By Jessica Brawner

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Captain Jac is the notorious pirate captain of the airship The Indiana – but she hides many secrets. When she and her crew are hired to carry out a very risky job, trouble beckons…

Jessica Brawner’s novel is great fun, set in a steampunk history where airships and derring-do ride the air in equal measure. It’s primarily told first person by Jac – who’s a pretty reliable narrator, to herself if not necessarily everybody else – with a few interjections from the point of view of the Captain of the Guard who ends up pursuing her in more ways than one, and a couple to give insight into her crew when she’s not around. Jac has a deservedly high opinion of herself – she’s got herself in and out of more trouble than most of her contemporaries growing up would see in a lifetime – and she doesn’t stint in kicking herself when she deserves it.

There’s more than a hint of the pirate epics of Errol Flynn and co. about this – no-one is actually described as a “scurvy dog” but you wouldn’t be in the least surprised if they were – and Brawner sensibly embraces that ethos. We don’t get huge amounts of backstory to explain why technology in the 18th century has developed in the way it has; we simply accept it, as the characters do, because we’re far more interested in what they do with it. The action sequences are well-told, with a clarity that more experienced writers would envy, and Brawner has created a number of strong characters around which to tell her tale.

Jac and co. come up against the power of the Catholic Church, but again it’s not quite the church as we know it, and there’s plenty of room for expansion of this in the sequel novels. Exactly what the first sin is that’s referenced in the title is left a little loose: if it’s pride, there’s certainly enough of that floating around – but it could as easily refer to the actions carried out by The Indiana crew.

Brawner leaves us on a cliffhanger, which actually feels like an end of credits sting a la Marvel, threatening something much nastier for the second book. I’m looking forward to finding out how Captain Jac and crew cope (although next time around, the scenes from their point of view need a bit more weight to justify taking us away from Jac and the Captain).

Verdict: A rip-roaring adventure that will keep you engrossed – more please. 8/10

Paul Simpson

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