15 years and Rick Riordan is back

During the Covid-19 lockdown millions of people were forced to stay indoors. For some that meant lying on the couch and eating ice cream and for others, that meant focusing on themselves and  accomplishing something with all the time on their hands. For Rick Riordan that meant writing his first book in 15 years. 

Percy Jackson,The Heroes of Olympus, or the Kane Chronicles could be series that you’ve heard of or read before. Or maybe you’re like me and have read them all and fell in love immediately with the hidden world of demigods. This is why I was so over the moon when I heard about The Daughters of The Deep. 

The first few pages are words straight from Riordan about why he wrote the story and what inspired him. While I found it interesting, I only skimmed it in anticipation of the actual story. Though I would recommend reading about the history of the character Nemo, a fictional character that was created in the nineteenth century who is relatively important to the story.

I made it to page 64 before I had to stop reading. I realized that my taste in books has matured while Riordan’s books have stayed at the same level. In fact, I found the book a little boring.

Though I didn’t make it far, I still recommend this book. It reminded me a little of Percy Jackson with both Percy and Ana Dakkar, the main character in Daughters of the Deep, being thrust into action and danger before they fully understand what is happening. It immediately hooked me in but wasn’t really enough to keep me interested. 

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Penfort Academy, a marine science and training school that looks out over the water in California. However, as she and her class of freshmen leave to go on a weekend trail at sea, Ana and her freshman class witness a tearful tragedy that leaves them all in shock. Their teacher then informs them about their rival school that may be responsible, and the danger that they were all in. Not only that but Ana is caught right in the middle of it all.

Rick Riordan is a phenomenal writer. I am disappointed that he steered away from the world of demigods with this book, but I think younger readers will connect with this book the way that I connected with Percy Jackson when I was younger. For now the book has a spot on my bookshelf until I find the inspiration to read it.