9781250804037 Flowers for the Sea 28.9000 NZD InStock /shop/books /shop/books/fiction /shop/books/fiction/science-fiction-fantasy A Library Journal Editor's Pick! Rocklyn's extraordinary debut is a lush, gothic fantasy about the prices we pay and the vengeance we seek. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine. A Library Journal Editor's Pick!Īmong the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she's pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Their fangs are sharp.Īmong the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she's pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. On the nit-picky side, there is no way a green room to grow beans and citrus would support a population of more than 1700 people on the ship.Flowers for the Sea is a dark, dazzling debut novella that reads like Rosemary's Baby by way of Octavia E. She berates the midwife, who had a relationship with the child’s father, and also the man she really loves for not supporting her appropriately. She feels burdened by the child, but still guards it selfishly from others, establishing her ownership.

On the less positive side, Iraxi is angry with the way life has treated her. A certain symbolism causes the dying trees in the green room to sprout as the child is born. There is a lot of emphasis on sensory elements and body fluids, and an extended section on the labor and birth. It jumps back and forth in time and between reality and dream so it’s difficult to put the story together into a reasonable whole. This story is lyrical in style, but heavily surreal. Most reviews omit the summary for a reason. Still she is attracted and parades naked with the baby on deck, where most of the residents think the child is a sign of hope. She has the child and it speaks to her in multitones, so she thinks it is a demon. At this point, Irixi is heavily pregnant by someone she does not love. They are threatened by monstrous flying razonfangs from above and purple-tenacled things from below. They have a green room where they grow beans and citrus, but food is sparse. The kingdom floods and a group escapes on an ark ship. She rushes inside to the smell of burning flesh and is burnt, but saves herself by running into the sea. Later she comes home to find the house burning. She lived in a house with her family, and the kingdom’s prince comes three times to ask for her hand but she refuses because she loves someone else. Iraxi is one of the Nims people and has gills. They have appeared in several award-winning and award-nominated anthologies. Rocklyn is disabled and uses their as a pronoun. It was published by Tor.com in October of 2021 and runs 80 pages. This dark fantasy/horror novella is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards.

Flowers for the sea by zin e rocklyn