I have mixed feelings about this Exceptional Story. On one hand, I thought the pacing and art were great, and I enjoyed meeting the characters and seeing the dynamic between the brothers. The part where you explore the sunken ship was fantastic and was by far my favorite part. And the climax of the story was superb and actually had my heart racing.
On the other hand, I don’t think that the parts with Lady Black were handled well. Up until now she has been such an enigmatic entity which in her few appearances in Sunless Seas and prior Exceptional Stories, but I think this story draws back the curtain much too far. It takes away much of the mystery and terror surrounding Lady Black when we have a regular, down-to-earth conversation with her and discuss her deal-making, as if she’s some kind of run-of-the-mill Devil in a rivalry with the Fathomking. It makes this character seem less interesting to me.
I’m reminded a bit of how disappointed I’ve been with the two most recent films in the Alien franchise, which IMO reveal far too much about the origin of the xenomorphs and in so doing make them much less frightening and, well, alien. What is not seen (or, in this case, spoken to) is often both more frightening and more intriguing than what is seen.