by Rachel Hartman
First sentence: “Once there was a girl named Tess, Who’d got herself in a wretched mess.”
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Others in the series: Seraphina, Shadow Scale, Tess of the Road
Content: There is violence towards others, including colonizer violence, and talk of rape. It’s in the Young Adult Science Fiction section of the bookstore.

Tess has promised her quigutl friend, Pathka, that she will take him to the Sea World Serpent, especially after she was inadvertently responsible for the death of the Continental World Serpent. However, even though she’s on a voyage with noted scientist Countess Margarethe and her brother-in-law (of sorts) Jacomo, this task isn’t as easy as it seems. First: there’s the competing dragon expedition, headed by Spiro, whom Tess has had (unfortunate) dealings with. And then there’s the repeated warnings that the serpent is not for her- and other Deadlanders, as the island peoples call them – and she will not be allowed near.

It’s a simple story at it’s heart, but Hartman, because she’s a brilliant writer, has managed to weave in so much. The consequences of not saying anything in the face of injustice. The assumptions that class and privilege afford you. The choices we all make, for good or ill, and the fallout of those. And, most of all, reparations for those choices, especially when they’ve done ill (whether you’ve meant it or not). I marveled just how much Hartman was able to pack into this simple voyage story, and how satisfying it was, even if Tess didn’t succeed at her quest.

I’m not sure I’ll continue with the new one, at least not yet. But, if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading one of Hartman’s books, I’d highly suggest remedying that.