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Hidden Sea Tales #2
A Daughter of No Nation
As soon as Sophie Hansa returned to our world, she is anxious to once again go back to Stormwrack. Unable to discuss the wondrous sights she has seen, and unable to tell anyone what happened to her in her time away, Sophie is in a holding pattern, focused entirely on her eventual chance to return.
With the sudden arrival of Garland Parrish, Sophie is once again gone. This time, she has been called back to Stormwrack in order to spend time with her father, a Duelist-Adjudicator, who is an unrivaled combatant and fearsome negotiator. But is he driven by his commitment to seeing justice prevail, or is he a sociopath? Soon, she discovers something repellent about him that makes her reject him, and everything he is offering.
Adrift again, she discovers that her time spent with her father is not without advantages, however, for Sophie has discovered there is nothing to stop her from setting up a forensic institute in Stormwrack, investigating cases that have been bogged down in the courts, sometimes for years. Her fresh look into a long-standing case between two of the islands turns up new information that could get her, and her friends, pulled into something bold and daring, which changes the entire way she approaches this strange new world. . . .
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
With the sudden arrival of Garland Parrish, Sophie is once again gone. This time, she has been called back to Stormwrack in order to spend time with her father, a Duelist-Adjudicator, who is an unrivaled combatant and fearsome negotiator. But is he driven by his commitment to seeing justice prevail, or is he a sociopath? Soon, she discovers something repellent about him that makes her reject him, and everything he is offering.
Adrift again, she discovers that her time spent with her father is not without advantages, however, for Sophie has discovered there is nothing to stop her from setting up a forensic institute in Stormwrack, investigating cases that have been bogged down in the courts, sometimes for years. Her fresh look into a long-standing case between two of the islands turns up new information that could get her, and her friends, pulled into something bold and daring, which changes the entire way she approaches this strange new world. . . .
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2015
23 people are currently reading
1540 people want to read
About the author
A.M. Dellamonica
48 books296 followersI live in Toronto, Ontario and make my living writing science fiction and fantasy; I also review books and teach writing online at UCLA. I'm a legally married lesbian and in my spare time I take pictures with Toronto Photo. My wife's name is Kelly and we have two cats, Lorenzo and Chinchilla, born in spring of 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
February 16, 2017
This whole series was so frustrating because it almost got it right every single time. I kept reading hoping for a change but... nope. Logical fallacies, mild mysterious, weird romance, mc that speaks and acts years younger then she is supposed to. I kept thinking certain issues with writing and plotting would be ironed out as the author progressed... nope. It is much worse to want to enjoy books and find it difficult then it is to outright hate a book. This was a frustrating series to read.
February 7, 2017
I had to give up on this travesty. Truly an unpleasant, protracted, agonizing experience. I was so excited by the idea of this alternative fantasy world, and was compelled to continue into the second volume after being significantly underwhelmed by the first book only because there was so much potential in the world-building. But instead, all I got was fucking Sophie being insufferable as all shit, all over again. I probably could've bucked up and made it through this madness if Sophie just wasn't a character at all. She is so petulant, and I hated her all the more because she's written to be the same age as I am. I think, really, it all comes down to the way I despise little Miss Deplorable. One of my least favorite protagonists ever. Her sophistication levels have bottomed out, her emotional caliber is completely shot, and her constant rebuttal of any sense of propriety even for the sake of putting it on as a front in order to learn more about Stormwrack make her more or less too detestable for me to appreciate. There is no complexity to her, and sadly nor to this ridiculously under-explained alternative world.
I wanted to see the creative thought put into the provocative concept of Earth turning into some kind of ocean world speckled with all these diverse island nations, and all I got for my troubles was befuddling adolescent psychology.
I tried, and definitely began to see the uselessness in attempting to try for any longer. First DNF in a long, long, long time.
(Side note: Also, SERIOUSLY, if you have this portal to well-intended, alternate, ocean-laden Earth, and you don't take care to explain even an IOTA of how the FUCK it got there at ALL, you are failing your reader. I don't have time to stick this shit out! At least give me a clue!!! Anything!)
I wanted to see the creative thought put into the provocative concept of Earth turning into some kind of ocean world speckled with all these diverse island nations, and all I got for my troubles was befuddling adolescent psychology.
I tried, and definitely began to see the uselessness in attempting to try for any longer. First DNF in a long, long, long time.
(Side note: Also, SERIOUSLY, if you have this portal to well-intended, alternate, ocean-laden Earth, and you don't take care to explain even an IOTA of how the FUCK it got there at ALL, you are failing your reader. I don't have time to stick this shit out! At least give me a clue!!! Anything!)
December 9, 2015
Find the original review here at This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
A Daughter of No Nation wastes no time in throwing Sophie(and readers) right back into Stormwrack. For the past six months, ever since Sophie has been back on earth, she has been preparing for this moment as well. It was only a matter of time before she found herself back in Stormwrack. So when Parrish and Verena show up needing her help she's all to willing.
A Daughter of No Nation is still a political fantasy. Which is very apparent when everyone seems to be a lawyer getting around the loopholes in the law. But I found A Daughter of No Nation to be more on the family drama side. Sophie is kind of forced to travel with her birth father to his home island where he can claim her as his child; and hopefully they can get to know each other. In exchange he will help to get her birth mother(his (ex-)wife) off on her many charges. Things aren't as easy at the for Sophie though. Getting to know the powerful man her father is leaves Sophie paranoid and distrustful.
For me, Sophie was very frustrating for a good portion of the book. She hates her father calling her child, as she's twenty-five, but the irony there is that she spends that amount of time acting like one. I understand that she's not going to be quickly taken with a man she's just met. And also learning that some of the life he's accustomed to and lives is against her morals is going to be hard to overcome. But Sophie's attitude absolutely sucked. Sophie was judgmental and distrustful of him pretty much right away. Than add on her very childish and insensitive behavior and I'm very surprised he kept his contract that long. For the most part her dad was quite sincere and excited to show her his home. Obviously in a place like Stormwrack Sophie is right to have some reservations about him, it's just her behavior was really inexcusable.
Besides my frustrations with Sophie, A Daughter of No Nation has some more awesome world expansion. With each island being it's own governing body there all going to be different and have different laws and ways. So this book offered more insight there. Like how regressed this world really is to modern day earth. I also thoroughly enjoyed Sophie and Bram putting their brains towards the discovery of how Stormwrack fits with earth. Is the past? The future? Another dimension? The whole mapping Stormwrack against earth speaks to the geography nerd in me.
By far the world building is the strongest element of the books. Although a strong cast of characters is a close second. I still find Parrish mysterious. Verena is a great moody teenager. And Sophie and Bram have a great sibling dynamic. That's really the tip of the iceberg. It's a big world, so plenty of unique characters make appearances.
With one more book to go in the Hidden Sea Tales trilogy, I'm impatient to get more of Stormwrack. See how everyone fairs in a world rift with magic, politics, unrest and conspiracies. Or just you know, being antsy for the finale.
A Daughter of No Nation wastes no time in throwing Sophie(and readers) right back into Stormwrack. For the past six months, ever since Sophie has been back on earth, she has been preparing for this moment as well. It was only a matter of time before she found herself back in Stormwrack. So when Parrish and Verena show up needing her help she's all to willing.
A Daughter of No Nation is still a political fantasy. Which is very apparent when everyone seems to be a lawyer getting around the loopholes in the law. But I found A Daughter of No Nation to be more on the family drama side. Sophie is kind of forced to travel with her birth father to his home island where he can claim her as his child; and hopefully they can get to know each other. In exchange he will help to get her birth mother(his (ex-)wife) off on her many charges. Things aren't as easy at the for Sophie though. Getting to know the powerful man her father is leaves Sophie paranoid and distrustful.
For me, Sophie was very frustrating for a good portion of the book. She hates her father calling her child, as she's twenty-five, but the irony there is that she spends that amount of time acting like one. I understand that she's not going to be quickly taken with a man she's just met. And also learning that some of the life he's accustomed to and lives is against her morals is going to be hard to overcome. But Sophie's attitude absolutely sucked. Sophie was judgmental and distrustful of him pretty much right away. Than add on her very childish and insensitive behavior and I'm very surprised he kept his contract that long. For the most part her dad was quite sincere and excited to show her his home. Obviously in a place like Stormwrack Sophie is right to have some reservations about him, it's just her behavior was really inexcusable.
Besides my frustrations with Sophie, A Daughter of No Nation has some more awesome world expansion. With each island being it's own governing body there all going to be different and have different laws and ways. So this book offered more insight there. Like how regressed this world really is to modern day earth. I also thoroughly enjoyed Sophie and Bram putting their brains towards the discovery of how Stormwrack fits with earth. Is the past? The future? Another dimension? The whole mapping Stormwrack against earth speaks to the geography nerd in me.
By far the world building is the strongest element of the books. Although a strong cast of characters is a close second. I still find Parrish mysterious. Verena is a great moody teenager. And Sophie and Bram have a great sibling dynamic. That's really the tip of the iceberg. It's a big world, so plenty of unique characters make appearances.
With one more book to go in the Hidden Sea Tales trilogy, I'm impatient to get more of Stormwrack. See how everyone fairs in a world rift with magic, politics, unrest and conspiracies. Or just you know, being antsy for the finale.
July 19, 2017
Book one was quite good. Well, as good as a book I gave 4 stars to, I don't mean to imply it was the best thing I'd ever read. Book two . . . not as good.
I don't recall Sophie being so . . . overally emotional in the first book, but there just might have been more to distract me, what with a new world to explore and all, that I might have overlooked it. So, yeah, that was off-putting.
For the most part the beginning of the book is good-ish. There are elements along the way of the thing that took over the book for the second half (last third? I forget now when it started). The thing it became? A romance novel. The kind with bare chested men with long flowing hair, and women with adoration in their eyes clinging to him. I suppose I might have felt differently if it had been Sophie and Zita who had been mooning over each other. I mean, Garland Parrish, the ship captain, was 1) really old (or at least much older than Sophie, eww), and much more importantly 2) someone who seemed to have had a romantic entanglement with Sophie's aunt (super-eww -> not the romantic entanglement with the aunt, the moving from aunt to niece).
Of course Zita is female. And Sophie is female. So, there's that issue. Then again, Zita's a lesbian. And the author, apparently, is a lesbian, so . . ..
Ah well, truthfully, I'd have been much more happy if the only romance that had sprung up involved that girl they picked up from the sea and her beloved Rahsad (or however his name was spelled). The romance story-line kind of took over and derailed the book. Both the one between Garland and Sophie, and the one involving Sophie being suspicious of everything her father did, and just accepting the displaced cousins words about arranged marriages (I'm being purposely vague here).
So, more of this fantasy world is seen. Sylvanna, Cly's homeland (Cly being Sophie's father), and Isle Morta (I think it's name is something like that). Plus some more underwater darting around by Sophie. The exploring, and adventuring, and mysteries were good and neat. Heck, even the weird little over-the-top romance between the goat-girl and the prince was diverting (I'm referring to them wrong. I don't recall what word was used, but it wasn't goat-girl, and I don't recall them actually using the word 'prince' to describe the boy). No, it was the romantic entanglement between Sophie and Garland that kind of sucked all of the joy out of the book.
Heck even the part where Sophie acts stupidly while on Sylvanna was interesting enough. So it has to say something, I suppose, about how much I rather disliked the Garland-Sophie romance that I end up at 3 stars for the book, eh?
I don't recall Sophie being so . . . overally emotional in the first book, but there just might have been more to distract me, what with a new world to explore and all, that I might have overlooked it. So, yeah, that was off-putting.
For the most part the beginning of the book is good-ish. There are elements along the way of the thing that took over the book for the second half (last third? I forget now when it started). The thing it became? A romance novel. The kind with bare chested men with long flowing hair, and women with adoration in their eyes clinging to him. I suppose I might have felt differently if it had been Sophie and Zita who had been mooning over each other. I mean, Garland Parrish, the ship captain, was 1) really old (or at least much older than Sophie, eww), and much more importantly 2) someone who seemed to have had a romantic entanglement with Sophie's aunt (super-eww -> not the romantic entanglement with the aunt, the moving from aunt to niece).
Of course Zita is female. And Sophie is female. So, there's that issue. Then again, Zita's a lesbian. And the author, apparently, is a lesbian, so . . ..
Ah well, truthfully, I'd have been much more happy if the only romance that had sprung up involved that girl they picked up from the sea and her beloved Rahsad (or however his name was spelled). The romance story-line kind of took over and derailed the book. Both the one between Garland and Sophie, and the one involving Sophie being suspicious of everything her father did, and just accepting the displaced cousins words about arranged marriages (I'm being purposely vague here).
So, more of this fantasy world is seen. Sylvanna, Cly's homeland (Cly being Sophie's father), and Isle Morta (I think it's name is something like that). Plus some more underwater darting around by Sophie. The exploring, and adventuring, and mysteries were good and neat. Heck, even the weird little over-the-top romance between the goat-girl and the prince was diverting (I'm referring to them wrong. I don't recall what word was used, but it wasn't goat-girl, and I don't recall them actually using the word 'prince' to describe the boy). No, it was the romantic entanglement between Sophie and Garland that kind of sucked all of the joy out of the book.
Heck even the part where Sophie acts stupidly while on Sylvanna was interesting enough. So it has to say something, I suppose, about how much I rather disliked the Garland-Sophie romance that I end up at 3 stars for the book, eh?
July 3, 2016
Bringing swashbuckling, fantasy, and police procedurals together into a perfect adventure on the high seas, A DAUGHTER OF NO NATION is even better than it's predecessor. For anyone who enjoys a touch of real world risk in their magic, this is an adventure you won't want to miss.
Sophie's exploration of Stormwrack is the perfect balance of science, magic, and adventure. She is a scientist dropped into magical circumstances, and while she's well educated and dogged, her story is accessible in a way few "born special" urban fantasy heroines can be. From the first chapter where we see Sophie training and preparing, everyone in this story feels believably flawed and human. Sophie has to rely on her wits and "mundane" skills, making this magical setting feel utterly real and really dangerous.
It was a delight watching Sophie balance her skepticism about alchemy and primitive sciences against the very real evidence of magic in Stormwrack. Her own perspective means the reader can be surprised as well, finding unexpected truths hidden amongst the superstitions and traditions. A DAUGHTER OF NO NATION was a joyful adventure and I can't wait to set sail with Sophie again.
Sexual Content: Kissing, discussions about sex and rape.
Sophie's exploration of Stormwrack is the perfect balance of science, magic, and adventure. She is a scientist dropped into magical circumstances, and while she's well educated and dogged, her story is accessible in a way few "born special" urban fantasy heroines can be. From the first chapter where we see Sophie training and preparing, everyone in this story feels believably flawed and human. Sophie has to rely on her wits and "mundane" skills, making this magical setting feel utterly real and really dangerous.
It was a delight watching Sophie balance her skepticism about alchemy and primitive sciences against the very real evidence of magic in Stormwrack. Her own perspective means the reader can be surprised as well, finding unexpected truths hidden amongst the superstitions and traditions. A DAUGHTER OF NO NATION was a joyful adventure and I can't wait to set sail with Sophie again.
Sexual Content: Kissing, discussions about sex and rape.
July 13, 2016
A Daughter of No Nation isn't action packed, but it weaves a fascinating spell that sucked me in and kept my attention, when I only planned to read a few pages. The world is enthralling, the premise is intriguing, and I look forward to book #3.
November 21, 2019
I hate the covers of these books, because they're so cool, and yet have NOTHING to do with what's actually in the books. I keep expecting rollicking pirate adventure fiction, but that is really not what's going on here. If anything, Sophie goes out of her way to keep wearing her regular Erstwhile/Earth clothes, and spent most of this book on land, so whyyyy is she dressed as a pirate on the prow of a ship on the cover? Anyway. I love the worldbuilding, I really do. Stormwrack is such a great creation, and I love the diversity and complexity of the nations and cultures and peoples there. Too bad we don't get to hang out with any of them, and instead are stuck with one of my least favorite MC's of all time. I'm reading the third book now, because they're quick reads and "in for a penny, in for a pound", but I'm really hoping the third book is better than this one.
July 25, 2018
I still enjoyed this a lot but I'm gonna be honest, I didn't really understand the plot. It may have to do with the fact that I was reading this while a lot of things in my life have been...stressful to say the least but it seemed like the whole major plot was pretty muddled/confusing/really hard to follow. But the world is just so cool, I love reading about it and being immersed in it like Sophie is! And love reading about all the other characters as well (Parrish, Bram, Verena, etc).
May 2, 2019
Fun and entertaining, but definitely not perfect. I like the world and I really hope the 3rd book goes into what exactly is going on there, but I kind of hate Sophie - she's obnoxious and bratty and childish. And the romance seems ridiculous to me - they're both annoying cold fishes and there are way more interesting pairings I'd be up for reading about. Anyway, I'll read the 3rd book and I'm sure I'll enjoy it but I'm not expecting anything life-changing.
October 14, 2015
Huge thank you to Raincoast/Tor for this ARC!
Let me preface this review by stating how much I adored Child of the Hidden Sea. I WAS IN LOVE WITH IT! I found it just a unique and refreshing take on both time slip fantasy and pirates. Just the fact alone that pirates are such a dying breed in literature make me depressed considering how much fun and roguish they can be.
And here's the kicker: I was so excited about a sequel for Child of the Hidden Sea because I loved the world, I thought the characters were a ton of fun (BRAM!) and because at the end of the day, I liked how Dellamonica gave the reader a lot to think about. Sophie is wonderful as a heroine who is delectably flawed, but charming nonetheless. Something about A Daughter of No Nation did not grip me right away the way the first book did. I struggled with the majority of this book, and if I'm being honest, I can't really explain why given that everything I liked about the first book was definitely still here and if anything there was more of it.
But I struggled, and realized it wasn't the book: it was me. I was trying to force myself to read this book when I wasn't in the mood, and as a result my enjoyment suffered. This is not a bad sequel by any stretch of the imagination, but rather it didn't hook me the way the first book did. The writing is still quite stellar and vivid, and while I enjoyed it, I felt a bit more lost considering I hadn't reread A Child of the Hidden Sea, and I think I should have.
What I will say, however, is the last hundred pages are what did it for me. I was completely glued the story, turning the pages and demanding the need for more. All of a sudden the book had this grip on me that refused to let go until I had gotten to end. I won't spoil this book, but for those who loved the first one, those last hundred pages will keep you so invested and remind you of why the first book worked so well.
So while this sequel was a bit slow for me and didn't really work for me mood-wise, I still plan on reading book three when it releases. I think sometimes a second book can suffer from a middle book syndrome and sometimes that is okay too. I just admit, I wish there had been more Bram. Any time Bram was around, the book had my fullest attention because darn it, he's just so damn delightful.
Let me preface this review by stating how much I adored Child of the Hidden Sea. I WAS IN LOVE WITH IT! I found it just a unique and refreshing take on both time slip fantasy and pirates. Just the fact alone that pirates are such a dying breed in literature make me depressed considering how much fun and roguish they can be.
And here's the kicker: I was so excited about a sequel for Child of the Hidden Sea because I loved the world, I thought the characters were a ton of fun (BRAM!) and because at the end of the day, I liked how Dellamonica gave the reader a lot to think about. Sophie is wonderful as a heroine who is delectably flawed, but charming nonetheless. Something about A Daughter of No Nation did not grip me right away the way the first book did. I struggled with the majority of this book, and if I'm being honest, I can't really explain why given that everything I liked about the first book was definitely still here and if anything there was more of it.
But I struggled, and realized it wasn't the book: it was me. I was trying to force myself to read this book when I wasn't in the mood, and as a result my enjoyment suffered. This is not a bad sequel by any stretch of the imagination, but rather it didn't hook me the way the first book did. The writing is still quite stellar and vivid, and while I enjoyed it, I felt a bit more lost considering I hadn't reread A Child of the Hidden Sea, and I think I should have.
What I will say, however, is the last hundred pages are what did it for me. I was completely glued the story, turning the pages and demanding the need for more. All of a sudden the book had this grip on me that refused to let go until I had gotten to end. I won't spoil this book, but for those who loved the first one, those last hundred pages will keep you so invested and remind you of why the first book worked so well.
So while this sequel was a bit slow for me and didn't really work for me mood-wise, I still plan on reading book three when it releases. I think sometimes a second book can suffer from a middle book syndrome and sometimes that is okay too. I just admit, I wish there had been more Bram. Any time Bram was around, the book had my fullest attention because darn it, he's just so damn delightful.
January 3, 2020
I have every reason to have loved Child of a Hidden Sea when I read it in 2014. Circumstances conspired to have me read it at the same time that things were going well in life, and I was at a bit of a happy high. It was, as I called it, “pure indulgent fantasy,” the concept reminiscent of many old daydreams that used to entertain me when I was younger. And it was written by A M Dellamonica, an author I’d previously established was a damn good writer and who had great talent for writing phenomenal characters that I want to spend time with. It was set up for success in my mind.
So unsurprisingly, I was excited to be able to read the sequel, and I had very high hopes for it.
The book starts with Sophie doing her level best to prepare for an eventual return to Stormwrack. She’s taking self-defense lessons, learning what she can about nautical navigation, trying to find a way to make sure she can take full advantage of everything when she returns to that other world. But when she does return, all her preparations seem pointless when she’s expressly forbidden to actively learn anything. No access to books, people aren’t to give her too much information about science or geography or the like, and Sophie’s frustration is pretty understandable when put up against people who want to keep her in the dark about the world she’s determined to be a part of.
On top of that, her biological father wants to reconnect, and Sophie’s not at all averse to this idea, especially when it seems that he’ll actually encourage her in learning about Stormwrack rather than stymie her.
I have to say that A Daughter of No Nation wasn’t quite what I was expecting. While the previous book in the series did heavily feature exploration and discovery, it was better mixed with action and tension than this one. Here, most of the story is just about Sophie learning, getting into arguments with people, and trying to solve a couple of mysteries that present themselves along the way, one of which she latches onto like a dog with a bone despite having little reason to beyond a hunch. Turns out it was a bigger deal than everyone else thought, and it seemed like many of them followed leads just to indulge her, so that subplot felt a bit forced and incidental than necessary. It would pop up from time to time, a small new revelation would occur, then the story would go back to the main focus.
I’m no expert, but I suspect I’d have been more interested in developments had that all been conveyed more actively than passively. Other people did the investigation, out of sight, while Sophie did other things, and so it felt very divorced from, well, just about everything. It had its purpose, but it was nearly all background stuff until it came to a head, so it came across rather like a small series of unimportant things that suddenly became huge, out of nowhere. Despite Sophie wanting it investigated, and despite other characters investigating and updating her. It was easy to ignore because it was sidelined so often, only to rear its head half a dozen chapters later for maybe a few paragraphs.
But enough of that. What about the rest of the book?
If you’re looking for an action-packed tale of adventure on the high seas, you won’t really find too much of it here. Rather, this is more of Sophie discovering who she is and where she fits into a world that she’s only recently discovered but still has many ties to. It’s like a combination coming-of-age story, a political debate, and a crime drama, rolled into one and set in a fantasy world. As such, while it definitely appealed to me (and will thus probably appeal similarly to those who really enjoy some good solid culture-building), it won’t appeal to everybody, and I suspect some readers will be left rather bored at the lack of development in much other than Sophie’s personal life.
But Dellamonica’s presentation of multiple different culture clashes gave me plenty of food for thought. Is it better to allow a lesser evil if it means a greater evil can’t endure, or is it better to hold true to shared ideals and to fight against what you see as immoral rather than embracing it with concessions? How much of your own morals might you sacrifice in the pursuit of something you hold dear? Sophie and Parrish’s love life was a bit of an echo of Fleet politics: in some ways they hold different opinions on certain matters but are still willing to make a go of being a couple. This is generally see as a good and healthy thing, the willingness to make compromises, but this being something of a mirror of how the Fleet views different nations (and Sophie finding some concessions abhorrent), I found it interesting that what we praise as individuals we often frown on when presented politically.
I also love how we get a much deeper understanding of what Stormwrack really is. In my previous review I speculated that it was an alternate world, since there were elements of shared mythology. And this isn’t an issue that Sophie overlooks; through her research she speculates that most likely Stormwrack is the world of the future, or at least A future, which which massive climate changed caused equally massive flooding over the whole planet. Add to that her investigations into evolution, and some of the book starts to look an awful lot like science-fiction, although a kind that isn’t particularly common since it has its strongest roots in fantasy. Sci-fi that looks like fantasy tends to get a lot of criticism unless it’s game-changing for both genres, but really, I rather like it. It’s in the same way that I enjoy the way authors establish firm rules for how their fantasy worlds work, not just in geography and a few different cultures but in how magic happens and affects things and how technology develops and all of little aspects of life that can get taken for granted in a lot of fantasy novels. Approaching fantasy in a scientific manner has always fascinated me, so I loved that I got to see more of how it all works behind the scenes. Sophie’s inquisitive mind and determination to learn more about things works extremely well to convey all this to the reader, and we discover it exactly as she does, lending another connection between reader and protagonist.
So while this book isn’t heavy on action, or real forward motion in terms of a over-arching series plot, it was still a good book that has its appeal to certain audiences, and I still enjoyed reading it. I lover Dellamonica’s writing style, and the way she writes people as wonderful flawed complex creatures will never cease to entertain me. For those who enjoyed the first book in the series, depending on which parts of it you liked best, then I recommend continuing on with A Daughter of No Nation. Others may find its lack of active tension a major drawback, however. But for my part, the world intrigues me, the characters fascinate me, and I’ll be continuing my journey of discovery right alongside Sophie in any future novels Dellamonica writes.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
So unsurprisingly, I was excited to be able to read the sequel, and I had very high hopes for it.
The book starts with Sophie doing her level best to prepare for an eventual return to Stormwrack. She’s taking self-defense lessons, learning what she can about nautical navigation, trying to find a way to make sure she can take full advantage of everything when she returns to that other world. But when she does return, all her preparations seem pointless when she’s expressly forbidden to actively learn anything. No access to books, people aren’t to give her too much information about science or geography or the like, and Sophie’s frustration is pretty understandable when put up against people who want to keep her in the dark about the world she’s determined to be a part of.
On top of that, her biological father wants to reconnect, and Sophie’s not at all averse to this idea, especially when it seems that he’ll actually encourage her in learning about Stormwrack rather than stymie her.
I have to say that A Daughter of No Nation wasn’t quite what I was expecting. While the previous book in the series did heavily feature exploration and discovery, it was better mixed with action and tension than this one. Here, most of the story is just about Sophie learning, getting into arguments with people, and trying to solve a couple of mysteries that present themselves along the way, one of which she latches onto like a dog with a bone despite having little reason to beyond a hunch. Turns out it was a bigger deal than everyone else thought, and it seemed like many of them followed leads just to indulge her, so that subplot felt a bit forced and incidental than necessary. It would pop up from time to time, a small new revelation would occur, then the story would go back to the main focus.
I’m no expert, but I suspect I’d have been more interested in developments had that all been conveyed more actively than passively. Other people did the investigation, out of sight, while Sophie did other things, and so it felt very divorced from, well, just about everything. It had its purpose, but it was nearly all background stuff until it came to a head, so it came across rather like a small series of unimportant things that suddenly became huge, out of nowhere. Despite Sophie wanting it investigated, and despite other characters investigating and updating her. It was easy to ignore because it was sidelined so often, only to rear its head half a dozen chapters later for maybe a few paragraphs.
But enough of that. What about the rest of the book?
If you’re looking for an action-packed tale of adventure on the high seas, you won’t really find too much of it here. Rather, this is more of Sophie discovering who she is and where she fits into a world that she’s only recently discovered but still has many ties to. It’s like a combination coming-of-age story, a political debate, and a crime drama, rolled into one and set in a fantasy world. As such, while it definitely appealed to me (and will thus probably appeal similarly to those who really enjoy some good solid culture-building), it won’t appeal to everybody, and I suspect some readers will be left rather bored at the lack of development in much other than Sophie’s personal life.
But Dellamonica’s presentation of multiple different culture clashes gave me plenty of food for thought. Is it better to allow a lesser evil if it means a greater evil can’t endure, or is it better to hold true to shared ideals and to fight against what you see as immoral rather than embracing it with concessions? How much of your own morals might you sacrifice in the pursuit of something you hold dear? Sophie and Parrish’s love life was a bit of an echo of Fleet politics: in some ways they hold different opinions on certain matters but are still willing to make a go of being a couple. This is generally see as a good and healthy thing, the willingness to make compromises, but this being something of a mirror of how the Fleet views different nations (and Sophie finding some concessions abhorrent), I found it interesting that what we praise as individuals we often frown on when presented politically.
I also love how we get a much deeper understanding of what Stormwrack really is. In my previous review I speculated that it was an alternate world, since there were elements of shared mythology. And this isn’t an issue that Sophie overlooks; through her research she speculates that most likely Stormwrack is the world of the future, or at least A future, which which massive climate changed caused equally massive flooding over the whole planet. Add to that her investigations into evolution, and some of the book starts to look an awful lot like science-fiction, although a kind that isn’t particularly common since it has its strongest roots in fantasy. Sci-fi that looks like fantasy tends to get a lot of criticism unless it’s game-changing for both genres, but really, I rather like it. It’s in the same way that I enjoy the way authors establish firm rules for how their fantasy worlds work, not just in geography and a few different cultures but in how magic happens and affects things and how technology develops and all of little aspects of life that can get taken for granted in a lot of fantasy novels. Approaching fantasy in a scientific manner has always fascinated me, so I loved that I got to see more of how it all works behind the scenes. Sophie’s inquisitive mind and determination to learn more about things works extremely well to convey all this to the reader, and we discover it exactly as she does, lending another connection between reader and protagonist.
So while this book isn’t heavy on action, or real forward motion in terms of a over-arching series plot, it was still a good book that has its appeal to certain audiences, and I still enjoyed reading it. I lover Dellamonica’s writing style, and the way she writes people as wonderful flawed complex creatures will never cease to entertain me. For those who enjoyed the first book in the series, depending on which parts of it you liked best, then I recommend continuing on with A Daughter of No Nation. Others may find its lack of active tension a major drawback, however. But for my part, the world intrigues me, the characters fascinate me, and I’ll be continuing my journey of discovery right alongside Sophie in any future novels Dellamonica writes.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
January 26, 2016
Likes:
ø A couple of intriguing mysteries
ø Romance between proper, rule-following Parrish and quirky Sophie.
ø Geeky Sophie. Her scientific approach and examination of everything, gave me opportunity to learn a lot of different facts about wonderful world of Shipwreck.
Dislikes:
ø Sophie was very naive and childish at times. Listing all the times when this was obvious would take hours and spoil a lot of what happens in the book. But take an example when she refuses to eat food prepared by slaves. But sleeps in a house built by slaves, in a room cleaned and maintained by slaves. :/
Sophie annoyed me a lot, but I was still swept away by her enthusiasm and love for learning. If you liked the world of Shipwreck, there is more about their weird magic and belief to learn in A Daughter of No Nation
I'm looking forward to the sequel.
ø A couple of intriguing mysteries
ø Romance between proper, rule-following Parrish and quirky Sophie.
ø Geeky Sophie. Her scientific approach and examination of everything, gave me opportunity to learn a lot of different facts about wonderful world of Shipwreck.
Dislikes:
ø Sophie was very naive and childish at times. Listing all the times when this was obvious would take hours and spoil a lot of what happens in the book. But take an example when she refuses to eat food prepared by slaves. But sleeps in a house built by slaves, in a room cleaned and maintained by slaves. :/
Sophie annoyed me a lot, but I was still swept away by her enthusiasm and love for learning. If you liked the world of Shipwreck, there is more about their weird magic and belief to learn in A Daughter of No Nation
I'm looking forward to the sequel.
December 29, 2015
what's (unintentionally) remarkable about this book is the way that it unwittingly demonstrates, even in 2015, everything mary louise pratt and others have written so much about, re: anti-conquest and knowledge production as the tools of empire. the first book in the series was bad enough but this one almost beggers belief. that the protagonist is able to waltz into pretty much any situation and save the day using her superior powers of observation and also SCIENCE (always with the science!) while still and steadfastly clinging to an inferiority complex (which i think is supposed to make her relatable, or flawed, or something) is just icing on the goddamn cake.
needless to say this makes me rather disinclined to continue on with the series, to put it mildly.
needless to say this makes me rather disinclined to continue on with the series, to put it mildly.
December 30, 2015
Like the first novel in this series, the best part of Sophie's adventures in a pre-technological, magic-filled, Age of Sail world is the mixing of modern and ancient sensibilities. Sophie's interior voice is thoroughly modern, providing very funny no-nonsense commentary on a world without notions of forensic science. She sails into the world and solves a mystery, falls in love, fights with her sister, and is clueless whether her father is a psychopath or not. However, I found little interest in the endless discussions of what to do and where to go and how not to be served by slaves and who is telling the truth and who is hiding yet another conspiracy.
August 16, 2019
2016 Aurora winner, and seriously, WHY? Was the field that abysmally bad?
It's still a very interesting world, I find most of the story itself captivating (except maybe for the Corsetta/Rashad subplot, which was unexpectedly more boring than it could have been). We do learn more about the world, and I inhaled every bit of it. There are interesting characters, though most could use a little more attention. The turtle subplot is fun, and Sophie actually shines in it. Her interactions with her brother are better than those with anyone else. The concept of having to deal with your father being part of a society that keeps slaves, that's a real shocker and could have added so much.
But instead it shows up Sophie once again as an immature, thoughtless, self-centred teenager who doesn't care about the consequences of her actions on other people, instead of a 25 year old biologist who is otherwise portrayed as hyper-intelligent when it comes to outperforming these people of an Age of Sail world not only when introducing concepts of Victorian science, but also when it comes to their own laws. Maybe Dellamonica is giving her those serious emotional shortcomings to make up for her otherwise being quite the little white saviour girl, but it is not working for me; I find her even more irritating than in the first book.
Which is sad. I want to like this series, a lot. So much about it is fresh and fun and I could easily see reading book after book set in this world -- if only Sophie were not such a twit. This obsession with her biological family (to the detriment of her adoptive family) is bad enough, but she's finally with her biological father, who quite indulges her, and she can't stop thinking about whether he is a sociopath. That's not very sciencey to begin with, and maybe she should stay in her lane, but right, why start now? I imagine if I suddenly found out my father is a slaver, I'd be shocked too, and I can absolutely see how that might be a deal breaker -- but Sophie comes across as the most superficial of liberals, not a person truly concerned with social justice. Sophie is busy being all about Sophie.
Worse, she imagines her father has a certain plan for her, and listens to somebody who is clearly not his friend instead of investigating (she could have asked the abolitionist). And when she finds out the real plan, which is pretty damn cool, no apology is forthcoming; she just continues to flounce off, having once again dragged her brother away from her adoptive parents, about whom she forever feels self-indulgently guilty because that is totally as good as actually not treating them like props.
And don't get me started on the stupid romance. She knows her half-sister is into Parrish too, but she never bothers to talk to her, no, she just "lets things happen" with him, never accepting any responsibility. "Captain Tasty" is a good guy, for sure, but Sophie is actually too superficial to really get to know him, and I feel she doesn't deserve him, and he should find himself somebody with more depth. Heck, Mr Promiscuity Lais is too good for her; she manages to insult him too when he has been nothing but decent to her. I already expect that in book 3 she's going to create some artificial crisis so instead of developing a normal relationship she's gonna do some bullshit pushing him away but not really letting him go so there's more "romantic tension". Save me, please, why did I buy the third book already? My completism will ruin me some day.
I want to see more of everyone except for Sophie. She can get eaten by a snow vulture for all I care. And I am finding it more and more problematic how much of a saviour she's being in every situation to which she applies herself, when she knows nearly nothing about the societies with which she interferes, doesn't try very hard to find out more, and she is not actually an expert in anything but marine biology. This has been going down a bad path pretty much from the start, and since I was happy that at least she wasn't a typical "Chosen One" I almost missed how much Sophie looks at everything through imperial eyes. She is such an Ugly American, ghods.
It's still a very interesting world, I find most of the story itself captivating (except maybe for the Corsetta/Rashad subplot, which was unexpectedly more boring than it could have been). We do learn more about the world, and I inhaled every bit of it. There are interesting characters, though most could use a little more attention. The turtle subplot is fun, and Sophie actually shines in it. Her interactions with her brother are better than those with anyone else. The concept of having to deal with your father being part of a society that keeps slaves, that's a real shocker and could have added so much.
But instead it shows up Sophie once again as an immature, thoughtless, self-centred teenager who doesn't care about the consequences of her actions on other people, instead of a 25 year old biologist who is otherwise portrayed as hyper-intelligent when it comes to outperforming these people of an Age of Sail world not only when introducing concepts of Victorian science, but also when it comes to their own laws. Maybe Dellamonica is giving her those serious emotional shortcomings to make up for her otherwise being quite the little white saviour girl, but it is not working for me; I find her even more irritating than in the first book.
Which is sad. I want to like this series, a lot. So much about it is fresh and fun and I could easily see reading book after book set in this world -- if only Sophie were not such a twit. This obsession with her biological family (to the detriment of her adoptive family) is bad enough, but she's finally with her biological father, who quite indulges her, and she can't stop thinking about whether he is a sociopath. That's not very sciencey to begin with, and maybe she should stay in her lane, but right, why start now? I imagine if I suddenly found out my father is a slaver, I'd be shocked too, and I can absolutely see how that might be a deal breaker -- but Sophie comes across as the most superficial of liberals, not a person truly concerned with social justice. Sophie is busy being all about Sophie.
Worse, she imagines her father has a certain plan for her, and listens to somebody who is clearly not his friend instead of investigating (she could have asked the abolitionist). And when she finds out the real plan, which is pretty damn cool, no apology is forthcoming; she just continues to flounce off, having once again dragged her brother away from her adoptive parents, about whom she forever feels self-indulgently guilty because that is totally as good as actually not treating them like props.
And don't get me started on the stupid romance. She knows her half-sister is into Parrish too, but she never bothers to talk to her, no, she just "lets things happen" with him, never accepting any responsibility. "Captain Tasty" is a good guy, for sure, but Sophie is actually too superficial to really get to know him, and I feel she doesn't deserve him, and he should find himself somebody with more depth. Heck, Mr Promiscuity Lais is too good for her; she manages to insult him too when he has been nothing but decent to her. I already expect that in book 3 she's going to create some artificial crisis so instead of developing a normal relationship she's gonna do some bullshit pushing him away but not really letting him go so there's more "romantic tension". Save me, please, why did I buy the third book already? My completism will ruin me some day.
I want to see more of everyone except for Sophie. She can get eaten by a snow vulture for all I care. And I am finding it more and more problematic how much of a saviour she's being in every situation to which she applies herself, when she knows nearly nothing about the societies with which she interferes, doesn't try very hard to find out more, and she is not actually an expert in anything but marine biology. This has been going down a bad path pretty much from the start, and since I was happy that at least she wasn't a typical "Chosen One" I almost missed how much Sophie looks at everything through imperial eyes. She is such an Ugly American, ghods.
December 17, 2017
*** Possible Spoilers ***
This was the winner of an Aurora award for 2016. I'm not sure why. I did make it through the entire book but it was a struggle and I thought about giving up numerous times. Fortunately near the end of the book the author got serious about her story and stopped trying to annoy the reader by focusing on her heroine's lack of maturity.
Most people seem to like it and most comment on the impressive amount of world-building that was done. I have to concede that the world-building was first rate and by far the best part of the novel. Unfortunately it was overshadowed by the unpleasantness of the heroine. “As Beck walked away she gave Sophie a scowl that was clear enough: Stop being a histrionic princess!” If only the author had taken her own advice. But alas he did not and we are left with Sophie's angst throughout the story.
“The image of those altered goat-people in the marsh had seized her imagination again, and she was flailing in a sea of guilt.” The goat-people are slaves who have been altered by magic to combat a particularly invasive plant species. Sophie has never seen them before. She was in no way responsible for the plight; nevertheless, she immediately reacted to their situation from a position of guilt. This is the kind of individual she is and we're left to live with that for much of the novel.
She is twenty-five years old. We're told she's defended her thesis so she's either got a Master's Degree or a Doctorate. She has turned down a job interview for the Scripps Institute. The Scripps Institute is a real facility. It focuses on research and education in the biomedical field. Sophie has majored in biology but we're told she's taken courses in both physics and chemistry as well.
In short, Sophie has a solid STEM background yet she acts like someone who has graduated from a humanities program. I regard that as the chief problem with this book. She has to be intelligent in order to have acquired her academic credentials and yet she acts like an SJW. She’s warned that anything she might do to improve her birth mother’s lot is probably going to backfire. She’s new to the world in which she finds herself. She’s learning as she goes but she recognizes that she has a long way to go. So what does she do? She double’s down in her plan to effect a rescue. In fact she displays an abysmal lack of rationality at every turn.
I'm not entirely sure who the audience for this novel might be. Techies will like the world-building but find the heroine's histrionics painful in the extreme. Females who like romance novels will find the science boring. Perhaps those who are wedded to the social justice movement might like it but they might find that the story intrudes too much on the proselytizing. This is the second volume of a trilogy and I don't intend to read volumes one or three.
This was the winner of an Aurora award for 2016. I'm not sure why. I did make it through the entire book but it was a struggle and I thought about giving up numerous times. Fortunately near the end of the book the author got serious about her story and stopped trying to annoy the reader by focusing on her heroine's lack of maturity.
Most people seem to like it and most comment on the impressive amount of world-building that was done. I have to concede that the world-building was first rate and by far the best part of the novel. Unfortunately it was overshadowed by the unpleasantness of the heroine. “As Beck walked away she gave Sophie a scowl that was clear enough: Stop being a histrionic princess!” If only the author had taken her own advice. But alas he did not and we are left with Sophie's angst throughout the story.
“The image of those altered goat-people in the marsh had seized her imagination again, and she was flailing in a sea of guilt.” The goat-people are slaves who have been altered by magic to combat a particularly invasive plant species. Sophie has never seen them before. She was in no way responsible for the plight; nevertheless, she immediately reacted to their situation from a position of guilt. This is the kind of individual she is and we're left to live with that for much of the novel.
She is twenty-five years old. We're told she's defended her thesis so she's either got a Master's Degree or a Doctorate. She has turned down a job interview for the Scripps Institute. The Scripps Institute is a real facility. It focuses on research and education in the biomedical field. Sophie has majored in biology but we're told she's taken courses in both physics and chemistry as well.
In short, Sophie has a solid STEM background yet she acts like someone who has graduated from a humanities program. I regard that as the chief problem with this book. She has to be intelligent in order to have acquired her academic credentials and yet she acts like an SJW. She’s warned that anything she might do to improve her birth mother’s lot is probably going to backfire. She’s new to the world in which she finds herself. She’s learning as she goes but she recognizes that she has a long way to go. So what does she do? She double’s down in her plan to effect a rescue. In fact she displays an abysmal lack of rationality at every turn.
I'm not entirely sure who the audience for this novel might be. Techies will like the world-building but find the heroine's histrionics painful in the extreme. Females who like romance novels will find the science boring. Perhaps those who are wedded to the social justice movement might like it but they might find that the story intrudes too much on the proselytizing. This is the second volume of a trilogy and I don't intend to read volumes one or three.
December 10, 2018
In the middle of reading. Worldbuilding is fantastic, best book I've read with it. Worldbuilding gets better with this sequel (except for the magic system, which seems to have mildly changed . Romance is...perhaps not this author's strong suit.
Protagonist is annoyingly immature. She goes on about how Verena is an annoying 17 year old, but honestly Verena is a mature 17. I could see her as 20. Meanwhile, Sophie sounds somewhere between 13-15. Every now and then I think the author is going to make an attempt to call her out on this by way of the other characters. But nope, always falls short of that. I think I know why Sophie is so offended by being called a child: because she is.
Also, how the hell does Sophie go off
Protagonist is annoyingly immature. She goes on about how Verena is an annoying 17 year old, but honestly Verena is a mature 17. I could see her as 20. Meanwhile, Sophie sounds somewhere between 13-15. Every now and then I think the author is going to make an attempt to call her out on this by way of the other characters. But nope, always falls short of that. I think I know why Sophie is so offended by being called a child: because she is.
Also, how the hell does Sophie go off
January 15, 2017
Review cross-posted to my blog here: http://www.firstsightsecondthoughts.n...
A Daughter of No Nation is the second book in the Hidden Sea Tales series, the first one being Child of a Hidden Sea. I read the first book not long before I started doing these book reviews, so I’m excited for the chance to review the second in the series. You see, I adored the first book. Sophie Hansa is a great protagonist, and the world of Stormwrack, created by A.M. Dellamonica, is amazing. It’s actually what gave me the final kick to start running the 50 Fathoms Savage Worlds setting, as I found a lot of similarities between the two.
You see, I love submerged worlds. I love nautical settings. I may be eternally disappointed that Water World is not a good movie. But mostly I love the Age of Sail (are you excited for Seafall? I’m excited for Seafall). For countless years, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was my favorite movie. Pirates and magic and myth? YES. And that’s really what you get with Stormwrack, another world (that may or may not be an alternate dimension/potential future of Earth, or Erstwhile) that our protagonist, Sophie Hansa finds herself transported to accidentally in the first book. Stormwrack is a drowned world, much like that of 50 Fathoms, where the flooding of the world has resulted in a hugely nautical-based culture, in addition to strange new forms of magic and lore.
In the first book, Sophie Hansa finds herself there after investigating the identities of her birth parents (having been adopted as a baby). Over the course of that book, Sophie proves herself to be exactly my favorite kind of protagonist – an intelligent, science-minded, fiercely independent woman, who can think her way out of problems but can use a weapon in a pinch, and who doesn’t struggle with or hide or have Issues with her identity or her sexuality or her emotional intelligence. Yes. I think you’re seeing where I’m going – my favorite kind of hero in my favorite kind of setting? After I read the first book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks.
The second book, A Daughter of No Nation, really continues that feel from the first one. Where the first book mostly sees Sophie trying to connect with her half-sister and trying to find her mother, here we see her trying to have a relationship with her father (mostly at his insistence, as he is revealed to be a slave-owning sociopath over the course of events). We see Sophie still struggling for Verena’s acceptance, but also realizing that her half-sister’s acceptance, or lack thereof, isn’t going to stop her from achieving her goals – just as soon as she figures out what those are (I really like goal-oriented protagonists and I can’t stand those who just kind of… drift from thing to thing… I’m sure this has nothing to do with my own personality type).
This book sees Sophie being completely torn between Erstwhile and Stormwrack. Her family and her brother and her job and her, you know, life are all on Earth, and she’s not the type of person who just easily walks away from all that. I sometimes find that type of character hard to believe, because god knows I’d find that an impossible decision in her shoes. I’ve had a hard enough time applying for jobs that would require me to move to another state/city, much less another world entirely. But Stormwrack is a truly awe-inspiring world, one that’s full of mysteries for her to solve with her knowledge of science far more advanced than that of the average Stormwrack citizen. The underlying subplot through all of these books is Sophie and her brother Bram trying to figure out how Stormwrack relates to Earth – is it Earth’s future? Is it an alternate Earth? Is it purely a coincidence and unrelated to Earth completely? They don’t know yet, but I’m really excited to find out (and, uh, to find out if they find out, because some good mysteries are better unsolved).
During this book, Sophie and co. find themselves drawn into a couple of legal cases – part of her father’s attempt to bond with her – and she basically invents the entire field of forensics on Stormwrack. If you didn’t know you wanted CSI: Pirates of the Caribbean, you do now, trust me. Sophie’s confidence in her scientific knowledge, even in the face of literal magic, is really great, because it’s not shown as it is in so many other works of fiction. So many other science-centric protagonists will flatly reject magic, at times being skeptical with no good cause. Sophie accepts it as real and sees it as another mystery to figure out.
Now, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some good romance in these books. But I am me, after all, and I am shipper trash for these books. When Sophie first arrives on Stormwrack in the first book, she has a very quick glad-to-be-alive fling with one Lais Dariach, a handsome and promiscuous islander, who reappears in the second book, refreshingly free of drama after she’s moved on. Sophie’s main pairing is Garland Parrish, the captain of the good ship Nightjar, upon which Sophie and Verena travel. Of course, Verena, being all of 17, has a massive crush on Parrish, which is really the only source of drama for their burgeoning relationship. Fortunately, at the end of the second book, she very begrudgingly grants her blessing (or at least says that she won’t try to stab her sister in the eye), and Sophie and Parrish are free to “court”. Their interactions are adorably awkward. Sophie is a very blatant person, and Parrish is more inclined to dance around things. When it is revealed that his home island doesn’t have a strong courting tradition, he asks what people from Erstwhile would do – which results in him arranging for a dinner and a puppet show on his ship, and it’s cute and terrible and exactly as squee-inducing as you might think (and then drama ensues, because of course it does, but it’s great until then).
But in the order of importance to the plot, romance comes in third or fourth to Sophie’s relationships with her family members, her exploration and scientific development, and her growing infatuation with the world of Stormwrack. As I’ve said before, I’m not usually here for romance as a main plot; I’m interested in it as a subplot only. What I am absolutely here for is intrepid, determined explorer-scientist women, making their way in a world that is beautiful and rich and lush and just wonderfully built and described (seriously, I’m not getting into detail here, but the worldbuilding in these books is very, very strong). Goodreads tells me that there’s a third book, called The Nature of a Pirate, coming out later this year, and if you don’t think my eyes grew to the size of saucers upon reading that, you don’t know me very well. I rarely buy books right when they come out, but I’m thinking I’ll have to make an exception for this one.
A Daughter of No Nation is the second book in the Hidden Sea Tales series, the first one being Child of a Hidden Sea. I read the first book not long before I started doing these book reviews, so I’m excited for the chance to review the second in the series. You see, I adored the first book. Sophie Hansa is a great protagonist, and the world of Stormwrack, created by A.M. Dellamonica, is amazing. It’s actually what gave me the final kick to start running the 50 Fathoms Savage Worlds setting, as I found a lot of similarities between the two.
You see, I love submerged worlds. I love nautical settings. I may be eternally disappointed that Water World is not a good movie. But mostly I love the Age of Sail (are you excited for Seafall? I’m excited for Seafall). For countless years, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was my favorite movie. Pirates and magic and myth? YES. And that’s really what you get with Stormwrack, another world (that may or may not be an alternate dimension/potential future of Earth, or Erstwhile) that our protagonist, Sophie Hansa finds herself transported to accidentally in the first book. Stormwrack is a drowned world, much like that of 50 Fathoms, where the flooding of the world has resulted in a hugely nautical-based culture, in addition to strange new forms of magic and lore.
In the first book, Sophie Hansa finds herself there after investigating the identities of her birth parents (having been adopted as a baby). Over the course of that book, Sophie proves herself to be exactly my favorite kind of protagonist – an intelligent, science-minded, fiercely independent woman, who can think her way out of problems but can use a weapon in a pinch, and who doesn’t struggle with or hide or have Issues with her identity or her sexuality or her emotional intelligence. Yes. I think you’re seeing where I’m going – my favorite kind of hero in my favorite kind of setting? After I read the first book, I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks.
The second book, A Daughter of No Nation, really continues that feel from the first one. Where the first book mostly sees Sophie trying to connect with her half-sister and trying to find her mother, here we see her trying to have a relationship with her father (mostly at his insistence, as he is revealed to be a slave-owning sociopath over the course of events). We see Sophie still struggling for Verena’s acceptance, but also realizing that her half-sister’s acceptance, or lack thereof, isn’t going to stop her from achieving her goals – just as soon as she figures out what those are (I really like goal-oriented protagonists and I can’t stand those who just kind of… drift from thing to thing… I’m sure this has nothing to do with my own personality type).
This book sees Sophie being completely torn between Erstwhile and Stormwrack. Her family and her brother and her job and her, you know, life are all on Earth, and she’s not the type of person who just easily walks away from all that. I sometimes find that type of character hard to believe, because god knows I’d find that an impossible decision in her shoes. I’ve had a hard enough time applying for jobs that would require me to move to another state/city, much less another world entirely. But Stormwrack is a truly awe-inspiring world, one that’s full of mysteries for her to solve with her knowledge of science far more advanced than that of the average Stormwrack citizen. The underlying subplot through all of these books is Sophie and her brother Bram trying to figure out how Stormwrack relates to Earth – is it Earth’s future? Is it an alternate Earth? Is it purely a coincidence and unrelated to Earth completely? They don’t know yet, but I’m really excited to find out (and, uh, to find out if they find out, because some good mysteries are better unsolved).
During this book, Sophie and co. find themselves drawn into a couple of legal cases – part of her father’s attempt to bond with her – and she basically invents the entire field of forensics on Stormwrack. If you didn’t know you wanted CSI: Pirates of the Caribbean, you do now, trust me. Sophie’s confidence in her scientific knowledge, even in the face of literal magic, is really great, because it’s not shown as it is in so many other works of fiction. So many other science-centric protagonists will flatly reject magic, at times being skeptical with no good cause. Sophie accepts it as real and sees it as another mystery to figure out.
Now, I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some good romance in these books. But I am me, after all, and I am shipper trash for these books. When Sophie first arrives on Stormwrack in the first book, she has a very quick glad-to-be-alive fling with one Lais Dariach, a handsome and promiscuous islander, who reappears in the second book, refreshingly free of drama after she’s moved on. Sophie’s main pairing is Garland Parrish, the captain of the good ship Nightjar, upon which Sophie and Verena travel. Of course, Verena, being all of 17, has a massive crush on Parrish, which is really the only source of drama for their burgeoning relationship. Fortunately, at the end of the second book, she very begrudgingly grants her blessing (or at least says that she won’t try to stab her sister in the eye), and Sophie and Parrish are free to “court”. Their interactions are adorably awkward. Sophie is a very blatant person, and Parrish is more inclined to dance around things. When it is revealed that his home island doesn’t have a strong courting tradition, he asks what people from Erstwhile would do – which results in him arranging for a dinner and a puppet show on his ship, and it’s cute and terrible and exactly as squee-inducing as you might think (and then drama ensues, because of course it does, but it’s great until then).
But in the order of importance to the plot, romance comes in third or fourth to Sophie’s relationships with her family members, her exploration and scientific development, and her growing infatuation with the world of Stormwrack. As I’ve said before, I’m not usually here for romance as a main plot; I’m interested in it as a subplot only. What I am absolutely here for is intrepid, determined explorer-scientist women, making their way in a world that is beautiful and rich and lush and just wonderfully built and described (seriously, I’m not getting into detail here, but the worldbuilding in these books is very, very strong). Goodreads tells me that there’s a third book, called The Nature of a Pirate, coming out later this year, and if you don’t think my eyes grew to the size of saucers upon reading that, you don’t know me very well. I rarely buy books right when they come out, but I’m thinking I’ll have to make an exception for this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2024
The initial book of the Hidden Sea Tales comes to a very satisfying conclusion, but there's a number of dangling threads.
Sofie gets to go back to Stormwrack, and pick up the investigation of this world which isn't—and is—Earth. She's been preparing for this, so now she's in better shape (and was a fairly active woman already).
We get a decent amount of her investigations this time, sprinkled all throughout the book. But the plot still has other, more personal, ideas and takes precedence. Her (birth) mother is still imprisoned for... lets call it fraud, and much of the book is about getting to know her father better.
A lot of plot manages to hang off this one desire. Nothing is simple about it, and the strong points of the series are again on the very personal side. Cly has certain cultural expectations that don't mesh well with an independent 20-something 21-century woman, and the two manage to be thoroughly infuriated with each other even while trying to reach out.
Adjacent to this part is Sofie's work to get to study Stormwrack, which ends up as a continuation of the climax of the first novel. Cly suggests starting an office to bring the idea of forensics to Stormwrack to help out the judiciary system. This ends up driving a good chunk of this novel, especially towards the end.
The biggest failure here is that you don't get as much a look at the internal politics of the Fleet, even though it's important again. Most notably, the ending shows a rupture of the Cessation looming again, but the immediate drivers are all off screen. You don't know who is making these confrontational decisions, but some have certainly been made. Short of that, it's another very good book, but while I think there's enough intro for a new reader, certainly go for Child of a Hidden Sea first.
Sofie gets to go back to Stormwrack, and pick up the investigation of this world which isn't—and is—Earth. She's been preparing for this, so now she's in better shape (and was a fairly active woman already).
We get a decent amount of her investigations this time, sprinkled all throughout the book. But the plot still has other, more personal, ideas and takes precedence. Her (birth) mother is still imprisoned for... lets call it fraud, and much of the book is about getting to know her father better.
A lot of plot manages to hang off this one desire. Nothing is simple about it, and the strong points of the series are again on the very personal side. Cly has certain cultural expectations that don't mesh well with an independent 20-something 21-century woman, and the two manage to be thoroughly infuriated with each other even while trying to reach out.
Adjacent to this part is Sofie's work to get to study Stormwrack, which ends up as a continuation of the climax of the first novel. Cly suggests starting an office to bring the idea of forensics to Stormwrack to help out the judiciary system. This ends up driving a good chunk of this novel, especially towards the end.
The biggest failure here is that you don't get as much a look at the internal politics of the Fleet, even though it's important again. Most notably, the ending shows a rupture of the Cessation looming again, but the immediate drivers are all off screen. You don't know who is making these confrontational decisions, but some have certainly been made. Short of that, it's another very good book, but while I think there's enough intro for a new reader, certainly go for Child of a Hidden Sea first.
July 30, 2017
In Child of the Hidden Sea, Sophie learns that her birth parents are, in fact, magic-using seafarers from an alternate dimension. In A Daughter of No Nation, she gets to know her father a bit better, and struggles to find a place in a world that doesn’t necessarily want her, or her weird ideas about science.
This book is about discovery, about forming and testing hypotheses, about collecting and integrating data and questioning your assumptions and figuring out how to respond to unpleasant truths. Sophie is a scientist, and what she really wants to do is collect data about Stromwrack’s natural history— its biology, geology, and anthropology. However, as a consequence of who her parents are, she has a bunch of political and legal BS to deal with.
Dellamonica has developed an intricate world, full of customs and superstitions, magic and mayhem and people with a distinctly different outlook and perception than our own.
This book is about discovery, about forming and testing hypotheses, about collecting and integrating data and questioning your assumptions and figuring out how to respond to unpleasant truths. Sophie is a scientist, and what she really wants to do is collect data about Stromwrack’s natural history— its biology, geology, and anthropology. However, as a consequence of who her parents are, she has a bunch of political and legal BS to deal with.
Dellamonica has developed an intricate world, full of customs and superstitions, magic and mayhem and people with a distinctly different outlook and perception than our own.
April 18, 2021
I am continuing to enjoy this series, and I appreciated the expansion of worldbuilding in this installment. I did find the various threads of the plot to get a bit muddled at times in this installment, much more so than the first book, which had a pretty clear arc. Sophie continues to be an enjoyable protagonist, though I did find her naïveté regarding Cly a bit exaggerated at times given that she is supposed to be more of an analytical scientist. I enjoyed getting to see Bram, Verena, and Parrish again, though they did drop out of the narrative for about 100 pages when Sophie goes to Sylvana with Cly. This isn't a perfect series, but it's been very enjoyable so far and I look forward to reading the final installment in the trilogy soon!
January 27, 2022
sophie was still embarrassing to read about (she uses way too many modern phrases around people who will absolutely not understand her meaning), but less so than the first book and she also has a bit more emotional depth in this book. the world is still super cool. the romance could use some work, hopefully the last book will address a Big Problem that was mentioned briefly.
even though i have a fair amount of issues with this series, it is fun and easy to read - i'd describe it as a political mystery taking place in a sea-based portal fantasy world viewed through a biological lense....definitely unlike anything i've read before
even though i have a fair amount of issues with this series, it is fun and easy to read - i'd describe it as a political mystery taking place in a sea-based portal fantasy world viewed through a biological lense....definitely unlike anything i've read before
May 12, 2017
A Daughter of No Nation delves back into the fascinating world of Stormwrack and sees Sophie learning more about her biological father, while trying to get closer to her half-sister. The science is cool, and thankfully the romance is much better. But the pacing is quite slow at times, and a lot of questions are left unanswered. Thankfully, this book knows how to make you just as curious for the answers as Sophie.
Read my full review on my blog, Turning Pages.
Read my full review on my blog, Turning Pages.
May 16, 2017
So considering what happened when I read the novel preceding last year’s Aurora Winner, maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise that I didn’t read the book that comes before this one in the series, but I didn’t actually plan it that way, or even think about it. While it’s obvious within a few pages that this is a sequel, you probably don’t need the first book to enjoy this one. It may help with a few little things, but A Daughter of No Nation is fairly self-contained.
Fairly.
There’s an alternate/parallel/future world that may or may not be Earth. People live there. It’s 90% or so ocean. They call it Stormwrack. Sophie’s real parents are from there. She got to travel there and hang out with her half-sister and aunt for a while, having a few adventures. This is easy to figure out from the narrative, and early.
But there’s political and legal fallout from her first visit, actually, from her very existence. Mix this with a mystery and then a conspiracy and a little bit of exploring the world, and you’re holding A Daughter of No Nation.
Sophie tends to be a little on the melodramatic side as well as feeling, by virtue of coming from a technological world, that she knows better than the savages around her. This belief seems to persist no matter how many times, in how many ways, she’s smacked in the face of it.
Enjoyment of the book comes less from Sophie than from the characters around her and the worldbuilding that’s clearly gone into Stormwrack. There’s a whole society here, a collection of societies, and we get tiny pieces of a number of them, personified in other characters. Stormwrack is a big world and this story only just starts to scratch the surface. There are a still a lot of unanswered questions about a lot of things. In fact, most of the questions about the world and its people we started the book with remain unanswered, almost everything beyond the immediate mysteries and conspiracy, plus a few more raised in the course of the story. Whether or not intended, this has been set up to be a potentially long series.
Overall rating: 2.5 stars, which I’ll probably round up to 3. A lot of things can make a big live or die, but if I don’t enjoy my time with the primary protagonist, I’m probably not going to read further, so I’m fairly unlikely to read the first book or the next.
Fairly.
There’s an alternate/parallel/future world that may or may not be Earth. People live there. It’s 90% or so ocean. They call it Stormwrack. Sophie’s real parents are from there. She got to travel there and hang out with her half-sister and aunt for a while, having a few adventures. This is easy to figure out from the narrative, and early.
But there’s political and legal fallout from her first visit, actually, from her very existence. Mix this with a mystery and then a conspiracy and a little bit of exploring the world, and you’re holding A Daughter of No Nation.
Sophie tends to be a little on the melodramatic side as well as feeling, by virtue of coming from a technological world, that she knows better than the savages around her. This belief seems to persist no matter how many times, in how many ways, she’s smacked in the face of it.
Enjoyment of the book comes less from Sophie than from the characters around her and the worldbuilding that’s clearly gone into Stormwrack. There’s a whole society here, a collection of societies, and we get tiny pieces of a number of them, personified in other characters. Stormwrack is a big world and this story only just starts to scratch the surface. There are a still a lot of unanswered questions about a lot of things. In fact, most of the questions about the world and its people we started the book with remain unanswered, almost everything beyond the immediate mysteries and conspiracy, plus a few more raised in the course of the story. Whether or not intended, this has been set up to be a potentially long series.
Overall rating: 2.5 stars, which I’ll probably round up to 3. A lot of things can make a big live or die, but if I don’t enjoy my time with the primary protagonist, I’m probably not going to read further, so I’m fairly unlikely to read the first book or the next.
June 19, 2017
Another great entry in this series. Excellent that we get to find out more about Sophie's birth parents (her father in this one, looks like her mother in book #3). One star off for the immediate jump to diagnosing someone as a "sociopath! omg!" when nobody here is an expert on personality disorders. But some fun action sequences and good emotional payoff. Also, my ship (in the romantic sense) sails!
November 29, 2017
This was quite delightful, considered solely in and of itself. The pace is quick, though the plot is not exactly action-packed, the characters are solid (lots of reviewers seem to find Sophie immensely irritating, but I have to admit she doesn't much bother me except when she's being a brat to Bram), the world is cool.
I was surprised that there was so little forward movement on the series arc, but I can't say I was anything but entertained while reading, so four stars it gets.
I was surprised that there was so little forward movement on the series arc, but I can't say I was anything but entertained while reading, so four stars it gets.
July 16, 2017
Couldn't resist going straight on into book two. This is a large world with lots of room to expand--lots of fun. This time we get a closer look at the magic as well as the deep schism between the island nations that have slavery and those that do not. I liked the emotional see-saw of Sophie's developing relationship with her birth father Cly.
September 30, 2018
Every time I picked this up, I was giddy to see my favourite characters and all their antics. Dellamonica writes lush descriptions of nature alongside complicated mysteries for Sophie to figure out. Conversations that never go they way I want, they are true-to-life-meandering, and are always interrupted right when the characters are about to get to the point!
Wonderful.
Wonderful.
March 24, 2019
The second book in this series had a bit too much in the area of slaves and what is morally right. It was not as light and fun to read. That being said, it still had a lot of those interesting and intriguing aspects that hooked me into the series form the first book.
January 1, 2022
Really more of a 3.5 star read, but I rounded up since the things I enjoyed about this book (tons of clever worldbuilding and a complex, relatable heroine) I really adored. The plot was a bit rambling and slow, but it was still an enjoyable ride.
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