While I usually focus on the original Greek myths, today I’d like to focus on a modern retelling. I discovered Holly Kelly’s RISING a few weeks ago and loved it. Kelly incorporates the tales of Triton, messenger of the sea, and son of Poseidon. However, her book is not a retelling of The Little Mermaid. She’s created an undersea world inhabited by Dagonians, the descendants of Calypso, a sea nymph, and Dagon, a Sumerian sea god. The Dagonians don’t have traditional scaly fins. Instead, their fins look more like a shark’s fin. In this story, mermaids are thought to be extinct, and the undersea universe is populated mainly by the Dagonians, who hate mermaids.I loved the way the author incorporates the old myths to create her universe. While Triton wields a trident and lives mostly undersea, he also the ability to walk on land and use transformative magic. I love the new twists on the old stories, which is one of the reasons I connected with this book.<\/p>\n
RISING fascinated me. I am now reading the sequel, Descending, which I am also enjoying, although to me it feels a bit more rushed than the first.<\/p>\n
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