The Black Ship: A Novel of Crosspointe
The successor to The Cipher (2007) doesn’t involve that book’s protagonists until firmly establishing the character of Thorn the pilot, who has the magical gift for navigating the dangerous oceans of Crosspointe, full of the sylveth, contact with which can transform one into a monster. Since Thorn also likes to be disturbing, his guild bans him from sailing. But then he is abducted and forced to pilot an unregistered black ship, whose unlucky crew is on the verge of mutiny. With fast and furious action, convincing if seldom sympathetic characters, and a setting, Crosspointe, that develops apace, this is a page-flipper. --Frieda Murray