I think I’ve read too many Rick Riordan books by this point! Wow, imagine being able to say that? That’s a real testament to how many books he’s written!
This is his, what if Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island were real-and-true accounts? Like, Captain Nemo actually existed, and the tech he invented actually was around in 1872? After 150 years, how far could we take it from there?
Pretty far, it seems. So far, real world leaders and ordinary folk can’t be trusted with it, at any cost. Instead, it’s hidden away at a high school for marine biology and technology minded teens.
It’s a great tale, action-packed from the moment the rival school blows up the Harding-Pencroft Academy and 14-year-old freshwoman Ana Dakkar, a long-removed great-great-great-granddaughter of Prince Dakkar, survives while on a field trip to the city.
Having already lost her parents in a fatal accident looking for Nemo’s legendary submarine, losing her brother, Dev Dakkar – who’s a senior -- is quite a blow.
Until she ends up on board The Nautilus, which is actually a submarine and AI (artificial intelligence), that’s still kinda mad it got left at the bottom of the ocean for 150 years. In an epic temper tantrum (involving underwater charges), it killed Ana’s parents when they finally found it. But by killing them, it shot itself in the foot (fin?), because the sub is also programmed to only accept someone from the Dakkar family as its commander. Because Nemo was Prince Dakkar.
As the only surviving Dakkar, it looks like Ana’s a shoo-in for Captain, no matter how reluctant the submarine is to have her. Until she learns, Dev’s not dead. He’s the leader of the rival school’s attack on Harding-Pencroft. Which blew away a chunk of the California coast and killed an entire high school full of students.
And he’ll do anything to get into that sub and claim his birthright.
The warring, diametrically opposed high schools, hidden from the real world and broken into classifications of “Sharks,” “Dolphins,” etc., and getting blown to smithereens with no police / fire / other real world response felt a bit familiar. I wasn’t as invested in Ana’s plight as I knew I should’ve been. Maybe I’m just in a reading slump, but I wanted there to be some real consequences for Ana and Dev. Maybe that’s the sequel? In any case, I’m sure readers new to Riordan’s tales will eat it up.
Enjoy!
