After reading Pixie Tamer by Megan Haskell, I dove into her novel, Sanyare: The Last Descendant, with high hopes that Haskell would expand my view of the world she introduced in the shorter prequel. She does not disappoint. Inside a world of elves, pixies, portal travel, and a tentative peace between two powerful realms, Haskell drops her protagonist, Rie, into immediate danger.

Someone tries to assassinate her while she’s delivering a message in the human realm. The reason is, of course, unclear. Who would want to bring her harm and why? She’s nothing but a third class citizen, a mere human allowed to serve as a messenger (a mail woman with limited portal privileges). Fortunately, her ward has trained her with some crazy fighting skills, which she uses to thwart and dispose of the assassins. One problem: they hail from the Shadow realm, and by law, mere contact with her foreign attackers means the death penalty for her back home. She must chase after whoever hired the hit men in hopes that by uncovering the conspiracy, her king will grant her clemency. Unfortunately, to do this, she must break more laws by traveling to the Shadow realm. With little choice, Rie and her pixie platoon take the plunge.

If you are detecting strong hints of a mystery inside a fantasy story, you are on to something. In essence, this is a detective story, with Rie as chief investigator. But this serves only as the device—the hook, if you will—that Haskell employs to draw us along with Rie into a tale of exploration through a strange, at times dark world, and also a journey of self-discovery.

On this journey, Rie will learn of a world and a people that though disdained in her own neater, stricter, more orderly world, have much to offer her in terms of freedom, and perhaps even equality. Here she will meet colorful characters, one of which will present her with a strong—and forbidden—love interest.

To meet the challenges she faces, she will also uncover things about herself previously kept hidden. Is she more than a mere human, as she’s been led to believe all these years? Though the nature of her being and origins remain much of a mystery throughout, they will eventually provide her with the answer as to why someone would want her dead.

As I wrote in my previous review, Haskell writes with skill and ease. Her clean, unassuming prose carries you along through what I would classify as a thoughtful page turner. Underneath the superficial conflicts, fights, and chases, Haskell brings up deft and unimposing questions about race, what we consider dark (Shadow realm bad, my realm better), and even takes a furtive glance at how a woman chooses between love and self-determination. I fear I’ve already delved too close to spoiler territory, so I’ll stop at this: the story offers both speed and girth alongside fantasy and a handle on the real, all of which provide a substantive read. In case you can’t tell, I strongly recommend it.

Though I hate to end on a down note, I will say—again without spoilage—that the ending left me a bit disappointed. Our heroine makes a critical, life-changing decision without giving any consideration to a critical story component that has brought us to this point. In my mind, though this feels like an oversight, I will assume the author had good reason to take this approach. Perhaps it will receive proper treatment in the next installment of the Sanyare saga and thus provide strong conflict fuel for what follows. That gives me something to anticipate and look forward to.

[4.5 / 5 stars]