Lots of fantasy novels have magic. Some have brave warriors carrying long swords. A few might even have pirates sailing on wooden ships on the open sea. These Rebel Waves by Sarah Raasch takes fantasy to a whole new level by combining all three. The story is told from the point of view of three different characters, alternating the narrative from chapter to chapter: Adeluna (Lu) is a soldier who fought to bring down the oppressive forces who once controlled her country. Vex is a notorious pirate, who holds no allegiance to any government. He trades in the forbidden magic of Grace Loran. Benat (Ben) is heir to the throne of Argrid and finds himself torn between his loyalty to his father and secretly supporting the use of forbidden magic.

These Rebel Waves begins after Grace Loran’s revolution has ended. The fighting may have stopped but the battles continue. Instead of the clashing of swords, the conflicts have transformed into orchestrated plots to undermine anyone with any connections to magic. The storyline loosely mirrors the events of the Spanish Inquisition. Anyone accused of using magic are labeled as heretics and burned to death.

The first part of the book moves slowly. I’ll admit I didn’t feel particularly drawn into the story at first. The early chapters are dedicated to laying out the political atmosphere and are rather disjointed. The second half of the book, however, had me hooked! The plot begins to move full steam ahead. Lies are exposed and masks are uncovered and a chess match of political moves begins. It’s a race to see who can out maneuver who.

Several times I found myself peeking at how many pages were left and hoping the plot wouldn’t end abruptly. But of course, it is Book One of the series and the ending left me dangling with anticipation. Book Two (These Divided Shores) will be released in 2019, so it will be an entire year before the fate of Lu, Vex and Ben is discovered. Luckily, author Sara Raasch has another series, Snow Lie Ashes, to keep me busy until then.

— Lesley L.