Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Maren Wiederhold
Categories
Children’s, Teenage & Educational

DRIFT

Megan Hutchins

Tenjat joins a dangerous defense to protect his island home from the monsters who threaten it in this fresh YA fantasy inspired by Mayan and Indian folklore.

There's no place for love on the shores of Hell. Tenjat lives on the shores of Hell, an ocean filled with ravenous naga monsters. His island, a massive Turtle, is slowed by the people living on its back. Tenjat is poor as poor gets: poor enough, even, to condescend to the shame of marriage, so his children can help support him one day. But Tenjat has a plan to avoid this fate. He will join the Handlers, those who defend and rule the island. Handlers never marry, and they can even provide for an additional family member. Against his sister's wishes, Tenjat joins the Handlers. And just in time: the Handlers are ramping up for a dangerous battle against the naga monsters, and they need every fighter they can get. As the naga battle approaches, Tenjat's training intensifies, but a long-hidden family secret-not to mention his own growing feelings for Avi-put his plans in jeopardy, and might threaten the very survival of his island. M.K. Hutchins has had short fiction appear in Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show and Daily Science Fiction. She studied archaeology at BYU, which gave her the opportunity to compile histories from Maya glyphs, excavate in Belize, and work as a faunal analyst. DRIFT is her debut novel.

Available products
Book Published 2024-08-20 by LEE & LOW

Comments

Fantasy and speculative fiction fans are the obvious audience here, but readers of historical fiction or those interested in a more anthropological take on the battle between good and evil will find this to their liking as well.

Hutchins draws on ancient lore about a cosmic turtle and creates a world in which people live on the backs of the large creatures. Tenjat's adventures will resonate with readers who similarly feel as if they're trying to find their way onto dry land. A magical fantasy with legs (and flippers!).

Totally fresh. Original worldbuilding and cosmology spice up a save-the-world romantic adventure. Readers will find watching Hutchins' unusual magical rules bring about startling consequences for family and political structure utterly fascinating.

A fantastic adventure set in a stunning, original world... draws you in so completely that you'll believe you are living on an island on the back of a turtle, fighting off water spirits, and claiming your own magical treasures. Some of the best worldbuilding I've ever read.

The world-building is clear and well-developed; details about the setting's mythology are deftly integrated into Tenjat's story and will engage high fantasy fans. Themes of marriage, family, friendship, and loyalty are evident throughout and are not overly done.