A Daughter of No Nation

This fast-moving sequel to Child of a Hidden Sea puts free spirit Sophie Hansa back in the middle of tense intrigue in the alternate dimension of her birth. Sophie, born in the fantastical land of Stormwrack but sent away to live with a San Francisco family, has largely given up her life as a promising biologist in hopes of returning to her birth world to discover its secrets. Now the call has come from her long-lost father, Clydon Banning of Sylvanna, to meet his household and business associates. In return, he will drop his legal charges against her mother and allow their broken marriage to be dissolved. Sophie struggles to get accustomed to Stormwrack’s seagoing culture, slavery, and magic. Worse yet, she fears her father may be a sociopath. But nothing can keep this intrepid woman from investigating secrets, and soon she has Cly interested in using forensic science to help move cases through Stormwrack’s clogged courts. Her first case: finding out who deliberately infested Cly’s lands with invasive Throttlevine plants. Dellamonica expands on promising worldbuilding and delivers a fantasy tale of messy family politics and social justice with plenty of action and suspense. (Dec.)