Genre: Fantasy Age Range: YA/Adult Star rating: 4/5 Series: Yes - first of duology
Summary:
Nix and her father travel through time on their ship, sailing from one map to another. Nix’s mother lived – and died – in Hawaii, 1868, and her father’s determined to save her using modern or mythical medicine. They just need to reach 1868 first, but every attempt so far has failed.
They are offered one last chance, one last map, if they can find the funds. However, saving her mother’s life might erase Nix from history.
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Thoughts?
The time travel in this story is so inventive, and that’s what drew me to this story. It was a book on one of the stands at YALC that I’d heard some discussion of a few years ago, so I thought I’d give it a try.
Nix and her father – and their crew – can travel from one time to another (called Navigation) as long as they have a hand-drawn map inked in that year. It was so unique, and had clear limits – which we learn more about as we read.
It was particularly cool that they could Navigate to mythical lands, so long as they had a map drawn by someone who believed it was real and they believed too. It brought a very magical element to the story, albeit in a realistic way, following the rules of the world. I loved that the maps were inserted when they Navigated.
Nix is a well-drawn character, with a strong voice (this story is from her POV). The writing was lush, drawing me into the settings without being flowery. I felt like I was in 19th century Hawaii. Not to mention the beautiful setting with a dark underbelly.
The complicated relationship with her father was nuanced, as was her friendship with member of the crew, Kashmir – a charming thief from a mythical land. What was nice was that she had to ‘romantic interests’ to play off – Kashmir and Blake – but that it didn’t swallow the story and become a love triangle. It was simply part of the tapestry. The one character who confused me a little was Joss, as we found more about her background because it felt slightly paradoxical to me.
This is a gorgeous book, a gem I’m glad I found. I look forwards to reading the next one (once I’ve made significant headway into the new books piling up on my shelves!)
Read my review of the sequel: THE SHIP BEYOND TIME
Sifa Elizabeth Reads 
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