A Letter from the Lonesome Shore
I read the first installment of this duology (A Letter to the Luminous Deep) last year, and while I enjoyed it, I wasn’t enthralled. I liked the worldbuilding and the letter-writing and journal style of it, but the pacing was slow and I had trouble with differentiating the numerous characters’ voices. The story was mysterious, a bit romantic, imaginative, and funny, but I had a few qualms.
Here we are a year later, and I enjoyed this one a great deal more than the first book. I appreciated that instead of learning about the disappearance of Henerey and E. for the entirety of the novel, we actually got to spend time with the couple whom I’d expected would be the main characters in book 1. It turns out with both books in the duo, it’s more of an ensemble cast than two main characters. My issue with differentiating characters and voices was solved in this one, probably because I listened to the audiobook. We were also introduced to several new quirky characters that I had a great time getting to know.
I thought the narration on this was superb, especially whomever voiced the character, 30ii; however, I know I suffered because of the format as well. The world-building gets even bigger and more intricate than the first book as characters enter an underwater society. The audiobook was suited well to the humor and tone; I appreciated getting to see the characters’ personalities more in this installment, but listening to fantasy certainly had my head spinning, especially in the final 20% when the plot took some mind-bending turns.
Overall, I liked the characters, the humor, the epistolary/field notes format, the whimsy, and the generally cozy feel. Was it my favorite fantasy ever? No, but it was unique, fun, and mysterious and I enjoyed it.
-
Nothing on-page that is explicit except for kisses, although intimacy is implied.
