Wells, Martha: The Serpent Sea
The Serpent Sea (2012)
Written by: Martha Wells
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 320 (Kindle)
Series: Book Two (Books of Raskura)
Why I Read It: I utterly enjoyed reading The Cloud Roads (review on LJ || on WP) and planned on reading the sequel as soon as I could get my hands on it. Trouble is, it took me a while to get my hands on it, and I ended up holding off until the holidays to see if the e-book would go on sale for a super-low price like The Cloud Roads did the year before, and it did! So I nabbed it, and read it as soon as I was able (it's been a tough few months for reading… too much real life to do!). I knew it'd be an interesting experience, since I'd read one of Wells' older titles in 2012 and didn't have much luck with it. Am I back on track? Let's find out!
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Moon, once a solitary wanderer, has become consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. Together, they travel with their people on a pair of flying ships in hopes of finding a new home for their colony. Moon finally feels like he's found a tribe where he belongs. But when the travelers reach the ancestral home of Indigo Cloud, shrouded within the trunk of a mountain-sized tree, they discover a blight infecting its core. Nearby they find the remains of the invaders who may be responsible, as well as evidence of a devastating theft. This discovery sends Moon and the hunters of Indigo Cloud on a quest for the heartstone of the tree -- a quest that will lead them far away, across the Serpent Sea.
In this follow-up to The Cloud Roads, Martha Wells returns with a world-spanning odyssey, a mystery that only provokes more questions -- and the adventure of a lifetime.
Spoilers, yay or nay?: Yay. If you haven't yet read this book (let alone The Cloud Roads), please skip to "My Rating" and you'll be in good shape. Everyone else, onward!
Discussion: Oh, thank goodness… after my not-so-great brush with City of Bones (review on LJ || WP), I was worried that perhaps the shine from reading The Cloud Roads was over, that I was immune to whatever charm Wells could provide. Not so, thankfully. Thankfully, The Serpent Sea returned to form: a solid, single POV set in an interesting world where there's always more to discover. I like this world-building quite a lot, and I am growing more and more appreciative that Wells' niche seems to be non-human characters. Certainly, they're humanoid at the least, and in terms of characterization, they definitely feel all-too-human, but I mean that as a compliment, because the juxtaposition of, say, Moon's pride in not wanting to ask for help (which is a very human thing to do) against physical reactions (spines flaring, Raskura hissing, etc) strikes quite the nice balance.
Here's an example on page 156:
As the main room curved away from the doorway, it widened out to a space where there was a small platform. Around it sat three fishy-gray groundlings, two playing stringed instruments and one a set of wooden pipes. On the platform, a golden-skinned groundling woman, dressed only in wispy scarves, moved to the music, though she looked half asleep. Dancing was another groundling thing that left Moon cold. The quick movements were often distracting and made him twitchy with the urge to hunt, and the slow movements were just boring. It was more fun to watch grasseaters graze.
Of course, with a sequel, we're no longer discovering the world and characters afresh, and given that this appears to be a middle book in a trilogy, I was prepared for this tale to end with a cliffhanger. When the rival queen had him kidnapped, I was certain the book was going to end on a dark note. It didn't, much to my surprise and admiration. While Wells is certainly planting seeds for the next book, she crafts a complete story from beginning to end, making sure her readers get a resolution. This is something I'm coming more and more to admire: it doesn't mean that you can pick this book up without having read The Cloud Roads (you shouldn't), but it does mean that you don't have to wade through transitional crap while the author sets the stage for the final climax in the third book. Which is a rare thing in trilogies, unless I'm mistaken and this simply isn't a trilogy.
Whatever it is, I appreciated the fact that this book had its own unique arc, one that grew out of the story started in The Cloud Roads and one that plants seeds for the next adventure, The Siren Depths. I did find myself wondering if, somehow, Moon would have some kind of connection to Emerald Twilight, the kind of connection that would force them to want to claim him to make up for the history between Indigo and Cloud. In fact, I almost though that'd be the case, but Wells made it clear (and/or refreshed my memory) by ensuring I knew where he was from and what happened to his court. For some reason I thought he'd been stolen, so I'm glad that was set right…
At any rate, we've got clues, and they're clues that I think will build into something more as the story continues. There's a part of me that was really hoping we'd see Shadow take Moon under his wing, so to speak, because I found myself getting frustrated with Indigo Cloud. All of them keep forgetting that Moon doesn't KNOW what comes natural to everyone else, and then they get perplexed when Moon breaks down and asks something. I want someone to really sit down and mentor him, tutor him, so he knows what's expected instead of getting disciplined when he doesn't act right. I wonder if that's going to cause a rift, or if Moon is slowly but surely figuring it out and if Indigo Cloud is slowly but surely figuring it out, and they'll strike some kind of balance? I don't know… this is idle speculation on my part. :)
I did like this observation on page 217:
Balm shook her head in exasperation. "You don't know anything about living in a court. You have to have everything explained to you, and when we do explain it, you look like you think we're crazy. Everyone who speaks to you notices that. No one is that good a liar."
I did find myself not being Jade's biggest fan. There's something about their relationship that I can't get behind. Maybe some of that doubt was brought on by the fact that she's with him because she essentially had no other choice, and it makes me wonder now that they've got an uneasy alliance with Emerald Twilight, will she start looking for other consorts? Yet she defended him with a fury at the end. How much of that was motivated by true affection, and how much of it was motivated by her defending her property?
I will say: I do like the gender reversals in this book when it comes to Queens and consorts. It's mostly subtle, but it's done in a way that it makes sense. I loved that it was MOON getting kidnapped and MOON who was facing the prospect of being forced into a relationship with his captor. That JADE had to rescue him. Quite a nice reversal.
I also wondered how same-sex relationships worked in this world. Are they celebrated? Frowned upon? Normal? There was a vibe between Jade and Balm that made me wonder, though that may simply be close friendship between the two: I'm having trouble remembering all the small subplots from The Cloud Roads. Of course, it doesn't help that there's a LOT of names to keep up with, and many of the names, if they don't start with the same letter, often sound or look similar.
The setting was wonderfully unique. I loved the concept of the city built on the back of a sea monster. Very cool, even if I had trouble visualizing that actual buildings and how the tunnels and whatnot connected to each other.
I'm not sure how I feel about the resolution of Rift. If I understand the implications correctly, Rift liked killing, period. That's why he was exiled (though why exiled instead of killed himself is beyond me). What frustrated me was Moon's decision to let him go. Oh, I understand why Moon did it, but it's worrisome, because Rift knows where they live, and if I understood correctly and Rift IS a serial killer of sorts, well, that's just scary. I wonder if he'll be back in a later book?
My Rating: 7 - Good Read
One of the things I really enjoy and appreciate about this series so far is that the world-building itself is unique, and the story and characters grow out of that. If I had any frustrations, it's that Moon embraces his own pride. At times I think he doesn't even want to belong, and while it's a very human emotion (self-sabotage), it can be taxing to read about, because you know he does want to belong, yet he doesn't embrace the lifestyle fully. On one hand, it provides interesting conflict: he provides an outsider's view to his own people, and his reactions often reflect the reader's in terms of whether or not things are screwed up, but sometimes you just want to shake him and tell him to stop being so insecure. But overall, it's an enjoyable series to date, and I intend to keep reading. When I'll pick up The Siren Depths, I don't know, but I look forward to seeing where Wells takes her readers. I would stress that anyone interested in these books start with book one, The Cloud Roads, because the world-building and characterization builds on itself, and it's not quite as satisfying if one were to read The Serpent Sea out of context.
Cover Commentary: I'm a big fan of the coloring and the placement of the Raskura on the cover. I'm assuming it's Jade and Moon, and now that I'm looking at it, Jade rather has her torso in a weird twist, doesn't she? Ah, awkward posing for female characters strikes again! But what tickles me about this cover is the actual SERPENT CITY at the bottom of the image, half-hidden by the title itself. I can't believe I missed seeing it for so long!
Next up: Star Wars: Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader by James Luceno