Justice at Sea
Christian Klaver’s delightful fantasy novel Justice at Sea blends faerie magic with historical elements to spectacular effect.
Justice, of the House of Thorns, is bound to the powerful faerie court through blood and tradition. She only recently learned about her status as a faerie, and she struggles to understand herself and her family’s place in this magical situation. Justice is one of seven virtuous siblings who are prophesied to defeat the evil faeries trying to take over the world. Thus, with her family, she sets out to reconquer Victorian England and find lost friends.
But the land Justice enters is strange and terrifying: faerie magic has transformed it, and London is in ruin, while evil beasts run through the countryside. Further, the country is surrounded by an impenetrable wall of mist that makes travel difficult. Behind the veil of mist, time moves faster, and London is years into its occupation by the evil Seelie Faerie Court. Justice and her family are aided by outcast faeries, as well as dwarfs, merfolk, trolls, and goblins. With only five of the virtues known, and because not all of them are on Justice’s side, the family splinters, and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
The two forces battle each across from the decks of masted ships and in the magical and terrifying English countryside. Justice struggles with demons and fairies, trying to understand the cryptic prophecy of her birth. Exciting surprises abound in this world, wherein dragons are just as likely to invite you to tea as to have you for dinner, where swords are made of living shadows, and where sharks walk on land in grey suits.
Justice at Sea is a thrilling novel with dramatic battles, compelling family dramas, and a nation overrun by bloodthirsty faeries.
Reviewed by
Jeremiah Rood
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