I enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and the world was built nicely. It was a nice change to read about a world after their gods are gone, and not while they are around causing chaos. I would like to read about or see art of the different gods, they sounded really odd looking. The inclusion of deaf characters fit well in the world Hardinge created. I do enjoy books with nautical themes and mythology themes so combining the two was enjoyable. Wish I could find another book combining those themes.
Hark needs to pick better friends. I understand why he feels the need to be so loyal to Jelt but I am still not a fan of Jelt. He’s a jerk and Hark deserves better. Hark being caught and bought by Dr. Vyne seemed like the best thing that happened to him, but then Jelt shows up and Hark messes it all up. Hark seems like he wants out of this toxic friendship but Jelt just won’t let him go. I understand his value of the long standing friendship they have, but people change. Sometimes you have to move on from them for you both to be happy. Hark knew Jelt was doing things he didn’t want to know about but Jelt was still changed by those experiences whether Hark knew or not.
I knew Quest had to know more than he was letting on in his conversations with Jelt. I was not expecting him though to have played such a role in the Cataclysm. He was a great character to give backstory when the reader needed it.
I was surprised to find out what Dr. Vyne was working on. I did like that the female characters in this book were strong and smart. Vyne, Selphin, Riggs all strong characters that could easily have their own spinoff stories.
Hark needs to pick better friends. I understand why he feels the need to be so loyal to Jelt but I am still not a fan of Jelt. He’s a jerk and Hark deserves better. Hark being caught and bought by Dr. Vyne seemed like the best thing that happened to him, but then Jelt shows up and Hark messes it all up. Hark seems like he wants out of this toxic friendship but Jelt just won’t let him go. I understand his value of the long standing friendship they have, but people change. Sometimes you have to move on from them for you both to be happy. Hark knew Jelt was doing things he didn’t want to know about but Jelt was still changed by those experiences whether Hark knew or not.
I knew Quest had to know more than he was letting on in his conversations with Jelt. I was not expecting him though to have played such a role in the Cataclysm. He was a great character to give backstory when the reader needed it.
I was surprised to find out what Dr. Vyne was working on. I did like that the female characters in this book were strong and smart. Vyne, Selphin, Riggs all strong characters that could easily have their own spinoff stories.