Song Of the Saltings

By Rachel King

Reviewed by Lucille Rose

Song Of The Saltings is a grim, dark fantasy that follows the story of Lotta Salter, a daughter of the island of Brack, and Moss Smith, a hideling exile cast out from the village. The strangest thing about this mysterious island isn’t the moors that people disappear into, or even the bog witch that haunts children’s dreams, its Lotta. Because she survived. Every three years, the island Council and its leader, the Judge, declare a child must be sacrificed to the Glimm, the all-powerful, other-worldly creature that lurks in the depths around Brack, bringing prosperity to its people as long as they give it what it demands: the life of a child, chosen at random in the Council’s lottery. Lotta was that child once, except it didn’t take her.

No, by some miracle the Glimm spared her life and instead took her steed, and since then the sacrifice has shifted to an annual offering of horses. Lotta should be grateful she’s alive, but something changed within her that day. That something scares her, but it also allows her to save Moss’s horse when it gets trapped in the bog, even though she shouldn’t even be talking to the boy. Hidelings are outcasts for a reason- they hid to escape the lottery and disgraced the Glimm in the process. But Moss didn’t ask for this, he didn’t ask to be hid. But when his horse, his family’s only hope, is chosen in the lottery, he and Lotta realise something isn’t right with the Council – with the whole island, and set out in search of something that can save them. On the journey, they begin to wonder if everything they’ve ever been told is a lie… and whether they can handle the truth.

Lotta Salter was at once a strong, compelling lead unafraid to stand up to injustice, and a frustrating protagonist who couldn’t see the bigger picture. There were multiple points throughout the novel where Lotta, instead of internally wallowing about her ‘woe-is-me’ life, stands up to her tormentors with an admirable firmness of character. This, instead of forcing the reader to imagine what she could have done to right the unfairness, leaves them satisfied with the protagonist’s ability to fight for herself. However, Lotta wasn’t entirely perfect. At times, Lotta failed to recognise the bigger picture and instead got hung up on things that shouldn’t have been dwelled on, making her seem ungrateful for what was really the best possible turn of events. The romance between Moss and Lotta, while effective and meaningful, felt forced. There was little chemistry between the pair, and the only reason the pairing felt romantic was because they did generally romantic things, but without any emotion behind them. Nevertheless, both characters broke gender roles in an interesting and impactful way, allowing both to grow freely individually and as a pair, without the restraints of expected stereotypes.

The story was played out in a strange tense that is at first unsettling to the reader. However, the almost lyrical writing helped accentuate the setting’s natural gloom, and generated a mysterious, mystical feel for the audience. There were many interesting reveals however, many of the details about Brack’s past was left unexplained, suggesting they were merely plot devices that led nowhere but to unsatisfying cliff hangers. King didn’t trust the reader to be able to decipher what was right in front of them, feeling the need to spell out everything in excruciating detail to the point where nothing was left mysterious.

For readers aged fifteen to seventeen. Warning: text mentions child sacrifice, endangerment and animal abuse.

Teacher Notes

A & U Children NZ 2026

Rachel King