“It had been four years since the day I was dumped on the blazing hot beach and left to fend for myself. Forced to scrape hulls in exchange for rotten fish when I was starving, and beaten for diving in another dredger’s claimed territory again and again.”

Young uses imagery that stimulates the senses of touch, smell, and taste to depict the severe circumstances Fable faces during her years on Jeval. For example, she endures “blazing” heat and eats “rotten fish,” quickly establishing herself as a resilient protagonist who does what she must to survive.

“The shine of sunlight on silver scales glittered above me as more fish came down to feed, and I looked up, squinting against the glare. Floating in the murky distance down the reef, a body drifted beneath the surface. The remains of a dredger who’d crossed someone or didn’t repay a debt.”

The author uses juxtaposition to contrast the reef’s beauty with the violent nature of life on Jeval. The alliteration in “shine of sunlight on silver scales” creates a serene mood, and the imagery of the glittering light accentuates the scene’s natural beauty. The description of the corpse is a fragment, mirroring how the dredger’s life was cut short. These literary devices help Young’s audience better understand both the majestic maritime setting and the dangers facing the protagonist.

“Keep your knife where you can reach it.

Never, ever owe anyone anything.

Nothing is free.

Always construct a lie from a truth.

Never, under any circumstances, reveal what or who matters to you.”

The italicization and formatting of this list set Saint’s rules apart from the rest of the text to emphasize how deeply they’re ingrained in the