Synopsis:
We are a people who do not forget.
Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.
Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.
Zin E. Rocklyn’s extraordinary debut is a lush, gothic fantasy about the prices we pay and the vengeance we seek.
Edition:
E-ARC
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary e-ARC of Flowers for the Sea from Net Galley in exchange for a review. This does not at all impact the contents of the review.
My Thoughts:
Well, look at me getting an ARC review out before the publication date. Who the hell am I? Have I been body-snatched?
No, it’s still me. And I still have a massive pile of stuff awaiting review. But I wanted to make sure to get this one done as soon as possible because I LOVED IT SO MUCH.
I’ve been on a tales-by-sea kick lately, and from the moment I picked Flowers for the Sea up, I was hooked. Between this and Mira Grant’s Into the Drowning Deep, I’m in my happy place.
I don’t want to say much about the story since it is quite short, and I think doing so would veer dangerously toward spoiler territory, so we’ll just focus on the writing. In just over 100 pages, Rocklyn manages to create a surprisingly complex small-scale society, well-developed characters, and a rich, engrossing story. Iraxi is wonderful. She is a complicated woman who is by turns vulnerable, tough, and combative. Even before the story gets going it is abundantly clear that she is nobody to fuck with.
Flowers for the Sea was my first foray into Rocklyn’s work, but it most definitely won’t be the last. I have The Night Sun already queued up on my Kindle, so I’m going to be hitting that soon. They’ve got a real talent for evocative prose, tension building, and satisfying storytelling. This novella is absolutely gorgeous.
About the Author:
Zin E. Rocklyn is a contributor to Bram Stoker-nominated and This is Horror Award-winning Nox Pareidolia, Kaiju Rising II: Reign of Monsters, Brigands: A Blackguards Anthology, and Forever Vacancy anthologies and Weird Luck Tales No. 7 zine. Their story Summer Skin in the Bram Stoker-nominated anthology Sycorax’s Daughters received an honorable mention for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year, Volume Ten. Zin contributed the nonfiction essay “My Genre Makes a Monster of Me” to Uncanny Magazine’s Hugo Award-winning Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. Their short story The Night Sun and flash fiction teatime were published on Tor.com. Flowers for the Sea is their debut novella, coming in 2021 from Tordotcom. Zin is a 2017 VONA and 2018 Viable Paradise graduate as well as a 2022 Clarion West candidate. You can find them on Twitter @intelligentwat.
Rating:
Flowers for the Sea is a beautifully written bit of fiction. It will stay with you long after you turn the final page. It is a beautiful, dark debut novella from an author whose work I have to imagine will be absolutely flying off the shelves.
Flowers for the Sea By Zin E. Rocklyn Tordotcom Expected Publication: October 19, 2021 ISBN: 9781250804037 Format: Paperback, E-book 112 Pages
I’m obsessed with this cover!