Review: Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan
Blurb:
This gloriously imaginative debut fantasy, inspired by East Asian mythology and ocean folk tales, is a novel of magic, rebellion and change.
"An unforgettable, must-read fantasy,"--Shelley Parker-Chan
Welcome to Tiankawi - shining pearl of human civilization and a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest. Or at least, that's how it first appears. But in the semi-flooded city, humans are, quite literally, on top: peering down from shining towers and aerial walkways on the fathomfolk - sirens, seawitches, kelpies and kappas - who live in the polluted waters below.
For half-siren Mira, promotion to captain of the border guard means an opportunity to help her downtrodden people. But if earning the trust and respect of her human colleagues wasn't hard enough, everything Mira has worked towards is put in jeopardy when Nami, a know-it-all water dragon and fathomfolk princess - is exiled to the city, under Mira’s watch. When extremists sabotage a city festival, violence erupts, as does the clampdown on fathomfolk rights. Both Nami and Mira must decide if the cost of change is worth paying, or if Tiankawi should be left to drown.
Review:
This was one of my most anticipated reads, partly because if you give me a mishmash of creatures from different folklore and put them together I will go absolutely feral, and partly because I briefly met Eliza at a convention and she was unbelievably lovely.
I was all the more disappointed that it didn’t grab me the way I had hoped. Let me be clear, I was not disappointed in the book, I was disappointed in my response to the book. The book itself is…fine.
Humans have destroyed the water that Fathomfolk, or Folk, live in. They word as a whole is unstable and collapsing (hence the blurb comparison to The Bone Shard Daughter) and those caught in the collapse really only have one place to flee to. We spend nearly all of the book in the semi-flooded city of Tiankawi, a city of humans and Folk, both from Tiankawi and refugees from outside. But like any story where there are mixed species, the cohabitation is anything but simple. Folk are discriminated against, slapped with ability halting bracelets so they cannot harm the humans, there are slurs shouted, printed and graffitied around. Humans of course see no problem with this because they’re in charge and things are mostly fine for them (despite the fact they live in a sinking world and cannot survive in water – but that is somewhat touched upon). All this is pretty standard for books approaching refugees and with marked differences between species/races.
I loved the different mythologies that came together in Fathomfolk, sirens, kelpies, kappas, water dragons, baiji, dratsie. No complaints there. So I don’t say any of this as a negative. I am saying it because it meant that the characters really needed to bring something new to the table or shine in whatever ways they’re depicted.
“Not everything needs to reinvent the wheel!” Very true. The wheel is good, I have no complaints about the wheel – except those weird square ones some bikes have. Those are weird. But I digress. – The characters just fell a little flat for me.
Half-siren Mira is just good. Her promotion at the start of the book shows her determination to improve things for her people (and the Council to tick boxes, which is an excellent scene where they’re discussion her promotion and them patting themselves on the back for their ‘diversity hire’). Even while she’s just good, she still makes questionable decisions backed by good intent, has mostly reasonable emotions and blow outs, and tries to pick a fight to end things with her boyfriend, Kai. She still felt a bit flat by being just, at her entire character’s core, good but not as much as Kai.
Kai just irritated me. He’s just too good. I feel like you could replace him with anything that could also transform into a dragon and it’d stay the same as a story. “My girlfriend left me but it’s ok because she’s hurting and I’ll show her I’ve listened.” You’re gonna listen yourself into an early grave! But he’s the established love interest, Mira approves, her mother approves, everyone approves so fine he can stay.
His sister on the other hand! Nami had some big ideas that were too much for her boots…. Dragon claws? …Ok this didn’t quite work the way I wanted it do. Anyway, she’s in Tiankawi as a “Go live topside with your brother and not destroy anything” type punishment. Naturally, she has to destroy anything. Which brings us to our super cool rebel group that Nami immediately gets involved with. Except they’re not really super cool rebels, they’re just anti-human extremists.
“Does she become an extremist?!”
“Does she realise Mira’s way forward was the right one all along?”
What she does do is make a lot of bad decisions. Not questionable, just straight up bad. And the one at the very end, after everything that has happened, I wanted to shake her. But it was a stressful time and the other character was super attractive and blah blah blah. We’ve all been there. Still come on, Nami! Make better choices! Think about the last six months!
Cordelia was probably the most interesting character and not just because I loved Ursula singing Poor Unfortunate Souls as a child. She is everything underhanded you want in a sea witch. I could have had a whole crime book about Cordelia just getting people into agreements and all that happens with that. We didn’t really get that but I would like it if the story presented itself.
For all that I couldn’t quite get this to vibe with me, I’ve had some friends and other book reviewers with opinions I respect rave how much they loved Fathomfolk. I agree with them on the social commentary threaded throughout, except maybe the last little bit where we end things. That was weird to me and I’m not entirely sure why that needed to happen that way. Bit of a head scratcher. But generally, I was with the messages and how they fit in the wider world of boring real life that doesn’t have Fathomfolk. All in all, it is a very solid debut of a book with good bones and if nothing else I look forward to seeing what Eliza brings us going forward.
