Blurb:
‘You cannot fix this world alone, selkie.’
‘I know. But, when we die, all that is left are shadows of our lives preserved in the memories of those who remain. I plan on leaving an exceptionally long shadow, filled with ripples of moonlight for those I helped, and darker than the worst of nightmares for those who wronged us.’
How far would you go to save your skin?
I’m a selkie, trapped above the waves until I can recover my skin. Humans used to call us seal-wives many years ago – before they broke the planet. I thought that less humans, after the warming, would mean less danger. My kind believed our world was finally recovering.
We were wrong.
Up here, the magic is fading and Old Ones like me are being traded as trophies for rich and powerful humans to display in collections.
Without the Old Ones, the magic fades, without magic, the planet dies.
Humankind has gone too far and someone has to put a stop to it, I just wasn’t expecting it to be me.
As the selkie begins her hunt, far to the south on his enormous pleasure ship, Barge, Lord Sal hunts for missing Old Ones with a grand plan to leave his own mark on the world. Icidro and Prince Ulises are searching for them too, and this is a world where money talks louder than morals.
Review:
The Skin gripped from the prologue, where I encountered fantasy beings and creatures I have not encountered before. The plotting is clever and intricate over the first half of the book, where we have three distinct POVs. Without giving anything away to spoil the story, I will just say that for a debut novel, the author took a very brave course which leads to a satisfying pay off about halfway through the story where certain plot threads and timelines converge.
The Skin is a very character driven story, with political intrigue and plots, subterfuge, assassinations, heists and rescue missions. Lord Sal and his Barge is a particular favourite aspect of the story. It is unlike anything I have read before. Set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy version of Earth, where humans are mainly seafaring people, with the use of some old technologies that have either survived or been adapted in some way. The world-building, as I’ve mentioned, is unique and very interesting due to the speculative aspect of post-apocalyptic world. What happened? How did certain technologies survive? All questions that kept me fascinated throughout, whether I got the answers or not, it all added to the mysterious feel of it all.
The magic of the world is also very intriguing, and linked to nature, which is a big theme running throughout the story. One of my favourite aspects was a character who can commune with birds and also see through their eyes – Cor is a great animal companion addition to the book, but like most things in this world, he is also multifaceted, and things are not always what the appear.
The Skin is a very accomplished debut, that I have thought frequently about since finishing it. It’s a story that will get under your skin, and linger long in the memory afterwards… I can’t wait to get to the sequel.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
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