WATER

An exotic undersea world is given vivid life in this engaging inception to a projected fantasy trilogy. Nia, a mermyd of the aristocratic Bluefin clan, has dreamed for all her 15 years of becoming an Avatar, helping to ensure the prosperity of Atlantis through a magical bond with the prescient Farworlders, the squid-like creatures who created her people. But when the clans choose their candidates to compete for the upcoming Ascension, the Bluefins inexplicably reject Nia in favor of her nondescript cousin Garun. To further strain her loyalties, the lower-caste Stingrays have selected Cephan, her secret beloved, as their representative. Nia’s hurt and betrayal are exacerbated when she discovers that Atlantis’s idyllic facade conceals official deceit and dark secrets, most shockingly that the greatest danger to her home may well come from Nia herself. Both familiar and intriguingly alien, Nia is a delightful concoction of adolescent contradictions: supremely self-confident in her talents, yet touchingly insecure in her budding romance; exasperated by her elders and their traditional ways, yet shattered by her disillusionment with the mermyd leadership. Dalkey (Genpei, 2000, etc.) creates a detailed and refreshingly original submerged society, continually revealing deeper layers and hidden crannies that hint at a rich and complex history. Unfortunately, her world-building too often resorts to massive information dumps and chunks of expositionary dialogue that stop the story flat. Once things get going, though, the exhilarating twists and turns carry readers gasping into a stunning cliffhanger that will leave them clamoring for the next installment. (Fiction. 11+)