What book would you run away with and read forever, if it asked you? Have you ever read a book that made you excited about it even after you were finished? Joseph Brassey's Skyfarer is that book for me. If Skyfarer asked me to run away with it, marry it, and never read another book except for it for all eternity... I might very well say yes. The unfortunate part of that would mean I wouldn't get to read the rest of the Drifting Lands series; I don't think I could give up that chance, if the promise of Skyfarer carries through--and I full-well believe it will.
Talking about this book has functioned as a way to talk about and reflect on my own reading life--something that not all books do. It may not serve this function for all readers, but it is difficult for me to untangle the two. Reading Skyfarer was a strong reading experience.
Think about it--I was so enthused about Skyfarer that I sat down and did a video review of the book. I'm not good on camera, I didn't script or outline anything--this means it's a little rambly, it's a little all over, and more than a few thoughts got jumbled or left hanging. I also hate seeing my own reflection, so that was a big deal. This book is a big deal to me. To the point that I worry if I'm being too enthusiastic, too creepy about my love for it. But, I am who I am, right? In any case, this written review is meant to do two things--answer some of my hanging statements and elaborate on places where I wandered down a rabbit hole.
On Mr. Brassey's Work: Skyfarer is his second solo novel and his first set in a world of his own making. I ramble a little bit about the impression I had about it being his debut. And in many ways, it actually is. My impression wasn't far off, but I don't want to misinform anyone.
I lost my train of thought when talking about a cover quote regarding how Skyfarer is set apart from Firefly and the Battle of Helm's Deep; it's unfortunate, but when thinking about connections, it is easy for me to get lost. What I wanted to express in that place was the way Mark Teppo's quote sets Skyfarer into that constellation of speculative fiction giants. Skyfarer isn't Firefly and Brassey isn't Tolkien, but for a reader familiar with both those works, the connections ring true. By setting Skyfarer apart, Teppo's comment creates a tension of comparison and contrast that Skyfarer earns with its character development (which includes spaces, as in the way Serenity is a character in Firefly), the scope of its fight scenes (both small and large), and the world-building that plays out in small spaces of text but express so much.
But these connections are not the only connections this book evoked for me as a reader. The first novel I owned, the first fantasy novel I remember reading that was so distinctly fantasy--probably remembered so strongly because it was physically my first novel I didn't borrow from someone else or check out at the library--was Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the first novel in the Dragonlance series. I used books to escape, which should come as no surprise to anyone who knows my history. It was fun to read and engaging in a way that was shiny and new. It left its mark. And so, too, does Skyfarer.
Skyfarer resurrected that original joy in reading for me. It was fun.
As I say in my video review, there is no higher praise that I can give Skyfarer than to say that it evoked deep, forgotten feelings in regard to the experience of reading, and all that entails.
The roots of why I read are deep, and Skyfarer reached them all.
"There's something pristine about this novel." In trying to express how the story came across, the words "pristine, genuine, earnest" all rose up. I still feel that is true. There's something fresh and unsullied about the way Skyfarer is written--but still not a 'first novel'. We forgive a lot in first novels, often. I'll skip naming names--we all know a series of novels where the first books were not up to par with what we expect in the fifth+ novel of a series. If the rest of the Drifting Lands books maintain the standard Skyfarer sets, though? I'd still be happy. I suspect, however, that they will raise the bar more. My inner-reader gets giddy at the notion.
That said, we come to the matter of critique and the things we can say against a fantasy novel, and a topic I touched on and then moved away from pretty quickly in my video review; cliches.
It would be easy to pick at the cliches or telegraphed events in Skyfarer--they happen. They are there. Maybe you only think they are cliches if they are used badly--in which case, there are no cliches in Skyfarer. If you have a chip on your shoulder about prophecies or chosen ones, Skyfarer may not be for you--though I'd argue passionately that you should give it a chance to see it done beautifully. If Brassey were a different kind of artist, if Skyfarer were a sculpture, you would see the familiar forms of the masters, lovingly rendered and put together to create something both new and familiar. Like I say in my review, when you are eating beef stew, you expect there to be beef. When you're reading fantasy, you should expect there to be markers of the genre.
Where Brassey elevates those things is what sets him apart. Perhaps my favorite is one of the main characters, Aimee. She is an apprentice. She is coming onto a ship as a crew member for the first time, entering into the skyfaring life right out of an academy. She is a novice but she's not naive. It seems like a small distinction, but it plays out so strongly in her personality in ways that matter, that set her apart. These things take her away from the cliche of the archetypal "Fool" in ways that impact the story and the experience of reading it. Ways that make her a character I deeply enjoy.
"[She] navigates this space between being new, being untested ... and someone who is savvy about what they do. ... and has confidence and skills that they have coming out of whatever program or experience they've had. I have found that's difficult to find in a book, to find a character who is already so developed when you meet them on the page."
In short--because I could talk about this book for more words than are in the book--Brassey demonstrates skill, as far as I'm concerned, in his craft that I found refreshing and fun. The structure of the story I could see roughly outlined right away, but it didn't make the experience less enjoyable. The characters were surprising in that they did not need to develop with the story (though they do develop and change as the story goes along), but in showing up as whole people right away, even the "newbie" that Aimee represents.
If you have ever loved a fantasy novel and you have missed that feeling of joy because you've been saturated with so much of it, I encourage you to pick up Skyfarer.
