ROGUE WAVE: THE REVIEW

TSARNO UNIVERSITY PRESS

presents

ROGUE WAVE: THE REVIEW

HERE BE DRAGONS. SERIOUSLY.

Today I have finally got my impatient hands on Waterfire Saga 2, Rogue Wave (Olas Salvajes), freshly published in Spain. The book is mostly Neela-centric, with the life of the party getting tangled up in bureaucratic hell, then locked up in her bedroom by overprotective parents who think she has gone insane (from bad to worse), then performing a great escape to trick a couple of guard dragons away from her talisman (We count on you, Neel!)... So nearly no Astrid, but Neels getting into scrapes and becoming more and more serious.

Aside from the fact that the fortress community of Tsarno has got a university (changing headcanon of Tsarno from typical outpost to something like Leipzig or Ingolstadt...). At last the typical hinterland/provincial university, like in so many other real-life realms (Oxbridge, Leipzig, Uppsala, Ingolstadt itself...)!

And the story of Orfeo (yes, like THAT Orpheus), Astrid's ancestor. SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't read the novel!!!
So this dashing and good-natured healer fell in love and married happily. What was her name...? Euri something...? No, it was Alma. Which means "soul", conveniently.
Anyway... All was well. But one day, his wife, the light of his life, died.
So Orfeo was crushed by her loss, and even went insane (I mean, I know Lady Tremaine, Maria Theresa, Mary Eleanor, Archibald Craven, Robert Baratheon, anyone else left brokenhearted by the death of their respective partners...). And he made a decision that changed the destiny of all the worlds.
So, did he descend to the underworld to parley with its rulers...?
NO.
Orfeo tried to resurrect his beloved Alma, in spite of what others had to say against it. Like Frankenstein.
Obviously, she came back wrong...
And this was Orfeo's start of darkness.

What's more, omnivoxa Ling, taken prisoner and tied and gagged by evil overlord Rafe Iaoro Mfeme, gets to know from her captor what his true identity is by reading the letters of his name, that he scrambles:

RAFE IAORO MFEME -> I AM ORFEO, FEAR ME

So it was an anagram alias just like TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, eh?
It also reminded me of Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events, whose name I recognized in playwright AL FUNCOOT, doctor O. LUCAFONT, et cetera. Anagram aliases, like sinister theatre and pictures of eyes, are a sign of identity for this character. 

Seeing Neela grow a spine and change from the comic relief of the first book to a no-nonsense determinator. And what does it take to change her?

Oodles of red tape, a pair of overprotective parents (who think that she seriously needs some seclusion), and a nanny confidante just like Juliet Capulet's (but Suma still treats Neel like a child) who cannot avoid that her ward is placed behind bars because it's best for poor Neela... After staging a lucky escape, she has a talisman to find... a dragon egg. Yes, like Dany's. The Empire of Matali prides itself on these beasts as much as the Targaryens. The coat of arms is, on a red field, a razormouth dragon rampant clutching its blue egg. Dragons are bred by the dozen as beasts of burden, as pets, steeds, and weapons. Razormouth dragons are used by the Matalin Army as both weapons and mounts. Yes, war dragons, another echo of our friends the Targs. The blue egg in the empire's arms is the only one of its colour (all others are brown), a national treasure, and belongs to the razormouth queen Hagarla.

In the region of Kandina (near Madagascar), a vassal state of the Matalin Empire ruled by vassal lady Kora, on the outskirts of the main village of Nzuri Bonde, all razormouths in the realm are bred. It becomes Neela's mission to reach Kandina, earn Kora's trust and that of her personal guards the Askari in Nzuri Bonde, and get her own hands on the blue dragon egg...

I found it great to add more worldbuilding in the form of afro counterpart culture Kandina. There is a coming of age ritual that teens, on their sixteenth birthday, shall swim through a gauntlet of razormouths. And it is a matter of life or death... literally: become an adult or die. Neels is determined to pass such a fearsome test... Isn't she brave?

Sera and Blu embark on a quest to find the blue diamond of shipwrecked sixteenth-century Castilian infanta Maria Theresa, a daughter of Philip II attacked and killed by pirates en route for her French marriage of state. What's more... the wreck is off the Mediterranean coast of Saintes-Maries, in southern France. From there, Blu and Sera make their way to Cap de Creus, "a rocky outcropping of land near Spain's border with France" to quote the text, then to a farmhouse on the outskirts of a village off the Costa Brava. The farm belongs to a couple called Carlos and Elena Aleta Roja, loyalists of the Resistance (A Spanish wife taking her husband's surnames? That seems truly strange...), where the two young mer-royals are married by Rafael, the local magistrate. 

When one reads a story taking place in one's own homelands (in this case, the eastern coast of Spain), there is something magical about the setting. It's as if these characters had been closer to you than ever...

Plus, the name of the Asian pirate captain who shot Maria Theresa when she resisted his attempts to rape her was Amarrefe Mei Foo... "Amarrefe" sounds pretty strange, and again, those are the letters of...

AMARREFE MEI FOO -> I AM ORFEO, FEAR ME

Another Significant Anagram alias of Orfeo! I wonder if all the Big Bads in this saga, being incarnations of Orfeo, will have names with the same letters in other combinations... It's just like when it comes to Count Olaf!!! It also reminded me of Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events, whose name I recognized in playwright AL FUNCOOT, doctor O. LUCAFONT, et cetera. Anagram aliases, like sinister theatre and pictures of eyes, are a sign of identity for this character. 

Plus, we got more info on Ondalina, that Nordic realm of lore and strength...

- Ondalinian military employs firing squad as its favourite execution method for important prisoners of war.

- Death riders (those death riders in black uniforms riding black steeds) are not professional Ondalinian troops, but mercenaries/soldiers of fortune. 

- There are, in Ondalina, the Scandinavian kind of kelpie: the Näkki (Finnish name of these beings), murderous shapeshifters who live in caves in the northern Atlantic. 

- And also some kind of perilous arctic beings called EisGeists (Eis-Geister or Eisgeister would be more correct German!). So far, I may suppose they're ice ghosts. The Spanish translation calls them "espíritus de hielo", ice spirits, missing the German loanword.

- There are four distinct tribes of Kobolds (Germanic goblins): Höllenbläser (glassblowers), Feuerkumpel (miners who excavate lava pipes in the rock and extract lava for lava torches), Meerteufel (devilish, I imagine), and Ekelschmutz (nauseatingly filthy, I imagine): all of them with speaking German names. We have also seen what at least Feuerkumpeln look like: muscular and broad-shouldered, with powerful and strong legs, wielding medieval weapons like axes, pikes, and flails. Two nostrils but no nose (Voldemort-like), transparent eyes, lipless mouths full of sharp teeth, and ears mangled or torn off from fighting. What do the other kinds of Kobolds look like? (Shudders.)

- The language of Ondalina/Ondalinian is actually Norwegian. Kobolds say loudly: "Gå tilbake!" (Go back!), "Tilbake!" (Back!) "Heie høyere!" (Cheer louder!), "Heie, dårer! For du blir Kobold-kjøtt!" (Cheer, fools! Before you become goblin meat!). Any Swedish speaker can understand both spoken and written Norwegian, the only differences being the accent, the spelling, and a few lexical shibboleths. 

Though this book is diagnosed with chronic lack of Astrid Kolfinnsdottir, there are all of these features to make Rogue Wave a memorable read, enough to keep me entertained until Dark Tide comes in December.

COUNTDOWN TO ROGUE WAVE IN SPAIN

Three weeks left until the release of Waterfire Saga 2, Rogue Wave (Olas Salvajes) in Spain. The book is mostly Neela-centric, with the life of the party getting tangled up in bureaucratic hell, then locked up in her bedroom by overprotective parents who think she has gone insane (from bad to worse), then performing a great escape to trick a couple of guard dragons away from her talisman (We count on you, Neel!)... So nearly no Astrid, but Neels getting into scrapes and becoming more and more serious.

Neela locked up in her room, looking at a dragon from the window...

Aside from the fact that the fortress community of Tsarno has got a university (changing headcanon of Tsarno from typical outpost to something like Ingolstadt...). At last the typical hinterland/provincial university, like in so many other real-life realms (Oxbridge, Leipzig, Uppsala, Ingolstadt itself...)!

And the story of Orfeo (yes, like THAT Orpheus), Astrid's ancestor. SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't read the novel!!!
So this dashing and good-natured healer fell in love and married happily. What was her name...? Euri something...? No, it was Alma. Which means "soul", conveniently.
Anyway... All was well. But one day, his wife, the light of his life, died.
So Orfeo was crushed by her loss, and even went insane (I mean, I know Lady Tremaine, Maria Theresa, Mary Eleanor, Archibald Craven, Robert Baratheon, anyone else left brokenhearted by the death of their respective partners...). And he made a decision that changed the destiny of all the worlds.
So, did he descend to the underworld to parley with its rulers...?
NO.
Orfeo tried to resurrect his beloved Alma, in spite of what others had to say against it. Like Frankenstein.
Obviously, she came back wrong...
And this was Orfeo's start of darkness.

So now it's three weeks of waiting for Rogue Wave to hit Spain!!!

WATERFIRE SAGA REVIEW: SETTINGS, CHARACTERS...

The Waterfire Saga, that merfolk epic by Jennifer Donnelly, has recently come up in Spain:

The story is about feuding kingdoms of merfolk coming together to face a common threat. There were a couple of places and characters that made me SQUEE, so here are the fact:

SETTINGS!!

Tsarno, a fortress town in the western Mediterranean. 
So outpostly!! So Küstrin-like!! And with a Slavic name, in a Mediterranean kingdom... also spells C-R-O-A-T-I-A!
the fortress at Tsarno.
Also, there are villages in all the kingdoms, and rural areas called Barrens...
(The only con is that the Colleggio, the in-'verse university, is located in the capital of the realm, instead of in some more provincial community... at least so I thought in Book I, the second has revealed that there IS A UNIVERSITY IN TSARNO!!!)
Ondalina, the mer realm in the Arctic waters

CHARACTERS
Each of the heroines was from a different nation and had a different power. 
There were two girls... well... merls in the team of heroines that caught my attention: Astrid, the Nordic and the warrior (a healer), 

Astrid has long, white-blonde hair, icy blue eyes... she wears a long sealskin vest embroidered with silver thread and scabbard made from sealskin hanging from her waist, her hair is in two ornate braids running along the sides of her head with the rest of it loose. Astrid is rather fond of dueling. In Deep Blue she is also shown to have skills with throwing a ball as well as having a good sense of humor, despite her tough exterior.
Astrid is shown to be very brave and tough. Also, she doesn't back down from a fight. Deep inside, Astrid was afraid of the dangers and admitted that she couldn't choose how to use her magic. Astrid, unlike the other mermaids, doesn't use much magic, she prefers fighting with her sword. She is demonstrated to have great sword skills, shown when she cut off one of Abbadon's hands.
LONG STORY SHORT: CHUCK NORRIS IS SCARED STIFF OF ASTRID KOLFINNSDOTTIR.

and Ling, the clever omnivoxa or polyglot (an Asian). 

Astrid comes from the North/Arctic/Scandinavia, and she's the tomboy/warrior/Rainbow Dash/Brienne of the team... 
There's also another character, Becca, who appears to be both a nerd, a bookworm tomboy... and the Applejack kind of career- and family-oriented character so rarely found in magical girl series. Becca is a firebender with nerd spectacles and a university student to whom her career is the most important thing...
Becca carries a pocketwatch around her neck. She wears a plaid dress with a high collar.When she is first introduced in the book, she wears gold-rimmed glasses, a pearl necklace, hair combs and carries a travelling case. She used to work after school at a pearl shop, where they put songspells in pearls and released them. Her full name is Rebecca Quickfin, she is an orphan, and left-handed.
She describes herself as 'nobody' and 'invisible', showing that she isn't very self-confident and is also very quiet. It is said that she often tries to please her mother. Becca is colourful and laughing, with a keen attitude for learning. 

And Ava, the visually impaired Afro-Brazilian one endowed with a prophet's sight. Rapier wit due to outsider status (both race and disability), much à la Tyrion Lannister! Due to her powers (she is a seer and a clairvoyant in spite of being visually impaired) and her sarcasm, she reminds me of Toph Beifong...

while Lin, the clever and gentle bookworm, has the power to speak and understand all languages in existence (human, animal, or even vegetable!!)

Ling is from Qin and speaks and understands all language due to her descent from Sycorax; she’s an omnivoxa, One Who Sings All Creatures’ Songs with a responsibility to speak Truth. 

Kingdom of Ondalina
Based in the Arctic. Admiral Kolfinn seems to be the ruler. Astrid is his daughter, and a descendant of Orfeo (the healer god). She was supposed to be part of the hostage exchange.
Kolfinn's sister, Sigurlin (she has got an aunt as well) is also mentioned.

Astrid, Kolfinn's daughter... She appears to gbe a real badass. You know I love Brienne of Tarth and Rainbow Dash. Well I've got another character on my hit list:

Astrid yelled, defty ducking the missile.
"Where does this crazy little tour end, anyway?", Astrid called out from the back.
Astrid had gone back to bouncing her caballabong ball.
"Nevermind. Just forget it", Astrid said. "I can't be part of this nutsy little playdate any longer. The realms are on the verge of war, in case you haven't noticed".
But Astrid didn't listen. With a warrior's roar, she swung her sword at the monster...
But instead of talking, Astrid brusquely pushed back her.
Suddenly, a blur of black and white flashed past them. It was Astrid, moving with deadly speed. "Not If I can help it", she growled.
"This is totally insane", Astrid said.
"Nothing", Astrid said brusquely. "It's been real. Good luck with it all." She tried to swim out of the study, but two armed frogs blocked her.
"Astrid, you are totally out of line!", Ava said. But Astrid didn't listen.

On Ling and her omnivoxa powers:

"I can speak Dracdemara, his language. I'm an omnivoxa"
She was born an omnivoxa, and her magical powers strenghtened her gift.
She could speak not just many languages, but every language. Not only human tongues, but those of animals, trees, and flowers.
Ling had tears in her eyes.
Ling said "Uh-oh".
A hand closed on her arm. It was Ling.
"Great", Ling said.  looking over her shoulder. 

Astrid and Ling having good chemistry?

"Astrid, you're funny", Ling said when the laughter had subsided. "Who knew?" "Don't tell anyone", Astrid said, bouncing her ball again.
- Les Opafago dévorent leurs victimes vivants, tu sais ça ? lança Astrid. Pour que leur coeur continue de battre et de faire circuler le sang. Ca rend la chair plus juteuse. 
- Astrid, tu es mon rayon de soleil, dit Ling en sautant de la table où elle était assise.

Then we’ve got Ling, who can speak almost any language underneath the sea, which I think is awesome, she’s more of the quiet type.
Astrid, Admiral Kolfin’s daughter of the Ondalina.

Ling is soft, peaceful and smart. She uses her brains and gentle nature to communicate with plants and animals.
Astrid is the oddball of the bunch. She’s bold and headstrong, but deep-rooted issues keep her from trusting the girls at first.

I could as well be Ling, who’s so smart, but I’m probably Astrid, who’s obstinate, tactless, and quick-tempered.

Ling, forte e gentile allo stesso tempo, con un acuto intelletto, non ha paura di mostrare con orgoglio la spada che porta sulla schiena. Parla fluentemente le lingue di tutte le creature, persone, animali, fiori e alberi. Sempre pronta a mettere pace e abile negoziatrice.

Becca, impetuosa e veloce con i capelli rossi e ricci, gli occhi azzurri e le lentiggini.

Ava, spiritosa, sincera, capace di prevedere il futuro, con lunghissime trecce nere e squame marroni, indossa sempre occhiali da sole e ha per animale domestico un piranha che tiene al guinzaglio, sa predire il futuro.

Astrid, testarda, coraggiosa e in possesso di poteri magici potentissimi, con lunghe trecce bionde e gelidi occhi azzurri, ha striature bianche e nere simili a quelle di un’orca. Astrid è tagliata fuori dal gruppo ma saprà riconquistarsi la loro fiducia mettendosi in gioco in prima persona per il bene del popolo marino.

Tsarno is a fortress.

GIVES ME AN IDEA FOR FANDOM (TSARNO AS SETTING, OR LING AND ASTRID AS CHARACTERS, OR SOMEONE BEING AN OMNIVOXA... Astrid captive at Tsarno, Lin arrives, what else can ensue then?)