Revin’s Heart takes place on island nations — or on airships traveling between the islands. The first book, The Third Time’s the Charm begins with Revin traveling to Havelock on the Madeline, a large passenger airship that is attacked by pirates. Read on for a tour of the islands of Revin’s Heart.
Havelock is ruled by a Duke who seemingly has absolute control of the island. We see a little of the island in The Third Time’s the Charm and see a lot more when Revin and the Professor go undercover in Crossing the Streams, visiting the capital and then the Hermitage, a research institute; Sendia Springs, a hot spring resort; and Beskin Harbor, a quaint seaside village.
Belleriand appears for the first time in For the Favor of a Lady. Revin and Grip walk for two days to the capital and visiting Ravensbelth, the sprawling palace of the so-called Butcher Baron of Belleriand. It has many luxurious chambers and salons (the Blue Room, the Tapestry Room, the Porcelain Room, the Portrait Gallery), and an immense library. Although the Baron is the most powerful noble on Belleriand, his power is not so absolute as the Duke of Havelock and he must use deft political action to be effective.
Harway is the home of King Reginald the Arbiter. All of the nobles in Revin’s Heart supposedly owe fealty to him. Revin travels there in The End of His Rope and is there for basically all of Then They Fight You (with several notable exceptions). Harway is the largest and most powerful of the islands. Harway is also home to the Royal Academy, the premier research institute among the islands. The Professor was famous at the Royal Academy before he joined the pirates as their chief engineer.
Candlemain, a smaller, less-developed island, is neutral in the war, but the intelligence agencies of both Havelock and Belleriand operate here. There’s no aerodrome, and airships simply land in an open field just out of town. There’s a colorful farmer’s market on Thursdays where locals sell produce, fish, and meat. The pirates resupply here and Grip receives their mail. The pirates often stay at a boarding house, run by Mama Kane, that offers nice views of the pier so they can watch for the arrival of The Little WormMaid.
Kapper Island — a small, steep rocky island — is introduced in For the Favor of a Lady. It has no harbor and only a few small strips of beach. The pirates have their base here with a berth for an airship under camouflage. They have a number of semi-permanent tents that the pirates stay in. And they have a small sailboat, The Little WormMaid that they use to travel to Candlemain a couple of hours away to resupply. There is a steep trail up the mountain with switchbacks that they run up daily for exercise.
Devishire is the island Revin is originally from. Born female, he grew up in a small town where his family were coal miners. In his town, women were oppressed: girls were not educated, and were expected to be married at a young age to keep house and bear children. Revin escaped by cross-dressing and going to the capital where he met a law professor and became his student and research assistant. This story, Riva’s Escape, is a side-story that will be included when Revin’s Heart comes out in January 2024.
We don’t visit Ironton or Woodseer during Revin’s Heart. But Ironton is the island that Will is from. And we learn that there was a war between Ironton and Woodseer in the past (when Will was Revin’s age) for which Hannah (Revin’s adjutant in Then They Fight You) was involved in negotiating the peace. A side-story, Curtain’s Rise, is set on Ironton during this time and tells how Will met Grip’s father. This story will be included when the Revin’s Heart collection comes out in January 2024.
So-called “Storm Island” features in The End of His Rope where Prince Stewart, using his nom-de-guerre “Words” was participating in an archeological study. He and his colleagues were looking for clues to locate the island with the Eternite Mine. Although it’s referred to several times in the story, Revin never visits the Eternite Mine, but I wouldn’t count on it not appearing in some subsequent adventure with Revin.
This map only lists the things that were talked about in Revin’s Heart. That’s not to say there aren’t many other tiny islands that were never mentioned. There may well be other things beyond the borders of the map, as well. Perhaps we may get to find out more about some of these places someday.
