The Ghost of Serenity by C. C. Lincoln is about a young woman named Reiki. She has just come of age in her remote island village known as Serenity. Though still young she is intelligent and determined which led her to train from a young age in a variety of trades. Longing to be a fisherwoman she is considering being the next shaman and elder instead. After an argument with her mother concerning Reiki’s reluctance to marry and potentially have children she takes to the sea in her trimaran. Returning home later that day she discovers smoke and a fleeing ship. Making land she finds her entire village slaughtered with no one left alive. As she takes care of the bodies she discovers who was behind the massacre and makes a vow to the gods that she will avenge her village by killing everyone on the ship that attacked or to die trying. Taking supplies she leaves on her trimaran determined to hunt them down.
This was an interesting book and I say that because it seems to be about Reiki trying to find vengeance for her people, which is not necessarily the best thing to do but is understandable considering the circumstances. However, if you dig just a little deeper and look a little closer at the conversations Reiki has than you see it is also about trying to figure out what is the truth. In this case what is the truth about the gods and about Reiki’s quest and the right thing to do. Something that I found interesting though is the world in which the story is set. There are at least some rather interesting similarities between Reiki’s society and cultures from similar places in our own world but the further you get into the story the more you realize it is different at the same time. Either way the world is remarkably detailed and fleshed out in many ways. I rather enjoyed seeing more of the different groups of people she interacted with over the course of the story. The one thing I was not expecting was the way the story ended. Parts of it were definitely expected from way in the early parts of the story but some of it was a huge surprise so that was intriguing. I also rather liked watching how the character of Reiki evolved and grew over time. The person she is at the end of the story is rather different from the person she is at the beginning. Overall, I rather enjoyed reading this story so am happy giving it four out of five stars.
This is a story that is rather hard to categorize in terms of genre as the early stages feel closer to fantasy but the later stages are undeniably science fiction. I would think it would appeal to readers who enjoy either of those genres or the readers who like the works that overlap the two. Considering the way the story starts and Reiki’s vow you might correctly imagine that the story contains decent levels of violence. Some of it is graphic but nothing is overly graphic so it should still be fine for most readers, even young adults or older teens though younger readers might be cautious before diving in. I didn’t notice any adult content or even really any adult references so nothing really to be concerned about there either. A pretty good read and one that I rather enjoyed so consider trying it. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the contents if you do. This book was acquired through the Reedsy Discovery program and you can also find a copy of my review there.