A Letter From the Lonesome Shore is the second and final book in The Sunken Archive by Sylvie Cathrall. It continues the dual timeline stories from the previous book. E. and Henerey are now in an unknown place where they meet the thirtieth second scholar and the fifteenth first scholar. They explain that E. and Henerey are in a safe place and have been rescued from the peril that is facing the outside world, though they refuse to explain what that peril is. Slowly they work on adapting and adjusting to their new location even as they also work on continuing and deepening their own relationship, despite their new worries for their family still outside. At the same time we see Sophy and Vyerin as they work on finding a way to find their respective siblings. Having chartered their boat and crew they set out on finding another structure that will potentially provide a way to wherever their siblings have gone. Underlying these two storylines though is another one that covers a dialogue between two people who are once again piecing together the story of the two families.
Much like the previous book this one seems to predominantly be an epistolary novel but it also incorporates more diary entries and log book type entries in comparison to mostly letters. It makes for an interesting, if somewhat confusing, format that does take some getting used to. I also found it rather confusing dealing with the multiple independent storylines and timelines even if I was expecting it because of the previous book. The book was just as enthralling as the first one though and I often found myself eagerly awaiting what would happen next and hoping that the two groups would eventually find each other. The plot was a little weirder than the previous book as there was a lot more that just did not make as much sense in this one and a lot that was not always explained very well. I did enjoy reading it though but was baffled by how the story ultimately ended because I was not expecting that ending in the least. It was interesting just how well the story balanced the multiple storylines though as it did a really good job of transitioning between them. In many ways, I actually feel this book did a better job with the transitions. It was much easier to track when they occurred. I feel like the worldbuilding could have been just a little better as there was a rather astonishing lack of detail about a lot of things but I also honestly think that lack of detail was probably because of the format that was used. Letters don’t exactly make it easy to describe the setting. There was some sprinkled in but I would have really enjoyed seeing more as well but that may just be me. It was a pretty good book though and I am happy giving it four out of five stars.
This is a pretty good example of an adult fantasy novel so if you prefer that genre then I suggest you consider trying this book out though I would also recommend you keep in mind the format because not everybody enjoys reading epistolary novels. I would also suggest that you read the previous book before reading this one as you will probably be lost without that background information. The book may be aimed primarily at an adult audience but there is not any content that I would find to make it unsuitable for younger readers. It could probably easily be read by readers as young as fourteen. There wasn’t any language issues or mature content that would cause problems and no real violence to speak of either. I hope you will consider trying it out if this sounds interesting. Remember to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.