After returning from their vacation in the south, Yarandrala declares that she wants to build a ship capable of traveling all the way around the continent and ropes Red and the others into helping. They set out to sea on a beautiful summer’s day to go diving and investigate a top-of-the-line galleon once sunk by Ruti—when all of a sudden, a Jade Kingdom ship drifts into view! What is it doing there all the way from beyond the Wall at the End of the World?!
As the blurb says, a nice mix of adventure under and above the sea, starting with a treasure dive and ending with an unexpected meeting that leads to some unexpected outcomes. As Red says at some point in the volume, if there is such a thing as fate, it is not one pushed by Demis.
Volume 12 feels like setup for the next (and possible final) arc of the series. It starts with a bit of entertaining slice-of-life and look into the nature Yarandrala, one that is certainly depicting some of the long-lived high elves in this world as very different from the cliché version in fantasy. While things do get more serious later on, as expected, it is not without a dash of light-hearted fun of people enjoying their quiet life and of course the romance between our favorite power couple of the series who are approaching their 1 year anniversary (very much not forgotten by Red and Rit). It is a mix I come to expect and love of the series. Maybe the series could do with a bit faster progress on the main plot, but personally I enjoy this.
So, all in all, a great read and solid addition to the series.