The Navigating Fox

Starred review from July 3, 2023
Rowe (These Prisoning Hills) builds a breathtaking world in this resonant tale of anthropomorphized animals. In a surviving Roman empire that has colonized the Western Hemisphere and magically altered certain animals to have reason and language, fox navigator Quintus Shu’al is the only one of his kind. After losing an entire expedition on the mystical Silver Roads, which exist outside of time and provide seemingly impossible shortcuts between disparate points, that only he can access, Quintus returns to Aquacolonia to face expulsion from the Sodality of Explorers. High Priest Scipio Aemilanus intercedes on his behalf, convincing Quintus’s denouncer Octavia Delphina, the sister of the last expedition’s leader, to take part in Quintus’s upcoming journey to seal the gates of hell. Rounding out their party are twin cartographer raccoons Loci and Foci and perceptive bison ambassador Walks Along Woman. As Quintus, who made a secret deal with Scipio to deliver the prior expedition to its death in exchange for knowledge about his singular origins, leads the others along the Silver Roads, details of this prior trip come out, the team suspects Quintus is not leading them in the right direction, and loyalties are tested. Rowe packs a lot into this slim volume, with perceptive descriptions enhancing the worldbuilding and taut, morally complicated action keeping the pages flying. Readers will savor this.

August 1, 2023
In Rowe's captivating caper novella, a clever but lonely magical fox is caught between achieving his greatest desire or rectifying his worst crime. Quintus Shu'al is the only knowledgeable fox in a world in which animals that have been magically enhanced with speech and reason are distinguished from their voiceless counterparts. He is also the only being capable of navigating the Silver Roads, pathways outside space and time, allowing him to find any location, no matter how far or fanciful. Because of his singular talent, he's pressed into leading an expedition to the gates of hell, a location he well knows, as he's already taken one secret, ill-fated expedition there for High Priest Scipio Aemilanus. Scipio promises to deliver the one thing Quintus desires--the secret of his origin--if he conducts this second, even more dangerous journey. The narrative alternates between Quintus' prior, fatal expedition and his present one, gradually revealing hidden motives, dark machinations, and the satisfying result of Quintus' moral dilemma. Rowe's rich fantasy world and delightful characters, including raccoon cartographers and a saintly bison, beg to be further developed in a longer work.

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Starred review from August 1, 2023

Rowe's (These Prisoning Hills) novella takes the species range that made Zootopia so much fun and combines it with the fantasy and sheer magic of Brian Jacques's Redwall to tell the story of a clever, "knowledgeable" fox on a quest to save his reputation (as his world's only navigator of the magic byways) from a conniving, blackmailing priest with a self-aggrandizing agenda. Quintus Shu'al has been coerced into leading an ill-assorted party of mapmaking racoons, ambassadorial water buffaloes, and badly prepared humans, among others, on a trip to Hell. It may be a one-way trip for some of the travelers, but the navigating fox is good at maneuvering his way out of trouble. Quintus Shu'al is everything a hero should be--overconfident enough to get into trouble, while clever enough to get himself out. His journey to rescue his reputation and give his enemy exactly what he deserves is the kind of fable that fantasy readers will love, while his world has everything it needs to keep readers enthralled and hoping for more. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers who love fantasies of talking, thinking animals but have had the misfortune to outgrow the "Redwall" series.--Marlene Harris

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