I wanted to like this book so badly, because “ex-pirate captain comes out retirement to fight a sorcerer in the medieval Indian Ocean” is probably the best pitch I’ve ever heard, but god I just did not care at all about anyone in this story. I honestly don’t know what it was - the characters should have been interesting, the prose was solid if a bit clunky, and again the setting is so cool - but it all just left me a bit bored. 

I’m clearly in the minority here, which is good because I love seeing fantasy that isn’t just yet another Tolkien re-tread, but yeah this specific book just didn’t do it for me.