Wednesday, May 19, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Pérez

 




Sweet Black Waves is the start of a YA fantasy trilogy by Kristina Perez based upon the legend of Tristan and Isolt (aka Isolde or various other slightly different spellings), with the story taking place instead from the point of view of Isolt's lady maid Branwen.  I was largely unaware of the story - other than being familiar with the names - coming into this first novel, so I couldn't really be spoiled through this first novel (I've since looked up the story) which Pérez uses to tell her own story around the required plot beats of the classic tale.  The series managed to pick up some award recognition somewhere I can't recall among a bunch of other series I'd enjoyed, so I reserved this book a while ago for interlibrary loan to see how It'd stack up.  

And Sweet Black Waves is a strong and hard hitting first novel, in a very tragic fashion.  The story isn't hitting many significant modern themes - the most we have here really are the classic conflicts of love vs duty and the question of the "ends vs the means" - but it works really well as the start of a tragic romantic fantasy.  That's helped by its heroine, Branwen, being a really great characters, a teenage girl who finds her life upended by a man from the people who killed her family, her magical powers of healing and harm, and her closest family bond being stretched and torn.  If you aren't familiar with the legend, you'll find this a tale with some shocking and tragic turns that keeps you guessing - if you are familiar, you'll still find a number of surprises in how this winds up, and I'm really curious to see how this goes in book 2.  


---------------------------------------------------Plot Summary---------------------------------------------------
When she was a girl, Branwen's parents, Lords of Castle Bodwa in Laiginztir and siblings to the Queen of Iveriu, were killed by Kernyvak raiders.  Since then she has lived at Castle Rigani with the King and Queen and her close cousin Essy, acting as Essy's close companion and the Queen's apprentice in healing.  Branwen is a girl who only trusts what she sees, despite the Queen's talk of the magic of the Old Ones, and believes in only two other things: the love she has for Essy, whom she would do anything for, and her hatred of the Kernyvak people who killed her parents. 

But when Branwen is led by a seemingly-magical fox to an injured man washed ashore on the Castle Beach, she uses her skills to save his life.  But to her dismay, the man is a Kernyvman, one of those she has come to hate.  And yet, following the words of her parents, Branwen can't simply let him die, and hides him in a cave while he heals from her treatment....and slowly begins to fall in love with him until the day he's forced to escape. 

And when the man comes back and reveals himself to be a Kernyvman prince, there to win Essy's hand in marriage for his King, Branwen finds her heart torn in two.  For such a marriage could lead to peace between Iveriu and Kernyv, a possibility that could allow her to be with this man she's fallen for.  But Essy has fallen for the son of an Iveriu noble and refuses to accept the possibility of an arranged marriage to the kingdom she also has come to hate, and Branwen finds herself caught with an impossible choice - the girl who has meant the most to her as family or the man she has come to love, who could represent peace and good for both their kingdoms. 

And with Branwen's powerful healing magic coming in, a magic she soon realizes is incredibly dangerous, she will find her choices will have an impact on both their countries....ones she may never have anticipated.....
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Sweet Black Waves is told from the perspective of Branwen, who is not one of the two major characters in the classic legend (if she's mentioned, she's the lady's maid of Isolde).  Branwen has a strong heart that beats for two things: her cousin Essy, and for her country Iveriu - for which her parents died after an attack by Kernyvak raiders.  The two countries here are pastiches for Ireland (Iveriu) and Cornwall/England (Kernyv), (there's also a distant pastiche of the Roman Empire which isn't dealt with here) with the two countries beginning to contain different religions - Iveriu believing in polytheism and Old Gods whereas Kernyv is beginning to believe in a monotheistic religion which resembles but isn't quite Christianity.  The two nations are separated at sea, resulting in conflict between them being conducted through "raiders" and ships on the sea, but have been in bloody conflict for a longtime.  

And so when Branwen is confronted by a man from Kernyv whom she heals out of a sense of duty and keeps attending to - while hiding because he'd be killed for who he is - she at first is horrified at what she's doing.  But she falls in love with him because well, the man Tantris (as he gives his name) is incredibly charming and has hopes of their peoples coming together in peace - a hope that seems to fall in line with a lesson from her parents about making friends from enemies.  And yet Essy also hates the Kernyvmen, and so Branwen finds herself for the first time hiding things from the closest family member she has.  

But while Branwen has responded to her tragic family past by never assuming she'd find love and seeking solace in duty towards her country and her familial ties, Essy has grown up more than a little bit spoiled - she's a princess used to getting her way, who has had her head filled with stories of love and romance, and isn't that in love with the idea of duty as opposed to well....love.  And so while Branwen finding love makes herself feel torn internally, for Essy to find love with a noble who carries no advantage in marrying only causes Essy stress externally - it's unfair damnit for Essy to have to be married to someone else instead!  Pérez manages to make Essy both a bit of a brat and yet understandable - who would want an arranged marriage when one thinks they've found love? - and while the bond between Branwen and Essy is strong, the contrast is even stronger as duty makes Branwen start to take actions that put her in the way of Essy's love.  

This works really well, especially with the magic system that provides Branwen not just with the power of healing, but a dangerous power of destruction as well - to go along with gods and devils that seem to have plans for her - to form a plot that slowly ticks towards more and more tragic ends.  You might think the conflict will come from Branwen falling in love with a man from a people her cousin hates, but it comes from more than that - it comes from Branwen's secret love putting her between Essy and what Essy feels is love.....and makes Branwen's urge to do what's right for her country also putting her against Essy's interests.  And when Branwen, aided by the Queen who loves Branwen and aids her with her magic, finds herself growing more and more powerful, on a trajectory with no one to guide her, it becomes easier and easier to take steps that would push events to a better conclusion for the country....even if those steps are clearly wrong and possibly devastating if ever revealed to Essy....or anything else.  

It's a plotline that leads to a hell of a cliffhanger and conflict in the ending, even if that last step of the cliffhanger is a bit abrupt, and it all works really well.  Do not read this expecting to find a happy ending or a light novel, by the midway point you can start to see events in this book spiraling downhill, making it hard to read knowing more and more tragedy is coming.  But if you know that's coming, you'll find a really solid take on this story, one that makes me want to see what's coming next.....

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