Book Review: The Vessel of Ra by Catherine Schaff-Stump
It is October 1837, and the acqua alta, the fall flooding, has come to Venice. Lucy Klareon has also come to Venice, as part of her Grand Tour, but she doesn’t plan to leave in the usual way. For on her sixteenth birthday, October 31st, All Hallows Eve, Lucy must do battle with the demon Ra, and either bind him as her servant, or become his possessed shell and be slain by her sister Octavia. Lucy’s pretty sure she’s going to lose, so she’s decided to skip the battle altogether by jumping in a canal and drowning.
Ra has no interest in losing his chance, so convinces local boy Carlo Borgia to save Lucy from her attempted suicide. Carlo, as it happens, is the last heir to the legendary family of poisoners, and his grandfather Paolo knows far more about the Klareon family of demon binders than Carlo was aware of. Paolo thinks he can find a way to release Lucy from her bond with Ra, delivering them both from the curse. But being a Borgia, he’s not exactly doing this out of pure goodness.
Meanwhile, Octavia has made a sort of peace with her own demon, Khun; she’s known for years that Lucy cannot possibly bind Ra properly, so it will be up to her to kill Lucy and bind Ra herself (except that no binder can control two demons, so what’s up with that?) Her new husband Drusus (from a weather mage clan) is just now discovering just what the Klareon rituals really involve. He’s not keen on the idea of killing anyone.
The various characters’ plans clash, and in the end it’s up to Lucy to save the day. Slight problem though, at this point in the story, she’s dead!
This is the first book in the Klareon Scroll fantasy series, with the author’s notes indicating that this tome is essential background for the book she started writing first. I’m happy to say that it also works just fine as a standalone story. The fantasy element of families that have bloodline magical powers works fairly well, and there’s plenty of plothooks. (For example, there’s a reason why the demons have Egyptian names, but there’s backstory as to how they got into that position that’s not immediately clear.)
I like that most of the characters are trying to do what they consider the right thing, even if their actions are objectively ruinous and their motivations are selfish. In some cases it’s because they’ve been lied to or had important facts concealed from them, which makes self-defeating actions more likely.
Content issues: As mentioned, Lucy tries to commit suicide. She’s a little person, and suffers prejudice due to this. Carlo’s father was born out of wedlock, and his mixed heritage makes him the subject of family strife. Lucy is emotionally abused by her father, who also deliberately stunts her education. There is marital infidelity in the current day.
This is listed as a young adult book, but I think fits more comfortably at the higher end of that range, almost in “new adult.”
Recommended, then, primarily to fantasy readers senior high level and up, with a special interest in family drama.
