Kara Dalkey

Water — (2002) Young adult. Publisher: The sea is the birthplace of legends. Nia, a young mermyd of the Bluefin clan, has had one wish all her life — to be an Avatar in her beloved home of Atlantis. The ten Avatars rule the beautiful and peaceful undersea city alongside the ancient Farworlders, whose magic keeps their world alive. To be an Avatar is an honor and a great responsibility, and Nia dreams of taking her place among the noble ten. Now, at sixteen, Nia has a chance to see her dream come true. Atlantis is choosing its next Avatar, and Nia knows she is supremely qualified. But there is something Nia doesn't know — if she gets her heart's desire, it could mean the end of her treasured world of Atlantis forever.

Ascension: "Take Heart Niniane, for You are the Knife..."

Water: Ascension is the first in Kara Dalkey's trilogy concerning sixteen-year old Nia, a mermyd of a prominent clan in the undersea realm of Atlantis. The City is ruled by squid-like Farworlders, and their Avatars — mermyds that undergo a special bonding ritual that allows them to communicate with the Farworlders and govern Atlantis wisely. To be an Avatar is the highest honour a mermyd can achieve, and it is Nia's dream. She believes she has a good chance at winning the position against other young candidates from other clans, but is devastated when her family instead chooses her cousin Garun instead of her.

The mystery deepens when Cephan, the young mermyd she likes, shows her a prisoner mermyd and a Farworlder that are kept as secret prisoners deep in the core of Atlantis. Nia is shocked at this, believing her city to be a purely benevolent citadel where things like dungeons and punishments are non-existent. The mystery deepens when Nia begins to suspect that her family is using magic to help Garun win the Seven Trials that each competitor must go through — and even her beloved grandfather Dyonis seems in on the conspiracy.

Ascension is followed by two more books; Reunion and Transformation and this is a beginning worthy enough to track them down, even though I am not a fan of authors/publishers that needlessly split their books into more than one volume. It will appeal most to readers between ten and twelve, as it is quite a slender book but there is quite a lot of exposition put in concerning how the bond between Avatar and Farworlders works, how the city runs and the layout of the Trials.

At times all of this is badly presented to the reader, often being too complicated or too contemporary (and with mentions of cloth existing underwater). For instance, there are references to "turtle-taxis" and "kelpaper journals," as well as words such as "biochemical" and "having a crush (on someone)." This would not be so bad if the time-period was assumed to be contemporary, but as it turns out in later books, it's actually set in medieval times.

But Atlantis itself is vividly portrayed, from its homes and markets, its meeting places and engineering mechanism and the "dry rooms" where air still exists to preserve documents. Kara Dalkey also has a gift with names, as all of the mermyds have appropriately aquatic, and somewhat Grecian names: Thalassa, Pelagia, Maru, Pontus and Callimar are just a few examples.

Nia herself is a great heroine: smart, athletic, spunky, but not too good to be true — her faults make her a well-rounded person, err, mermyd. She's very easy to relate to, and her motivations are clear and understood. By the end of this particular phase in her life, most will be reaching for the next book. Also, in a completely unrelated statement, I think the cover art on this book (and the next two) are just beautiful. I know it's wrong to judge a book by its cover, but if you did, this one would be the winner. —Rebecca Fisher

Reunion: "The Sun Rides on his Shoulder but he Brings the Storm!"

In the previous book, the sixteen year old mermyd Niniane (called "Nia" for short), discovered betrayal and conspiracy in her underwater home of Atlantis. With the escape of an evil mermyd named Ma'el and the Farworlder (powerful, intelligent squid-like creatures) that he is telepathically connected to, Atlantis was overthrown and Nia the last living Farworlder were thrown ashore.

Reunion picks up again from the point of view of Corwin, a young man whose master has recently been executed by the tyrannical King Vortigern and is now on the run himself. He makes his meager living as a beach-comber, and one this particular day he finds an extraordinary silvery shell but is soon chased from the shore by a terrible watery beast. He hopes that the shell will bring him some riches, but it is soon stolen by Vortigern's men despite the intervention of Nia herself, come ashore to save the young Farworlder-prince inside.

Joining forces, Nia explains to Corwin her story, and that he himself bears the mark of the Avatar (the person chosen to be linked to the Farworlder), as does she. If they do not retrieve the shell then Atlantis will be destroyed, and furthermore their very lives will be forfeit — if they do not complete the Avatar ceremony then the toxins released into their bodies via the shell will kill them. Thus, on a time limit of five days the two set out to save the Farworlder, all the while avoiding the threat of Ma'el at their backs.

The story is told exclusively from Corwin's point of view, which may be disappointing to those who were taken by Nia's wonderful character in the first book, but Corwin is an equally interesting, well-rounded character, though not as innately righteous as Nia — several times his thoughts stray towards thievery! Nia herself is remarkably able-footed on land, and heads the mission to save the Farworlder with a clear head and decisive leadership — though she's a bit too trusting toward Corwin, especially after her bad experience with Cephan.

The story races along nicely, as the teenagers attempt to control their new-found magical abilities and sort out the telepathic link between them, and although there are a few too many narrow-escapes, Reunion is a decent follow-up to the previous book. And if you felt that the name "Nia" and the sword "Eikis Calli Werr" rang a slight bell, then there are more clues in this book as to the real identities of Nia and Corwin (but don't give it away!)

Once more, the cover art is just beautiful, though hopelessly inaccurate (Nia's hair isn't golden, Corwin wore a blue cloak, and at no point do either of them use a boat). Ah well. —Rebecca Fisher

Transformation: "Someone's Listening, But Not Who You Think..."

Transformation is the final book in Kara Dalkey's Water trilogy, beginning with Ascension and continuing with Reunion, both of which are essential reads if you want to understand this final book. Previously, young mermyd called Nia from the underwater city of Atlantis came ashore in order to find Gobiath, a squid-like Farworlder that rules Atlantis. He is one of the last of his kind after Atlantis was betrayed by the evil mermyd Ma'el and his Farworlder Joab, and now Nia is an Avatar (someone with physic links to a particular Farworlder) and the only one who can save her home. In book two she met up with Corwin, a young boy who unwillingly also became an Avatar to Gobiath and helped Nia in rescuing him from the tyrannical King Vortigern.

Now the two of them face their final hurdle: together they swim down into the depth of Atlantis only to find the people enslaved and Ma'el ruthlessly ruling them all. Organizing a rebellion, they use Nia's newfound power and Corwin's upbringing of trickery and theft. They feel the only way to gain the upper hand is to retrieve Eikis Calli Werr, the magical sword that promises peace, and with this they race once more up to the surface world to defeat Ma'el and his terrible kraken.

The romance between Corwin and Nia was inevitable, but perhaps a little too simplistic, and the two of them are betrayed no less than three times in the course of the trilogy, rendering them a little silly for trusting everyone that comes along. Their mysterious parentage is hardly dwelt on (we never uncover the details about Nia's mother, and never hear anything about Corwin's parents at all) and so I'm not sure why Dalkey even bothered to put this in. But Transformation is a great end to an original and enjoyable trilogy, and Dalkey adds in some moments of genuine humour: "glowing sea snails!"

Corwin continues his role as the protagonist, as most of the events are seen through his point of view, but thankfully Nia has a few shining moments of her own. The villains come across as genuinely powerful and threatening, and throughout Dalkey sprinkled touches of real lore and legend. Overall, a good read, especially for young fantasy lovers between nine and twelve.

Whatever you do don't read the final pages before you get there (I know of several people who do this the moment they get a new book), as the small twist at the end is ingenious. If you've had a sneaking suspicion all along that Nia and Corwin were familiar faces in legend, then you may just be correct... —Rebecca Fisher