An Unintended Voyage, by author Marshall Ryan Maresca, is part of the Maradaine Sequence series of books. I saw this posted from the author. "Chronologically speaking, the story takes place after People of the City. It follows its own thread from A Parliament of Bodies and doesn't spoil events of the Fenmere Job. Essentially, this story is the prelude for Phase two of the Maradaine Sequence." Though set in the same world as the Maradaine novels, An Unintended Voyage takes place entirely outside of Maradaine.

Sergeant Corrie Welling, of the Maradaine Constabulary, was betrayed, kidnapped, and sent onboard a ship filled with children who will be sold as slaves once they reach their destination. 9 children have already died during the 27 days journey. However, before she reaches her destination of the Mahabassian Slave Market, the ship goes down in heavy seas, and only she and a girl named Eana survive. To make matters worse, they are rescued but occur a huge debt that must be paid off before they are released.

Both Corrie, who takes her job as a Constabulary seriously, and Eana, must find work in order to pay off their debt. They also must learn a new language if they are going to survive. Luckily for Corrie, she finds a job as a bodyguard for a wealthy daughter who is attending university. Corrie also finds a friend an Ang, who has been studying the stars, and knows that there will be an eclipse, and a comet on the same day which brings out all the zealots looking to make trouble.

One of the things you must get used to when reading about Corrie is her colorful language. For me, I don't give a horse's rear end how many vulgarities she comes up with. I care that she, like her brother and her family, have a real idea of what standing up for something they honestly believe in, and don't take any grief from anyone who steps on their toes. Corrie quickly learns the language. She quickly knows how to deal with her roommates, and she is a true big sister to Eana who comes into her own over the course of this story.

The author does a pretty good job of rehashing events that got Corrie into the situation she finds herself in. What I need to know is whether or not she will be written off, or will the author continue to make Corrie sure that she ends up being reunited with her friends who likely believe she's dead. One of the things that makes me coming back to this series is the amazing characters and the worldbuilding. He really throws the entire sink into this story with magic, weird celestial events, indentured servitude, religious fanaticism, and young women attempting to make it in a world gone crazy.

I did not realize how much I was missing the world of Maradaine until returning to it! An Unintended Voyage is a standalone book that takes us far outside of the city of Maradaine to lands unknown (at least beyond passing mentions) and stars none other than Corrie Welling. Corrie was kidnapped and put on a slave ship with a literal boat load of children in one of the books in the first Maradaine arc, so I’m glad we’ve returned to her tale. This was a great way to wrap up that loose end AND introduce not only some new locales, but also quite a few wonderful new characters!

As I mentioned, Corrie was put on a slave ship to who knows where and that’s exactly where the story begins. She is determined to escape, but her timing was quite poor because a storm sank her ship and she and the lone surviving child were picked up and taken to a city called Mocassa. Thanks to a nasty bit of trickery and the problem of a language barrier, she and Eana have their debts sold off and must work to repay them before they can return to Maradaine. Much of the book focuses on Corrie trying to find her way in this new, foreign city. It sounds quite glum when you write it out like that, but it was actually a story filled with hope and new friendships alongside the hardships. 

The new characters introduced are a varied cast, ranging from an exiled noble studying medicine, to an indebted sea-queen, to a sect of religious extremists trying to take over the city. Speaking of that… ultimately, the extremists going around bullying folks and causing a ruckus at the university are the big bad guys of the book. Corrie being the law enforcer and generally decent person that she is can’t simply stand aside and allow these people to push others around and exert their will over the citizenry. This situation affords Corrie the opportunity for some great character growth and lets the reader get to know her much better. 

This was an outstanding entry into the Maradaine universe, though I admit I was a little skeptical about how much I’d enjoy this. I’m not crazy about the cover, though it aptly goes along with elements of the story, and I was hesitant to be excited about a story I thought would be rather bleak given Corrie’s situation. Boy, am I glad I picked it up anyway because I was thoroughly hooked from the start and can’t wait to see how Corrie, Eana, and maybe some of the others are introduced (hopefully) in the second story arc!

You know, I really can’t sing the praises of this series highly enough if you’re just looking for a fun fantasy series that doesn’t require you to take it too seriously. I do want to keep this review spoiler free because I’m writing it about a week before it is released, Sure, if you want to just rate something on pure literary merit this isn’t a five star book but it gets the five stars from me just for the good time I was shown in reading it. I stopped reading the ARC for a few days close to the end because I couldn’t quite bear to be done yet. This is book thirteen in this world and the first one away from the city of Maradaine. I look forward to seeing more of this world which I’ve enjoyed enough that despite getting to read the last few books as ARCs I’ve bought copies anyway because at some point I’m going to want to reread this series to enjoy the fun again and get away from it all,
Given how many books in interconnected series there are here’s a suggested reading order:
Thorn of Dentonhill
Murder of Mages
Holver Alley Crew
Way of the Shield
The Alchemy of Chaos
An Import of Intrigue
Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe
Shield of the People
The Imposters of Aventil
A Parliament of Bodies
The Fenmere Job
People of the City

You could probably start with this book and not be too lost, but you’d be missing out on some fun escapism by skipping the rest.

An Unintended Voyage is a new novel in Marshall Ryan Maresca’s Maradaine sequence, which, if I’m honest, is something I always look forward to! And, just to start here: this is a damn fine book. It’s smart, it’s funny, it’s human, it has real emotional stakes, a good heart, and you know what, it’ll make you turn the pages pretty quickly, too! It’s also a story that isn’t part of the many Maradaine subseries, but the start of something new - so if you’ve been wanting to dip your toes into the water of this sprawling saga, this would be a great place to start.

At its heart, this is a fish out of water story (well, among other things). Corrie Welling is police. Willing and able to knock heads in order to serve the law, and, perhaps more importantly, to serve justice. She has a streak of duty a mile wide, a quick mind, and an ever so slightly quicker mouth, with a penchant for exotic insults. Corrie is young, and maybe a little idealistic, but her ideals are those that recognise the flaws in the world and want to make it a better one. She’s willing to stand up for her friends, and…well, anyone else she thinks isn’t getting a fair shake, actually. Corrie Welling is an engaging protagonist, one we can empathise and sympathise with, one with whom we can happily walk into the unknown.

Which is just as well, because Corrie Welling is having a very bad day. She’s been knocked on the head, and thrown into the belly of a ship travelling to who knows where, with a cargo of children, and nothing that suggests they’ll come to a good end. Surprisingly, things can actually get worse from there. But Corrie has the resilience to weather it, and the mental and physical strength to refuse to back down from those looking to cause harm, and instead get right up in their faces. In a genre which can all too often Chosen Ones chasing their McGuffins, Corrie’s solid refusal to let Bad People do Bad Things is refreshing. She’s not here to save the world, but to find a place in it, to find something of herself. To learn and understand, and build communities. And, admittedly, occasionally to bust heads and yell at people. Corrie is a regular working woman, who just wants to go home already, and is very much tired of everyone else’s crap. That crap might involve deep magic, weird celestial events, indentured servitude, religious fanaticism, or (occasionally) coffee. But the weary attitude of an everywoman who is trying to make their way in the world and get things done is a tonic, an opportunity to see that heroines are made, not born. Corrie can change the world by doing the right thing, and she does that while standing square in a working class heritage of family, duty, service and friendship – and while doing that she shines.

Anyway. Yes. Corrie is a fantastic protagonist. She comes off the page at you with her energy, ferocity and kindness. And the places she goes, which, well, I shan’t spoil, have that life and crackle to them, that sense of depth and history that gives them context and reality. As Corrie wanders the strange and unknown, I was right beside her, as curious, as intrigued, as delighted and terrified as her. The Maradaine saga is known for its great worldbuilding, and if that’s your thing, you won’t be disappointed here.

The same is true of the story, which I really must not spoil. But it really did grab me and not let go. I picked the book up and didn’t put it down for hours, immersed in Corries’s world, in her story, and yes, I really couldn’t stop turning pages. This is compulsive reading right here, that you’ll pick up and not put down, and then lament when you’re finished that there isn’t any more. I, for one, am here for more adventures like this, speaking to the dangers of fanaticism and selfishness , filled with the strength of community and friendship and trust, exploring what it means to be human with big questions behind a page turner of a tale.

So yes. Anyway. This is a fun book, a great story, and one you should go and pick up right away – give it a try!

Maresca stretches his considerable skills in this book, set in the Maradaine-verse but dropping Corrie Welling, kidnapped constabulary officer, into an entirely unfamiliar terrain. Maresca introduces new cultures and settings without ever losing the thrilling energy that has infused the rest of the series. The "fish out of water" premise could easily become wearying (I can certainly think of authors who would allow a character to spend a few hundred pages wallowing and retreading murky territory), but Maresca never lets the pacing flag and doesn't allow Corrie to become stuck. Instead, we get to see her learn the ropes of her her new surroundings and engage with an absolutely amazing cast of characters.