The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper

by A.J. Fitzwater

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories
Pages: 145
Rating:

Synopsis:

Cinrak the Dapper is a keeper of secrets, a righter of wrongs, the saltiest capybara on the sea and a rider of both falling stars and a great glass whale. Join her, her beloveds, the rat Queen Orvilia and the marmot diva Loquolchi, lead soprano of the Theatre Rat-oyal, her loyal cabin kit, Benj the chinchilla, and Agnes, last of the great krakens, as they hunt for treasures of all kinds and find adventures beyond their wildest dreams. Let Sir Julius Vogel Award-winning storyteller A.J. Fitzwater take you on a glorious journey about finding yourself, discovering true love and exploring the greatest secrets of the deep. Also, dapperness.

I read this ages ago and realised I’d never posted the review! So I dug it out for you now…

I’d heard about this book quite frequently, but only picked it up recently, for some reason. I love the idea of a dapper, polyamorous, lesbian pirate capybara, and the introduction to the book states something really vital: queer joy is important. Yes, we still have fighting to do, to ban conversion therapy and reverse the recent erosion of trans rights… but to do that we need to nourish ourselves. Our joy is needed too. Plus, a happy queer person is one in the eye for the haters.

So… I wanted to love this book, and I definitely did enjoy the diverse cast, the inclusiveness of Cinrak’s crew and world.

But it feels a little like a collection of stories based on an existing world that the reader should already be familiar with. Things aren’t explained, they just happen. Oh, Cinrak has salt magic — okay, but what does that mean? What are the bounds on it? I initially got the impression it was all sea-related, then it can also sense danger, then it can bust open other magic to save the day… Cinrak and crew always suddenly had the resources/capabilities needed in any given situation.

There were a lot of gaps, and they weren’t the kind that are just part of figuring out the world; I like worldbuilding that makes you do the work, but this wasn’t that.

This collection is enjoyable — and hey, a dapper polyamorous lesbian pirate capybara is a glorious concept and one I’m glad to have met — just didn’t quite work out for me.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)