bar at the mercy of the sylveth it comes into its own. Marten and Lucy discover hidden magical talents and a way to save the city. This offers a satisfying ending while leaving some loose ends for future books.