Review of Flooded Secrets by Claudie Arseneault

What’s worse than not having a place in the world? Finding your place only to feel like it might be ripped away from you. Claudie Arseneault dangles this prospect in front of readers with Flooded Secrets, the second book in her Chronicles of Nerezia series of novellas. I was impressed by Awakenings because it felt so cozy. This book builds on that success while also revealing the first layer of even more potent themes Arseneault has cooked up.

No spoilers for this book but some for the first one!

Horace believes e has found eir place, guarding Rumi’s wandering wagon and protecting the mysterious Aliyah, who has no memory of their life beyond some flashes of forest—oh yeah, and the ability to turn into a tree. Horace isn’t a very good guard yet, but e has a growth mindset. That comes in handy when the wagon is waylaid by Keza, who pilfers their food stores before running afoul of her own people’s laws. Her life, and the lives of Horace and eir companions, weighed against the survival of her village.

Flooded Secrets, much like the first book, opens with a fair amount of action, then settles down to let us spend time with characters. For a novella, it packs a punch in terms of plot. I’m enjoying this decision of Arseneault’s to parcel out these stories in a more serialized format than a novel or two might allow. It more closely mimics the sensation of playing a session of DnD, echoes of which reverberate throughout this universe.

What makes this book stand out, of course, is how Keza meets the wagon crew. Rumi, Aliyah, and Horace joined together amicably, if reluctantly on Rumi’s part, and in their short time together, the three of them (four, if you count the wagon) have forged a strong bond. Keza, her personality irascible to start, is sharpened by the actions she has had to take to protect her village, not to mention what happens as the story goes on.

So of course Horace, lovable embo that e is, has to make friends, right?

This is, of course, what makes Flooded Secrets and this series as a whole so valuable. Arseneault’s story is not by any stretch of the imagination conflict-free. However, she goes out of her way to construct conflicts that belie one’s typical expectations of sword and sorcery. The set pieces are there, from the overarching mystery of the Fragments to the cornucopia of species populating Nerezia. But this is a story about found family, about putting right wrongs even when you aren’t the one who caused them—not for credit, not even in exchange for commutation or pardon, but simply because it’s the right thing to do.

In a world that seems darker by the day (at least some days), books like these are valuable because they remind us that hope comes from within. From ourselves and from each other. From working together, mutual aid, and community. If these ideas comfort you, this will be a comfort book. Even if they don’t, Flooded Secrets still has its share of action, intrigue, and of course, the games.