#Review - Sea of Strangers by Erica Cameron #YALit #Fantasy @EntangledTeen

Series: The Ryogan Chronicles # 2Format: Paperback, 384 pagesRelease Date: December 5, 2017Publisher: Entangled: TeenSource: Publisher 

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Know your enemy if you want to survive…

The only way for Khya to get her brother back alive is to kill Varan—the immortal ruler who can’t be killed. But not even Varan knew what he was doing when he perverted magic and humanity to become immortal.

Khya’s leading her group of friends and rebels into the mountains that hold Varan’s secrets, but if risking all their lives is going to be worth it, she has to give up everything else—breaking the spell that holds her brother captive and jeopardizing her deepening relationship with Tessen, the boy who has been by turns her rival and refuge since her brother disappeared. Immortality itself might be her only answer, but if that’s where Khya has to go, she can’t ask Tessen or her friends to follow.

Sea of Strangers is the second installment in author Erica Cameron's The Ryogan Chronicles. Sea of Strangers is the follow up to Island of Exiles which was released earlier this year. The Ryogan Chronicles is a diverse, gritty fantasy with multiple complex cultures, and high-tension romance. Sea of Strangers picks up several weeks after the action packed finale to The Island of Exiles. The protagonist of this series is 17-year old Khya, a resident of a country called Shiara. 

Khya is a fykina mage and a soldier who was trained to protect her country against all dangers. Khya, who may be the most powerful mage in generations, has the ability to create wards to keep her squad mates protected. After learning a shocking secret in the previous installment, and then having her brother taken away from her, Khya becomes convinced that she must find a way to break Varan of his immortality at all costs. Khya and her friends found an ally in Osshi, who offered his assistance. 

It's where the story picks up. Khya and her friends are on a ship heading into the unknown. They must trust that her new allies will get them safely to the land called Ryogan. With her brother's life on the line, Khya must trust some new allies she and her group meet along the way. Most notably Lo'a, a sort of gypsy who travels by caravan along with her family. Lo'a teaches Khya about Ryogo's magic, and becomes a staunch friend and maybe more. But, this land has a long memory when it comes to Varan and the other 11 immortals he helped create. Including Chio and Tsua who Khya met in the previous novel. 

Khya and her allies will face a difficult terrain, wacky weather, prejudices, a changing environment, and soldiers chasing them at every avenue. But, it is the Ryogo's who will suffer if Varan makes good on his threat. They have no clue what is coming for them. It will be up to Khya and her allies to stand up and be counted, or fall be the way side. 

**One of the things I liked most about this book, besides the ever present challenges and action, and Khya being thrust into a leadership roll, is that the author actually spends time laying out who her characters are and what abilities they have. You can find this glossary at the beginning of the book, as well as the end. This is a series with both racial diversity and cultural diversity in the way certain prejudices are aimed towards people who are different.

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