Sea of Ghosts

Sea of Ghosts is the first novel in The Gravedigger Chronicles series by Alan Campbell. The story is set in a world that, after humans overthrew their sorcerous Unmer oppressors, is drowning under the steadily rising poisonous oceans while the victorious humans pay more attention to warring against each other than saving the world from the doom the Unmer, now confined in ghettoes and guarded by the psychic Haurstaf, meant to be their parting gift.

After Granger, the captain of the disgraced Gravedigger regiment, embarrasses the emperor in his throne room, the remnants of the Gravediggers are now all wanted men. Granger has to flee into an unglamorous exile, which is only interrupted by the sudden appearance of his old lover and a daughter he never knew existed. The daughter, Ianthe, possesses a strange vision that allows her to find drowned treasures, but the sudden wealth also brings Granger to the attention of the sort of people he would rather have nothing to do with.


 * Armor-Piercing Attack: Void arrows and void flies can go through anything and will eventually fly into space, even if it means going through the entire planet.
 * Artifact of Doom: The sea bottles, which are slowly drowning the world in poison. There are millions of them active.
 * Badass: Granger definitely qualifies.
 * Bazaar of the Bizarre: In the prologue.
 * Blind Seer: Ianthe, but her extraordinary perception works so well that she can fake being normal.
 * The Caligula: Emperor Hu is a Downplayed example, though possibly only because we haven't seen enough of him.
 * Cruel and Unusual Death: The Drowned petrify slowly and painfully if they dry out. This is how Maskelyne executes them.
 * Dirty Mind Reading:
 * Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Maskelyne genuinely loves his wife and son.
 * Evil Versus Evil: All the factions involved in the story are evil. The main characters fighting them are evil too.
 * Fake-Out Opening: The prologue is called A Tapestry of Sex and initially gives out the impression that the story will be about a noble lady's decadent pursuits and the inevitable ensuing relationship drama.
 * Functional Magic: The power of the Unmer. The two paths are brutalism, manipulating energy, and entropathy, creating and destroying matter.
 * Hero Stole My Bike:
 * It's All About Me: Emperor Hu, who is a total Narcissist. For example, the figurehead on his new, fancy flagship is a statue of himself. He doesn't seem to care about anyone else.
 * Lured into a Trap:
 * Later on,
 * Magitech: Unmer devices combine magic and technology.
 * Mean Girls: Candace and Regina, Haurstaf students.
 * Our Elves Are Better: The long-lived, innately magical Unmer correspond to elves in other fantasy works.
 * Our Mermaids Are Different: The Drowned, or sharkskin people, are humans who were transformed by the poisonous oceans into aquatic forms. They have no fish tails and soon lose their human mentality.
 * Psychic Nosebleed: Candace and Regina get one when Sister Ulla subjects them to psionic pain as a punishment.
 * Power At a Price: Unmer artifacts tend to have costs associated with them. For example, seeing knives give unparalleled fighting ability, but with time also destroy the wielder's eyes... and the entire face, as it turns out.
 * Power of the Void: Void arrows annihilate everything in their path and can even go unimpeded through solid rock, eventually flying into space. Bottles of void flies work similarly but are even more destructive because each bottle contains a swarm.
 * Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves:
 * Stuff Blowing Up: Maskelyne figures out that
 * Telepathy: The power of the Haurstaf.
 * Torture Technician: Torturer Mara of the Haurstaf. She is a nasty piece of work.
 * Trap Door: Maskelyne has one in his office and uses it in the traditional villain style
 * Trial by Combat: Emperor Hu arranges a really unfair version of this
 * Villain Protagonist: It is hard to see Granger even as the darkest possible Anti-Hero, and Maskelyne is plainly a villain despite his few redeeming traits.