I read this novella for the indie novella competition, SFINCS. The following review is my own personal opinion as a judge and does not reflect the views of the team as a whole. Find out more about the competition here and my team, The WIPs, here, and read all my reviews for the competition here!
The Drowned Heir by Jennifer R. Donohue is a salt-water-drenched dark fantasy novella about enormous sea monsters and living in one body with your uncle’s ghost. It follows the journey of an un-named protagonist (and actually there are no character names in the novella at all!) who is sacrificed to “store” her influential sea captain/trader uncle’s spirit, but instead of slowly disappearing, she ends up helping him figure out how exactly he died, finding her own way forward at the same time.
The haunting, dark mood of the story immediately grabbed me as we start with the harrowing description of the protagonist’s suffocation by the holy/magical order of her people, so that she could become the vessel for her recently deceased uncle. The prose is intimate and lyrical, perfect to place ourselves into her skin as she struggles with the experience and the challenge of sharing her body with another consciousness. At the same time, we also get to understand some of the traditions and beliefs of her town, not just how they enable the survival of some of their best, but also how they use spells and charms in their everydays, and larger magics too, to improve their seafaring and trade as the protagonist’s family habitually does. When the old lover of the protagonist’s uncle arrives to the scene as well, announcing a so-far unknown but now lost son, it’s also an occasion to show us some of the magical or mythical creatures that might co-exist with humans in this world. It is a deep and rich culture that we only get a glimpse at through this focused story, but it immersed me in the life of this young woman very effectively, even though many times we do not get details or lengthy explanations, merely an inclination or ~vibe about these things.
I have to admit, after the gloomy start, I expected a much more tragic tale than what I ultimately got. The melancholy, enigmatic mood that originates from the magic-suffused life of these people and from the fact that the woman’s spirit was constantly in a quiet tug-of-war with the uncle, stayed present for the entire story, but as the protagonist prepares then sets off on a voyage to find her cousin, the main emotion was that of (perhaps anxious and uncertain but) hope. The protagonist was a third child in her family and wasn’t expecting her life to turn out anything special, but in a twisted kind of way, “inheriting” her uncle’s spirit freed her and enabled her to break out of the confines of her previous existence. She did not feel very deeply or complexly characterised to me, but the courage, determination, and persistence with which she tried to grow up to the task that suddenly burdened her was very apparent and admirable. I’d loathe to read too much into symbolism or theme here, but I found the contrast of carrying something old, something that should be gone, and still confidently (well, after some initial desperation) finding your way interesting and the resulting storyline strangely comforting. It definitely played nicely on my heartstrings as we reached the pinnacle of the novella, facing the real reason the uncle died on his last voyage.
I really enjoyed reading The Drowned Heir and was constantly intrigued, and although the details and the quick unfolding of the ending were less dramatic than I’d expected and stayed somewhat vague (to me), I felt satisfied by the end. Even though the guts of the story were dark, traumatic, and unsettling, I was left with a brightness inside my heart and a smile on my face. Definitely recommended to lovers of intricate and mysterious magics and our cruel mistress, the sea.
Helyna L. Clove 
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