The alternating perspectives of the two protagonists are wonderfully distinct, and even the secondary characters such as Zeph's father and Lilly's temperamental sea cat are consistently well drawn. In her debut work, Diamand proves her fantasy chops by seamlessly weaving together two complicated storylines while vividly constructing an intriguing and entirely believable post-apocalyptic setting, complete with eerily recognizable "artifacts" and allusions to the current climate crisis. Meanwhile, Zeph is busy negotiating the perils of pirate politics and trying to come to an uneasy alliance with Lilly to prevent an all-out war. When Zeph's clan kidnaps the daughter of the English prime minister from Lilly's village, Lilly sets off after them with a mysterious talking jewel that she hopes to offer as ransom to save the girl from the raiders and her village from the minister's wrath. Parallel stories follow two adolescent denizens of this harsh world: thirteen-year-old Lilly Melkun, a poor fisher girl barely scraping together her next meal, and Zephaniah, son of the most fearsome pirate of the ruling Families and potential heir to the raider fleet. It's been over a hundred years since a global catastrophe drowned most of England, destroying its technological infrastructure and essentially ushering in a futuristic dark age ruled by ruthless pirates and scheming politicians.
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