Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn – review

It feels weird to call this book vintage Shinn and mean it as the highest of all compliments, because I loved all five books in the Twelve Houses series, and last fall’s novella collection was a delight.  But Troubled Waters was the first stand-alone book in a new world in a very long time, and it reminded me afresh why she’s my favorite author. 

I went into this book without reading anything about it, not even the premise on the back, but I don’t think that made a difference in my reading experience:  the main story establishes itself within a few chapters.  Zoe’s once-influential-but-now-outcast father has died, and shortly after his funeral a man from the king’s court comes to her remote village to take her back to the capital city to be the fifth wife of the king.  At first Zoe is too subsumed in her grief to care, but once they reach the city she realizes she cares enough about her life to know she would rather slip away and live on the outermost fringe of society than accept the king’s offer.  As she rebuilds herself piece by piece, she comes to realize her heritage is much more than her father ever told her…more powerful than she had guessed and more necessary to the society as a whole than anyone had realized.  But Zoe, having lived free of obligations and politics for so long, will not allow her destiny to control her—and that makes her more dangerous than anyone could have suspected.  Most especially herself.

This wasn’t the most fast-paced novel Shinn has written, but it reads quickly, and the time it takes events to play out, even at a sometimes meandering pace, only makes Zoe’s journey both emotional and literal from where she starts to where she ends seem more real. 

In terms of scope and basic outline, this book reminded me a lot of Summers at Castle Auburn.  It features an outsider to the court whose attitude and opinions do not conform to society’s expectations, and whose intrinsic power makes her a catalyst for sweeping changes.  There’s court intrigues and a mystery to solve, and the steadfast, inscrutable man entrusted with protecting the king even from his own follies as the unlikely suitor.  If Auburn is your favorite Shinn book, you can stop reading now and just go get Troubled Waters, because you will love it.  I’ll need a few months and a few more re-reads to know if it actually surpasses it, but if not—still closer than any other book has come, for me. 

One standard I always judge fantasy worlds on is whether I want to visit them.  Not go for a drink with these particular characters, or live for myself these particular events, but actually just go visit the world itself, for the sake of itself.  I want to go to Welce.  I want to go into a temple and pull up a random blessing when I was in need of guidance or hope or advice.  I want to find three strangers to pull a blessing for my newborn (although I suppose this is actually the father’s role, since it’s done right away…interesting way of investing him in the child right away, though).  I want to see the Marisi River; I imagine it would be something like my own river, but I would like to see it to make the comparison.  It’s a low magic world, but full of a sense of wonder all the same. What magic there is would be impressive to see, if I were lucky enough to do so, but even if I wasn’t just knowing it was there would be pretty awesome.

Zoe made a wonderful heroine to cheer for.  At the start of the book, she was so fogged with grief that, reading, you just want her to wake up and care about something again.  When she does, it feels triumphant.  Later, as she repeatedly butts heads with the social protocols and the secrets at court, she becomes a champion of independence and honesty.  She is not unconcerned by the social strictures because she does not know better; she is unconcerned because she will not let them rule her, and it makes her a strong, relatable character.  She even has moments of hard pragmatism that grounded her optimistic outlook in the realities of the world; the one I remember (because it was sort of tragically hilarious in the context) is her thinking that a young guard in love with his charge enough to “give his life for her” would be the best protection a girl could have.  It’s true but unexpectedly cynical.  Darien made a mysterious, sometimes frustrating but always fascinating romantic lead, and his declaration at the end took me by surprise.  And made me go re-read the first few chapters immediately.

Bottom line:  I loved this book.  If you’re a fan of Sharon Shinn, you definitely want to pick it up, and if you have been wanting to read one of her books without having to commit to a series, this is definitely a good place to start.