Book & Audio Review: Home from the Sea by Mercedes Lackey

Home from the Sea
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Narrator: Kate Reading
Series: Elemental Masters (Book 7)
Publication: DAW; 1st edition (June 5, 2012); Audible Studios (June 5, 2012)
Length: 319 p.; 12 hours and 11 minutes

Description: They came from the sea…

For as long as she could remember, Mari Prothero had seen  things—tiny manlike creatures that were mischievous and wore only seaweed, and beings that seemed to be made of water. Mari had grown up in a tiny Welsh fishing village where she lived alone with her father, Daffyd, a master fisherman—her mother and brother having drowned when she was a child.

On the morning of her eighteenth birthday, her father finally told her the great secret of the Prothero family. Her family had an ancient covenant with magical shape-shifters, the Selch. Her lost mother and brother were not truly dead, but neither were they human. Now Mari must abide by her family’s magical compact or face dire consequences.

But Mari is not without protectors. The tiny creatures she had seen her whole life counseled her to bargain with the Selch. While in faraway London, the head of the Elemental Masters had dispatched some very unique champions to come to Mari’s aid....

My Thoughts: Mari Prothero is a fisherman's daughter living in a small town on the coast of Wales. She lost her mother and brother when she was an infant when they were swept away by a rogue wave. Mari is able to see Elementals and other creatures but has given up talking about it since it made her father uncomfortable. They live outside the town and are more prosperous than most of the others who fish for a living. Mari finds out why when she turns eighteen.

Mari learns that the Prothero's have a long-standing deal with the Selch. They get prosperity and safety on the seas in exchange for children and relationships with Selch. Her mother didn't die, but tather took herself and her son back to live under the sea with the Selch. Now, Mari finds out that it is her turn to take a Selch lover and have children with him - one child to stay on the land and one to go under the sea.. Mari is appalled! However, some of her non-human friends have told her that she does have a right to bargain to get the best deal she can rather than just follow those plans.

So Mari demands a teacher to teach her about her abilities as a Water Master and an assortment of young men to be her suitors. 

Meanwhile in London, Nan and Sarah have returned from Africa and and wondering what they should do with their lives. They aren't elemental masters but do have paranormal abilities of their own. After deciding that teaching isn't the career they've been looking for, they appeal to the head of the Elemental Masters to find them some investigative work and are promptly dispatched to Wales to follow up rumors of a new Water Master. 

I liked the setting of this story. I liked the characters and the way magical elements were woven into Edwardian life. The writing was wonderfully descriptive and the narration was engaging. 

Favorite Quote:

As if the little creatures had read the thoughts in her mine, the second answered her. "Magic is a power like any other, Mari. Master it, and it becomes a tool in your hand, and when you have tools, you also have weapons." The water-girl looked about furtively, as if making sure she was not going to be overheard, and lowered her voice further. "Listen and remember. this is important. Because you have this gift of magic, even though you are untaught, you are valuable to us of the Water. And that alone gives you power. Remember. It is power to bargain. There will come a time, soon, when you are presented with something that appears to be no choice. But you can bargain within that. So think well on that day, demand your choice, and make your bargain."

I bought the hardcover in 2013 and the audiobook recently. You can buy your copy here.