Sargassa: Recommended with caveats

Sargassa by Sophie Burnham

The first book in a series by Sophie Burnham entitled EX ROMANA, Sargassa is, not surprisingly given that series name, set in a world where the Roman Empire seemingly never fell, at last not permanently, though there was a mysterious “Great Quiet” in which most of the prior knowledge and technology was lost before the Empire was reestablished. More specifically, the novel is set in Sargassa, long ago colonized by the Roman Imperium and now home to the Imperial Archives, the repository of all the Empire’s knowledge and lore. Sargassa is heavily divided by class and rights, with the population made up of true citizens and plebs (themselves heavily divided by class), slaves (servae), and children of slaves who have gained quasi-citizenry as “vernae.” Adding to the tensions in the state are those who believe Sargassa should have self-rule or out and out independence, with a group of freedom fighters/terrorists (depending on who is doing the naming) called the Revenants actively engaged in resistance, including via violence.

The novel kicks off with a bang, as the current Imperial Historian is murdered. By whom and for what reason are two mysteries that run throughout the story. Caught up in that mystery (directly or indirectly) and/or in the political confrontations are:

• Selah Kleios: the 22-year-old daughter of the murdered Imperial Historian who now inherits his role
• Arran Kleios: Selah’s half-brother, born of her father and a slave, making him a vernae with citizenship rights but still relegated to being a “client” of Selah’s
• Theo: a member of the Revenants
• Tair: Selah’s former best friend before being forced out of the household to live on the streets where she gets involved with several groups, including the Revenants
• Darius: a member of the Intelligence wing of the Cohort, the police of Sargassa, and a true believer in the Imperium’s traditions

The story is told from their alternating viewpoints and moves back and forth in time, which makes the early parts of the book somewhat disjointed, though this smooths out as the story goes on. In general, the early sections are the weakest, with some clunky exposition and world-building, and some pacing issues. Once the main characters are directly interacting, the pace picks up, as does the reader’s engagement with the story. There’s a lot of internal tension amongst the group — romantic/sexual tension, sibling tension, betrayed friendship tension, political disagreement tension, and more. Burnham generally does a good job in manipulating that tension and balancing it, even if the romances are a bit too “insta-romance” for me.

The characters are interesting in their backgrounds and interactions, but I found myself wishing for more development, more delving into their character, such that it felt that the potential there wasn’t being fully mined. This was true as well for Darius, who thanks to his job is not part of the “group”, but we get little hints of complexity there that are never really brought forward which seemed a missed opportunity. The same was true for Selah’s mother, a Senator, who makes a few early appearances that disappears entirely, again I’d say to the story’s detriment.

The middle section is the strongest, as the characters negotiate around their internal tensions and also try to solve the mystery of the Historian’s murder, as well as figure out a piece of old pre-Quiet technology left to Selah by her father. Things take a turn downward in the latter part though. The book gets very talky, with characters explaining things to one another. One scene in particular, with a character under the influence of truth serum, is too long, too convenient, and too expository. It seems having the characters discover much of what they’re told in that scene rather than just get it recited at them would have been a better way to go. Another issue is the ending relies on a series of revelations, though given the number of people involved, it’s hard to believe how any of the supposed secrets could have remained secret to the main characters (especially when servants are literally directing people to places where the secret activities are occurring). The revelation (and use of) the old technology was also a disappointment, though I won’t go into details to avoid spoilers.

As for the world-building, while the world of the novel feels real and inhabited, I can’t say it felt particularly “Roman” outside of some vocabulary and some surface connections. The Empire Never Died felt like a thin veneer, a bit betwixt and between in that it seemed it either should have gone more fully “Roman” or just leave the Rome part out and have it be a divided society. To be fair, though, this is the first book in the series, so it’s quite possible we’ll see more Roman Empire connection later.

The themes are thoughtfully (and sadly at times all too relevant) handled as they delve into issue surrounding imperialism/colonialism, propaganda, surveillance states, class, gender, identity.

Sargassa definitely had its flaws, but the characters and general storyline were strong enough that I’ll pick up book two in hopeful anticipation of those issues being ironed out. Recommended with the above caveats.