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Seraphina Rachel Hartman Books

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Seraphina Rachel Hartman Books

Interesting premise, however I found myself stumbling through this book and I never really bonded with any of the characters...not even Seraphina. Keep a dictionary, or, better yet, an internet search engine handy. I found myself looking up a lot of words to either define them, or see an image. The author assumes her readers have a broad knowledge of medieval and musical terms. I usually shy away from fantasy novels. My O.C.D. goes into overdrive because I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing the fictinal names/places correctly.


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Seraphina Rachel Hartman Books Reviews

As I wrote in my review of Tess of the Road, I was so enthusiastic about this universe, and writer that before I finished the book, I'd bought the first two in the series. I can report that the first of these, Seraphina, did not disappoint.

We have a universe where humans and dragons co-exist.  After a long history of warfare between them, there has been a treaty, and while each group remains ambivalent about the other, the peace has held for many years.  And then the king's son is killed, and it looks as if a dragon did the deed, threatening the fragile peace.

In the center of all this is Seraphina, a musician, tutor to Princess Glisselda, and a half-breed; half dragon, half human.  Common knowledge says she should not exist, but Seraphina is never one to be led by what is supposed to happen.  She's a fiercely independent woman, who keeps her secret almost more to protect her family than anything else since  relations between humans and dragons are illegal.  The dragons do not even speak Seraphina's mother's name, so enormous was her shame at marrying a human.

This is a very different Seraphina from the one we meet in the book about Tess, because she is the point-of-view character, and not filtered through Tess' perceptions of her.  She was a bit of a cypher in the later book, but here she is vivid and engaging.  She's a woman who tries hard to do the right thing, but in the end she follows her instincts rather than the letter of the law. It doesn't always work out perfectly -- her heart leads her into some spectacular muddles -- but we're with her, wishing her well. And never once did I find myself yelling "Don't be so stupid!" at her, which is something I do far too often with protagonists.

Hartman's writing is a delight.  Not only can she tell a story, but her use of language is creative and often hilarious.  When I met Lucian Kiggs, prince of Goredd and Seraphina's love interest, his surname made me giggle; it's not at all a romantic hero's name.  And yet I think that may be one of the reasons why he is so named.  Hartman likes to play against expectations. I also got a kick out of Dame Okra Carmine.  Not that the names are over the top goofy.  They just have enough humor threaded through them that the narrative never becomes histrionic.  In fantasy that's a fine line, and I think Hartman walks it pretty well.

I've already started the second book, and I look forward to watching Seraphina grow into all this amazing promise she holds.  I want to see her relationships develop now that she is allowed to be who she is.  I think she's going to crush it.
Fantasy, particularly dragon focused, is my personal favorite genre, but because I am a middle grades librarian, I am just now getting to Hartman's widely acclaimed book and I am glad I finally did. This was a great book with so many creative plot twists that I did not ever feel like I was reading a dragon book rehash. Seraphina, Orma, Kiggs, and Glisselda were four distinctly different main characters, each fully fleshed out and appealing with their own unique personality. The political and personal relationships were complex and seamlessly intertwined and I found myself sometimes skimming rather than reading because I wanted to hurry up and get to the next revelation in Seraphina's secret and action-filled life! Readers of fantasy who have not yet read this one should correct that as quickly as possible. However, keep a dictionary handy. Author Hartman not only makes up unusual names for people and places, but also uses extremely esoteric vocabulary. So much so that I frequently thought that she was making up names of musical instruments and such to add to the fictional country of Goredd since she did create a completely new religion, country/culture, and dragon-lore . I found myself using my dictionary app frequently and discovered that words like "merganser," "syrinx," "oud," "moraine," "sackbut," and "palimpsest" were in fact actual words, but I'm pretty sure that almost no one would know what they mean. For some, vocabulary such as this would be off-putting, especially since Hartman does not always do a great job of positioning these words in a context rich environment to allow for readers to determine the meaning. Professional book reviews place this book in the hands of older students, but with the absence of any profanity or significant sexual content, I would feel comfortable recommending this one to students in grades 7 and up who can handle the length and vocabulary. For full disclosure The term "Daanite" is used in connection with two characters, but without much detail so many readers are likely to miss what this actually means about the pair.
Interesting premise, however I found myself stumbling through this book and I never really bonded with any of the characters...not even Seraphina. Keep a dictionary, or, better yet, an internet search engine handy. I found myself looking up a lot of words to either define them, or see an image. The author assumes her readers have a broad knowledge of medieval and musical terms. I usually shy away from fantasy novels. My O.C.D. goes into overdrive because I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing the fictinal names/places correctly.