Tidespeaker

This richly imagined new YA fantasy duology promises much. Penned by Los Angeles producer Sadie Turner, it is wildly cinematic with vivid world building and Gothic trappings reminiscent of Gormenghast. Alive with bird imagery, it’s an electrifying read with an exciting plot in an atmospheric setting of an isolated castle on an island with a causeway prone to flooding, in the Queendom of Nenamor.

Drawing on the premise of magical beings who are treated as second class citizens servile to a ruling class in a corrupt hierarchical system, it follows the fortunes of Flood mouth Corith who is sent from her training school to serve the House of Shearwater after the loss of her good friend Zennia in mysterious circumstances. There she finds the harsh Brigant Rexim, his enlightened daughter Catua, her haughty sister Vercha, who treats Corith like a fashion accessory, and his sons, the feckless Emment and the brooding, handsome Llir. They are all keeping secrets as a Shakespearian style battle of political intrigue unfolds. Whom can she trust? Will she weather the coming storm?

Likened to both Jane Eyre and the House of Salt and Sorrows, it has more similarities to Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Verse and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone in its portrayal of the indentured Orha who are feared because they can control the tides, the earth, wind and fire. The influence of Superman is in there too with the inclusion of laconite, a material that neutralises their powers.

With high stakes throughout Tide Speaker will appeal to readers who like action packed stories with LGBT representation, magic, courtly chicanery, betrayal and surprises. Ending on a cliff-hanger, it leaves the reader wanting more.