Today’s review is about THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL by Sarah K.L. Wilson. It’s the first book in a new romantasy series set amongst the sea and a plethora of gods. The queen makes a deal with the gods to save her people, which sets her off on a new life path.
Author: Sarah K.L. Wilson
Series: The Fisher King, #1
Age Category: Adult
Publisher: Orbit
Publish Date: February 24, 2026
Print Length: 464
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The Trident and the Pearl Synopsis
Synopsis
Forced by the gods to be wed. Forced by their secrets to be enemies. A desperate queen and a lowly fisherman must join together to save her land in this spellbinding romantasy from Sarah K. L. Wilson.
Queen Coralys, ruler of the Crocus Isles, kneels to no one. But when her kingdom is besieged by a terrible hurricane, killing her husband and destroying half her nation, she is forced to make a deal with the gods for salvation.
But the gods have a wicked sense of justice, and they demand payment for their help. Coralys must give up her titles and marry the first man to set foot on her pier: a poor, wounded fisherman with broad shoulders and dark power in his eyes.
Coralys keeps her promise and sets out with him in his dinghy, with only the hope of revenge against the gods to keep her from despair. But her new husband hides his own secrets: a link to the gods that may make him her enemy or her ally, and a mysterious list of impossible feats waiting to be crossed off. However, learning to trust each other will be their greatest challenge, because only together can they stop the enemies gathering at her kingdom’s shores.
The Trident and the Pearl Review
I received a free, advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher. My review is my own and reflects my honest opinion about this book.
THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL is the first book in a series of unknown length by Sarah K.L. Wilson. Queen Coralys’s isles are being battered by a hurricane that shows no signs of stopping. Her husband dies trying to save others out to sea while the queen beseeches the gods for their help. In exchange for stopping the storm, they decree she must marry the first person who sets foot on her pier. This person happens to be a poor, injured fisherman. Once married, she sets off with him to his home. Once there she begins to have suspicions about who he is, awakening her desire for vengeance.
Wilson’s writing style in THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL is lovely. It has a lyrical, poetic quality without feeling too flowery. I had to reread some passages to make sure I understood the intent. But overall I found it easy to read despite the purple-ish prose. I felt like I made swift progress for a book approaching 500 pages.
The system of gods is interesting, though I dare say I can’t keep them all straight without referring to the text. In this world the gods are real. There’s one that represents war, the sea, the arts, and various other aspects of life. How they ascend to godhood is also interesting. However, I won’t say more to avoid spoiling how the magic system works.
Although the story begins with Queen Coralys keeping her promise to wed, the plot eventually becomes more complicated than holding up her end of the bargain. I admired Coralys’s resoluteness even through her grief of losing her husband and best friend. However, Wilson lost me a bit with the vengeance plot line. For a ruler who comes off as wise and loved, Coralys seemed to abandon a good portion of logic in her secret goal to avenge her husband’s death.
Additionally, most of this book is one big beautiful lack of communication. The fisherman remains tight-lipped about his identity and goals under the excuse of letting Coralys work through her grief. And Coralys doesn’t push him enough for answers, so everything turns into a mess. This is essentially why the plot gets more complicated. A lot of the bad events could have been avoided if Coralys hadn’t acted until she had more information. While I enjoyed the writing and network of gods, the lack of communication seemed like an easy out to create adversity. However, I liked THE TRIDENT AND THE PEARL enough to want to pick up the sequel as I’m curious about the magic system.
Rating: 3.5
Content warnings: blood, death, torture
Reading format: Paperback
I have seen some mixed reviews for this, but I’m glad you liked it overall. I’m not a big fan of the two strangers getting married trope, so I don’t have plans to read it, but I will be curious to hear what comes next😁
If that trope is a hard no, then definitely stay away, haha. But I will say the book doesn’t focus that much on the marriage part. Sure, it happens, but it’s mostly about the FMC trying to decide if she wants vengeance and then her participating in the drama between the gods later on.
Lack of communication is always a dodgy plot device for me as it often just makes me irritated with the characters. I’m glad that you enjoyed this one enough to want to read the sequel.
I’m surprised I want to read the sequel since I really don’t like the lack of communication trope. I think it’s because I like the author’s writing style and the interplay between the gods has me intrigued.
Very intrigued to discover more about the Gods in this one and it sounds like the kind of prose that I adore. Its just the the way that a lack of communication caused problems for the characters that has me concerned. Ive been burnt by that before. But I’m still highly interested in trying this one.
I think you might feel similarly to me after you read it. You’ll probably like the prose and the interplay between the gods, but the lack of communication might bring your overall experience down a notch. I’d say give it a go.
It’s such a bummer to hear about the lack of communication—especially when just talking to the other person would’ve solved most of the problems! 🤦🏻♀️ I really do love the premise and the beginning sounded promising, but I also dislike when we’re told a character is supposed to be one way and they act in total opposition to that. Maybe I’ll check it out if it’s on for 99p or something, but for now, I think I won’t be jumping to get it.
I think it’s fair to wait for a book deal when there are so many mixed reviews out there. As I mentioned in other replies to comments, the writing style at least makes up for some of it, but I think this could have been great if the lack of communication plot device hadn’t been so heavily relied upon.
Great review! I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for this one, and yours has solidified my decision to not pick it up. I hope you enjoy your next read more!
If anything, you could listen to it as an audiobook if you feel so inclined. But totally fair to give it a pass when there are so many other books to choose from!
I really wanted to like this one, because as you point out, it’s got lovely writing! But I got way too frustrated with the lack of logic from the main character.
I totally get that. Do you think you’ll read the next one, or are you tapping out?
Oh I’m definitely tapping out.