The Drowned Gods, #1

Curious Tides

Name: Curious Tides (The Drowned Gods, #1)
Author: Pascale Lacelle

by Pascale Lacelle

Genre

Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult

Year

2023

Pages

772

Contents

Overview

Curious Tides follows Emory Ainsleif, a student at Aldryn College, a school shaped by lunar houses and specialized magic. After surviving the forbidden Dovermere cave disaster that killed several classmates and left her best friend Romie Brysden missing, Emory returns to campus burdened by guilt, unanswered questions, and a strange spiral mark she cannot explain.

Her search for the truth draws her toward Keiran Dunhall Thornby and the secretive Selenic Order, while Romie’s brother, Basil “Baz” Brysden, pursues his own investigation through forbidden books, Eclipse magic, and rumors of a lost epilogue to Song of the Drowned Gods. As Emory’s powers begin to cross impossible boundaries, the central conflict becomes both personal and cosmic: what happened at Dovermere, what is calling from beyond it, and how much can be risked to recover the lost?

The novel blends dark academia, sea-haunted fantasy, secret societies, grief, identity, and the danger of power systems that fear what they cannot control.

Plot Summary ⚠️ Spoilers

Emory Ainsleif returns to Aldryn College after the Dovermere cave catastrophe, where eight students drowned and her best friend Romie Brysden vanished. Officially, Romie is dead; privately, Emory is haunted by fragments of that night: a secret ritual, blood on a silver-veined Hourglass rock, a spiral mark on her wrist, and the tide arriving too early. She notices that Keiran Dunhall Thornby, an influential student tied to the Selenic Order, bears a similar mark and seems to know more than he admits.

Romie’s brother, Basil “Baz” Brysden, investigates from another angle. An Eclipse-born Timespinner grieving Romie and his sealed friend Kai Salonga, Baz finds a note in Romie’s handwriting hidden in Cornus Clover’s Song of the Drowned Gods, linking Dovermere to the book’s missing epilogue. When Quince Travers, one of the presumed drowned, washes ashore alive and then dies horribly, Emory tries to heal him. Her magic erupts beyond New Moon healing into several houses’ powers, including Reaper magic. Baz secretly rewinds time so witnesses forget the worst of it and concludes that Emory is a legendary Tidecaller.

Emory and Baz form an uneasy partnership. A selenograph confirms she is Solar Eclipse-born, meaning her birth was hidden. Baz trains her cautiously, fearing Collapse, the catastrophic release of Eclipse power that leads to the Unhallowed Seal. Meanwhile, Emory investigates Dovermere and learns of the Selenic Order, a secret society connected to past drownings. Keiran invites her into the Order’s world, where members use synthetic magics to mimic other lunar gifts. At a masked soiree, Emory demonstrates true multi-house power and is nearly arrested before Keiran persuades the Order’s leaders to induct her.

Keiran reveals the Order’s ambition: use Emory’s Tidecaller ability to wake the Tides, restore ancient magic, and perhaps bring back the dead. Emory, desperate to save Romie, agrees to help. Baz’s research leads him to Jae Ahn, Vera Ingers, and Alya Kazan of the Veiled Atlas, who believe Clover’s missing epilogue may be a key to travel between worlds. Baz also breaks into the Regulator Institute and learns from Kai that Romie and Kai had pursued a song in the sleepscape, a dreamlike realm tied to the epilogue.

Further returns from Dovermere sharpen the pattern. Lia Azula emerges alive from the sea only to die with her mouth and throat destroyed, just as Quince returned as a withered Healer. Baz and Emory theorize that four missing students—Quince, Lia, Romie, and Jordyn Briar Burke—passed through a door into another realm, and that those who return without the proper key are destroyed by the price exacted on their magic. Emory reaches Romie through the sleepscape and learns Romie and Jordyn are trapped in a liminal world. Travers and Lia were taken by a dark call; Jordyn has been attacked by an umbra, a nightmare entity. When an umbra follows Emory back into Dovermere, Baz stops time to help them escape, and Emory nearly Collapses before Baz rewinds the moment and saves her.

Their bond fractures when Dean Sybille Fulton discovers Emory’s Eclipse nature. Keiran pressures Fulton to hide the truth, while Penelope West’s memory is marked for alteration after Lizaveta Orlov manipulates her into exposing Emory. Baz, hurt that Emory trusted Keiran, cuts ties. He then returns to the Institute and learns the truth from Theodore Brysden: Baz, not Theodore, Collapsed years ago in the printing-press disaster that killed Keiran’s parents, and Theodore accepted the Seal to protect him. Baz also discovers the Regulators siphon silver blood from Collapsed Eclipse-born to make synthetic magic. With Jae, Theodore, Vera, and Kai, he escapes, reverses Kai’s Unhallowed Seal, and watches Kai survive a controlled Collapse with his Nightmare Weaver power restored.

At Dovermere, Emory leads the Selenics in what she believes is a rescue ritual. Keiran betrays them. He and Lizaveta subdue the others, and Keiran reveals that the Tides require sacrifices from each lunar house and a vessel: Emory. His true aim is not simply resurrection but restoring lunar magic by purging the Shadow and eradicating Eclipse-born corruption. Lizaveta, who had hoped to bring back the dead and had tried to remove Emory by glamoring Penelope, turns on him; Keiran kills her. Emory refuses to become his vessel. When Jordyn’s umbra attacks, she weaponizes fear to create another umbra, protects the surviving Selenics, unlocks the Hourglass with her blood, and opens the Door to the Deep.

Baz and Kai arrive too late to stop Emory. Kai subdues Keiran and commands the umbrae to sleep, but Emory chooses to enter the Deep to find Romie. Keiran follows her. In the true sleepscape, Keiran admits he manipulated Emory, traced her lineage through Adriana Kazan, and knew eclipse-born Tidecallers awaken through near death. Umbrae drag him into the abyss. Romie appears, and together she and Emory fight the swarm. Emory seals the rift back to Dovermere and heals the umbrae into stars, ending the immediate threat but trapping herself and Romie beyond the closed door.

In the cave, Kai absorbs the invading umbrae while Baz holds back the tide. Keiran returns mortally wounded and taunts Baz that Emory is lost; Baz confesses that his Collapse killed Keiran’s parents before Keiran dies. Emory awakens beside a badly burned Romie in the sealed sleepscape. Unable to reopen the silver door, Emory uses her last healing spark to stabilize Romie. Guided by a star-song, they choose a new dark marble doorway and step through into an unknown world. Back in Dovermere, Baz merges his time magic with the cave’s power, restores the broken Hourglass, reverses the tide, and leads the survivors home. He accepts a new role as keeper of Dovermere’s door, resolved to guard the way for Emory and Romie’s possible return.

Characters

Emory Ainsleif

The central protagonist, a supposed New Moon Healer who survives the Dovermere disaster and discovers she is Solar Eclipse-born. Her Tidecaller ability lets her wield multiple lunar magics, making her both the key to rescuing Romie and the target of Keiran’s vessel ritual.
Basil “Baz” Brysden

Romie’s brother and an Eclipse-born Timespinner whose grief drives him to investigate Dovermere, the missing epilogue, and the Institute. He grows from fearful restraint into a powerful timebender who saves Emory from Collapse, exposes Regulator abuses, and becomes keeper of Dovermere’s door.
Romie Brysden

Emory’s best friend and Baz’s sister, whose disappearance at Dovermere motivates both protagonists. Her research into Song of the Drowned Gods, the sleepscape, and the missing epilogue proves central to understanding the door between worlds.
Keiran Dunhall Thornby

A charismatic Selenic leader who draws Emory into the Order and presents himself as an ally in rescuing the dead. He is ultimately revealed as a manipulator seeking to use Emory as a vessel to wake the Tides and purge Eclipse-born power.
Kai Salonga

Baz’s Nightmare Weaver friend and former lover of Farran Kaine, sealed at the Institute after Collapsing. His knowledge of the sleepscape helps Emory and Baz reach Romie, and his restored power later absorbs the umbrae threatening Dovermere.
Lizaveta Orlov

A Waxing Moon Amplifier and Selenic member who distrusts Emory’s Eclipse-born power. She helps Keiran at first but opposes his final plan, and her earlier manipulation of Penelope helps expose Emory to Dean Fulton.
Virgil Dade

A Waning Moon Reaper and Selenic member whose flippant manner masks insight into death and renewal. He supports Emory within the cohort and survives Keiran’s attempted sacrifice.
Nisha Zenara

A Sower and Selenic member who was secretly romantically involved with Romie. Her grief, guilt, and hope for Romie’s return draw her into Emory’s efforts, while her Vault access is suspected to have helped Romie’s research.
Penelope West

Emory’s New Moon friend who offers ordinary support amid grief and school pressure. She becomes collateral damage in Selenic politics when Lizaveta glamours her into exposing Emory’s Eclipse-born nature, leading to a planned memory alteration.
Dean Sybille Fulton

The dean of Aldryn College and Keiran’s guardian after his parents’ deaths. She publicly warns students away from Dovermere but privately helps conceal Emory’s identity to protect Aldryn and manage the Selenic fallout.
Professor Beatrix Selandyn

An Eclipse Omnilinguist and Baz’s mentor at Aldryn. She provides academic context on Tides-and-Shadow myths, supports Baz after Kai’s removal, and is assigned to train Emory once her Eclipse nature is exposed.
Jae Ahn

A scholar, illusionist, and Brysden family friend whose knowledge of Cornus Clover and the Veiled Atlas guides Baz’s research. Jae also hides painful truths about Baz’s Collapse and helps expose the Institute’s exploitation of Eclipse-born patients.
Vera Ingers

Alya Kazan’s niece and a Veiled Atlas ally skilled at infiltration and locks. She helps Baz enter the Institute, provides transport, and repeatedly pushes him to act despite danger.
Alya Kazan

A Shadowguide associated with the Veiled Atlas who attempts to locate Romie beyond the veil. Her failure to find Romie’s spirit supports the possibility that Romie is not dead but unreachable in another realm.
Theodore Brysden

Baz and Romie’s father, a Nullifier sealed at the Institute after taking responsibility for Baz’s childhood Collapse. He reveals the truth about the printing-press disaster and warns Baz that the Institute harvests power from Collapsed Eclipse-born.
Quince Travers

A New Moon Healer presumed drowned at Dovermere who briefly returns from the sea before dying unnaturally. His withered body and blackened spiral are the first proof that the missing students’ returns exact a deadly magical price.
Lia Azula

A Wordsmith presumed lost at Dovermere who later walks out of the sea alive and dies with her voice and mouth destroyed. Her return helps Emory and Baz identify a pattern between each missing student’s magic and the cost of crossing back.
Jordyn Briar Burke

One of the four students believed to have crossed through Dovermere into the liminal realm. Injured and hollowed by an umbra, Jordyn becomes associated with the nightmare entity that attacks Emory and Baz.
Artem Orlov

A Regulator and Selenic hardliner who tries to detain Emory and later participates in the Institute’s blood-siphoning operation. His use of Glamour and enforcement power links the Selenic Order to institutional abuse.
Vivianne Delaune

A Memorist on the Selenic Tidal Council who initially favors erasing Emory’s memory. She later appears among the Regulator-aligned figures discussing Emory, memory control, and the vessel plan.
Leonie Thornby

A Wordsmith on the Selenic Tidal Council who questions Emory at the lighthouse soiree. Her conditional acceptance helps bring Emory formally into the Order under Keiran’s responsibility.
Louis Clairmont

A New Moon Healer and Selenic initiate who participates in the Order’s enhanced synthetic-magic demonstrations and later the Dovermere ritual. He is one of the students Keiran intends to use as a potential sacrifice.
Ife Nuru

A Seer initiate and Selenic member who participates in the Order’s rituals and synthetic demonstrations. She is among the students subdued by Keiran and protected by Emory during the final Dovermere confrontation.
Javier

A Full Moon-aligned Selenic member and Louis’s partner. He participates in the Order’s rituals and is one of the students Keiran marks for sacrifice at Dovermere.
Farran Kaine

Keiran’s close friend and Kai’s former secret lover, lost during an earlier Dovermere initiation. His death shapes Keiran’s obsession with waking the Tides and Lizaveta’s hope that the Order might restore the dead.
Henry Ainsleif

Emory’s father, who writes to her after she questions the truth of her birth. His letter and the heirloom from her mother help connect Emory’s hidden lineage to larger mysteries.
Luce Meraude

Emory’s absent mother, later connected by Keiran to Adriana Kazan. Her concealment of Emory’s eclipse birth becomes crucial to Emory’s identity as a Tidecaller.
Cornus Clover

The author of Song of the Drowned Gods, whose missing epilogue becomes a central clue in Romie and Baz’s investigations. Clover’s work is treated by the Veiled Atlas as more than fiction, possibly a guide to doors between worlds.
The Regulators

The authorities who oversee the Institute and enforce the Unhallowed Seal on Collapsed Eclipse-born. Their hidden siphoning of silver blood exposes the system’s exploitation of the very people it claims to contain.
The Selenic Order

A secret society tied to Aldryn, Dovermere, and forbidden rituals meant to wake the Tides. Its members use synthetic magic, conceal failed initiations, and become divided between resurrection hopes and Keiran’s more violent agenda.
The Umbrae

Nightmare entities from the sleepscape that feed on fear and threaten both the liminal realm and Dovermere. Emory ultimately heals them into stars, transforming them from monsters into lost beings released from suffering.
Dovermere

The forbidden sea cave where the disaster occurs and where the Hourglass opens a door to the Deep. By the end, its sentient magic resonates with Baz’s timebending, allowing him to restore the Hourglass and guard the passage.

Themes

Pascale Lacelle’s Curious Tides is built around thresholds: between sea and shore, life and death, sanctioned magic and forbidden power, grief and obsession. Its central mysteries matter not only because they drive the plot, but because they expose how characters respond when loss makes the impossible feel necessary.

Grief as a dangerous form of longing. Emory returns to Aldryn haunted by Romie’s presumed death and by the bodies on Dovermere’s shore, while Baz is immobilized by Romie, Kai, and his father’s fate. Their searches begin as acts of love, but the book repeatedly asks when remembrance becomes compulsion. Romie’s note, the missing epilogue, the Selenic Order’s rituals, and the returns of Travers and Lia all show grief reaching toward resurrection—and finding horror when it refuses limits.
Power, prejudice, and institutional control. Eclipse-born magic is treated as contamination: Baz is cuffed in the Vault, Kai and Theodore are sealed in the Institute, and Emory fears exposure more than danger. The revelation that the Regulators harvest Collapsed silver blood reframes “protection” as exploitation. Against that system, Baz’s discovery that Collapsing is not inherently damnation becomes radical: what has been called a curse may be a force authorities have demonized in order to control.
Identity hidden, denied, and reclaimed. Emory’s falsified birth date and Eclipse nature force her to reimagine herself beyond the safe label of Healer. Her Tidecaller ability tempts others—Keiran, the Selenics, even institutions—to define her as a vessel or key. Her growth lies in rejecting those roles. By the end, she acts not as someone’s instrument but as someone who chooses how to use her whole, contradictory magic: healing even the umbrae.
Trust, manipulation, and divided loyalties. The novel contrasts Baz’s fearful honesty with Keiran’s seductive certainty. Keiran offers purpose and intimacy, but his care is inseparable from strategy; Baz withholds truths, yet his arc bends toward protection and accountability. Emory’s shifting trust in both men dramatizes the difficulty of discerning love from usefulness when everyone is wounded.
Stories as maps—and warnings. Song of the Drowned Gods, the missing epilogue, star-songs, myths of the Tides and Shadow, and hidden ledgers all suggest that stories preserve truths institutions erase. Yet interpretation is perilous: the same myths that guide Baz and Emory also fuel fanaticism. The book ultimately treats stories as doors: powerful, incomplete, and safest when approached with humility.