30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 2
Book 27/30
So I read another Rick Riordan book after I said I was going to stop, but I just get so curious! And this is the first Middle Grade book he’s written in FOREVER that isn’t about demigods, and it’s a play on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I used to love when I was a kid. And it was good! I didn’t love it, because it’s not for me, but I did like it, and I would read further books if it turns into a series.
It’s been since April since I’ve read this so I’ve forgotten most of what I wanted to say about it, but if you’ve read a Riordan book before, you pretty much know what to expect. Sassy first person narration, now just slightly off-tune because Riordan keeps getting older but his protagonists stay the same age, and he is NOT up with the slang. (I’m not up with the slang, either, to be fair, and I’m quite a bit younger than he is.) A quest. Uncovering the true secrets about the past, usually related to family. Magic (or in this case, science so unbelievable it might as well be magic).
Our main character is Ana Dakkar, who unbeknownst to her is the descendant of the family entrusted with keeping the inventions of the infamous Captain Nemo alive and protected from those who use them to do harm. Apparently he was a real guy, and his inventions are hundreds of years ahead of their time. A vicious attack on Ana’s school from their rival school prompts Ana and her classmates to find the lost island from The Mysterious Island (a sequel to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that I had never heard of until reading this book), and protect it. I was surprised by how brutal the opening salvo in this conflict is, especially for middle grade. But it does make the stakes for the rest of the book very real.
Something I really liked about this one is the emphasis on Captain Nemo as a figure of anti-colonialism, as he is often whitewashed from being Indian and his legitimate grievances against the British Empire reduced to villainy in pop culture. Jules Verne himself was waaaay ahead of the curve on that one.
Worth checking out, maybe even if you are tired of his demigod stuff.
[3.5 stars, rounded up because it was fun to read something fresh from this author]