*Thank you to Netgalley and Gollancz for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*
The hotly anticipated adult fantasy from bestselling author Victoria Aveyard sets sail on 8 August, and I was very fortunate to receive an ARC! Tempest is the first in a slow-burn fantasy series, with the second book, Tyrant, releasing in spring 2027.
Cat Rose has seen the harsh reality of two worlds: one as Lady Rose, chained to a loathsome Lord among the nobility, and the other as the infamous Widow Rose, queen of cards and sleight of hand in the Lyrian Sea, brushing shoulders with pirates and soldiers alike. But as the Meridian Navy closes in on the last remaining pirates, the tides have changed – and so have allegiances.
Cat is served with an execution warrant: her head or theirs. The Empire is conquering the colonies and reclaiming what was once taken by pirates, yet one fearsome captain continues to evade capture – Valerian Kane. A pirate with a legendary reputation and a deep devotion to the Song of the Sea, Kane is Cat’s last chance. She is given a choice: deliver him to the Empire and watch her lover hang for his crimes, or, for one last time, play her cards right.
Review
I absolutely sailed through this in a few days! From the very start Victoria Aveyard’s atmospheric writing drew me into the politically charged landscape of the Meridian Empire and the unyielding world of The Lydian Sea. Essentially this is two books in one with an ambitious dual timeline of past and present or “before” and “after” that plots Cat Rose’s journey from a noble wife and her first interaction with pirates to the feared Widow Rose who is quick witted and under execution orders for crimes of piracy against the crown. Each chapter the timeline shifts between the past and the present. This is a story of survival, betrayal and cunning thinking and Cat demonstrates this from the start with leading on the pirates when she’s captured, negotiating her freedom and even buying herself time with Navy when searching for Kane.
The characters are well fleshed out and I really warmed to each one in their own way from Jasper Fell as a young lieutenant to sickeningly ambition Captain of the Navy, Valerian Kane the fearsome and dashing pirate, and Cat Rose – and I even had sympathy for Cat being married to her snivelling husband Ryman. I couldn’t wait for more Valerian Kane moments and it’s a shame there weren’t more of these, but I have high hopes for a strong presence in the next book. The world building is extensive and feels politically sticky with the triumph of the Empire and the collapse of piracy (echoing those themes seen in Pirates of the Caribbean) and this is only added to by the lush and detailed prose. I will say this level of detail often did get in the way of the pace, and sometimes made reading a strain, and felt as if the scenes were going in circles rather than moving forwards. That being said, I enjoyed the “before” chapters more than the “after” because they had a bit more meat to the story and felt like things were moving a little quicker as we learn more about Cat and Kane’s past. Only to be pulled back out again with a timelines shift. I would have liked several chapters to continue in one timeline and then switch to feel as we’ve made some ground instead of drawing the reader into the story to only pull them back out again. Tempest is very much adjacent to historical fiction with elements of fantasy, and we only see the magic part come to fruition towards the end. I particularly liked the faith elements of sailors believing in the sea as something that needed to be worshipped and holds a certain amount of power – I’m intrigued to see how this unfurls in Tyrant.
Now that the main scene setting is done I’m very much looking forward to the next book, Tyrant – just when things start hotting up, there’s a cliffhanger! I was just getting into the book and couldn’t turn the page quick enough, only to discover I’d finished it! If you’re going into this book thinking it’s a fast moving swashbuckling adventure, you will be disappointed, instead Tempest is a richly layered slow burn fantasy with mystery, politics and piracy that leans towards the more historically accurate elements of Pirates of the Caribbean with detailed world-building and an achingly slow burn romance. Overall, I really hope Tyrant delivers on what is clearly promised in Tempest to be an epic conclusion.
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Amy is a writer and reviewer and her action-packed debut novel, CORNELIA FAIRFIELD AND THE DARKENED HEART is available in paperback from WATERSTONES and independent bookshops, and ebook (with an exclusive bonus chapter only on Kindle / Kindle Unlimited AMAZON).
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