Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong (review)

The small, rundown village of Edgewood sits at the outskirts of the empire, serving as its first defense against the demonic spirits that haunt the neighboring Forest of the Dead. Sixteen-year-old twins Moria and Ashyn are essential to this task, leading annual trips into the Forest to bring peace to the dead and banish angry spirits. At this year’s ritual, however, something goes terribly wrong: flesh-eating monsters invade and kill most of Edgewood’s adult residents, the children are kidnapped by mercenaries, and Moria and Ashyn find themselves separated during the fray. The sisters make their separate ways to the nearest village, each accompanied by a broody, handsome guy who also conveniently happens to be good with a sword. Bad omens, shadowy figures, and suspicious characters are all brilliantly deployed here in the first hundred pages, ratcheting up the tension in the build up to the ill-fated ceremony, and the gore-filled imagery of the attack on the village makes for some truly terrifying moments. Unfortunately, the girls’ subsequent journeys are more contrived, and there’s not much traction as they merely run from one danger to the next, with monsters and the occasional slave trader popping up to present obvious peril but never really connecting to or advancing the overall storyline. Characterization is more effective, with bullheaded, mouthy Moria a direct foil to the more thoughtful, timid Ashyn, but a shifting focalization between the girls allows readers to see the pair as more than simply opposites; their sisterly affection, touched with just a hint of resentment and jealousy, brings an element of realistic family drama to the more fantastic backdrop. A call for war closes the book and ensures a sequel, so readers taken in by the twins’ adventures have more to anticipate.