/lit/ - Literature

Just finished pic related, and I enjoyed it a lot.
It has two protagonists. Usually I don't like multiple PoV's, simply because one is always better than the other. This story sidesteps that issue by making both PoV's very close together and very much interlinked, often even simultaneous. The protagonists are Edmond, who is a very resourceful, very driven Alchemist pursuing a goal, and Augustin. Augustin is a landborn noble upjumped to a captaincy in an Imperial frigate because his mother slept with the Admiral.
Despite the way he acquired his position, Augustin is a very respectable and competent soldier, albeit a rookie sailor. The story picks up with Augustin, patrolling forbidden waters, encounters Edmond and two hired hands, in a fishing boat in the middle of nowhere. When Augustin has his crew attempt to arrest Edmond and his lackeys, Edmond surprises them by intentionally sinking his own boat.
Edmond is an alchemist. In this series, Alchemy isn't so much (pseudo)scientific, but rather a form of ritual magic. By combining the right ingredients, in the right fashion, with the right will, one can make an offering to powers beyond for certain boons. Just don't fuck it up or you get eaten.

The waters are forbidden because, unknown to Augustin, there is a Tomb below the sea, a Gods tomb. Edmond has spent nearly a decade searching for, and every penny of his fortune trying to gain access to this tomb, in the small hope that he will find within the means to bring his wife back from the dead.
Instead, he find a decidedly not dead Goddess. Mirastious is the goddess of secrets, and she offers to tell him the secrets he needs to bring his wife back if he frees her from her tomb and helps her reclaim her powers.

Fun read. Edmond has a little bit of Jack Sparrow in him when seen from the perspective of Augustin, who is a good navy lad (basically Norrington but not a cuck) chasing a heretic and tomb robber. This is contrasted by the same scenes from his own perspective, where it's obvious Edmond is flying by the seat of his pants, and it's all bluffing and desperation. Lots of cat and mouse, a bit of swashbuckling, a bit of world building.
Heartily recommend.