Beneath A Thousand Skies

Summary:

Dark be the water, and darker still the creatures that lurk within.

Free-spirited Isla Blackwood has never accepted the chains of her nobility. Instead, she sails the open waters, searching for belonging on the waves.

But when a family tragedy calls Isla home, she realises she can no longer escape the duty she’s been running from. Bloodthirsty mist wraiths plague the island’s coasts, and when they strike at Blackwood Estate, Isla faces losing everything she once walked away from.

Her only hope is to join forces with Eimhir, a salt-blooded stranger searching for a pelt the Admiralty stole from her family years ago. The magical heirloom might be the key to stopping the wraiths, but to reclaim it, Isla and Eimhir must face the horror of the mists—and the island’s ruthless Grand Admiral.

Caught between a promise to the family she abandoned and her friendship with a woman feared as a monster, Isla soon realises the open seas aren’t the only treacherous waters she’ll need to navigate.

As enemies close in, she must decide where her loyalties lie if she wants to save what’s left of her family—or find the belonging she’s been searching for.

Oh, by all the rain in Scotland this was a book that I needed.

Scottish folklore? Scottish terms that had me grinning ear to ear, and feeling right at home in these pages? And an absolutely fantastic take on Selkies? This book had all that and so much more, and my only disappointment is that I now have to wait for the next book!

But I am getting ahead of myself. Firstly, as always there are bonus points as there are maps at the front of the book, and I especially appreciated the one of Arburgh as it’s always more difficult for me to get my head around where things are within a city than across a world map. Also, for those who aren’t familiar with the whims and wiles of Scottish pronunciation (and after so many years around here, I’m still getting tripped by it) there is also an incredibly handy pronunciation guide. Also, I love the cover – it’s striking in its simplicity and the colour choices, but I especially like the extra meaning that you get once you look at it after finishing the book! Also, the title takes on a whooooole new meaning.

Which, actually leads me onto one of my favourite aspects of Sea of Souls and that absolutely has to be the worldbuilding. There were plenty of familiar threads, particularly with regards to the folklore – from the cù-sìth to the kelpies, and oh it always makes me happy to see them appearing in fantasy (especially Kelpies as I have a soft spot for them), but Scrimgeour has taken those threads and woven them into a tapestry all of her own.

And that is incredibly evident when it comes to the selkies themselves, because there are the familiar elements of the seal-skin pelts, and the old tales of pelts being taken to trap them on land. In Sea of Souls though, those pelts are so much more than just their key to the freedom of the ocean, and the idea of an ancestral memory passed down is fascinating. While what can happen to a Selkie who doesn’t have a pelt to inherit or who loses it is absolutely heartbreaking and horrifying in equal measure and gave rise to some of the most eerie scenes in the entire book.

That Scrimgeour doesn’t just give us this information but shows us the impact of it in visceral detail, through characters that steal our hearts make it all the more impactful – and I think Sea of Souls has honestly raised the bar for Selkie stories. I also appreciate the fact that even with their lives and souls literally on the line and exposed to the elements, these Selkies are not meek bystanders as they can sometimes be portrayed. The Selkies in Sea of Souls are often more human than the humans themselves, and more monstrous than anyone looking at the cute face of a seal pup could imagine. Instead, Scrimgeour reminds us that the ocean is wider and more dangerous than we sometimes care to think, and the Selkie raids are a reminder that the power and influence of the waves doesn’t always stop at the shore.

While the focus is understandably on the folklore elements of the worldbuilding, that doesn’t mean that the human elements were neglected. Scrimgeour has built up a multi-layered human society and culture, where the ocean, and therefore those who sail on it and ‘claim it’ have risen to power.  With the Admiralty holding more power and wealth than the nobility, and interestingly amassing both away from the sea that gave them that pedestal, and leaving their own people to face the rage and ravages of those rising up against them. At the same time, we are given the feeling of history – from the characters’ past with the city of Amburgh, to the traditions that guide the coastal towns and nobilities, right down to the titles of Lady and Laird.

Then there are the Sea Kith – who I would love to see more of, as it felt as though we were only just scratching the surface of who they were and their relationship with the ocean. It felt like the Sea Kith were almost a promise of the potential relationship that those who sail the seas could have with those who live there, or perhaps a legacy of how it had been, slowly getting caught in the wake of the Admiralty. But, they felt very much like sea people as opposed to the hunters and soldiers seeking to bend the waves to their will.

A final element of the worldbuilding, is the Auld bloods – and the magic of a sort that they wield. Again, the Auld bloods feel a little like the Sea Kith in terms of being a bridge between the human and modernity, and the folklore made real and the way the sea had been. There was so many aspects that I liked about how this was handled. Firstly, was the fact that it was a limited magic system – both in terms of wielders, but also that it had limits on what it could achieve both due to distance from the ocean, but also dependent on the willingness of the ocean spirits to lend their aid to the wielders – Sentinels. The second element that I really loved about it was that it demanded a blood bond that was two-sided and meant so much more than it originally seemed and how we get to see that unfold.

Sea of Souls had incredibly strong worldbuilding, and honestly, I would love to just wax lyrical about the Selkie depiction – because it is amazing. However, Sea of Souls is a very rounded book, and another aspect that absolutely shone is the characters both as individual, but also as friends, allies and enemies, lovers and family.

Isla our main protagonist was a character I took to right away (although I will admit I had ‘How far I’ll go’ from Moana stuck in my head for a good chunk of reading her – for reasons that will be obvious when you read the book). But, she had an incredibly compelling character voice from the beginning, and Scrimgeour did such a fantastic job of capturing a character who was both sure of herself in her own way, but also completely out of her depth, and drowning in currents she didn’t fully understand. Isla was from the beginning a flawed character trying to do her best, and struggling to balance the roles and expectations of who she was and what her family saw and wanted from her, and a part of herself that she didn’t understand. In many ways this was a coming of age book, that wasn’t a coming of age book – Isla wasn’t a child or a teen, she had already made something of her life at sea, but she was still finding her sea legs in life and this was her story of finding herself, wrapped up in a story of uncovering the reality of the world around her and the truths that had been hidden, all without losing that voice that was so true to her.

“You think I don’t remember how much of an irritating wee gobshite you were when we were bairns? If I took to heart half the insults you hurled my way, I’d have throttled you before you turned six.”

Lachlan was compelling in his own way, and in the end a wonderful, painful mirror for Isla herself. The sibling element between was captured brilliantly, from the friendly barbs, to the ability to know just what to say and do to wound one another more deeply than any enemy could. And it’s interesting to look at Lachlan and the man he had forged himself into and wonder if that could have been Isla if she had chosen a different path, and yet as with everything in this book, it could never be as simple as that. Lachlan has grown in the shadow, learning to twist the light around himself without even realising it – and the reality of how it could have been is both beautifully done and raw and painful. In some ways, it felt like he had a greater hurdle to climb to reach his final decision, as Isla already had a history of taking the rockier path to finding her own way.

Darce was a character that I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to like at the beginning, there was just something about him that seemed too rigid and armoured. But, in retrospect, that is completely understandable – due to his position, and the secret he carried. However, when Blackwood was raided it felt like we got to see beneath the armour, and it felt a little like we had dived into dark water to find a coral reef hidden beneath – and he swiftly grew to be one of my favourite characters.

When the romantic element first surfaced, I have to admit that I wasn’t quite convinced and thought it was going to be a thread I didn’t enjoy as much. Scrimgeour proved me wrong, because she took the time to turn what had felt like a too fast shift in attraction, to a delicious slow burn that was a fire banked through adversity and learning to listen and understand one another. And it ended up that some of the scenes between them, especially towards the end of the book were some of the most emotionally raw ones, and what happened between them is one of the reasons why I really need the next book.

However, I think the character that really stole the show for me personally was Eimhir. In any conflict it can be difficult to hold out an olive branch – even one armed with teeth and sharp edges – and that is without the weight of losing not just family and friends, but your past and your future and even the memories and ghosts of your people. Yet Eimhir was that person, and Scrimgeour does an absolutely fantastic job of capturing that struggle, that distrust, the pain and conflict from daring to hope and trust, but also in showing how those emotions can develop in adversity. That forgiveness and forgetting and friendship are not the same thing, but can be uneasy bedfellows. Eimhir is in many ways like Isla, a strong character, sure of herself but not so much her place in this changing, dying world – and together they make for both a fantastic partnership, but also just two amazing characters that steal the show.

This isn’t to say that the supporting cast are not as strong. Every character in Sea of Souls is incredibly well written, and integral to the story in some way, and even those like the Seadog in the prologue, and the bosun we meet briefly, leave lasting impressions on both the story but also the reader. And a special shout out has to go to Quinn, who was one of those characters who set my teeth on edge and had an itch growing beneath my skin, and yet at the same time, lulled me in, a quiet sea hiding a dangerous riptide.

Sea of Souls is a wonderfully multi-layered story. It is a family saga – a tale of both blood and found family, and honestly some of the best twists and turns in the story. Scrimgeour’s excellent character work leaving us utterly invested in everyone involved, which raised the emotional bar considerably. It also has a very strong through thread of caring for the ocean, exploring how the expansion of human activities on the ocean has driven the conflict, not just with the selkies but with many denizens of the oceans, and how that in turn has become a vicious cycle of both sides trying to survive, until neither side is in the right and all that is promised is an ending that will be terrible for all.

It also asks, and confronts the question of what makes a monster? And what does it mean to be human? It’s a question that often arises, often in folktales, but here it was opened up much like those who were torn open, allowing us to see all the messy bits hidden within. I think this is why Isla and Eimhir are so brilliant in their respective roles and together, because they have in their own ways both been the monster and the human – they’ve walked in both pairs of shoes – and have the ability to see beyond the rigid definitions around them, not easily, and not without pain and bloodshed. But, it’s that spark of hope and opportunity, that idea that one little pebble can start an avalanche.

It is also very much a story about belonging and acceptance, and about finding your place in the world, even if that means taking the harder path or fighting against ‘destiny’ itself. Privilege. Wealth. Family. You can have all that, but still have nothing. You can have a home, that is not a home. A future, that is worse than no future at all.

I also cannot finish this review without talking about the writing, because Scrimgeour’s writing was spectacular throughout. The descriptions were visceral to the point where you felt the chill of the mists seeping in (and oh I loved that imagery, having seen the haar roll in many times), the terror of those moments, the hurt of the characters. The action when it came was gripping and punchy, and the horror of it brilliantly captured. I’ve already said about the Scottish words that were used, and the author balanced that perfectly, so that you weren’t bogged down in the terminology, but it very firmly gave a sense of time and place and influence, and if you’re familiar with the words it was a lovely nod. The prologue was fantastic, and really set the tone of this being a book firmly rooted in folklore, and I loved that it felt like it was a oral story for that first taste of what the sea of souls had to offer.

AND THAT ENDING.

My heart.

Can I have more please?

Sea of Souls is a strong start to a new series, and it is safe to say it will be in my top reads of 2023 and has given me a new series and author to follow closely. Perfect for anyone who enjoys dark fantasy, folklorish fantasy, with one of the best takes on Selkies I’ve seen. This book has everything, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.