Where Maia Is More than Even She Knows

Wrath of Olympus: Ships of Britannia Book 1 by E.M. Kkoulla
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fun, engaging indie novel, the start of a series, and I found it very entertaining. I have a couple opinions that prevented me throwing down a five, but it was close. I maybe should have given it the nod--but I suspect the sequel will meet that standard.

This tells the story of Maia, an unlucky young woman in a still-Roman Britain that resembles 19th century England. She's a slave, like many in that society, and suffers under a horrible mistress. The plot takes her away from that situation, with Maia qualifying (somehow) to train to become a Ship, the sort of spiritual embodiment of a wooden sailing ship, dwelling in the very fabric of the vessel. She doesn't believe she actually has any power, but goes through the training anyway, because it's not really up to her. Much of the story is her training, which is the kind of thing I don't love, but it well handled her and doesn't drag much. (This is the reason I expect to like the sequels more. We'll hopefully get straight into the story quicker.) When she gets on a real ship, the story moves along briskly.

There is a mystery about her past, who her real parents are, and something about that upsets the gods (both Roman and British) who sometimes reveal themselves in various ways. Maia's existence even summons an angry, confused ghost who tracks her movements, looking for her, burning people to death in the process. Working that out, getting to the bottom of the mystery, is the conclusion of this first book in the series.

I like the characters, especially Maia. She's not helpless but she's not immediately (or is not yet) any kind of superhero. She's a good person, but she's grounded enough to feel normal, neither priggish nor missish. I wouldn't say that she or anyone else feels terribly rounded yet, but the characters are complex enough in other ways to have their own voices and be sympathetic.

It's an interesting world with lots of promise. I'm looking forward to the next one.

View all my reviews