Alive with the splendors of nature, deep mana-magic, and a bold awakening for a young woman in world that teaches that “subjugation” is the “true order of nature,” Jo’s debut spins a romantic fantasy in the New Colonies of an alternate, agrarian Appalachia some 600 years after a devastating meteor strike. On this changed but still bountiful Earth, Seekers hunt the mountains for Vessels, people who have the ability to wield and manipulate the mana whose source is known as The Well. Revered Calendula, or Calen, is one such Vessel. At the age of 12, after dodging the attention of Seekers and fearing her parents’ conviction that Vessels are abominations, Calen is betrayed and sold to Brother Stokely and grows into womanhood traveling the Colonies performing seed blessings and enduring his abuse. When another young girl catches Brother Stokely’s attention, Calen decides that enough is enough, though even she doesn’t realize that her rebellion will also involve her own choice of who to love. Jo’s epic yet intimate series-starter charts Calen’s first steps in standing up to a man—and by extension a society–—who has often taken violent advantage of her. Brother Stokely regularly uses a Bonding Stone to funnel Calen’s mana into himself, for reasons Calen wonders about. Amid the bleakness, though, the world Jo has conjured bursts with life: harvests and planting, inventive uses of mana, women who care for each other in secret, and prose that moves swiftly while still relishing nature.
The suspense of Calen’s plight, and her deep concern for others—including young Nelle, the Vessel that Calen tries to warn away from Brother Stokely, and Rosalind, a woman from Calen’s past eager to come to her rescue—keep the pages turning with an urgency warmed by empathy. Also engaging: the journey of discovery, for readers, of how this world works, what being a Vessel really means, and the question of what too much power can do to those that misuse it.
Takeaway: Alt-Appalachian fantasy series starter alive with feeling and bold women.
Comparable Titles: Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland, Namina Forna’s The Gilded Ones.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
