Characters (from top-left, clockwise) Xan, Fate, Basil, Karina, Verse, Cecelia
"Symphony of Shifting Tides" is the first book in the Elancia Chronicles saga. It was written by Leilani Rae Wilson, and published in 2019 through Goal Publications. Illustrations were done by NightlineZ (Cover art), and Renz (interior art).After another successful heist, Verse and Xan are forced to abandon their piratical lives, as they find themselves in grave danger. The sea has started to die under their noses. Before the monsters can take them down into the abyss, They escape to the land of Celestion: an old-fashioned devoutly religious nation from the Basker continent, who are at war with their Dascillian neighbours. After their only hope for escape leaves them behind, they must find a way to survive, as they make all sorts of strange new friends, get stalked by bounty hunters, and are forced to enlist into military service. Meanwhile, Verse looks for answers about her missing past, and tries to resolve her inner turmoil. All while she tries to suppress a disturbing presence inside her...
In 2019, it received a Leo Literary Award
for being among the best novels of the year, and was also nominated for a Coyotl Award.
It was followed up the next year by it's sequel Symphony Of Hunted Truths.
Symphony Of Shifting Tides contains examples of:
- Arboreal Abode: Zolder City in Lurafelle is full of houses carved from trees.
- Cigar-Fuse Lighting: Stella accidentally lights a stick of dynamite when she drops her cigar, and catches it with the wrong hand...
- Cryptic Conversation: When the main five characters arrive in Fate's lair, Fate mocks everybody with cryptic riddles & confusing, ominous predictions of everyone's futures, much to all of their frustration.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: After the war, Basil, Karina and Chaz get all the fame & glory for their heroicism, While Verse, Xan and Cecelia's contributions are reduced to passing mentions at the end of Basil's speech. Verse doesn't mind, but Xan is not impressed.
- Dude, Where's My Reward?: Despite being promised a lucrative reward for escorting Basil to Lurafelle, Verse, Xan & Cecelia are left empty-handed, since Regando didn't have the money Basil thought he did.
- Enchanted Forest: The 'Sacred Forest' in Celestion has glowing trees, and is inhabited by the wise Chimera folk.
- Eye Scream: Fate gruesomely bisects Verse's eye with his sword in order to inject his own power into it. This results in Verse getting a Magical Eye which allows her to see disturbing visions of the future, and also gives Fate a second life in her nightmares. Verse also gets an Eyepatch of Power from this.
- Fantastic Drug: Aria's cigarettes look & smell different to Verse's. They also make it's user feel light-headed & hungry, implying that Aria smokes that dank Elancian weed.Verse: It makes me feel… Weird. Weird and hungry.
- Foreshadowing: This little gem early on: "The ocean could have a maternal quality to it, right down to its fierce temper", hints at Verse's Ocean-Goddess Ancestry.
- The entire exchange with Verse's party, & Fate before their battle
- Gay Bravado: When they first meet, Verse and Aria agressively trash talk eachother, culminating in Verse Accusing Aria of being a dick-sucker, which backfires spectacularly when Aria immediately & proudly confirms the accusation.
- Groin Attack: Xan and Verse have a game they like to play called "Confession Time" in which the two players reveal increasingly more embarrassing facts about themselves until one gives up. Loser gets punched in the dick.
- The Infiltration: Verse & friends working under the 'Blades of Light' all don disguises to infiltrate a wedding of a Dascillian Prince for an assassination, and to sabotage the Aegiys Cannon.
- Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Fate's wings also have hands on them, thus letting him use 4 swords at once.
- My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels: Cecelia's attempts to speak Kerlynzian (which she learned in a book), leading to hilariously broken results, much to the bafflement of Verse & Karina.Cecelia (in Elian) Ooh! You guys are Kerlynzian! That’s right!Cecelia (In Kerlynzian) Thank you very much! I am wish to love you! Sword is great! Imagine intense romance!
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Fate is practically impervious to regular weaponry, and requires his own MoonSword to damage him. Wounds opened by the Moonsword are vulnerable to regular weapons, though. But even then, Fate is extremely resillient.
- No One Could Survive That!: Xan & Stella fall down into a deep ravine during a fight, where nobody can see where they landed. Both survive. Later, Verse's party falls into a fissure along with some trees, and a building during an earthquake. Somehow, nobody got any serious injuries.
- Plot Coupon: Fate's Moonsword, which is necessary to vanquish him.
- Rhetorical Request Blunder: During some negotiations between Celestion & Dascillia, Prince Filn finds Chaz's demands unreasonable, and asserts that he'd rather die than fulfil her requests. Aliester proceeds to shoot him, much to Xan & Chaz's shock.Filn If you want the Aegiys gone, strike me down, because I will not yield!Aliester I can arrange thatFiln (after being shot) I-I didn’t mean that literally! How could you?
- Saying Too Much: Stella loudly threatening to use magic on Verse & Xan. Amongst an enormous crowd of devout Elians, who consider magic use to be a hideous sin.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Fate, who spends the entire story up until the final battle sealed in his temple in a cave under Mount Rukrous.
- Super Weapon: The Aegiys Cannon is a giant, mountain-sized gun being developed that when complete, will be able to launch immensely-powerful magical strikes anywhere on the Basker continent. It is implied that this was once a weapon aboard an alien starship...
- Supporting Protagonist: Verse. Xan and Basil are both more traditionally heroic, and play a bigger part in the Baskerian war.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Ryza's reaction to finding Verse writhing in agony on the floor after receiving a punch to the groin.
- Tempting Fate: Verse has a tendency to trash-talk her captors when they have her life in their hands.
- Your Head A-Splode: As punishment for threatening Xan's life, Verse gruesomely blows up Ryadel's head with water magic.
