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New Fantasies Worth the Plunge: A Dark and Drowning Tide and Somewhere Beyond the Sea

18 Sep

A Dark and Drowning Tide
by Allison Saft
I enjoyed the adult fantasy novel A Dark and Drowning Tide. The story takes place in a world where magic is linked to water and a group of scholars has been put together to try and find the location of a fabled spring that grants the worthy with unlimited power. The current young king of Brunnestaad believes that it would help him maintain control over the region which was once separate countries with a shared language but different cultures. The different characters on the mission all represent not only different areas of study like folklore and botany, but also the different regions excluding Lorelei, the main protagonist, who belongs to a much maligned religious group which is confined to a specific area of the city and is looked down on because they are believed to be naturally without magic. My only real disappointment with the story was that the novel felt like it could have been a third in a trilogy. Chapter 2 does a lot of character sketches and outlining of prior events and relationships that would make for interesting prequel stories. Besides the fantasy elements, the novel also has the mystery of the one of the scholars murders early on in the journey, and also has a frustrating but sweet rivals to lovers Sapphic romance. If you enjoyed Emily Wilde’s Encyclopadia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, than you will likely enjoy this novel as well. You can also check out Saft’s YA novels: A Fragile Enchantment, A Far Wilder Magic, and Down Comes the Night.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea
by TJ Klune
I had been eagerly awaiting the sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, when I heard it was being written so was excited for the opportunity to get an advanced reader copy from Netgalley of an excerpt of Somewhere Beyond the Sea which included the first four chapters of the work and immediately put it on hold so I could continue reading the story when it was available. In the first novel Linus who works for a child protection agency focused on magical youth (gnomes, shapeshifters, and other unusual kids) goes to visit a most unusual foster home on a small island and discovers a love, with the children’s foster father, he never thought he’d be worthy of finding. Time has passed; Linus and Arthur have grown closer. The children are starting to enter their teen years with all the complex feelings and emotions that brings. What I liked about Somewhere Beyond the Sea is that it gives us the perspective of Arthur and helps us understand him a bit better, but it also gives us more insight and the ability to watch the growth of all the characters. The House in the Cerulean Sea gave us a sweet closing with the Linus finally finding love and family, but there is a world beyond the sea and though it might be much grayer in nature, it is nice to see Arthur like all parents wanting his children to be able to have the experiences of exploring the larger the world for themselves. A new additional child, David, is introduced as well that added another fun character to the mix, though my favorite will always be Chauncey, a tentacled blob entity that may be the only one of his kind and who is absolutely hysterical. I enjoyed reading the rest of Linus, Arthur and the children’s stories and look forward to hopefully more in the future as well.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Marvelous Mysteries: The Examiner & Death and Croissants

11 Sep

The Examiner
by Janice Hallett
The Examiner is one of those books that you can’t put down. Told through an online chat network modeled after discord or slack, email addresses, and texts, The Examiner is an epistolary novel for our modern era. The novel begins with the characters taking an experimental masters degree program that attempts to create a learning experience that will not just have them creating beautiful art, but also give them marketable skills for working in the real world. I like that Hallett is able to make the early texts and chats mundane enough that they seem realistic and grounding for the novel, but gossipy enough that they keep the reader hooked. There is also a sense of gothic in the novel looming that something negative has happened, but we at first are unsure what and then to whom. There were several interesting twists which were well balanced in that I didn’t see fully coming, but were built up enough that they didn’t feel as if they came out of nowhere. None of the characters are who they at first seem. The novel will appeal to those who like mysteries and thrillers. Those who work in academics should find Hallett’s satirical takes on the field amusing; I found as someone with an MFA in writing some of the situations very relatable despite the very dramatic ending. If you enjoy this whodunit, you can also check out The Appeal, The Twyford Code and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.

Death and Croissants
by Ian Moore
In Death and Croissants, Richard is a middle aged, British expat, French B&B owner on the verge of divorce. He wants nothing more than to ensure his guests have a relaxing vacation and leave him some four star reviews, but that seems unlikely when a bloody hand print shows up on the wall and an elderly guest who lived in a nearby village goes missing. Valerie a recently widowed, stylish French woman with a small pocketbook pooch, Passepartout always in tow, believes they can solve the mystery, but his cynical housekeeper, Madame Tablier, is pessimistic as usual. But when Richard’s beloved hen, Ava Gardner, is murdered, he becomes a man driven to get to bottom of the funny business occurring in the Loire Valley. Although a more traditionally written novel than The Examiner, it shares a similar quirky sense of humor, engaging characters, who are also much more than they seem, and a quick moving plot. This a cozy with a lot of heart and chuckles. The fact that the book is so funny is probably partially due to Moore’s career as a stand-up comic in the UK, as well as being an author. I’m looking forward to reading the other’s in the series.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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