Tideborn by Eliza Chan
I would like to thank Orbit for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - Orbit
Published - Out Now
Price - £22 hardback £12.99 ebook
A tsunami and a dragon's wish have wrought changes upon the city of Tiankawi that have never been seen before. But shared experiences have not healed the rift between the city's fathomfolk and human citizens, and scars from years of oppression still remain.
Mira, a half-siren and activist, fights politicians and her own people to rebuild her city, and to uncover a deadly conspiracy. And Nami, the dragon princess, undertakes a daring ocean voyage alongside friend and foe, in order to convince a mythical Titan not to destroy Tiankawi for its crimes...
NB this is the sequel to Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan so there will be spoilers
Often fantasy focuses on the external threat - enemy empires, evil gods and all sorts of dangerous forces to tackle but its rarer toenails the forces within communities. What can destroy them and perhaps more importantly bring them together. I was already impressed by Eliza Chan’s fantasy novel Fathomfolk for delivering a fantasy novel exploring the topic of immigration and now in the very impressive conclusion Tideborn we again get a great story that also delivers intrigue and a sharp look at the internal dangers faced when communities treat each other as enemies.
To recap the previous novel the mighty city of Tiankawi has has an uneasy alliance for years between humans and the Fathomfolk - the various underwater races who lived in the oceans but after war and pollution have started to seek shelter on coastal flooded areas. The two groups have lived uneasily alongside each other for decades and the laws on what Fathomfolk can do are tightly controlled creating tension. In the previous novel we focused on Mira (half siren half human) who was one of the state’s own police guard trying to find a way to make the system fairer. Her partner Kai a powerful diplomat ( and sea-dragon) representing his powerful family but also working hard for change. Into this stepped Kai’s younger teenage sister Nani who had very little tolerance for humans and saw her people being opppressed. While staying with Kai and Mira, Nani is drawn to a group known as The Drawbacks who want to strike against their oppressors. However it’s eventually revealed that the Drawback’s actually intend something far more destructive. Ultimately Nani rejoins her brother and Kai to prevent a disaster but it’s too late as it’s revealed the city sits on a giant Guardian of the sea. The Drawbacks kill this creature but Kai sacrifices himself using the power of a Dragon’s precious pearl to save the entire population from a tidal wave by giving all humans gills.
What jumps out in this story is the consequences are so well thought through developing into powerful character arcs and missions that Chan very economically focuses on in this story to really make it flow very well as well as exploring themes of difference communities trying to live together (or not).
Nani in many ways the angry young woman of the first book is now a more torn guilt-ridden character and Chan puts her on perhaps the most traditional fantasy storyline in the book a quest. The Guardian who has died has a partner out in the ocean and they are aware the people of Tiankawi are responsible. Interestingly the quest is not to kill the Guardian but to see if they can reason with it. This starts a theme in the book that communication is better than fighting. For example one of the team chosen is Eun the human librarian as a sign that for a change knowledge is being prized over violence. We also though have a mixed group of humans and Fathomfolk all trying to deal with one another and how the humans have now gills. The tensions on board are rising and added to the mix arrives Firth Nani’s not white boyfriend who really is dangerous to know. I really liked this plotline as Nani is reappraising her emotions, her loves and her own responsibilities now her brother died. We get pirates, sea creatures, magic and more but the personal stakes make this really work. There are also some interesting revelations about these magical changes that open up all sorts of interesting plotlines.
This is all intermixed with Mira’s storyline and this was my favourite as it deals with the intrigue and social consequences of changes. Making humans have gills is a magical solution to a tidal wave it doesn’t fix decades long attitudes and social problems and Chan does a fantastic job is showing how much more is needed. Mira here finds herself politician, diplomat and yet still an investigator. She is navigating the human council, Kai’s formable and dangerous mother Jiang-Li who visits to apparently mourn her son but may have another agenda but most interestingly we see the rise of a human group known as The Cleaven who are anti-immigration, dangerous and even self-harming their own bodies and families to purge themselves of gills. The dangers of populist messages are well shown hete and in a tale of magic and strange creature it’s the human mob that is the most dangerous and scariest of the storylines. How do you make people turn away from such messages is again a key theme and the power of co-operation, fairness in law and most importantly communication becomes a huge area for the book to explore. Mira has to learn guile, bargaining and yet still has the skills to investigate as we find a murder plotline quite key to the future of the world to unravel. I really enjoy series when you can see such huge changes and Chan delivers this really well.
I also quite enjoyed the role mothers play in the storyline. Jiang-Li could easily have been a stereotypical evil Royal but Chan finds depth in her grief and motivations that makes you at the very least understand what she may be up to. There is a contrast with Trish Mira’s mother constantly accepting and encouraging her daughter to great things while Trish is always putting her own needs last. Finally there is the return of one of my favourite characters Cordelia the organised crime sea-witch who had been hiding among the human elite and now has been discovered. Again her scenes are favours of mine as Cordelia is capable of anything and can be both deliciously evil, selfish and yet for her family can sometimes see the light. How she interacts with Mira and the Cleaven is fascinating and really adds an emotional depth to the storylines that keeps us along the whole story.
I do think this series shows the power of a duology to really deliver focus yet also land a big epic tale of worlds and characters. The speed works to keep the reader along and there are not myriad side plots to fill pages and cliffhangers just for the sake of a cliffhanger. There are a couple of scenes were things get quickly resolved off page that perhaps needed breathing space to just show us on the page what happened but overall I really liked the book’s clarity. It’s a format that I think can work well in fantasy.
Tideborn is a very good finale to a fascinating series that deals with complex issues intelligently. As a U.K. reader I particularly recognise the types of communities and social issues being discussed. At a time when my own country is looking incredibly intolerant and listening to dangerous voices offering flags and unworkable solutions that make no sense then this is reminder of both what they can create but also how to stope them. It’s a strongly recommended read and I think Eliza Chan is an author to watch with interest.
