“The Speaker”, the second book in Traci Chee’s Sea of Ink and Gold series, begins by immediately pulling you back into the fantasy world the first book, “The Reader”, established. The second installment of this story quickly captivated me, and I couldn’t put the book down. The fantasy world in which the main character, Sefia, lives is intriguing, complex, and filled with magic.

 The books may be confusing at first. Figuring out how everything connects feels like a fun puzzle, one that, when finished, leaves the reader both satisfied and wanting more. Each character in “The Speaker” is interesting in his own way, and Chee emphasizes each one’s individuality, giving each their own journey, perspective, and story. 

Though these stories seem to be completely separate from one another, it is slowly revealed they are all much more intertwined than initially believed. 

In a world in which reading and books are illegal, Sefia’s literacy puts herself in danger. Orphaned, she ends up on the run with one possession, The Book. Though not the only book in her world, she soon finds out it is the most important. The stories in the book turn out to not be fiction, but rather reality.

 In “The Reader”, Sefia discovers that The Book tells the stories of the past, present, and future, stretching across the world to tell the story of everything in existence. In “The Speaker”, Sefia discovers how to use this fact to learn about the past, see into the future, and help her friends. 

Chee’s fantasy world stands out from others because of its focus on the written word. There is a certain irony in reading a book in which doing that very thing is considered illegal and dangerous. Chee also chose to smudge, fade, and write over certain words and sentences in the book, giving readers the impression they are not the first ones to handle the book, that the book has had a journey of its own. 

Throughout the story, Sefia often reads passages in The Book that tell her the future, only for these exact same passages to show up in “The Speaker”. This, combined with the faded words and smudges, implies the book you are holding is the very same one Sefia has already held. In fact, you are reading the same story she already has. She was once the reader of this book, and now she is being read. 

Chee successfully leads readers into a world they’ve never before experienced, with well-developed characters and a fascinating story. Not only that, but the layers of the magical world leaves the reader to ask the question, “Are you the reader, or are you the read?”