Pinquickle’s Folly

Bestseller Salvatore (the Legend of Drizzt series) inaugurates a new trilogy with this exciting high-seas romp. Quauh lands her first commission as a captain in the Xoconai navy patrolling waters near a recently conquered rival nation—only to lose a hand, her ship, and her freedom in her first skirmish with pirates after being betrayed by her first mate. Massayo Mantili, a tinkerer who perfected important uses of rubber in seafaring and is a fugitive from the Xoconai, who want his expertise, spares Quauh’s life to make her his first mate. As her time with the ship’s diverse pirate crew, among them nonhuman dwarves and dark-skinned folk like Massayo, makes Quauh question her upbringing, which casts all races other than the Xoconai as inferior savages, word of the brutal Xoconai captain Aketz reaches the pirates—and they decide to take on his ship with a daring plan from Quauh. After a slightly sluggish start, the mix of battles and scheming keep the plot moving at an entertaining pace. The result feels like a classic pirate tale enhanced with a sprinkling of magic. Readers looking for swashbuckling adventure will be well-pleased. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit. (Apr.)