The Forever Sea

November 2, 2020
Johnson debuts with a captivating secondary-world eco-fantasy that follows hearthfire keeper Kindred as she sails the Forever Sea, a vast ocean of prairie whose grasses hide both wonder and danger. When political conflict in Arcadia, a magical enclave within the Sea, forces the crew of The Errant to flee Arcadia, Kindred manipulates the crew to suit her own goal: seeking out the fabled, pirate base of Once-City in hopes of finding clues about her grandmother’s disappearance. But the denizens of Once-City prove more complex and more dangerous than Kindred and the crew expected, and they soon become embroiled in a tangled political web. Johnson’s worldbuilding is highly original, but the story occasionally veers a little too far toward the conceptual at the expense of plot. Lush descriptions of plant life abound, which some readers may find slows the narrative—but that slower pace makes for relaxing reading and, when combined with the exceptional protagonist and themes of embracing the unknown, calls to mind Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series. With a good balance of grit and tenderness, this entertaining story makes a nice addition to the growing hopepunk subgenre. Agent: Alexander Cochran, C+W Agency.

Starred review from January 1, 2021

Twist is a town terrorized by the creatures of the dark and given respite by the coming of the Storyteller. The teller tells the tale of Kindred, a young firekeeper on a ship that sails and harvests the grasses of the prairies of the Forever Sea, a sea of grass and blooming plants. Kindred, an orphan raised by her grandmother and a famous ship captain, is taught the craft of the hearthfire, a magical burning mixture of bones of dead sea captains and plants in a basin that fuels the motion of the ship. This, along with the wind in the sails, keeps them afloat.VERDICT Johnson's beautiful coming-of-age saga touches on subjects of conservation, water rights, morality, and relationships, without mentioning them outright. The world he builds is very different from ours but with some of the same problems. The book's setting and plot are so original as to be a breath of fresh air to the fantasy genre.--Cynde Suite, Bartow Cty. Lib. Syst., Adairsville, GA

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Starred review from January 1, 2021
Johnson's debut presents a world covered in the vast grasses of the Forever Sea, and intrepid sailors cross the endless plains through the magical power of hearth fires stoked with the enchanted bones of former captains. One junior hearth fire keeper, Kindred Greyreach, serves on one of the many boats operating out of Arcadia, a prosperous island nation that magically flattens and tames the grasses surrounding it. When Kindred's ship docks, she and her crew discover that Kindred's grandmother, the famed captain Marchess, seemingly stepped overboard into the Forever Sea, and that Arcadia has become almost completely dominated by the greedy politician Cantrev. The crew, led by Captain Caraway, flees from a mob of Cantrev's supporters and begins a journey that will take them into the heart of the pirate-dominated Roughs, and possibly to the fabled Once-City itself. Kindred must try to keep her crew and herself alive while solving the mystery of her grandmother's final actions. In this rich and well-realized world, magic has an ecological price as well as profit, and conflicts are between equally complicated communities rather than simplistic good vs. evil. This ending of this excellent debut promises more adventures in its fragile, Miyazaki-esque world.

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