THIS FORSAKEN EARTH

Always-on-the-run Rol Cortishane and his trusty sword Fleam battle an evil empire and backstabbing allies in the rousing Sea Beggars series’ second installment.

The Mark of Ran (2005) provided a lengthy origin myth and coming-of-age tale for Rol, the orphaned half-human, possibly half-god with a frightening knack for skillfully applied violence. Having firmly established his fantastical world and its major players, Kearney settles in here for bloody-minded human realpolitik. Rol is a ruthless privateer neither asking nor giving quarter as he strives to rid the sea of the Bionari Empire ships trying to find his home, the well-hidden pirate haven of Ganesh Ka. Given Kearney’s knack for the ebb and flow of naval combat, readers may be disappointed when he turns Rol landward toward the Bionari civil war that was festering at the end of the last novel. Rol’s one-time love, the beautiful assassin Rowen (who may share his half-divine bloodline too closely for comfort), requires his help. The King of Thieves, an old nemesis who is now Rowen’s ally of convenience in her claim to the Bionari throne, comes to Ka to plead for Rol’s assistance. For all Kearney’s stylistic flair, there’s little romanticizing of battle here: The dehumanizing mass violence of organized warfare has rarely been portrayed in fantasy with such clear-eyed cynicism. Despite this tough realism, the long-desired reunion of Rol and Rowen still strikes a few sparks in a harsh land.

Energetic stuff, with the promise of much more to come.