What a perfect pick for the ‘And Also…’ bingo square. I started bingo this year with the ‘Part 1’ because I decided to re-read the Obernewtyn Chronicles, and it really helped me get out of a rut. Now as part of my re-read, I’ve leant about a very short Obernewtyn prequel story available on Audible and now I guess I have a new ‘Part 1’ to review?
The Journey is set before the Great White and it gives us a glimpse of what the world was like before it all came burning down.
We follow Hannah Seraphim—one of the Beforetimers Elspeth once saw in her dreams—as one of her own dreams is abruptly shattered. Traveling halfway across the world to pursue her studies, Hannah learns the painful lesson of never meeting the men you admire. She had hoped to conduct research into supernormal abilities with William Reichler, only to discover that not only is the man a fraud, but also a misogynist and likely a sex pest. Yay.
However, the fallout from this encounter leads Hannah down a path where she ultimately finds someone who will both connect with her and respect her powers. Along the way, she gives us a glimpse into what the crumbling Beforetime society was truly like.
I really, really liked this one. It was absolutely a return to the style of the first novel, where the reader is let in on a lot of information in a very short time in a way that is both conservative and natural. We gain some extra insight into Hannah herself, which was not really possible from the main novels. And it re-confirms the status of the misfits who existed well before the Great White.
Actually the story is full of a lot of confirmations and reconfirmations; clarity for those little bits and pieces that were hinted at in the main narrative. The first one for me was that we got further confirmation about what futuristic version of a current day country Hannah is from. I had originally made a good guess based on the name Tipodia—but it’s nice to see that I was on the correct path. It also gives more substance to the origin of the Herder Faction, which until this point, I had been partially correct on as well. But I’d missed (massively) just how close the factions predecessors were to the White Supremacist movement! It is spelt out explicitly here. This information also re-contextualises the Twenty Families Gypsies to a degree, who were earlier suggested to be descended from more than just the Roma. (Cassie – although she is not mentioned here – is another line of evidence for this broader origin as well)
But there’s still hints of issues with publishers here too – go read the blurb for the audiobook. They don’t even get the main character’s name correct? How careless!
While I’m not sure this little prequel stands as a proper story on its own, it really is a lovely little tie into the Obernewtyn Chronicles. (The author is the narrator and does a very respectable job as well!)
For cbr16bingo, this is And Also…’
For some minor housekeeping, previous reviews can be found here: Obernewtyn, The Farseekers, Ashling, The Keeping Place, The Stone Key , The Sending and The Red Queen )