Tremontaine: Season One Volume One

Tremontaine: Season One Volume One (2016) by Patty Bryant, Joel Derfner, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Ellen Kushner, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese and Paul Witcover

Let me explain… No, let me sum up.

There is a book called Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner that is one of my favorites–a comfort read.

After Swordspoint came The Fall of the Kings, co-written with Delia Sherman, then came The Privilege of the Sword, which a sequel of sorts to
Then there is Tremontaine, which is a prequel to Swordspoint, set years before, when Diane, the Duchess Tremontaine has not yet become the power behind the political machinations, although she is the power behind her husband’s politics.

The duke had spent the better part of two decades not noticing things about his duchess, after all, and, unbeknownst to him, it had served him well.

But aside from Diane, there characters new to the series:

Micah the mathematical genius.

“Silver?” Tess shouted. “I’ll give you twenty brass minnows, and that’s more than they’re worth.”

“Ten silver, then, and I’ll throw in a good linen shirt.”

“Micah already has a shirt. Three.”

Micah stopped paying attention. The numbers seemed random to her, and she didn’t understand how Tess could make them change just by arguing about it.

Kaab the fallen daughter of Baalm chocolate traders.

“I am a first daughter of a first daughter of the Balam. I have been trained from birth to the service. I do not get lost.” For very long, she amended internally, for honesty’s sake. Confusing left and north didn’t count.

Rafe Fenton the scholar and son of a local merchant.

“My argument is with my father, not with you. And as my father isn’t here to listen, I’m afraid I have been rude to no purpose.”

“But you would be rude to a purpose?” she asked. He blinked.

“Well . . . of course. Even my enemies would grant me that.”

and many others.

We also get appearances by familiar characters including a younger Vincent Applethorpe.

It’s interesting, though I will admit that I was initially unsure about Kinwiinik–the spelling of all the names and words were a bit much, but eventually I got used to the names and was able to keep people straight. Mostly.

The different chapters (or episodes) are written by different authors, so there is a different feel to each chapter, but it still flows well, and if some chapters I liked better than others, well, that’s fine.

The first chapter is available for free, if you wanted to see if this was for you. I’m looking forward to Season Two.
Rating: 7.5/10

Published by Serial Box

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