The Drowned Woods

Major Characters:

• Mererid: main character. Elegant, secretive, can manipulate water
• Renfrew:  Garanhir’s spymaster. Raised Mererid to be a spy. Polite, calculating, deadly
• Garanhir: Prince of Gwaelod. Abusive, arrogant, violent
• Fane:  works for magical people. Family killed in childhood. Kind, understanding, caring
• Ifanna: heir to the thieves’ guild, ruling body of thieves in the city. Cheerful, crafty, honest
   

 Review:

Once upon a time, there was a farmer who had 4 children, but the 5th bore a sign of magic early in life. She controlled water and harnessed its power to care for her villagers. Eventually, the prince of the land requested her services, and she was sold into service by her parents(reluctantly). One particular run-in on her way to the prince taught her a lesson: she could not rely on anyone but herself. When she reaches the fortress, the prince is dismayed to see a child, not a young woman or a teen ready for training, so she is made Renfrew’s apprentice, learning to fight, spy and read. Eventually, she is sent into the field and she uses her powers over water to find wells and streams for Garanhir’s soldiers. However, the prince betrays Mer’s trust, and uses her powers to poison the innocent villagers who lived near the battlefields. When Mer found out, she tried to leave Garanhir’s service, escaping but paying a price in the form of a brand on her cheek, that showed her status as a possession of the prince. She runs around the kingdom, staying for only a few days before moving on.

One such day she is captured by the prince, but Renfrew, who has also gone rogue, rescues her and recruits her for a job. They plan on traversing sea caves to get to an island that holds a Wellspring of awesome power and treasures of incredible wealth and economic value. However, they need some strong arms too. They go to recruit some mercenaries, however the one that tops their list is easily killed by none other than Fane himself, using his curse with battle skills. He is brought into the service of Renfrew and Mer, and they find refuge in a rich lord’s house, inhabited only by his cousin Emerick and another recruit, Gryf, whose part is largely unknown. They begin to plan against the magical borders of the capital city. They originally decide to buy stolen keys to unlock gates that lead to sea caves, but employ Ifanna to steal them instead. However, the prince raids their safe house before the ideal time, and they are forced to find the island with much less time. They make it, losing one of their team. Then, they are betrayed by one of their own, and the kingdom is doomed. Can they save the people before the kingdom is broken beyond repair? Read on and find out! 

The structure of the book is very nice. Every so often, little sections of flashback will appear, adding some background knowledge into the book. Also, even though the book is in 3rd person, each chapter is closer to a certain character every time, seeming to know more about one person, then the next in the following chapter. The plot flows smoothly until disaster strikes; however there are no pictures in the book. 

I give this book a 5-star rating because it is so good. There is clearly folklore and magic contained in this book, an unusual quality for books nowadays, which is really a fairy tale for teens. The message is also somewhat unclear, as it might be about either choices or sacrifices in life.