This book is absolutely unhinged and feral and relentlessly horny and encompasses pirate adventures and plots to overthrow empires and governments. This book is also hilarious and utterly unserious whilst managing to be deadly serious about what it cares about, and what the characters really care about (each other, and their larger community. And cake). Yes, there are Deadly Serious Cake Competitions and dogs that glow. But mostly I loved this book for how KIND it is, and the depiction of the relationships, both platonic and very much not so. A book i will reread when i feel a bit sad about the state of the world.

This book is full of chaotic characters and it’s a totally wild ride. Avra is a real odd duck, and behind his chattiness and his strange behaviour, he hides some insecurities and deep love. He takes some getting used to, and his character did go from amusing in his uniqueness to a little too much after a while, but it was sweet to see glimpses of the emotions behind the dramatic flair he put out into the world. His dedication to Tev and his love for them was something to see, but I did feel bad for him because Tev was a tough nut to crack and they didn’t have much time for Avra’s theatrics, making the two of them a very weird couple, if that’s what they were. It would have been great to see Tev’s character developed more because they didn’t seem well fleshed out and their main personality trait was grumpy, and with their sometimes cruel treatment of Avra it made it hard to get invested. There are some fantastic side characters, and I loved the dynamic between Avra and Marfeka. There are a few characters I would have liked to see more of too.

The plot was interesting, and I enjoyed following along to see what would happen with their goal of passing the sea serpents in breeding season safely. There’s a lot of weird and wonderful things to see and experience along the way in this book, from blue dogs to pirate cake contest traditions. The theme of Avra’s good luck also kept things interesting, waiting to see what his magical good luck has saved him from.

For a book with incredibly frequent and overt references to sex, lust, and general horniness this was surprisingly tame, with only a couple of closed door sex scenes and I felt incredibly cheated at the end! I’m also wondering whether there might be a sequel to this as it was left a little open at the end there, but we’ll see!

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

Thank you to Pan MacMillan and Netgalley for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF

I'm really disappointed that this has ended up as a DNF because after reading and loving A Taste of Gold and Iron (ATOGAI) last year, this was one of my most anticipated releases for 2024. Unfortunately, this book was just not for me at all.

I do not believe this is a bad book by any means, and there will most certainly be a market for it who will adore it, I am unfortunately just not that market. If you loved ATOGAI like I did, then this one probably won't be for you. The tone shift is so jarring and unlike ATOGAI and much too absurd for me. This is intended as a funny, comedic, pirate romp, and if you go into it expecting anything like ATOGAI you will be disappointed.

For me personally, Avra is far too insufferable of a protagonist to keep reading. He seems to have no personality beyond being horny, and is too stupid and silly to function. I can see how this would make a comedic protagonist for some, but this is very much just not my reading style and I just couldn't stand him as a character.

I'm disappointed that my reading of this turned out this way, but I just have to accept that this book is just not written for me and hope that it will find its audience. If you want to read this book and think you'll enjoy it, then give it a shot! It's just not for me unfortunately.

2.25 stars

Set in a queer-normative world, this book captures you with its witty and fun narration. I enjoyed the premise and most of how it works out throughout the book. The author puts a cool twist on pirates in a world of fantasy. What ultimately didn’t click for me is that I often felt the humor to quite exaggerated to the point where I could no longer enjoy the actual story. But still, I would still recommend you check this book out if you like pirates in fantasy!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

3 stars

Let me preface this by saying I love this author's writing style, It flows, and it's beautiful and well done. Tadek and the princess is one of my favorite books ever YET dont expect the same tone if you want to read this book, which is why I struggled reading this book.
I'm very happy I got approved for the audiobook as well because I'm not sure I'd have finished this without it.
The narration was amazing. It brought the characters to life.
Now... how do it describe this book: this is one of the smüttiest books I've read. YET, there's no real smüt in it 😂
Our main guy, Avra, is the most infuriating and frustrating character I've ever read, yet it makes sense for the story.
Julian and the captain are polar opposites, and together with Avra, they work. Also, their interactions with the rest of the ship's crew are fun to read.
The poly relationship was fantastically done, so I appreciated that.
Overall, if you like crazy over the top characters, you'd like this book (definitely more than me)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5* rounded up

Running Close to the Wind is a book where your enjoyment on it hinges on how well you gel with the humour, and unfortunately it wasn't really for me.

What kept me reading was an interest in seeing where the plot were going and how the characters' relationships played out - and I did enjoy the last third more than the first. Also I did enjoy some of the jokes.

It was the MC, Avra, who most of my issues were with. He was simply annoying AF - whiny, pathetic and constantly thinking with his d***. I found myself skim reading a lot of his dialogue and interactions with Tev and Julian because they had me rolling my eyes with irritation. I personally think this book and its pacing would have been improved by being shorter, and that could have been achieved by lessening the number of times Avra went off on a monologue about how pathetic or horny (or both) he was.

Overall, lovers of queer fantasy pirates might still like this, but YMMV on the humour.

This follows Avra, a semi-retired spy that's blessed with luck, and who accidentally managed to steal some very important documents from his government. The natural course of action after this escapade? Escape to his ex, a fearsome pirate captain, of course.

This was such a weird book, and I honestly think that most won't really enjoy it that much. The humour is very present and strange, and there's soooo many sex jokes. I've seen it described as tumblr humour and I think that's very accurate! The mc, Avra, is also this childish, horny guy that is very over-dramatic and annoying. This is really jarring in the beginning especially, and for the first 100 or so pages I considered just DNF'ing. But I love Rowland's work, and eventually I started really getting into it. If you expect just a fun pirate romp with like, aspects of a sex comedy, I think you'll have a great time just like I did.
If you expect anything more serious like the authors previous works, which tend to be more slow-paced character studies, I think you'll be disappointed in this.
Rowland is a master of characters, and this still got that. The worldbuilding here is also top notch - the sea serpents especially were super cool. This is what really hooked me - how these sea serpents can affect trade and shipping during mating season, and how this again is something that pirates also have to deal with.

Ultimately, it's a story about three people learning how to properly love each other during dangerous and ridiculous circumstances. I especially loved the dynamic between Asta and Teveri - they've been on and off for years, and it becomes very clear as you get further into the book that there's some sort of communication issue between these two. With the introduction of Julian, they manage to smooth these issues out. It's very fun to see the progression from annoyed exes to a somewhat functional throuple.

All in all, this really wasn't my type of book, BUT somehow it still really worked for me. It's silly, self-indulgent fun, and I think we all need more of that in our lives!

Running Close to the Wind is a hilarious upbeat nautical adventure.

Avra is irrationally lucky - even when things seem to have gone terribly, somehow it turns out to have gone his way - but he refuses to believe in luck as a concept. However when he wanders into the Arasti shipbuilders guild and wanders back out with their most closely guarded secret, even he has to believe in it a *little* bit.

This book made me laugh out loud. Avra was a hilariously endearing narrator, and I enjoyed spending time in his life. It was a definite change in tone from Rowland’s previous books I’ve read, but in a seamless way, and if you’ve read A Taste of Gold and Iron this is set in the same world so there are some cool Easter eggs to notice.

A hilarious, pun-filled trip on the seven seas. This book was exactly what I needed when coming off an epic, heartbreaking fantasy read. It was funny, and light-hearted, melodramatic and saucy. A perfect read.

Arva, Tev and Julian were the perfect mix of characters, with sensitive Julian bridging the gap between the needy, sweetheart Arva and perpetually grumpy Captain Tev. I can't wait to see more of these characters as Julian untangles their feelings and intrinsically understands the root of their behaviours.
Sea serpents, thieves, mysterious animals and revolutionaries all add to this fantastical ocean quest, but the character dynamics are really the backbone here.
With the possible exception of the Cake Competition, which may have been my favourite part of the whole story! A bunch of big, burly pirates, battling seagulls and sabotage to protect their employer's cakes! I loved the sheer breadth of insults about rival cake-makers, and defy anyone not to giggle out loud.
A book that will have you kicking your feet in glee and snorting into your pina colada! Perfection.

A book to have a great time, this is your story.
Here we find funny characters that make you live a lot of hilarious moments that will make you laugh a lot.

It has been a great story where we have gay pirates, so we are already on the right track, it has been a great story to spend all the time while still having a smile on your face and having a good time.

This story has a great combination of plot, setting, characters and moments, that will make you stop laughing when you remember it; the author's writing is so great that you can't help but say that the absurdity of some things in the story only make it more unforgettable and make you want to read it again.

Adventure on the high seas with colorful characters that will make you forget reality and have a great time laughing your head off and wanting to be part of the crew and laugh at the incongruent characters.

#RunningClosetotheWind #NetGalley

This was, quite simply, impeccable. I was laughing by page 5 and never really stopped. It is not an exaggeration when I say that after finishing this, I was bouncing off the walls with excitement and still giggling to myself for a solid 90 minutes. I cannot feasibly write an extensive review on all the parts of this that I loved as I would essentially quote the entire book and say 'it's so good!!!'.

Upon opening this I saw that the dedication was to Terry Pratchett, one of my favourite authors (2nd favourite to be precise) since I was about 10 years old and picked up the Bromeliad trilogy. Rowland did not disappoint. The blend of outrageous comedy and satire and comments on the human conditions is reminiscent of the early Rincewind books, while still being entirely Rowland's own style and work.
Writing a comedy is hard. Tone is notoriously hard to convey through text alone and the delivery relies so heavily on how the reader interprets it. But Rowland has mastered it. This was an absolute riot from the get go and there were so many points where I was genuinely wiping away tears of laughter from my eyes. The cake competition is far and away the best thing I have read in the last few years.

Most comedies rely on coincidences. Characters conveniently get lucky and make it through tricky situations by the skin of their teeth, in a way that can make it hard for the reader to truly believe that there are any stakes. Rowland acknowledges this, and instead of asking us to pretend we don’t know that all will be well in the end, Avra is ‘cursed’ with good luck. No matter how hard he tries, things just go right for him. He defines himself as a luck agnostic, but everyone around him is well aware that this man is the four-leaf clover of people. With less time having to be given to coming up with convincing ways out of various scrapes we instead get some incredibly dry humour and Rowland manages to sneak some truly great character work into a book that is largely about Avra desperately wanting to shag someone to make himself feel better.

I adore this book. It is the best book I have read all year. Second place goes to A Taste of Gold and Iron, also by Alexandra Rowland. They may now be an auto-buy author and I most certainly will be forcing anyone and everyone I know to buy and read this. I give myself one more week before I read it again with my excuse being 'it is pride after all...'

I was really taken by the premise, and I'm all for witty and slightly absurd writing, but this just didn't do it for me. I got tired of Avra and his point of view very shortly into the book, and while having some innuendo and jokes of that nature is fine by me, when it's every other sentence it gets old and cringy really quickly. I'm all for tension and chemistry, but this was not subtle at all, and even a bit uncomfortable. This wasn't for me, unfortunately.

This was an interesting read. I really liked previous book from the author in this world, but there was something about this one that didn't quite work for me. I couldn't quite get into the language and the main character. He was just obnoxious and it was too much goin on in his dirty mind. Ended up being pretty uneventful in the end too, which was disapointing.

But the upside is that I still love the world and the lore. Rowland is a talented author and I really do like how inclusive this world is and how queer normative it is. We need books like this. Unfortunately, this one didn't fit my taste, but I'm sure plenty of people will love it.

4.5/5

This was an absolute blast! I have never had so much fun or laughed so hard whilst reading a book! Alexandra Rowland is so skilled at writing such a vast array of emotions and such different, yet equally enjoyable and compelling, stories!

I loved A Taste of Gold and Iron unfathomable amounts, which is also set in this world, but Running Close to the Wind takes place in a completely different location and has an incredibly different, more light-hearted, tone. I adore both of these books for wildly different reasons. It is such a talent to be able to write across different subgenres and different tones like Rowland has done across only these two books (I am yet to read their other works).

The first thing I have to say, that I so eloquently wrote down in my notes, is: PIRATES! Literally what more could you ask for than a fun, rambunctious, goofy bunch of queer pirates? I can think of nothing better! The whole cast is so lively and vibrant, every single one of the characters we meet along the way have such bold and memorable personalities. They're all so much fun to read about! (That truly is the word of this review, fun, it perfectly encapsulates every thought I had whilst reading!)

One of its comp titles is Our Flag Means Death and if you like OFMD please read this, I beg you, you will absolutely love it! (And if you don't like OFMD... what's wrong with you?)
There's something so freeing about reading about pirates (or watching a show with pirates) even if it's romanticised for all our viewing pleasure; they're outcasts, criminals, people who cannot exist in society, and so they find escape on the seas. This particularly resonates with people from a whole host of marginalised identities and is why pirate stories like these are so important, pirates stories where the main characters are disabled and BIPOC and queer and genderqueer, and of so many varying situations which make their participation in society so much harder and therefore the pirate's life at sea so much more freeing. And this emotion, even in a story as hilarious and whimsical as this one, still punctuates each movement and really adds to our love and affection for the characters.

It is by far the funniest book I've ever read, I was absolutely crying with laughter. It's just hilarious and so silly in the best possible way! As with anything humour-related in books, it will of course be quite subjective as to whether or not you'll like this type of humour, but I think it's incredibly funny and I think most others will think the same. I just kept bursting out laughing!

I don't even know how to begin summing up my thoughts about this book, I just feel such an overwhelming sense of love for it. I had the best time reading it and eagerly await reading it all over again (you're all so lucky, getting to experience it for the first time)! The characters were phenomenal, they had so much personality and wit and joviality. I also loved that we navigated more complex situations in their relationships and guarded emotions; for all its humour, this book was never one note, it still had a whole lot to say. The plot was so much FUN from beginning to end, it's so hard to put down, I just wanted to read and read and read!
My favourite out of context moment is: glowing blue dogs. Come back to this and tell me your favourite absolutely bonkers moment once you've read it!

I wholeheartedly recommend this story, it is the most fun you will have reading anything! And as I so eloquently already said: PIRATES!

Thank you Netgalley and Tor for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. (Seriously, thank you!)

Not sure how I feel about this one, I loved the relationships and the development but the story overall wasn't that well developed. I love the concept of the pirate ex and the ship setting along with the adventures but the plot was not solid. I think I could warm up to this more on a reread as the ending gripped me so the overall story is not built strongly or standing well. 3 stars

I’m not sure how to review this book. I’m actually not sure what I’ve just read! I’m definitely sure that this is one of the weirdest books I’ve read in a long time! I think I enjoyed it but, it did take me a while. That might have been the ‘Carry On’ (very 1960 / 70s series very non politically correct comedy films,) or maybe the key protagonist Avra - who is most definitely one of the most exhausting characters I’ve ever read!

I know, it sounds like I didn’t enjoy it but, I’m not saying that! This is most definitely a camp, queer, comedic, low stakes fantasy that is most definitely character driven. Avra is an ex-government spy with what must be the world’s highest sex drive and the luck of the Irish, pot of gold at the end of a rainbow finding, walking shamrock! (Yes, I know all the stereotypes in that analogy.) There’s a soulful, brooding, introverted captain - Teveri, who tolerates Avra at best in their most excellent day and you’ll find out what happens on the rest of the days and finally Julian, a drop dead gorgeous celibate Vintish monk that Tev and Avra both lust after!

It took me a little to get into the story and get my head around Avra’s character but, as the plot and comedy progressed, he grew on me - a bit like mould. Once it’s there, it hangs around!

The plot itself is almost a sidebar to the characters but, it is there and through it I definitely found the characters more endearing as I got to know them and if you’re looking for something that tickles your fantasy fancy or if you like Pratchett, Discworld and something a little bit different and funny, you won’t go far wrong with Running Close to the Wind. It’s a fun, zany read and definitely brings a whole new dimension to baking and cake competitions!

Thanks to Pan MacMillan, Bookbreak UK, Tor and NetGalley for the arc in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Running Close to the Wind is a queer fantasy comedy by Alexandra Rowland set in the same world as her fantastic queer fantasy romance A Taste of Gold and Iron. It follows ex-spy Avra as he accidentally on purpose steals a priceless secret. He flees on a pirate ship captained by his on-again, off-again lover Teveri. They hatch a plot to sell the secret to the highest bidder on the black market, but they must first unravel the secret with the help of handsome scholar monk Julian whose vow of celibacy is an inconvenient complication.

This is an odd, odd book and a vast departure from the tone and storytelling of A Taste of Iron and Gold. It can certainly be read as a standalone. This is foremost a pirate fantasy comedy with the sheer amount of jokes, ridiculous characters/situations, and all around buffoonery. This book is very unserious, has no antagonist, and plays a lot of the plot for laughs. There’s storythreads involving getting into the sexy monk’s pants whose past sexual escapades has forced him into a vow of celibacy, escaping sea serpents and catching glowing blue dogs, and smack-talking a cake-baking competition.

Avra, our main protagonist, is a horny little man in his mid-30s who is blessed with luck. He leans into his personality of horniness and patheticness but with a lot of heart if you can overlook that feeling of watching a trainwreck of a person. Honestly, he would be so exhausting if he weren’t so entertaining instead. He is in love (or lust) with nonbinary Tev, and you can tell that there’s real feelings of friendship if not love between them. They are also competing with each other on who will get to break Julian’s vow of celibacy in a series of increasingly hilarious teasing exchanges. Yes, a lot (and I mean A LOT) of the humor is surprisingly sexual, but it is actually mostly just teasing because the limited amount of sex was all closed door. There’s a hint of possible polyamory, but the book ends before it happens.

Running Close to the Wind is chaotic fun in fantasy book form.

I think the best word I can come up with to describe this book is "unhinged". It's fast paced, funny and utterly daft. Avra is freakishly lucky and has accidentally stolen one of the greatest shipping secrets out there - how to get past the sea serpents in breeding season. Picked up by his ex's pirate ship, he and Captain Tev come up with a plan to sell and make them all rich legends. But first Brother Julian, the inconveniently celibate monk scientist, has to figure out exactly how it works, and they have to be on the Isles of Lost Souls for THE cake competition.

Avra is by turns deeply irritating (to the crew, to Tev, to the reader) and someone who you really want to win out. Tev's crew are mostly very enjoyable side-characters, and Tev themself has a fascinating back story. The plot has some deeply silly aspects - the cake competition is both pivotal and daft - but wins out because it's overall relatively quite straightforward, it's the unhinged characters who make the book stand out.

It's not for everyone, but I loved it.

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me at 77 pages.

Having loved A Taste of Gold and Iron, I really hoped I would enjoy another book set in the same universe (despite it being based around pirates which I don't usually like). Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. It's completely different from ATOGAI in tone, premise and characters, and I suspect may appeal predominantly to a different kind of reader.

I would suggest giving this book a try of you are a fan of irreverent, comic fantasy. It is genuinely funny; even though I wasn't enjoying the book I still laughed out loud multiple times. You do also need to be a reader who does not mind reading unlikeable or annoying main characters.

It's well written and easy to read and I'm sure there are people who will love this book, sadly I am just not one of them.

I really liked A Taste of Gold and Iron, but I think this is a book that is unfortunately not for me.

It's very heavy on sex and desire, which isn't something I enjoy, but if you like your pirate adventures with a pool of libido and a treasure chest full of sex jokes then this is the tale for you.

I will still absolutely recommend this book to all my pirate loving friends, because the problem may just be me not liking pirates enough.