Twelve-year-old Brine Seaborne was discovered on a rowboat three years ago, a "shivering, sneezing child with skin as dark as hazel-wood, half dead," with no memory of where she came from. The sorcerer Tallis Magus soon puts her to work as a servant in his island house, even "washing the magician's disgusting socks." The bookish, curious Brine's "boring straight line of a life" zigs a dramatic zag when the magician decides to hand her over to a rich neighbor nicknamed "Bladder-Face," and to marry off his annoying 12-year-old apprentice, Peter, to Bladder-Face's daughter. Brine and Peter, who aren't exactly friends, make their escape by sea.
Their newfound freedom fizzles when they're scooped up by a pirate ship, the Onion (meant to be Orion, but mispainted), captained by the charismatic Cassie O'Pia. ("Oh, her hair is as red as the sun in its bed,/ Her eyes are as blue as the waves..." according to the ballad.) Brine's maritime adventures prove to be fraught with peril, but her itch to explore the wide world is finally scratched, especially when the Onion's crew sets off for the "Magical North," the world's most concentrated point of magic. Brine, who is allergic to magic (it makes her sneeze), is much more interested in finding clues to her own past, present and future.
Welsh author Claire Fayers buoys her seaworthy series debut The Voyage to Magical North with agreeably understated humor, over-the-top sea monsters and nuanced characters. This finely spun adventure is the very definition of swashbuckler, but also thoughtfully examines ideas of story, good vs. evil, instinct vs. rules and self-discovery. A treasure. --Karin Snelson, children's & YA editor, Shelf Awareness