Daughter of the Deep

First off: I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS BOOK FOR FOREVER!!!!!!!!!Phew okay, I'm done yelling.

Daughter of the Deep takes Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and throws it into the modern world.

Sort of.

If you haven't guessed by now, I am a huge fan of Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson & The Olympians literally formed my entire personality and I have been following his releases ever since (I almost own all the Riordanverse books lol. So close!)

This is literally why I was super-duper excited about this book. While I have only read Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne, 20,000 Leagues under the Sea was always a story I loved hearing about. I did start it but never finished it and will probably end up reading it in the original language: French (yes, this is 100% a flex, I spent 8+ years learning the language, lemme show off).

Here is a brief synopsis of the newest (not Percy Jackson related) Rick Riordan book:

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana's parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family's she's got left is her older brother, Dev, also a student at HP. Ana's freshman year culminates with the class's weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it'll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.But wait, there's more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that cold war has been turned up to a full broil, and the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time.

First off: Ana. She's Bundeli-Indian American!!!! Because Nemo a.k.a Prince Dakkar was also Indian!!! Thank you for that rep! There is other rep but I honestly don't remember all of it right now. I do know that one of Ana's best friends has autism and the friendship between them is incredibly sweet. I love the growing relationship Ana and Gemini have, being enemies at the beginning (well not full on but there is a mutual dislike that they put aside for the sake of the situation) and then a friendship that starts to grow.

The setup of the academy is incredibly interesting. The school is called HP for short (readers were told off about the Harry Potter jokes in the first few chapters lol) and it has four houses, each one pertaining to an important job that the students are trained in. Ana, for example, is a Dolphin (one of my favourite animals!) and her House (she's a Prefect) specializes in communications and stuff like code-breaking. They chose Irish as the main communication language between themselves (should they need privacy amongst other people) and that was super cool. There are also a few instances where Ana and her classmates use sign language such as with Socrates the Dolphin and another creature which I will not spoil lol but I think it comes in just in time, especially with the growing attention the new Marvel movie The Eternals has received for having a deaf character and incorporating sign language into the movie. I just thought it was super cool.

Being someone who wanted to be a marine biologist growing up (but then discovering I needed science and math which were...not my strongest points), I was definitely geeking out about all the descriptions. I have a soft spot for dolphins and Socrates the Dolphin definitely stole my heart in the first few pages. After the big twist at the beginning, I really admired ana for her intuitiveness and her willingness to lead her classmates despite the situation that literally no freshman (14-15 year old?) should be in (despite the fact that they were going to their trials that every freshman has to go through, things do not go exactly the way they were supposed to for the freshman class that Ana Dakkar is part of. )

I really loved how Riordan managed to weave the story of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Nemo's inventions into the modern world. While there was no from-scratch world-building, there is still a build-up for every chapter and Riordan delivers.

Given the fact that I read this book in 2 days, you can tell that I really liked it. Like a lot.

I highly recommend it for those who want to go into Rick Riordan's writing but do not want to commit to his series' (which he has 5 of all based on different mythologies) because, as far as we know, Daughter of the Deep is a stand-alone.

I loved this book!

love me some captain nemo shenanigans

★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S DAUGHTER OF THE DEEP ABOUT?
So here's the thing—the events and characters of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island are based on actual events and people—but Verne was given a few skewed details. One hundred-fifty years later, descendants of these people are running rival schools their ancestors founded, the Land Institute and the Harding-Pencroft Academy.

Students at HP are only told about their origins at a certain point, and their mission is to graduate future leaders in a variety of disciplines to guard the science that Nemo developed and slowly, carefully introduce it to the world.

Land Institute students are told their origins earlier and their mission is to rush that science out into the world—even if by doing so, it'll unleash societal upheaval, economic trouble, and will upend established science for years.

The two schools are in sort of a cold war until the Land Institute launches an attack on HP, and the freshman class has to head to sea to try to survive. While on the run, the class is told about HP's origins and our central character, Ana Dakkar, learns about her family history, forcing her to take a leadership position and more.

Can Ana and the rest of the freshman survive the Land Institute*? Can they utilize Nemo's technology in ways no one else has? Who will control Nemo's heritage?

* It is unfortunate that the ocean-going HP Academy is rivaled by the “Land Institute.” It feels a little too-on-the-nose, even though it's named for Ned Land.

PLAUSIBILITY
Because this is aimed at the MG crowd, I can buy the whole “a bunch of preteens/teens outsmart and outperform dangerous and super-smart older teens” nature of the plot—it's pretty much a given in the genre.

Also, the whole Land Institute teachers/administrators allowing students to start killing people is a pretty hard pill to swallow. For some reason, I had an easier time buying competing mythological figures setting teens against teens.

But hey...if it's in a universe where everything in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is based on reality, and that Nemo's tech worked (and still does!)? Well, hey, I can buy a little less-than-plausible High School actions.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT DAUGHTER OF THE DEEP?
I had a lot of fun with this. A goofy premise, but well-executed. I dug the characters, the action was solid and the pacing was good—enough to keep the reader engaged and entertained, while giving enough breathing room for a little character development.

And there's a giant cephalopod—every undersea adventure needs one of them.

If this is the beginning of a series (and it feels like it), there's a good chance I'll come back for more. But honestly? I think it'd be better as a stand-alone.

Either way, this is a fun ride—and one that'll hopefully spur the target audience into giving Jules Verne himself a try.

I need a sequel

A classic retelling with humor!

Enjoyable read. The “twist” of the plot was a little to easy to spot near the beginning. The wonderful writing with the humor was enough to make up for it. We often get retelling of fairy tales and myths but this classic retelling is just what I needed!

Great now I have to read Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne!


I loved the book I enjoyed it all the way The pace was perfect everything happened where it was supposed I have to say I was a little bit scare about the ending being too lazy or kind of cliche but the last chapters give me what I needed to feel better about everything

This book is pretty cool and it got me intrigued for real now I wanna Know more about Nemo the sub and a lot more I would have loved this book being for an older public because there was a lot that could be shown if just the author show a deeper and complex vision of the history however Im gonna get my desires satisfied with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea I think that book is calling to be read hahaha

Note: I've heard a lot from this author and this as my first book has been great so I'm gonna be reading more of his works pretty soon

I was greatly anticipating this new book from Rick Riordan. I was part of a touring show adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in college, so I felt that I was familiar with the source material and was curious about what he would do with it.

You don't need to have experience with the original story to enjoy Daughter of the Deep, though. This is kind of the Percy Jackson treatment for Captain Nemo(not the cartoon fish). It was nice to recognize some characters and events from the original story, but the book gave you everything you needed.

I enjoyed the female main character and the diverse group of supporting characters. The world of their training was really interesting, with Dolphins, Sharks, Orcas, and Cephalopods, each representing a house that had different strengths and talents.

There was a point at which I was expecting a character to, like, turn out to be a dolphin or something. Then I realized that wasn't happening because this is sci-fi! I've watched lots of Star Trek, but I haven't read that much sci-fi, compared to the amount of fantasy I've read.

Despite the action early on, the story felt like it built a bit slower than other Rick Riordan books that I've read, but it definitely picked up. I was riveted to the page by the end. I loved the “alt-tech”.

If there is a sequel, I'll definitely read it. I'm not sure if there will be or not. This book definitely works as a stand-alone, but I think the door is open for more stories in this world.

i heard a couple differing opinions of this book but like as a reader who has no experience at all of 20,000 leagues this was quite literally one of the most wholesome stories i read this year. it made me laugh, it made my cry (yes for reals), and it had surprisingly good characterization and development. rick knocks it out of the park once again and im happy it is a stand alone.

This author is a favorite of mine for MG/YA reads. I absolutely LOVE the world of Percy Jackson so this was an easy choice to snag.

For this one, I did a mix of E-Book and Audio. I have to say the narrator was great BUT the music was just plain fun. It was supposed to be a dramatic background for the more hectic moments but it just made me giggle. I didn't hate it though and it definitely added to my enjoyment.

I especially love that this is a spin on Captain Nemo and the submarine Nautilus. Really interesting twist.

Riordan is an author that I used to love but who I have recently fallen out of favor with. I can (and still do) sing his praises with his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. These books were an (at the time) fresh interpretation of The Hero's Journey that hold up extremely well today. Then The Heroes of Olympus series took what made Percy Jackson great, and expanded it to a cast of new characters, some with attributes that made them an unexpected but delightful addition to the world of Percy Jackson.

Then things began to change. I disliked the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asguard series. Where Riordan had previously made his books feel awe-inspiring, with just the right balance of theme vs character, here his message seems to get away from the story. Often, he stops what the characters are doing just to preach a message to the reader that I felt would have been better shown to us, rather than lectured. Then there was the Trials of Apollo Series. While the series had an interesting premise (the Greek God Apollo comes back down to earth in mortal form) it was squandered with annoying characters and a villain plot that I just couldn't get into.

That leads me to Daughter of the Deep. I was excited to read this because (finally!) it seemed to be a story that had no influence in mythology whatsoever (unless you could the mythos surrounding 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea). I anticipated thrilling sea battles and an interesting tie to the original novel. Did I get this? Yes, and I'm all the more excited because of it.

We begin with a story with Ana Dakar, a student at Harding-Pencroft Academy. Along with her older brother Dev, she hopes to join the ranks of some of the smartest marine scientists and naval personnel in the world. We join her on the morning of her final exams for her Freshmen class, where they travel off campus for some sort of secret mission that none of the older students, Dev included, will reveal. Soon though, it all goes wrong and she sees a submarine come out of the water and attack the Academy right after she and her classmates leave for exams. She watches as the school collapses into the ocean. She and her classmates continue on their journey, with their professor informing them that they now must not stop for anything, as it could depend on life or death. She soon finds out that the cause of the destruction was a rival academy called the Land Institute. Far from being your typical high school rival, this academy seeks to destroy HP and all it stands for. This includes Ana herself, who soon finds out that her school's mission is to protect the legacy and the actual submarine of Captain Nemo. What is more, Ana finds out that she is one of the few descendants of Nemo, and has the ability to unlock untold abilities of the sub, far beyond anything she could have dreamed. Now, she and her friends are on a mission to stop Land Institute before they find her and the sub, as well as seek revenge for their destroyed school.

One of the strongest elements of this book is the primary battle itself, the main characters have to battle for their home using a ship that they do not understand, which has been sitting on the bottom of the ocean floor for over 100 years, against an enemy that desperately wants to kill them. These scenes, at the best of times, reminded me of the best episodes of, say Star Trek TNG or DS9, where our heroes are fighting against impossible odds and somehow have to come out on top. This was the point that kept me reading the most.

I also liked the different relationships and representations that we see in this book. For Riordan, I have always felt that his representation can be a two-edged sword. On the one hand, Percy Jackson and the Olympians were groundbreaking in how our main characters were dyslexic and ADHD, at a time when many main characters were neither. On the other, his Magnus Chase series seemed to be overflowing with messages toward diverse people, to the point where his themes of acceptance of other people tended to dwarf the story. Here, however, Riordan seems to have toned it down back to where it should be. People here have some disabilities (one character is autistic, for example) but this fact never outshines them. I never once thought “Oh, here is the character who is autistic.” I instead thought about who they were in relation to our main character, which I definitely prefer.

However, there are some issues regarding the overall story and one relationship between Ana and her brother Dev. For spoiler's sake, let's just say that, while I can understand what Riordan was going for, I don't think that he got the sympathy from me that he wanted when it came to their relationship. Spoilers below.

It is revealed that Dev was the traitor and was the one who helped Land Institute destroy their home. Dev tries to convenience Ana that they were betrayed by their school and Captain Nemo's legacy and that they should betray their school so that companies should have control of their tech. Ana eventually comes to the realization that he was just under the pressure of expectations and their parent's death, and learns to forgive him. However, for me, I just don't buy it. Here is a man who tried to kill his sister and her friends on multiple occasions, and Ana just happens to make the decision to forgive him at the end of the book. This is clearly a problem with the pacing. If the book were longer and we got more interactions with Ana and Dev before the destruction of the school, then I could buy their relationship and the strength of their bond between them. As it is, I just think it is necessary for a life lesson and little else.

As for the continuation of this series, I also found the end somewhat wanting. Riordan clearly set this up to be a series by the end of the book, but with everything he is working on, coupled with the low sales, I doubt this will happen. I have heard rumblings about how there will be a second book, but we will have to wait and see if/when that will happen. This fact alone makes me somewhat disappointed. I am one of those people who want a for sure series to latch on to. Yet I wonder if Riordan can keep up the quality with other projects he is working on.

Still, I would say that this was a fun deviation from the normal world of Rick Riordan, and I will be looking forward to diving into the next book, I give it a four out of five.