Tess of the Road

By: Rachel Hartman

Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan

Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

Award-winning Rachel Hartman's newest YA is a tour de force and an exquisite fantasy for the #metoo movement.

"Tess of the Road is astonishing and perfect. It's the most compassionate book I've read since George Eliot's Middlemarch." (NPR)

In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is...different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can't seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. What she's done is so disgraceful, she can't even allow herself to think of it. Unfortunately, the past cannot be ignored. So Tess's family decide the only path for her is a nunnery.

But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She's not running away, she's running towards something. What that something is, she doesn't know. Tess just knows that the open road is a map to somewhere else - a life where she might belong.

Returning to the spellbinding world of the Southlands she created in the award-winning, New York Times best-selling novel Seraphina, Rachel Hartman explores self-reliance and redemption in this wholly original fantasy.  

Named one of the best books of the year by NPR, Boston Globe, The Chicago Public Library, Kirkus Reviews.

"The world building is gorgeous, the creatures are vivid and Hartman is a masterful storyteller. Pick up this novel, and savor every page." (Paste Magazine)

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Rachel Hartman (P)2018 Listening Library

Critic reviews

"This achingly real portrayal of a young woman whose self-loathing takes help to heal is a perceptive examination of rape culture rare in high fantasy. Not to be ignored, this is also a fascinating road trip adventure. Absolutely essential." (Booklist, starred review)

"Like Tess' journey, surprising, rewarding, and enlightening, both a fantasy adventure and a meta discourse on consent, shame, and female empowerment." (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"[A] rousing adventure set in a richly drawn world.... Newcomers to Hartman’s work will be every bit as enthralled as her fans with this companion novel to Seraphina and Shadow Scale." (Bulletin, starred review)

Beautiful and Boring, Both.

I'm conflicted about it. Hartman pays attention to the little ineffable moments so beautifully it's life changing . . . but in starts and fits. Between those shining moments is a whole lot of nothing. The nothing is like the road Tess walks and that's extreamly effective. But I don't listen to audio books for long stretches of boring with a few revelatory moments; I listen for immersion, which this book just doesn't achieve. The book is amazing and mediocre, both. I recommend it if for no other reason than I don't know of other fantasy writers that achieve what Hartmann does here - maybe Leguin with Tehanu but that's different. Hartmann glories in the small ambiguous tragedies and intimacies of a complicated - and distinctly women's - life.

A Fascinating Adventure . I listened twice

The characters and plot are engaging and compelling. My second listening experience was filled with details and nuances missed the first time. The ending is satisfying but I hope Tess's adventure continues in a second book. She is a character I would like to learn more about and her next adventure would certainly include the sea with a new and expanded set of characters, cultures and continents.
Thank You Ms Hartman for a great read/listen and wonderful narration by Ms McEwan

Excellent!

Wonderful coming of age story. I especially enjoyed walking along side Tess while she grew into a beautiful and confident young woman.

Character Growth.

This book is not like the others.
I loved Serafina and Shadow Scale, so I bought the "Third" book in the trilogy. This takes place in the same world, but is a very different piece of literature.

It reads as surprisingly real. It has a determinedly chipper and upbeat pacing, and then sudden moments as though the sun has gone behind a cloud and you remember all the terrible things that exist in the world. The style of storytelling seems to match very closely to how the character is feeling and seeing the world.

On top of that, I like Tess more and more as she grows. It's always mildly annoying when the main character has a Sudden change of personality, or when an author does some sudden form of personality retcon ("But Wait! They were really always good and mature at heart!" or "But the whole world was wrong, so she must have been right all along!"). Hartman doesn't do that. Tess walks along steadily, discovering new things about herself at every turn.

So much more than I expected

Just read it. It’s so good. I expected a fantasy adventure story. And it was. But also so much more. Feminist in that difficult way that challenges systems. More than just a story about a girl with a sword. (though I really like stories about girls with swords)While also being about finding healing in a world that doesn’t think you deserve it.

Fantastic character arc!

I loved this book! It would be especially illuminating for teenage girls and younger women, not because of the level of the writing but because of the personal growth the main character goes through. I've read books with a similar coming of age theme about boys dozens of times, but rarely do books about female characters get this deeply revealing of the burdens women bear especially in repressive societies. There are also fun linguistics and interspecies communication details. One of the fantasy books I've enjoyed the most in recent years!

Fanstinkimgtastic

Deep
Intuitive
Covered a wide breadth of emotion, thought, and senses.
Resonant
I am grateful

Wonderful

I actually thought this was a better book than the related Seraphina tales. It is compassionate and asks big questions about right and wrong without too much thumping you on the head with it.

A wonderful story for women and girls!

I loved this story so much. I am not familiar with Rachel Hartman's other books, and decided to read this without knowing the world that the story took place in, as readers of "Seraphina" might know. But I don't think that made much of a difference in my experience.

This is the story of a woman who has endured so much hurt and trauma, and who has to unpack so much of what she has been taught about herself her whole life.

It is amazing and inspiring and so important for women and girls who have had to learn who they are outside of what has happened to them in life. Many sweet characters met along the way, and a bit of magic too!

Beautiful coming of age story, perfectly narrated

While I was certainly entertained by Seraphina, the follow up book was fairly disappointing. Neither prepared me for the wonder that is this book. It is one of the most beautifully philosophic renderings of a flawed narrator I have ever read. Where was this book when I was 17? I was so deeply moved by Tess' mental, moral, and physical journey that I was embarrassingly brought to tears walking down the street listening to it. The narrator is spot on perfect, but I've already ordered the book as well because it's clearly a title that needs rereading.

Just wonderful

A fully realised world with fully human characters who are simultaneously flawed and fantastic, as are we all. Oh, and dragons, Quigtl (sp?), Anathuthia (spsp???) and feminism, polyamory, LGBTQ++ (the extra + because who can even guess about saints and dragons and how they identify?) families, motherhood and the whole darn world. These books take very current issues and ideas and transpose them into a world of fantasy, thereby somehow holding a mirror up to our own society to help us see it more clearly by comparison. This trilogy is a masterpiece and a delight but I'd much rather that it didn't end here.The author's imagination is as tall and broad as the sky and brings forth wonders, monsters and the people down the road. And it's... wonderful. More, please.

Refreshing!

Get this book if you want something a bit (a lot) darker, than the stereotypical romantic fantasy genre has to offer, and love a plot twist.
This is by far my favorite book by Rachel Hartman and Katharine Lee McEwan reads it wonderfully!

Riveting!

It's been a while since a book gripped me this much, especially the second half, just couldn't put it down I was so desperate to hear what happened next! Please please let there be another one in this series. Such a rich and unique world, dragons yes but not as you've seen them before and new and intriguing creatures and myths. Love it.

Fantastic!

This is one of my all time favourite books. There is a perfect balance of adventure, fantastic storytelling, beautiful prose and insightful character development. This is a book that offers fresh vistas into the human soul and psyche, delivered through an engaging story with characters you might fall head over heels in love with.

I want the next one

In some ways this doesn't have narrative push of the others.,however great read and hoping for more