Welcome to A Month of Rain and Reads, a celebration of self-published and indie SFF throughout the entire month of November. To find out how you can take part and view the whole list of content, visit our introduction post.
I received a free copy of this book, and I read it as part of the judging effort for the SFINCS3 novella competition. I’m part of Team TBR, but these thoughts are my own and do not reflect the final rating of the team.
The Drowned Heir
By Jennifer R. Donohue
The Drowned Heir is one of those books I knew was going to be excellent from just the first few hundred words. I don’t remember what those words were, and I don’t know why they had that impression on me. What I remember is a sense of rightness, like of settling in for a long ride in a comfy seat with some good music and no responsibilities.
There’s a kind of melancholy fatefulness to the story, like everything is inevitable and already decided and there’s nothing to do but live through it all no matter what. It’s very fitting.
The book begins with our main character being drowned – ritually.
Through the drowning, her body makes space for her dead uncle’s spirit to inhabit it. In her body, her uncle gets a second chance at life. Only, our main character’s spirit remains, too. She’s trapped with her surly grumpy uncle in a body that used to be hers, and that’s now also his.
Unsettling. Fascinating.
I don’t recall having read a book like this before, and even if I have, it didn’t treat the subject in this way. Wasn’t written in this way. Wasn’t this book.
This book is great.
It’s calm, quiet, and dignified. It doesn’t rush, it doesn’t try to impress, and it doesn’t make a big deal of itself. This book doesn’t need to.
The Drowned Heir is a story about a young woman’s experience of a situation she’s wholly unprepared to navigate, and the book never loses sight of that. There are hints of wonders and mysteries just beyond the edges, but they’re not explained or revealed, and they become all the more real for it.
This book knows that stories are about characters.
What I’ll whine about
This is going to sound silly, but I would like to know more about the world. I’d like more stories in the world. This isn’t because there’s not enough of it shown, but because it’s fascinating. The story has all the world building it needs, but it only offers a small glimpse into what seems like a fascinating culture, and I want more.
What I’ll gush about
Vibe. I touched upon this earlier, about how the story is melancholy and fateful, and I absolutely love how it does that. Everything is all very matter of fact and a bit subdued. There are no strong emotions shown on the page, but that just serves to make me as a reader feel them all the stronger.
I also noticed while writing this review that none of the characters encountered are referred to by name. I didn’t even reflect on this while reading the book, but now that I’ve noticed, I can’t help but wonder how I didn’t even think about it.
Final words
The Drowned Heir is an exceptionally well told story, about unusual circumstances and strange occurrences that feel rather normal unless you stop to think about it.
