One day, Josiah meets a strange woman who has come to the village. She hires him for odd jobs and he learns that Crow, an Archivist, is coming to the village. When Crow arrives he is in the company of Caleb, a Meran who runs a mission on the river between Meran and Sium. Josiah has never met a Meran before and is fascinated by Caleb. Best of all, Crow is near his own age and becomes a friend.

Josiah learns that the Archivists are being killed off. He also learns that Caleb is related to his father and wants Josiah to come with him to meet the family when he returns the head for burial. He also learns that war is brewing between the two countries again and that he must make some choices. Life is filled with surprises and Josiah is overwhelmed with trying to understand this larger world. He still must find his place and as he meets more and more people and the people he thought he knew change their behavior, Josiah is more at a loss than ever to understand himself or his place in the world.

This is definitely a coming of age novel. There is the quest to meet his family, a quest to find himself. But, Josiah makes decisions and doesn?t flinch from the hard choices. He lives with the decisions he makes and takes responsibility for them. There?s a lot to like here though I wish the plot and characters were a bit less predictable.