In a very short amount of time, Marshall Ryan Maresca has become one of the most prolific writers of fantasy. Since 2015, he’s published 14 novels, 12 of them a connected series of trilogies set in a some portion of his Maradaine milieu, a near future SF novel, and his latest and subject of this review, a Maradaine novel not directly connected to that 12 novel set. In many ways, his Maradaine saga is not unlike the Marvel Cinematic Universe, four trilogies that eventually tie together. You don’t necessarily need to read one of the trilogies to get what is going on in the other, but it makes for a more rewarding experience. With An Unintended Voyage, Maresca tells a story set in the world, but unconnected enough to those 12 other novels that new readers can very easily dive into the novel.
Moving outside the city of Maradaine, this new novel follows a lone member of the Maradaine Constabulary as she navigates a new but just as dangerous city.
Sergeant Corrie Welling–the young constabulary officer from Maradaine–has been abducted and confined on a ship bound for distant shores, where her captors have nefarious plans for her. With fortune and ingenuity, Corrie escapes, but finds herself stuck in a sprawling metropolis on the other side of the world: The Mocassa.
The Mocassa is a test unlike anything Corrie has ever faced. She doesn’t speak the language, doesn’t know the culture, and is forbidden from leaving the city until she pays off a colossal debt. Even if she’s able to find decent work, it will take her years to settle her accounts and get home.
But Corrie Welling will not be cowed. She will work, fight, and hold her chin high. As a fringe faction of an apocalyptic faith spreads throughout the city, threatening the new friends she’s sworn to protect, she’ll continue to stand up for the values instilled in her as a member of the Maradaine Constabulary. Even if, as her darkest day approaches, she has to do it alone.
The novel starts rather excitedly, with our main character, Sgt. Corrie Welling of the Maradaine Constabulary, and her compatriot Eana in shackles as a prisoner on a ship. Fortunately for them, a storm destroys the ship and there are rescued whilst afloat, with the only drawback being they can’t speak the language of their saviors. That drawback has severe consequences, for Corrie and Eana are brought to Mocassa as indebted people. With their debt sold, they must work to pay off that debt, and pay for their room and board. But Corrie is a law-woman through and through and isn’t one to sit by idly while bad deeds and injustice are in the air. To say this is a fish-out-of-water tale is pretty obvious.
Corrie’s perspective and exposure to a land much different than one she has known, allows her to see a new kind of awfulness, people being treated as things to be own or traded like objects; the seemingly insurmountable climb one must overcome when power is lorded over them by a less than benign hand. There’s also a growing cult and whispers from the dead as part of the backdrop. All of these things aren’t heavy handed, but presented as a natural (if rather unappealing yet believable) way of life in Mocassa. With Corrie as the protagonist, it sets a wonderfully entertaining path for justice to hopefully be served.
The heart of this story is Corrie, an experienced, headstrong “cop” who finds her ideals of justice and duty challenged by her situation and the land of Mocassa. She pushes hard to get what is best for the people closest to her and she is quite simply, an easy person for whom to root. She is no-nonsense everywoman and I loved her. She simply wants to do the right thing and in a land that is fairly crapsack, that is a rarity. The supporting characters at which she found herself the center were equally engaging. There was a wonderful bond between Corrie and Eana, a sense of responsibility Corrie felt for the younger woman I found to be a strong through-line in the novel. There’s a saying/aphorism, “I’d want that person in the trenches with me, I want that person to have my back.” Corrie embodies that extraordinarily well.
An Unintended Voyage is a whip-smart, thrilling fantasy adventure. A superstar of a protagonist carries the story through a twisty, extremely engaging plotline. This is the perfect book to sample the kind of stories Marshall Ryan Maresca is telling in his greater Maradaine sequence and a book I’d recommend to any reader regardless. I’d guess Mr. Maresaca has got more stories set in this larger world and featuring Corrie Welling, I’d be on board, but I’ve still got about half of the remaining books in the connected Maradaine trilogies to tackle. If you do read this one, I’d also recommend taking a shot with his other Maradaine novels, particularly The Maradaine Constabulary series, which begins with A Murder of Mages. Maresca is considering An Unintended Voyage to be a prelude to ”Phase 2” of his over-arching Maradaine saga so now is a perfect time to get on board with these books!
My review of Maresca’s debut novel, which launched the entire Maradaine saga, The Thorn of Dentonhill.
Recommended
© 2021 Rob H. Bedford
December 2021 | Trade Paperback
DAW Books | 400 Pages
Landing Page for the Book: https://mrmaresca.com/wp/2398-2/ | https://mrmaresca.com/
Review copy courtesy of the Publisher, DAW Books
