My father and I just finished Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman

My father and I just finished Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman, sequel-companion novel of her Seraphina Series and, judging by the end, the beginning of a new series all together.

A typically atypical Fantasy, Hartman writes a Quest not to slay evil nor save the world but to a guide an angry young woman back from grief and choking self-despair. Fighting against religious-based oppression of women and mental manipulation, Tess sought not only the World Serpent of legend but also, without knowing it, a way to face her demons and love herself again while being herself - and meeting friends both old and wise and odd (and any combination of these) along the way.

"The Road goes ever on and on", as Tolkien says, and Tess of the Road supports that idiom from Tess' motto of "Walk on" to thinking of the Road with the R capitalized. But this road was a deeply strange one even by my standards. Strange yet rooted in the ordinary and full of deep, heartfelt meaning.

Bon voyage, Tess, Pathka, Kikiu, and Jacomo. The great sea awaits!