A review by Nalini Haynes
Raeve has no past and a doubtful future. She lives secretively, protecting the one person she cares about while also trying to help the dispossessed. However, her thieving violent ways catch up with her. And then her forgotten past catches up too. When the Moon Hatched is an epic fantasy in a world where dying dragons fly as high as they can to become orbiting satellites – moons – upon their deaths. Raeve obsesses about one particular moon, which she thinks of as a friend.
This elaborately woven fantasy incorporates inter-kingdom politics with social strata and magical misdirection. Flashbacks foreshadow the future. Admittedly I was somewhat frustrated with this as I was guessing why these flashback chapters were woven into the story only to realise a key piece of worldbuilding was withheld to obscure Parker’s intention. Upon reading that revelation – the length of elven lives compared to others’ – all became clear.
At 541 pages for the story (more for the extras at the end), this book could well have been split into two. Separating the world setup and beginning of Raeve’s story arc from her romantic interlude and “me time” could have been beneficial because When The Moon Hatched felt like two different books. However, I prefer reading a whole story at once. And often I forget to follow up on multipart stories. Thus I am not a fan of splitting books into smaller chunks.
The wrap
When The Moon Hatched is an imaginative engaging fantasy story with overtones of revenge/vigilante fic and romance. The pace and flow of the story is inconsistent as Raeve wanders into romance and has some “me time”. This appears to be more “because plot” than consistent with her character. BUT it is possible – plausible – for a character to have such a break with their previous behavior while wrestling with revelations and learning who they are.
I enjoyed When The Moon Hatched and I look forward to reading the rest of the story.
