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Reviewed by Ryan Jordan for Readers' Favorite
Rise: Tears by Brian Guthrie is the first book in what will become a series of novellas about a dystopian future where water is a scarce and controlled resource even more important to sustain life than it is currently. The novella blends fantasy and science fiction and tells the story of a scribe working for the Queen, tasked with interviewing various people to find out a truth that is vaguely referenced in this first novella. This first entry is the interview of Micaela, an Edger who is working with her family to solve a problem in one of the shells in the Outer Dominances. She teams up with Seekers, a sort of police figure in the new world, in a journey of discovery and constant peril.
The novella is told in first person format, swapping back and forth between the scribe gathering the story and Micaela who is telling the story. This can feel disjointed at times, where the first person narrative is interrupted by another first person narrative happening at a later time, but it is handled well and doesn't detract much from the story. There is also a large cast of characters, though only a few actually seem important to the novella, particularly a rebellious Seeker named Quentin and the storyteller's brother, Donavan.
For a first entry Rise: Tears sets the stage very well for a series of novellas that will gradually turn a vague problem of water shortages into a reality, and I like how the story is meant to be many parts forming a whole. All in all, a pleasant introduction to the series and I look forward to learning more about these characters and this world.
