Book 1,058: In Deeper Waters – F.T. Lukens

The final book I completed in 2024. There might’ve been one more between this and the last one, I honestly can’t remember anymore.

Whenever we drive to NC to see family we generally break the drive up over two days so the trip is four days there and back (we usually stay a full week in the middle) and the three times we’ve done it now we’ve listened to an audiobook and this time it was In Deeper Waters.

I had no idea what to expect going into it as Tim chose it and I was just along for the ride—legitimately I was the passenger prince who knit the entire time even though I offered to drive.

The world Lukens builds in this novel is very real even if the characters fell a little short for me. It’s always a challenge for an author to create an entire new world and tell a story at the same time and many chose to do it over multiple novels. I was a little surprised this wasn’t a series because there was so much history that could’ve been included and that was hinted at throughout the novel.

Where Lukens shone is that this novel is clearly at a turning point in the characters’ lives but also this world’s future. We have Prince Tal, the fourth of five royal siblings trying to find his place in the public world after being hidden for so long because of his magic; and Athlen, who has a major secret that wasn’t that secret and I guessed it right away. In addition there are a cadre of siblings and minor characters that make the novel more robust and do add to the story, but at the same time distract from the focus (for me at least).

With so much going on in the story, I couldn’t really focus on a specific part. There was the political/courtly intrigue, the sibling relationships, the travel, the history, the main character relationship, the child/parent relationship and this isn’t that long of a novel coming in at just over 300 pages. So yeah, you can imagine there’s a lot to try and keep up with. And that doesn’t even touch on the magic (which is bad) and the magical (which isn’t?).

Recommendation: Overall, this was a good read/listen. I think Lukens did a decent job of balancing all the various plot lines and histories and information needed to build the world and to be in the moment with it, but when I think back on the story it all gets a little muddled and only the brightest spots stand out (Athlen’s cave; Tal’s care for his siblings; the market scene; the kidnapping/assassination attempts). I will definitely consider reading something from Lukens in the future as I’m pretty sure I either own a copy or have checked out a copy from the library of So This Is Ever After and just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Opening Line: “Tal closed his eyes as he bent over the bow and willed himself not to vomit.”

Closing Line: “He steeled himself with a deep breath, then pulled the curtain aside and walked into the beginning of his new life.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)