Daughter of the Deep Review written by the Hobbit on January 10th, 2022. This post contains affiliate links, you can find out more on our policies page or in the disclaimer at the bottom of the blog.
Know Before You Read
Book: Daughter of the Deep
Author: Rick Riordan
Pages: 352
Published: October 26, 2021
Age Suggestion: 11-16 (aimed at 12-15)
Warnings: Death of parents
Quick Daughter of the Deep Summary
Ana Dakkar is about to leave for the end of her freshman year at the elite Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school for marine scientists and underwater explorers. Her only relative is her brother, a senior. Her parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago. As they leave for a final at sea, tragedy strikes. Ana and her freshmen peers learn that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting for a hundred and fifty years. Land has decided to destroy their rivals, and Ana and her friends are about to discover her heritage and why they it is so important.
Daughter of the Deep Review (Spoilers)
If you are really familiar with Jules Verne, you will know that in The Mysterious Island, we learn that the real name of Captain Nemo is Prince Dakkar. Ana is a descendant of the famous Captain Nemo and Jules Vernes’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea isn’t fiction.
This is revealed to us (and to Ana) as the story progresses. It begins with Land Institute destroying most of Harding-Pencroft. The freshmen class is suddenly the only hope for the world. Land Institute wants to exploit the secrets of Captain Nemo – and the few freshmen are the ones who can preserve them. We have twists and turns as the group races to a secret island in the Pacific, being chased all of the way by their foes. Can they preserve the secrets of Captain Nemo?
Why Read Daughter of the Deep
First of all, if you are a fan of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea this is a very imaginative continuation of the story of Captain Nemo and the Nautilus. This is the first book in a series, and Disney+ has confirmed film rights (I am sure we will be adding to this with a film review, probably in 2023). The ensemble, diverse cast is well done, and there are some really humorous scenes in among the action (see quotes below). For me, this was a great way to continue the stories of Verne.
The characters are very diverse. Ana is Bundeli Indian. Her friends come from a variety of backgrounds. One is on the spectrum and has a support dog. We see all of these, primarily Ana, growing into leadership roles. She (and her friends) make tough decisions. For Ana, one of the toughest is making peace with the technology that killed her parents. They are all faced with taking the easy way out versus taking the hard way. You see two different moral compasses (no more there – one of the twists).
Daughter of the Deep Quotes
“Captain Nemo was smart, well-educated, courteous, and massively wealthy. He was also angry, bitter, and dangerous. Imagine a combination of Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, and Lex Luthor.”
“The impossible is merely the possible for which we don’t yet know the science.”
(Swimming with a dolphin) “I hold his flippers and continue my year-long campaign to teach him the Hokey Pokey. Humming through my breather, I lead him through the moves. You put your right flipper in, you put your right flipper out. Socrates clearly doesn’t understand this strange human ritual, but judging from his laughing face, he finds it (and me) very amusing.”
“The first thing you want to install in your high-tech super sub? A pipe organ, of course.”
“For dinner, our orangutan chef feeds us homemade seaweed gnocchi in creamy lemon garlic sauce, followed by a delicious tiramisu cake. Because clearly, we all need more caffeine and sugar.”
“Robbie figures out how to run Jupiter’s Great British Bake Off Blu-rays through the LOCUS display in the galley, so our chef can watch Mary Berry in holographic purple 3-D (which is just as terrifying as it sounds).”
“The ways of lovesick giant octopuses are mysterious.”
~Daughte of the Deep Quotes, Rick Riordan~
Daughter of the Deep Discussion Questions:
- Riordan writes: “there’s one more critical thing to consider. Verne made Captain Nemo an Indian prince whose people suffered under European colonialism. His character explores themes that are just as critical now as they were in Victorian times. How do you find a voice and power when society denies you those privileges? How do you fight injustice? Who gets to write the history books and decide who were the “good guys” and the “bad guys”?” How do you answer his question?
- One other quote from the book: “I’m trying to talk to a Victorian-era AI in a rare Indo-Aryan dialect, hoping she can help me accurately relay a message to a creature from another species. But I have to try. I’m a Dolphin. I believe that communication can solve any problem if the parties have the will and the intelligence to learn to understand each other.” Do you agree? How important is people talking to each other?
- Which of the four houses (Dolphin, Shark, Cephalopod, or Orca) do you think you would be in? Why?
- Who was your favorite character? Why?
- What invention was the most interesting to you? Which one do you think might have a positive effect on the world? A negative effect?
Thanks for reading our Daughter of the Deep Review. Check out our related posts:
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