Namesake is an adventure filled conclusion to the story that began in Fable

Adrienne Young’s Namesake serves as the conclusion to the story she began in Fable, a swashbuckling high seas adventure about a young girl searching for her pirate father in a literal sea of grifters and cutthroats. And it’s an exciting, fast-paced ride that will ultimately satisfy those that stepped on board the Marigold with Fable last year.

Fable ended on a cliffhanger that saw our heroine kidnapped by a rival pirate captain named Zola with a revenge agenda of his own. Now, as Namesake opens she’ll find herself heading into the Unnamed Sea, and dragged into a larger scheme she doesn’t entirely understand.

The story takes us to the port of Bastian, which eagle-eyed readers will remember, was once home to Fable’s mother Isolde. Digging into her mother’s past will be a big part of Fable’s present, as she tries to both track down a fabled gem to buy the Narrows’ freedom from an encroaching trader, and make peace with the reality of who her mother was.

Fable herself remains a fantastic heroine, stubborn and bullheaded and willing to sacrifice anything in the name of the people – and the ship – she cares about. She makes several dangerous mistakes and messy assumptions here, and the bulk of the novel is her scrambling to make up for them, spinning a half dozen plates and schemes in an attempt to both right previous wrongs and save herself from a future she never asked for.

There’s plenty to love about this sequel: Its relentless pace keeps the story feeling as though something new and dramatic is happening on every page. The introduction of Bastian gem queen Holland, along with her connections to Fable’s mother, adds a deeply personal element to proceedings. And our heroine’s complicated relationship with her pirate father, Saint, remains as surprising and compelling as ever.

But Namesake is also missing much of the found family appeal that categorized the first novel. Part of the reason for that is that we just don’t spend that much time on the Marigold, and there’s little for its crew to do elsewhere in the story. But, unfortunately, the biggest problem is West, who becomes a huge, controlling jerk in this book, and the story runs out of pages before the character can properly be rehabilitated into anyone I want around our heroine.

Perhaps Young’s decision to paint West with decidedly dark shades of grey would have worked better had this story been just a bit longer – or had she done more than imply he had a shady past in the previous novel – but as it is, he just seems like a [expletive] who values his own choices and sad puppy feelings above everyone else around him.

That said, the reintroduction of Jevali dredger Koy provides some welcome new character dynamics, as does the appearance of Saint’s former navigator, Clove. But it’s not quite the same – and, as a result, Fable’s frenzy to reclaim that life she’d established on West’s ship doesn’t pack the same emotional punch. Mostly because after West’s behavior, one has to question why Hamish, Pav, Auster, and Willa even still want to be part of his crew.

Particularly since Namesake is loath to let us spend much time with any of Team Marigold, and the story coasts on our lingering affection for all the relationships established in the first books.

That said, if what you’re here for is the pirate-y, high seas adventure, there’s plenty of that here – loads of betrayals, double-crosses, murder, and mayhem with even bigger economic and political issues thrown on top. If the ending ultimately feels like things slot together a bit too easily, well. At least the journey to get there was fun.

Namesake is available now in print, audio, and digital formats. Let us know if you’re excited about the conclusion of this series.