I read the second in the Geomancer series without, unfortunately, knowing the storyline. I picked up details as we travelled but I’m sure there’s a lot that I missed. THE STORM AND THE SEA HAWK follows two girls, a refugee from trouble in a Celtic-style land, called Ysolda, and the haughty daughter of the wolf queen, Eira. In a lovely touch, Eira has the loyalty of her huge black sea wolf, Ravi, but Ysolda has raised a sea hawk called Nara which follows her and hunts for her.

The girls arrive in a land like Norway, and all I really knew was that they were fleeing trouble and seeking the Anchorite, a strange fey woman who came this way years ago. Sami, a servant who resents his position, is also with them, but he’s injured by now and not up to much. Sami has a magical gift of altering the weather, but only so as to make it colder, which doesn’t seem like a lot of use. Behind them in the land they left, someone in power called Thane Boreal is ordering all the trees felled. That’s a lot of trees. The land is changing and earthquakes, massive waves, storms and sickening livestock are part of the new reality. 

A Geomancer does magic with rocks, I gather, though the quest to Drakken Peak sees a lot of altitude sickness and snow. Finding the Anchorite is all Eira, the wolf queen’s daughter, can think of, hoping to gain power. Ysolde can read the Ogham writing of her people, and every now and then finds a clue in this script, of which Eira is ignorant.

We see a lot of refugees and some strong women. My favourite part is the fantasy hawk, Nara, and her dutiful treatment of Ysolde as a nestling. Because I didn’t know the girls’ families, I wasn’t on tenterhooks to find out if anyone was well, injured or lost – like Thane Boreal, they were just names. Someone who has enjoyed the first book ‘In The Shadow of The Wolf Queen’ would be much more concerned. 

I also find that THE STORM AND THE SEA HAWK reads like an installment on a journey, with no actual conclusion to this story. The series seems to be one journey in three parts, unlike a three-novel series like Twilight. While I’m delighted there isn’t a cliffhanger, it means we need to read the final fantasy adventure to resolve all the plotlines. Kiran Millwood Hargrave does a thorough job of describing the landscapes and difficulties of travel, so much so, I felt I was there with Ysolde, Eira and Nara. The exciting tale would suit mid-teen readers.