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plumpaperbacks's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
CW: violence, gore (There's a full list of content warnings by chapter in the back of the novel.)
Those of you that know me know that I adore Julia Ember's novels. This one was no exception. With a queer shield-maiden/mermaid romance, revenge, Norse mythology, a morally gray protagonist, and a pitch describing it as a Captain Hook origin story, what's not to love?
Ragna is an amazing, albeit brutal protagonist that I couldn't help but root for. She wanted revenge on the men that wronged her, but that wasn't the extent of her character. She was admirably strong and badass without losing her sensitivity. And she's only got one hand, as the other was lost in battle and replaced by a hook, so yeah, she's undeniably epic.
The side characters were just as three-dimensional and enjoyable. Ersel, Loki, Honor, Aslaug, and Torstein are all likable for various reasons, even though one of them in particular is particularly devious. Ersel was a colorful, innocent sweetheart that could also strangle you with her tentacles, 10/10 want to hug and wrap in a heated blanket. I love my queer mermaid, even though she's not the star this time around.
The story features a genderfluid character and a nonbinary character that both use they/them pronouns, as well as a character of color and a fat protagonist. I don't share any of those identities, but I wanted to point out these details. All of them are prominent in the story.
If there was one thing that I wasn't such a fan of, it was the ending. Currently, this is only a duology, so it's (unfortunately) likely that there won't be any more books in this world, with these characters. And while the story was technically wrapped up very well, it wasn't what I'd hoped. I know that a book can't please every reader, but I was really hoping that we could see Ersel and Ragna truly be together. Not to mention that there could totally be another book with dual POV, as Ersel explored the world and Ragna completed her quest for Loki. (I could also just be a slightly desperate lesbian.)
(For whatever reason, I can't figure out how to add gifs, but pretend the "I want more" one from the Disney movie is here.)
Overall, I did love this book. I devoured it in about a day, and I cannot wait to see what fantastical queer masterpiece Julia will release next.
(And recommend her books to everyone I know in the meantime.)
CW: violence, gore (There's a full list of content warnings by chapter in the back of the novel.)
Those of you that know me know that I adore Julia Ember's novels. This one was no exception. With a queer shield-maiden/mermaid romance, revenge, Norse mythology, a morally gray protagonist, and a pitch describing it as a Captain Hook origin story, what's not to love?
Ragna is an amazing, albeit brutal protagonist that I couldn't help but root for. She wanted revenge on the men that wronged her, but that wasn't the extent of her character. She was admirably strong and badass without losing her sensitivity. And she's only got one hand, as the other was lost in battle and replaced by a hook, so yeah, she's undeniably epic.
The side characters were just as three-dimensional and enjoyable. Ersel, Loki, Honor, Aslaug, and Torstein are all likable for various reasons, even though one of them in particular is particularly devious. Ersel was a colorful, innocent sweetheart that could also strangle you with her tentacles, 10/10 want to hug and wrap in a heated blanket. I love my queer mermaid, even though she's not the star this time around.
The story features a genderfluid character and a nonbinary character that both use they/them pronouns, as well as a character of color and a fat protagonist. I don't share any of those identities, but I wanted to point out these details. All of them are prominent in the story.
If there was one thing that I wasn't such a fan of, it was the ending. Currently, this is only a duology, so it's (unfortunately) likely that there won't be any more books in this world, with these characters. And while the story was technically wrapped up very well, it wasn't what I'd hoped. I know that a book can't please every reader, but I was really hoping that we could see Ersel and Ragna truly be together. Not to mention that there could totally be another book with dual POV, as Ersel explored the world and Ragna completed her quest for Loki. (I could also just be a slightly desperate lesbian.)
Overall, I did love this book. I devoured it in about a day, and I cannot wait to see what fantastical queer masterpiece Julia will release next.
ruthsic's review against another edition
4.0
Warnings (as provided on publisher's site, and in the book): murder of a child, beating with a belt, discussion of torture, animal death, graphic depiction of battle injuries, depiction of a human-eating monster, graphic execution, imprisonment of children, violence, depiction of kidnapping
Companion to [b:The Seafarer's Kiss|32890474|The Seafarer's Kiss (The Seafarer's Kiss #1)|Julia Ember|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1483057856s/32890474.jpg|53505399], this book continues the story from Ragna's perspective as she seeks to get revenge on those who harmed her village, as well as hoping to find her lost cousin. Since being a captain on her own ship (well, which she won), she has to decide how to effectively lead her crew into what promises to be a battle. Additionally, she also has to gain allies to defeat the people who invaded her village. Her one currency in this whole thing is her god-given power to have maps to what she seeks, and with Loki seeking to use this power, it is a battle of wills and deals.
The world-building in this book is naturally quite different to that in the previous, and has Ragna growing into a leader from a warrior. She is hard, and bitter, and constantly paranoid of her crew, which doesn't make for a good voyage. Additionally, her superstitious crew is afraid of Ersel's presence, which is at times an asset to Ragna, but also drives a wedge in their relationship as Ersel is tired of being used for herself. Their romance is significantly better developed this time around, which is funny because this is the book that is NOT focusing on their romance. Anyway, between Ersel's fear of Loki, Loki seeking out Ragna, and Ragna seeking a Jarl's alliance, it makes for an interesting multi-layered plot.
There are many new characters introduced in this book, prominently Aslaug and Honor, the latter being the Jarl Ragna seeks favor from, and the former being Honor's right-hand warrior. The book shows further inclusion by having Honor being a black woman Jarl, and Aslaug as a non-binary character, who is in love with Honor. Through Honor, Ragna learns how to be a better captain for her crew, and manages to free her village's kids from captivity. The ending again leaves on an open note, but Ragna's story is still resolved well enough.
Shortly, a good companion novel with an interesting plot.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Interlude Press, via Netgalley.
Companion to [b:The Seafarer's Kiss|32890474|The Seafarer's Kiss (The Seafarer's Kiss #1)|Julia Ember|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1483057856s/32890474.jpg|53505399], this book continues the story from Ragna's perspective as she seeks to get revenge on those who harmed her village, as well as hoping to find her lost cousin. Since being a captain on her own ship (well, which she won), she has to decide how to effectively lead her crew into what promises to be a battle. Additionally, she also has to gain allies to defeat the people who invaded her village. Her one currency in this whole thing is her god-given power to have maps to what she seeks, and with Loki seeking to use this power, it is a battle of wills and deals.
The world-building in this book is naturally quite different to that in the previous, and has Ragna growing into a leader from a warrior. She is hard, and bitter, and constantly paranoid of her crew, which doesn't make for a good voyage. Additionally, her superstitious crew is afraid of Ersel's presence, which is at times an asset to Ragna, but also drives a wedge in their relationship as Ersel is tired of being used for herself. Their romance is significantly better developed this time around, which is funny because this is the book that is NOT focusing on their romance. Anyway, between Ersel's fear of Loki, Loki seeking out Ragna, and Ragna seeking a Jarl's alliance, it makes for an interesting multi-layered plot.
There are many new characters introduced in this book, prominently Aslaug and Honor, the latter being the Jarl Ragna seeks favor from, and the former being Honor's right-hand warrior. The book shows further inclusion by having Honor being a black woman Jarl, and Aslaug as a non-binary character, who is in love with Honor. Through Honor, Ragna learns how to be a better captain for her crew, and manages to free her village's kids from captivity. The ending again leaves on an open note, but Ragna's story is still resolved well enough.
Shortly, a good companion novel with an interesting plot.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Interlude Press, via Netgalley.
chloejadereads's review against another edition
2.0
Occasionally, there’s a book or series that seems like it has everything you could want, but sadly, you just never really jive with it. That’s what happened with me reading The Seafarer’s Kiss. It was marketed as an f/f retelling of The Little Mermaid with Norse Mythology elements. This had so many things I was supposed to enjoy. And I liked it well enough, but I never really got invested in this story.
Let’s start with the things I did enjoy. The characters are the strength of this novel. Our protagonist, Ragna, is a stone-cold badass driven by one thing: revenge. One tragic night, raiders murder her family and kidnap her for her special abilities. In the first novel, Ragna’s initial escape from her captures left her starving and lost on an ice shelf. Her saving grace came in the form of a mermaid named Ersel. Now, all she wants is to return to reclaim her home. This won’t be easy though. She and her crew have no reason to trust each other. And her ship can barely handle the punishing storms of the Northern Sea.
It was a nice change to follow a female protagonist so driven by vengeance that she’s willing to step on people to get it. She narrators this story in first-person and it becomes apparent that she be an unreliable narrator and a cruel captain. She believes that she must lead by fear. And she’s frankly terrible to Ersel throughout that book.
Other positives include the side characters. We have Aslaug who is a sweetheart and canonically non-binary. The trickster god Loki appears in this novel as well. In this series, Loki is portrayed accurately as genderfluid with singular "they" pronouns. Also, this book has a glossary! We get a couple of pages defining Norse terms and names. So helpful.
Now onto the negatives. As a romance, this novel was quite lacking. The emotional depth just isn’t there. I’m all for unlikeable characters, but I generally don’t enjoy them in romantic relationships. Ragna’s not in a position to be a good partner for Ersel. She treats people as a means to an end. She apologizes but keeps mistreating her. And Ersel is more mature and in a vulnerable state, having left her home and being out of her element (literally) for the first time. Ragna’s continued mistreatment of her made it difficult for me to get behind their relationship. When I think back to the first book, it becomes clear that Ersel feels more for Ragna than vice versa. That imbalance doesn’t help things.
The other major negative for me had to be pacing. We spend a lot of time building up for very little pay-off in the end. The novel isn’t long by any means (only 238 pages), but the pacing made it feel much longer than it was. This book follows Ragna during the time Ersel was away dealing with her plot in the first book. And it continues from when they join forces at the end. We also flashback to Ragna’s childhood and kidnapping. As a result, the timeline of the feels quite disjointed.
This book can be read as a standalone if you don’t mind spoiling the ending of The Seafarer’s Kiss.
I truly wanted to enjoy this series but was left disappointed. If there’s another novel after this, I think I will pass on it.
Let’s start with the things I did enjoy. The characters are the strength of this novel. Our protagonist, Ragna, is a stone-cold badass driven by one thing: revenge. One tragic night, raiders murder her family and kidnap her for her special abilities. In the first novel, Ragna’s initial escape from her captures left her starving and lost on an ice shelf. Her saving grace came in the form of a mermaid named Ersel. Now, all she wants is to return to reclaim her home. This won’t be easy though. She and her crew have no reason to trust each other. And her ship can barely handle the punishing storms of the Northern Sea.
It was a nice change to follow a female protagonist so driven by vengeance that she’s willing to step on people to get it. She narrators this story in first-person and it becomes apparent that she be an unreliable narrator and a cruel captain. She believes that she must lead by fear. And she’s frankly terrible to Ersel throughout that book.
Other positives include the side characters. We have Aslaug who is a sweetheart and canonically non-binary. The trickster god Loki appears in this novel as well. In this series, Loki is portrayed accurately as genderfluid with singular "they" pronouns. Also, this book has a glossary! We get a couple of pages defining Norse terms and names. So helpful.
Now onto the negatives. As a romance, this novel was quite lacking. The emotional depth just isn’t there. I’m all for unlikeable characters, but I generally don’t enjoy them in romantic relationships. Ragna’s not in a position to be a good partner for Ersel. She treats people as a means to an end. She apologizes but keeps mistreating her. And Ersel is more mature and in a vulnerable state, having left her home and being out of her element (literally) for the first time. Ragna’s continued mistreatment of her made it difficult for me to get behind their relationship. When I think back to the first book, it becomes clear that Ersel feels more for Ragna than vice versa. That imbalance doesn’t help things.
The other major negative for me had to be pacing. We spend a lot of time building up for very little pay-off in the end. The novel isn’t long by any means (only 238 pages), but the pacing made it feel much longer than it was. This book follows Ragna during the time Ersel was away dealing with her plot in the first book. And it continues from when they join forces at the end. We also flashback to Ragna’s childhood and kidnapping. As a result, the timeline of the feels quite disjointed.
This book can be read as a standalone if you don’t mind spoiling the ending of The Seafarer’s Kiss.
I truly wanted to enjoy this series but was left disappointed. If there’s another novel after this, I think I will pass on it.
simonlorden's review against another edition
5.0
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
To lead this crew, I had to promise them the world and dangle their nightmares from the top of my silver hook.
Before I learned that The Navigator’s Touch was a retelling of Peter Pan, specifically Captain Hook, I wasn’t sure if it would be a sequel, or more like a companion novel that tells the story of what Ragna was doing while Ersel was fighting for her own freedom. In the end, it was both. It’s mostly a sequel, but a few flashback chapters tell us how Ragna lost her hand and got her own crew… that she doesn’t trust.
A lot of this book is about Ragna’s relationship to her crew, which I really enjoyed. Their development in the second half of the book makes you wonder about how reliable Ragna is as a narrator, and whether she was really judging her crew correctly up until that point.
Ragna is a flawed person in many ways – she is motivated by revenge, trauma holds her back from trusting people, and she has the tendency to treat those around her quite badly, including her crew and Ersel. This changes somewhat towards the end, and her progression was interesting to see.
(...)
Overall, I enjoyed both The Seafarer’s Kiss and The Navigator’s Touch, and I actually ended up rating this one a star higher than the first book. I am eager to see where the story goes, because it didn’t sound like the end is anywhere near.
(Also: I would love to see good fanart of Ragna’s marks, because damn.)
Read the full review on A Thousand Worlds.
To lead this crew, I had to promise them the world and dangle their nightmares from the top of my silver hook.
Before I learned that The Navigator’s Touch was a retelling of Peter Pan, specifically Captain Hook, I wasn’t sure if it would be a sequel, or more like a companion novel that tells the story of what Ragna was doing while Ersel was fighting for her own freedom. In the end, it was both. It’s mostly a sequel, but a few flashback chapters tell us how Ragna lost her hand and got her own crew… that she doesn’t trust.
A lot of this book is about Ragna’s relationship to her crew, which I really enjoyed. Their development in the second half of the book makes you wonder about how reliable Ragna is as a narrator, and whether she was really judging her crew correctly up until that point.
Ragna is a flawed person in many ways – she is motivated by revenge, trauma holds her back from trusting people, and she has the tendency to treat those around her quite badly, including her crew and Ersel. This changes somewhat towards the end, and her progression was interesting to see.
(...)
Overall, I enjoyed both The Seafarer’s Kiss and The Navigator’s Touch, and I actually ended up rating this one a star higher than the first book. I am eager to see where the story goes, because it didn’t sound like the end is anywhere near.
(Also: I would love to see good fanart of Ragna’s marks, because damn.)
Read the full review on A Thousand Worlds.
megan7b386's review against another edition
4.0
Disclaimer: I received this free from the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Ragna is a skilled warrior and is on a quest for revenge and to save her home. She was dragged away in the middle of the night, her family murdered, her village destroyed. Now she is back, ready to reclaim her home and free the children who are held captive. However, she only has a mermaid and a disloyal crew to aid her in her mission. She crosses the Northsea in hope of aid from a Jarl in Skjordal. However, the Jarl only sees an inexperienced leader, not quite yet worthy of aid. In order to gain her help, she must gain the respect of the Jarl and also of her own crew.
I read The Seafarer’s Kiss just the other week, and you can read my review here, and I liked it but didn’t love it. But, The Navigator’s Touch is a little bit of an improvement for me. The Navigator’s Touch has a different character as the protagonist than The Seafarer’s Kiss. It follows Ragna, our Viking shieldmaiden, rather than Ersel, our mermaid/human/Kraken.
While The Seafarer’s Kiss was a retelling of The Little Mermaid, The Navigator’s Touch takes inspiration from Peter Pan. Most obviously, Captain Hook as Ragna loses her hand in battle with the man who was responsible for the destruction of her village and her kidnapping and she then replaces it with a Hook and then captains her own ship.
The romance was between Ragna and Ersel was healthier than it was in The Seafarer’s Kiss, and Ragna became aware of how she was treating Ersel as just a weapon to keep her crew in line and to gain favour with other people rather than treating her as a person. The romance wasn’t really much of a focus in The Navigator’s Touch as the story focused more on Ragna and her quest for revenge. The Navigator’s Touch also featured another non-binary character aside from Loki, they are called Aslaug and is the Jarl’s right-hand warrior.
My favourite part of The Navigator’s Touch was both the world-building, as it was very atmospheric, and I also really loved the Norse mythology and how Julia Ember weaved the mythology into the character’s worldview. Ragna was also a fierce and formidable protagonist. What really let me down a bit was the plot and pacing as it went over a lot of what I already knew from the Seafarer’s Kiss and actually repeated some of the stuff that had happened. Because of this, The Navigator’s Touch actually probably could be read on its own if you haven’t yet read The Seafarer’s Kiss.
But other than that, The Navigator’s Touch was a relatively fun read full of mermaids, mythology, and Vikings!
Ragna is a skilled warrior and is on a quest for revenge and to save her home. She was dragged away in the middle of the night, her family murdered, her village destroyed. Now she is back, ready to reclaim her home and free the children who are held captive. However, she only has a mermaid and a disloyal crew to aid her in her mission. She crosses the Northsea in hope of aid from a Jarl in Skjordal. However, the Jarl only sees an inexperienced leader, not quite yet worthy of aid. In order to gain her help, she must gain the respect of the Jarl and also of her own crew.
I read The Seafarer’s Kiss just the other week, and you can read my review here, and I liked it but didn’t love it. But, The Navigator’s Touch is a little bit of an improvement for me. The Navigator’s Touch has a different character as the protagonist than The Seafarer’s Kiss. It follows Ragna, our Viking shieldmaiden, rather than Ersel, our mermaid/human/Kraken.
While The Seafarer’s Kiss was a retelling of The Little Mermaid, The Navigator’s Touch takes inspiration from Peter Pan. Most obviously, Captain Hook as Ragna loses her hand in battle with the man who was responsible for the destruction of her village and her kidnapping and she then replaces it with a Hook and then captains her own ship.
The romance was between Ragna and Ersel was healthier than it was in The Seafarer’s Kiss, and Ragna became aware of how she was treating Ersel as just a weapon to keep her crew in line and to gain favour with other people rather than treating her as a person. The romance wasn’t really much of a focus in The Navigator’s Touch as the story focused more on Ragna and her quest for revenge. The Navigator’s Touch also featured another non-binary character aside from Loki, they are called Aslaug and is the Jarl’s right-hand warrior.
My favourite part of The Navigator’s Touch was both the world-building, as it was very atmospheric, and I also really loved the Norse mythology and how Julia Ember weaved the mythology into the character’s worldview. Ragna was also a fierce and formidable protagonist. What really let me down a bit was the plot and pacing as it went over a lot of what I already knew from the Seafarer’s Kiss and actually repeated some of the stuff that had happened. Because of this, The Navigator’s Touch actually probably could be read on its own if you haven’t yet read The Seafarer’s Kiss.
But other than that, The Navigator’s Touch was a relatively fun read full of mermaids, mythology, and Vikings!
lejazzhotbaby's review against another edition
5.0
I received a free copy of this from the author in return for an honest review.
So...there's gonna be more...right?
I read The Navigator's Touch as a standalone. The story focused on Ragna leading her ship across the waters to get revenge on those who destroyed her home and to save her cousin. It's a really hard-hitting tale that will leave you with a lot of feelings.
The non-binary characters, including Loki, were incredibly important to me. Mythos suggests that it's possible and it's wonderful to see. They're such an interesting and complex character and if I hadn't been fascinated them for years anyway, I would be now. I also just need more non-binary characters in my life.
The romance felt rather minor in this book but it was cute. Ragna and Ersel are complicated but they care for each other truly and I like that. Plus yay for a sapphic teen fantasy!
All the characters in this book were good, the world building is awesome and I loved it.
Now I need to go and read the first book for sure.
So...there's gonna be more...right?
I read The Navigator's Touch as a standalone. The story focused on Ragna leading her ship across the waters to get revenge on those who destroyed her home and to save her cousin. It's a really hard-hitting tale that will leave you with a lot of feelings.
The non-binary characters, including Loki, were incredibly important to me. Mythos suggests that it's possible and it's wonderful to see. They're such an interesting and complex character and if I hadn't been fascinated them for years anyway, I would be now. I also just need more non-binary characters in my life.
The romance felt rather minor in this book but it was cute. Ragna and Ersel are complicated but they care for each other truly and I like that. Plus yay for a sapphic teen fantasy!
All the characters in this book were good, the world building is awesome and I loved it.
Now I need to go and read the first book for sure.
mxhermit's review against another edition
4.0
Content Warnings: from the publisher's website (interludepress.com/content-warnings):
Part 1, Chapter 4: Murder of a child, beating with a belt
Part 1, Chapter 11: Discussion of torture
Part 2, Chapter 1: Animal death, graphic depiction of battle injuries
Part 2, Chapter 4: Depiction of a human-eating monster, graphic execution
Part 2, Chapter 5: Imprisonment of children
General warnings: violence, depiction of kidnapping
Note: I have not yet read The Seafarer's Kiss. This review is based solely on the content within The Navigator's Touch without regard for character actions in previous works.
Mythology has long fascinated me as a source of inspiration for novels. I devoured them when I was younger, mainly anything that drew from Greek myths because the first book I remember reading was Edith Hamilton's Mythology in school.
Julia Ember's The Seafarer's Kiss and now The Navigator's Touch draws from the Norse pantheon and features gods, sea creatures, and Viking shield maidens, all fiercely written and strongly upheld on the page as they storm into adventure across ice fields, through frozen seas, and more.
Fraught with tension, The Navigator's Touch takes Ragna, Ersel, and the crew of their commandeered ship through treacherous seas and across the frozen land on a quest. Ragna wants vengeance for her family and to save whatever is left of it; the men, the mercenaries, gold she promised to secure their tenuous loyalty; and Ersel, the opportunity to see a world unlike the one she was born to.
Following them across the sea, through narrow straights full of icebergs that could destroy them at any moment, under the threat of Loki on Ersel's trail, was epic. There were flashbacks to Ragna's village before it was raided, her imprisonment by Haakon's men (the previous leader of her crew), her origin with Ersel, and more. This informs the reader of Ragna's motivations and why she's willing not only to sail through such treacherous waters, but to take on the added danger of a crew that may or may not turn on her at any moment.
As much fear, worry, tension, and other horrible things as there are in this book, there were also moments of respite. Ragna and Ersel share some moments that could almost be termed tender, though a relationship is not exactly how I would describe their situation. Perhaps it is the beginning of one, a foundation, because there is still much to learn, such as communication. Ragna takes liberities with decisions regarding Ersel's abilities and while she attempts to make up for them later, her rashness is a violation of the freedom that Ersel has and needs as she makes her way into the world and away from the potential prison she faced at the hands of Loki back beneath the sea. There was something in the these occurrences that made me think these two would need to work a lot out before coupledom was something they could claim.
Besides the more severe parts of the books, there are also some moments of pure wonder on Ersel's part as she travels inland for the first time and experiences things like seeing a horseshoe on a pony or touching a three-man-wide pine tree. Things that seem so simple to us, but to someone who's life is based on the bottom of the North Sea are incredible and entirely new. Julia Ember conveyed Ersel's joy, even told through Ragna's perspective, in a lovely way.
There are many themes found within The Navigator's Touch. There is love (in various forms), fear of mortality, vengeance, comradeship, sacrifice. These themes weave the characters together and, at times, away from each other, making for an engaging experience to read about.
The Navigator's Touch is book two in The Seafarer's Kiss series, but can be read as a standalone. Book one gives more background information on the relationship between Ersel the mermaid and Ragna the shield maiden, such as details on how they met, the origin of Ersel's shape changing abilities, etc.
I received a copy of this book as part of the Chapter by Chapter Book Tour in exchange for an honest review.
Part 1, Chapter 4: Murder of a child, beating with a belt
Part 1, Chapter 11: Discussion of torture
Part 2, Chapter 1: Animal death, graphic depiction of battle injuries
Part 2, Chapter 4: Depiction of a human-eating monster, graphic execution
Part 2, Chapter 5: Imprisonment of children
General warnings: violence, depiction of kidnapping
Note: I have not yet read The Seafarer's Kiss. This review is based solely on the content within The Navigator's Touch without regard for character actions in previous works.
Mythology has long fascinated me as a source of inspiration for novels. I devoured them when I was younger, mainly anything that drew from Greek myths because the first book I remember reading was Edith Hamilton's Mythology in school.
Julia Ember's The Seafarer's Kiss and now The Navigator's Touch draws from the Norse pantheon and features gods, sea creatures, and Viking shield maidens, all fiercely written and strongly upheld on the page as they storm into adventure across ice fields, through frozen seas, and more.
Fraught with tension, The Navigator's Touch takes Ragna, Ersel, and the crew of their commandeered ship through treacherous seas and across the frozen land on a quest. Ragna wants vengeance for her family and to save whatever is left of it; the men, the mercenaries, gold she promised to secure their tenuous loyalty; and Ersel, the opportunity to see a world unlike the one she was born to.
Following them across the sea, through narrow straights full of icebergs that could destroy them at any moment, under the threat of Loki on Ersel's trail, was epic. There were flashbacks to Ragna's village before it was raided, her imprisonment by Haakon's men (the previous leader of her crew), her origin with Ersel, and more. This informs the reader of Ragna's motivations and why she's willing not only to sail through such treacherous waters, but to take on the added danger of a crew that may or may not turn on her at any moment.
As much fear, worry, tension, and other horrible things as there are in this book, there were also moments of respite. Ragna and Ersel share some moments that could almost be termed tender, though a relationship is not exactly how I would describe their situation. Perhaps it is the beginning of one, a foundation, because there is still much to learn, such as communication. Ragna takes liberities with decisions regarding Ersel's abilities and while she attempts to make up for them later, her rashness is a violation of the freedom that Ersel has and needs as she makes her way into the world and away from the potential prison she faced at the hands of Loki back beneath the sea. There was something in the these occurrences that made me think these two would need to work a lot out before coupledom was something they could claim.
Besides the more severe parts of the books, there are also some moments of pure wonder on Ersel's part as she travels inland for the first time and experiences things like seeing a horseshoe on a pony or touching a three-man-wide pine tree. Things that seem so simple to us, but to someone who's life is based on the bottom of the North Sea are incredible and entirely new. Julia Ember conveyed Ersel's joy, even told through Ragna's perspective, in a lovely way.
There are many themes found within The Navigator's Touch. There is love (in various forms), fear of mortality, vengeance, comradeship, sacrifice. These themes weave the characters together and, at times, away from each other, making for an engaging experience to read about.
The Navigator's Touch is book two in The Seafarer's Kiss series, but can be read as a standalone. Book one gives more background information on the relationship between Ersel the mermaid and Ragna the shield maiden, such as details on how they met, the origin of Ersel's shape changing abilities, etc.
I received a copy of this book as part of the Chapter by Chapter Book Tour in exchange for an honest review.
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