3.5
The Isle in the Silver Sea
ByPublisher Description
From World Fantasy Award-winning author Tasha Suri comes The Isle in the Silver Sea, a heart-shattering standalone romantasy of sapphic longing, medieval folklore and a love that spans the centuries.
★ “Beautifully inevitable and surprising at the same time." –Kirkus (Starred Review)
★ “A sensuous and haunting story of love beyond time.” –Library Journal (Starred Review)
In an England fuelled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom each other over and over, the same tale retold over hundreds of lifetimes.
Simran is a witch of the woods. Vina is a knight of the Queen’s court. When the two women begin to fall for each other, how can they surrender to their desires, when to give in is to destroy each other?
As they seek a way to break the cycle, a mysterious assassin begins targeting tales like theirs. To survive, the two will need to write a story stronger than the one that fate has given to them.
But what tale is stronger than The Knight and the Witch?
★ “Beautifully inevitable and surprising at the same time." –Kirkus (Starred Review)
★ “A sensuous and haunting story of love beyond time.” –Library Journal (Starred Review)
In an England fuelled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom each other over and over, the same tale retold over hundreds of lifetimes.
Simran is a witch of the woods. Vina is a knight of the Queen’s court. When the two women begin to fall for each other, how can they surrender to their desires, when to give in is to destroy each other?
As they seek a way to break the cycle, a mysterious assassin begins targeting tales like theirs. To survive, the two will need to write a story stronger than the one that fate has given to them.
But what tale is stronger than The Knight and the Witch?
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Isle in the Silver Sea Reviews
3.5
“Absolutely beautiful. I loved the writing and the fairy tale quality. The themes felt very timely and overall I enjoyed my time reading this.
I did have a few gripes, though, in particular the romance. I was fully on board with the fated, but not asked for, attraction vibe that they had going on in the first 60% or so. There was such passionate longing and desire, but it also felt very clear that those feeling were driven by their tale and their past lives, and not necessarily by these characters themselves. So it was a bit of a let down when, once their tale is changed and they are given an opportunity to choose, there wasn't any angst about whether the feelings were real or any attempt at wooing from either party--something along those lines. There was an attempt with Simran's request that Vina give her time, but we don't spend much time with either character in that space, so it feels unearned when things fall into place so quickly and easily.
I also felt like Suri couldn't decide what time period to place this in, which really bothered me. The description of the Eternal Queen, the use of horses and swords, and many other things placed this in the Elizabethan era for me, so the references to buses, guns, sweaters, boxers, etc. felt very anachronistic.”
“🎧 — First of all, the audiobook is phenomenal; Shiromi Arserio is incredible. 10/10 recommend listening to this book. Secondly, this was my first Tasha Suri novel, and it certainly won't be my last. My only complaint is that some of part 2 drug a little timeline wise.”
“I was just as nervous about this book as I was excited for it. I loved Suri’s The Burning Kingdoms trilogy so much that I was afraid this might fall short; but instead, it reminded me exactly why I love her work. She writes with humor, beauty, and deep empathy, and her worlds feel rich and real despite how fantastical they are.
Her subtle worldbuilding (particularly the archivist document reviews at the beginning of chapters in the first section) does an excellent job of establishing who the Archivists are, their priorities, and their service to the Queen, while also adding depth to the world itself. This approach lends more gravity to the trials we experience through our main characters and strengthens the overall setting. That’s not even touching on the magic system, which is intricately tied into and elevates the worldbuilding even further. And yet, Suri makes all of this feel effortless and incredibly approachable as a reader.
Beyond the worldbuilding, Suri excels at creating characters who are believable, layered, and deeply lovable. There’s a character positioned as a villain for much of the book, and the way Suri completely turned my feelings (from distaste to being fully in their corner) was masterfully done and never felt forced. I also felt there was so much potential for additional standalones set in this world, whether following characters we briefly met or exploring stories that were only mentioned. I know that may never happen, but the book absolutely leaves that door open, and I would cherish more stories in this universe.
There are a few flaws, but none of them detracted from my overall enjoyment, which is why this still earns a full five stars from me. Some of these points may be spoilery:
-I would have loved more closure for certain side characters, particularly Cora/Vaughan and Matthias/Edmund
-More insight into how the ending impacted the Isle itself, or even a glimpse into Vina’s travels afterward
-Additional depth around the Spymaster and his story
-Slower, more grounded travel sequences, rather than characters seeming to move between places too quickly
To address these, an extra hundred pages (or even two) might have been warranted. That said, I understand many of these choices. The Burning Kingdoms had the benefit of being a trilogy, with much more space to wrap everything up, which is why it remains a rare six-star series for me. This standalone, however, is a very solid five-star read and it is still so, so wonderful.
Simran and Vina are phenomenal examples of sapphic characters, and I love them both dearly and will miss them now that this story is complete.”
About Tasha Suri
Tasha Suri is the World Fantasy Award winning author of The Isle in the Silver Sea, The Burning Kingdoms Trilogy, The Books of Ambha Duology, What Souls Are Made Of and Doctor Who: The Cradle. Once a librarian, she is now a part-time writing tutor and a full-time cat and rabbit wrangler. She lives with her family in a mildly haunted house in London. She can be found at tashasuri.com
Other books by Tasha Suri
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