Seraphina (Seraphina #1)

By Rachel Hartman

Publication Year: 2012

Type: Fiction

Genre: fantasy

Read on 2019-03-01

View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2019 Reading Survey ➞

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★★★★★

Astonishingly good. I’m really kind of blown away.

I haven’t really read fantasy since I was a kid, but this is like amped up fantasy that works for adults. The vocabulary alone is enough to make me swoon. The fantasy world building remind me of His Dark Materials but mixed with the political intrigue of Game of Thrones.

Slow start with a lot of made-up words and names but lots of characters and world to build and wonderful to discover so it wasn’t a chore to read. The dragons and magic are the best I have EVER read simply for the fact that they MAKE SENSE in this world. Via dragons, this book explores what it would be like for a sentient non-human species to interact with humans, and all of the political and social complexities and misunderstandings that would entail. It’s like there is still regular dragon-y dragon stuff like breathing fire and wings but the dragons are also kind of like aliens that don’t understand human emotion. The magic was so realistic and practical but also lyrical and haunting, with real limits which I so appreciate. It’s totally unique but still reminiscent of my childhood favs like Cornelia Funke’s Dragon Rider and Eragon. (I mean...Christopher Paolini WISHES).

A lot of people talk about the math elements but I didn’t see anything about the MUSIC before I read the book. UGH THE MUSIC. Somehow Rachel Hartman has managed to like write the way listening to a unique piece of music feels in real time using words.

I was also not expecting a compelling romance out of this book but HONEY did I get one. I’m really sick of authors throwing characters at each other without developing a rapport and actual relationship. Also this wasn’t the focus of the story and a real sporadic slow burn, which I am into. And the fabulous romance is only one among like dozens of other beautifully unfolding dynamic relationships. I am SO INTO ORMA AND SERAPHINA’S RELATIONSHIP. Viridius is amazing. Grisselda’s a little bitch but Hartman did not do her dirty by writing her off as a romantic antagonist/one-dimensional bratty villain. Armagard Comonot was??? Surprisingly intriguing as a character? Seraphina’s dad likewise gets a beautiful redemption arc (AND THROUGH MUSIC). Lars and Abdo were both heartbreaking. Ugh I’m so into all of them.

So well done. A joy to read.

See me gush EVEN MORE about this book in this video!