Book Review: The Trident and the Pearl by Sarah K.L. Wilson

Title: The Trident and the Pearl
Author: Sarah K.L. Wilson
Series: The Fisher King #1
Pages: 464
Publication Date: Feb. 24, 2026
Publisher: Orbit
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Fantasy / Romantasy
Synopsis:

A desperate queen makes a deal with the gods to save her land in this spellbinding romantasy debut from Sarah K. L. Wilson.

Queen Coralys rules the Kingdom of the Five Isles, but when disaster strikes, killing her husband and destroying half her nation, she pleads with the gods for salvation. And they do save her, turning back the terrible winds and tide and snatching her islands from the brink of destruction.

But the gods have a wicked sense of justice and they demand an exchange for their help: Coralys must marry the first man to set foot on her pier. Coralys expects the fleet of a neighboring country to come to rescue her people, led by its prince, a loyal ally. What she gets instead is a fisherman so sunburnt and stinking that her court can barely keep their breakfast down.

Coralys marries the fisherman just as she promised the gods, and sets out with him in his unkempt dinghy, with nothing but hopes of revenge against the gods to keep her from despair. But what she does not know is that the fisherman is actually the god of the sea. And he stepped on her dock for a reason.

His own kingdom besieged, his body terribly wounded, and his place as a god threatened, the fisherman has plans to turn the tides set against him and finally offer a place of refuge for his people. But working the magic he needs will require the help of the one woman bent on his destruction.

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The Trident and the Pearl was such a great read! I went into it expecting romance and sea magic, and I don’t know if I was prepared for how much the story would suck me in and rip me apart. lol From the opening chapters, I was riveted by this dark and dangerous world of gods and monsters and Coralys’s tumultuous role in it. The author has such a beautiful way of telling a story, and I love the almost lyrical feel in the pacing and narration.

Coralys’s story is tragic, and my heart broke for her so many times. A leader and strong woman, she’s weighed down by grief as she mourns the loss of her husband, her old life, and the world as she knows it. Her husband wasn’t just a political ally or a distant royal spouse. He was her best friend and partner in life, and they had a deep and easy relationship full of genuine affection, which made his death and her loss even more heartbreaking. I didn’t expect to get hit so hard by grief, but the story delves deeply into all of its stages, and Coralys’s emotions are a layered, messy mix of sadness, anger, longing, resentment, confusion, and more. Coralys also struggles with guilt and shame over her growing attraction to her new husband, Oke. Loving again after losing someone like that is complicated, especially when laced with lies, betrayal, mistrust, and miscommunication, and the book shows those complexities so well.

And Oke? I adored him, even when I wanted to shake him for being so secretive. lol He has valid reasons, and once I realized the enormity of what he’s dealing with, I understood his actions more because in many ways he’s literally fighting to survive. But through it all, Oke is so patient and kind with Coralys. He lets her rage when she needs to rage. He gives her space when she wants it. He lets her mistrust him and question him, and he doesn’t ask for anything she’s not ready to give. I just loved it. His quiet strength and gentleness made their slow-burn romance all the more poignant, and my heart broke more than once for this pair, both individually and as a couple.

Other characters are also intriguing, especially a few whom I never quite trusted. It was interesting to see who proved to be a true ally and who had more malicious intentions, and it added so much to the plot, suspense, and intrigue. Between the mortal and immortal political turmoil, humans and gods with deadly intentions, and wounds both physical and emotional, the story had a lot of layers and made for an immersive read.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s romantic and painful and hopeful and heartbreaking all at once. But above all, it’s a story about love in its many forms. The love of a queen for her people, the never-ending love for a husband she lost, and the fragile, frightening possibility of loving again. And after that ending, I can’t wait to see where this series goes next! Special thanks to Orbit Books for providing me with a copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

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Who are we if we love nothing at all?

Sorrow is the gift you give what cannot be or is not anymore. It is a gift to the past. Anger is the gift you give the future, a sacrifice offered to unrelenting gods in hopes they’ll choke upon it and you can rebuild the world as you like it from their bones.

I looked at him sidelong. “How long have you been waiting to share that thought with someone?”

He waves with two fingers, dismissing it as nothing. “Oh, not more than a decade.”

“You are more than vengeance and wrath, Coralys.”

“Wherever your soul lingers, there will mine be.”

Forever is a terrible, lingering thing. There is no relief in forever. There is no forgiveness in eternity.

Sarah K. L. Wilson is a USA Today Bestselling author who writes fantasy stories featuring practical heroes & heroines in the most impractical circumstances. She loves writing because it is the only way to make a living and give back to the world when your primary skill is an overactive imagination and a tendency toward violent daydreams.

Sarah can be found in the outdoors of Northern Ontario with her young boys and beloved husband, reading a book, or fending off her husband’s pet turkeys with a straw broom.

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