(And then like seven non-SH books that I have backlogged. Oops.)
River Secrets focuses on Razo, Enna and Isi's friend from the previous novels. (It's also the only Book of Bayern to have a male protagonist, on a somewhat related note.) It's set only a few months after the end of the war from Enna Burning, after Geric and Isi meet with the Tiran rulers and decide there should be an exchange of ambassadors (I tried to type "am-badass-adors", thanks, Glee) to foster goodwill among the citizens of both Tira and Bayern. Geric's cousin Lady Megina will be Bayern's ambassador, and Finn, Enna, and Razo are chosen to go along as part of her guard.
It's easy to see why Finn gets to go: he's the best swordsman in Bayern's Own, the king's personal group of soldiers. Enna, too, is fairly obvious: she wields fire, and she'd like to atone for all her destruction from the war. Razo, though?
Razo's not so sure why he's included. The only thing he's good at is slinging, but that's not really a weapon, is it?
Razo gamely packs up his things and goes anyway, hoping for the best. The trip is going pretty smoothly, too - until he discovers a burned body along the edges of their campsite after they've crossed the Tiran border. He goes to Talone, their captain, after stumbling across the corpse, and they bury it together, trying to figure who might have done it.
Enna is their first guess, naturally, though Razo hopes it's not her. The evidence begins to pile up, though, especially once they reach Ingridan, the Tiran capital, and Enna can't be the one committing these crimes. So who is it, then?
Talone puts Razo on the case, admitting that he brought Razo along because he has all the makings of a natural spy. Razo is floored to hear this, but it doesn't disappoint him in the least. He starts poking around even more, making friends with the kitchen girls, the prince of Tira, and Dasha, the Tiran ambassador's daughter.
Dasha is a mystery to Razo - she's funny and sweet, but she's also a Tiran, and Razo's not sure which Tirans he can trust right now. She hangs around the rivers a lot, too, and since that's where Talone and Razo have had to dump some of the bodies, that makes her pretty suspicious.
The truth comes out eventually: Dasha has water speaking - just add her to the list of girls with magical powers that Razo knows. She also doesn't know a language to balance it, so she's just like Enna and Isi in their overburdened stages. Dasha's figured out Enna is the "fire witch," and she's hoping Enna will teach her fire to help her live. Enna doesn't trust any Tirans, though, especially when they've got their own fire witches running around now.
Razo thinks Enna will help Dasha if Dasha proves she's trustworthy by helping Razo find the Tiran fire workers, so they go off on one last slapdash adventure together to finally learn who's causing all this trouble in Ingridan. Will they be able to alert the others in time? That's up to you to learn.
After all the angst and seriousness of Enna Burning, it's really nice to be able to turn to Razo's mind in River Secrets. While the stakes are still high, Razo's cheerful, joke-happy personality makes the read feel lighter, even when he's near death in a strange land with the girl he likes. I also like that Razo was the protagonist of this novel, rather than trying to read in Dasha's voice or something similar. It's fun seeing the powers of wind speech and fire speech from an outsider's perspective instead of the up close and personal look of the last two novels.
Having Razo really acclimate to Tira was also a good narrative choice, in my opinion. Isi and Enna both have strong ties to Bayern, and Razo's more willing to see the good and the bad of his host country, allowing him to make some interesting blends of both cultures. Having Razo learn that the Bad Guys aren't just two-dimensional enemies helps teach a subtle, important lesson to the readers.
I think River Secrets is probably my second favorite Book of Bayern, after The Goose Girl. Razo's story is thrilling and amusing, and really helps him develop from the funny bit character to a person in his own right - or maybe a tree rat in his own right? Five stars.
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