SFF

The Forever Sea

DAW. Jan. 2021. 464p. ISBN 9780756417031. $27. FANTASY
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Twist is a town terrorized by the creatures of the dark and given respite by the coming of the Storyteller. The teller tells the tale of Kindred, a young firekeeper on a ship that sails and harvests the grasses of the prairies of the Forever Sea, a sea of grass and blooming plants. Kindred, an orphan raised by her grandmother and a famous ship captain, is taught the craft of the hearthfire, a magical burning mixture of bones of dead sea captains and plants in a basin that fuels the motion of the ship. This, along with the wind in the sails, keeps them afloat.
VERDICT Johnson’s beautiful coming-of-age saga touches on subjects of conservation, water rights, morality, and relationships, without mentioning them outright. The world he builds is very different from ours but with some of the same problems. The book’s setting and plot are so original as to be a breath of fresh air to the fantasy genre.
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