Everything begins and ends in the sea.
Having loved J.J. Amaworo Wilson's Damnificados, I picked up a copy of Nazaré without even really reading anything about it -- I'd been eagerly awaiting his next work and I'm very happy with my decision.  Nazaré has much of what I liked best about Damnificados -- a diverse group of protagonists who need to figure out how to come together, and the perfect blend of political fable + magical realism.
Nazaré follows Kin, a young boy living in a fishing village in Balaal, who may or may not be magically inclined.  He ultimately plays a key role in challenging the country's brutal dictator, Matanza; as Wilson writes on the back of the novel, "their revolution is unlike any other, fought by tinkers and miners, monks and acrobats, clairvoyants in bowler hats, a painted saint, the King of the Rats, and a giant turtle named Abacaxi" (who, despite his very old age, had never before actually participated in a revolution).  This novel had me alternating between laughing aloud and feeling excited and angry and hopeful.  It's rare for me, but I'd probably read this again.