![]() ![]() ![]() Hartman’s inclusive world grapples with questions of sovereignty and colonization, religion, and gender in ways that both reflect and comment on our own world, generally without sacrificing the moving, if busy, narrative.Ī dystopic thriller joins the crowded shelves but doesn't distinguish itself. The themes here, not always subtle, revolve around story and history: who tells it, who hears it, and how hard it is to separate oneself from the (his)story that shapes you. All three, plus a large cast of secondary characters, must situate themselves against a backdrop of political unrest caused by relentless expansion by the White-coded Ninysh into the lands of darker-skinned inhabitants of island nations. The close third-person perspective moves among Tess, Marga (a Ninysh countess, naturalist, and adventurer), and Spira, a dragon scholar born without maternal memories who cannot take dragon shape. Despite an opening poem retelling the events of the first volume, there is little here to ground a new reader. This aim is now accompanied by a side of guilt, as the one she found in the first book was killed by a scientific expedition, leaving Tess’ quigutl friend in distress. Picking up almost immediately after the conclusion of Tess of the Road (2018), this is both continuation and expansion-of the map, the cast of characters, and the scale of Tess’ mission, which again includes seeking a World Serpent. Teenage Tess returns for further adventure. ![]()
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