Hey guys, guess who’s back? That’s right your favourite blogger – me! All of you know I have been fanboying over Rick Riordan for a long time but weirdly enough, I have never reviewed any of his books. So when I heard about Daughter of the Deep coming out, I was pretty excited, not just about the mythmaster’s work but also because this was going to be Riordan’s first venture into the world of sci-fi. Like every reader, I hold my authors to unrealistic expectations. Did this new read fulfil my expectations? Read on to find out!
The plot of this book basically stems from Jules Verne’s classics – Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island. I’m not going to try and summarise the plot because I’m pretty sure I’m gonna let a major spoiler slip and I don’t wanna ruin your first read because believe me – this book is full of surprises (hope this isn’t a spoiler 😬). I really liked Riordan’s take on Verne’s characters and having read both of Verne’s books I could genuinely appreciate how Riordan spots places in the story where he could make his own spin-offs while ensuring not to alter or challenge Verne’s books by any means. And although the writer in me was amazed by this book, the reader wasn’t very impressed.
The whole book contains so many inside references to Verne’s classic which makes it very difficult for someone who hasn’t read them to follow the plot. While Riordan has tried to make it so that the basic storyline is understandable it’s pretty obvious that you’ll have to read both classics to have a good experience whole reading it. The sci-fi aspect of it also makes it easy to skim over the little details (props to Rick’s research though).
Coming to the writing it definitely follows along Riordan’s style of detailing, humor and character development seen in his previous books but one thing which I could see different is that unlike his other books, or any other books for that matter, he has paid a lot of attention to side characters and not just put the focus on the protagonist like he has done in most of his other novels. Also – is it just me or are Dev and Luke pretty much twins?
In conclusion, I’d say this is one of the greatest spin-offs I have ever read but at the same time I wouldn’t call it a favourite of mine on its own. As always Riordan does a beautiful task of writing it and shows how much he has grown as an author ever since Percy Jackson but at the same time stayed the same (?) But going out of your way and doing something you have never done before and then showing it to the whole world isn’t easy and props to Riordan for it. I wish he tries more of such books and comes out of the “mythology” bubble. Would I reccomend you read the Daughter of the Deep? Absolutely! Even though it isn’t a standalone book I would reccomend it not only to readers but also aspiring writers. Seeing my favourite author write fanfiction was definitely an experience I won’t be forgetting 😂
