I've read (but have not blogged about) Danielle L. Jensen's books: Stolen Songbird, Hidden Huntress, and Warrior Witch which are all part of the Malediction Trilogy. Those books involved trolls, witches, regular humans, and political maneuverings that tied into social and racial issues as well. I remember the books mostly fondly with a few hiccups along the way. So I was pretty good with impulse buying this book when I happened across it.
An amazon summary, and also one of the longest I've seen in a while, "In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West.
A SAILOR WITH A WILL OF IRON
Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape―a choice with devastating consequences.
Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape―a choice with devastating consequences.
A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET
Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.
Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.
A DANGEROUS QUEST
When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely―and unwilling―alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely―and unwilling―alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Before I get into the summary, I have to say this book was kind of slow and methodical about getting to the "good stuff". However, once it got to the "good stuff" it was nearly impossible to put down. So, I'm probably going to read book 2, but I'm just mad book 1 took so long to get to where it needed to that I almost gave up. It needed like 60 less pages. ...anyways, to the summary.
There are two sides of the world; the east and west. They're divided by the endless seas, but they can reach other; the sea-faring people, the Maarin know the way. BUT, the west doesn't believe there's anything beyond the endless sea, and the east doesn't believe there's anything beyond the endless sea. Teriana is daughter to the captain of the Quincense, and she has a best friend on shore in the West, Lydia. Lydia is destined to be married to a cruel man (Cassius) to secure her future and his seat on the senate, but Teriana cannot stand for this... so Teriana does the forbidden. She teaches Lydia how to summon the sea serpent that is from the east, guardian of their ship, and a few other things. Seemingly as soon as Teriana gets back to the ship, Lydia has summoned the sea serpent, and Teriana is in deep trouble with the captain of the Quincense. She broke the cardinal rule: West must not meet East.
On the flip side, Marcus is a commandeer of a legion. His men follow all his orders to a tee, and they were recruited when they were twelve to serve in the legion, give up all their family ties, and to serve the empire. Very, Roman of them. Anywho, Lydia's finance (Cassius), black mails Marcus to make sure his legion votes him into the senate. Then, Cassius has heard whispers of the East, captures the crew of the Quincense, and before Marcus, tortures Teriana. Marcus strikes a deal instead, and sends Teriana and her crew, plus himself and his legion, on a voyage to the east. They'll secure passage in return for the safety of the Maarin people as well as Teriana's mother (who has been captured). Oh, and Cassius also black mailed Marcus into killing Lydia. So there's that too.
That's enough summary.
I liked, and did not like this book. In the beginning, we have the well established culture of the West. The legions who conquer different people, different lands, all in the quest to build a bigger empire of sorts for the senate? Basically, colonize the world, because that always works out. The dynamics between Marcus and Cassius were very interesting to read about, but I felt like even though Teriana had the most interesting and unfamiliar subject matter, she felt the most flat. She was reduced to CARE FOR FRIEND (Lydia) and then CARE FOR MOTHER, and then CARE FOR CREW, and then CARE FOR PEOPLE. So Teriana is kind of always focused on just sacrificing herself and the east to save people she cares about. Which is kind of a really crap thing to pigeon hole a strong independent female character into being.
...but then Marcus kind of gets pigeon holed into being a commander who went into the army to save his brother, then he operates to save everyone to the best of his ability in each campaign, so suddenly he's just saving everyone too, but with more ruthless efficiency. But like, BOTH main characters are running around trying to just SAVE people. Then they're like ....MAYBE LOVE WILL SAVE US? so that happens too.
It felt kind of like a hopeless story just from a sense of motivations, but also in terms of character growth and development. So... why did I keep reading it?
The world building and functioning around Marcus and Teriana were fascinating. Everything about the East, the rules, magic, and gods that govern them are fascinating. How some people are god blessed, how there's sea serpents, how there's hints of magic in the west, but only in the sense of kind of like ley lines being able to transport them to different areas of the world. Not much else though. In the East, it's like everywhere. So part of Teriana's gambit is that the East will just be powerful enough to thwart the West. Which is just dumb. All of it is dumb.
But, seeing how the army functioned, seeing how Teriana's crew functioned, was kind of the most humanizing aspects of the story. It was all so... different. There was something that kept me reading, probably curiosity of where the story was even going to go, but also maybe the tenacity of the characters will to save people... but I'm also kind of curious to read book 2.
Like I said at the beginning of this review, the build up was so painstaking slow. Like please stop beating me over the head with those details. ...but once they go to the "good stuff" it all kind of fell into place, lined up, and I couldn't put it down. So I want to read book 2, but only if it doesn't fall into the exact same trap that book 1 lured me into. If it's terribly slow again, if I have to read just pages of people's emotions, inner turmoil, and like "WHAT DOES MY LOVE INTEREST THINK ABOUT THIS? HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE PEOPLE I'M TRYING TO SAVE?" like I'm out.
Happy reading!
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