(no subject)

[skygiants]

Barbara Michaels' The Sea King's Daughter was my test-run of the Brooklyn Public Library's digital e-book download system! (Which works AMAZINGLY, for the record.)

When I started reading this book, I thought it was a Gothic. I still . . . maybe think it's a Gothic? But I'm not one hundred percent sure, because, as we all know, the standard ingredients of a Gothic novel are:

- a Young Lady in Peril
- an Epic Ton of Atmosphere
- some Vaguely Supernatural Stuff (That Is Probably Not Actually All That Supernatural)
- a BIG OLD IMPORTANT HOUSE WITH LOTS OF ARCHITECTURE

The Sea King's Daughter is aces on the first three, but instead of a BIG OLD IMPORTANT HOUSE it has . . . the ocean . . .?

It also includes some ARCHAEOLOGY and DEEP SEA DIVING and ROMANCE and NAZI SPIES and EARTHQUAKES and WACKY SEX CULTS, which are not required ingredients for a Gothic novel, but, you know, they don't hurt either. And, I mean, given that hefty dose of plotting, I enjoyed it exactly the same way I enjoy Gothics, so I guess the formal classification doesn't really matter all that much.

Our heroine is Sandy, a cheerful, ordinary jock teenager who enjoys soccer, swimming, and occasional recreational diving. One day, her father -- a weird obsessive archaeologist whom she's never actually met -- drops in and is like, "hey! I hear you grew up to be good at sport and are looking for a summer job! How about I hire you to do some highly unsafe and illegal diving for me on a Greek island while I try to discover the lost ruins of Atlantis?"

Sandy's like, "Well, on the one hand, dude seems like kind of an asshole. On the other hand, it beats retail."

Sinister hijinks ensue, dramatic backstory is revealed, Sandy's father resolutely fails to reveal a heart of gold, Sandy herself might or might not be the reincarnation of Ariadne, and a good time is had by all, except the people who die. Or turn out to be former Nazis. Or are set upon by sex cults. So actually by no one mostly, except the reader, but that's all that really matters!

Comments

[ladysingsthe]

... Sex cults.

[skygiants]

You know that "aliens made them do it" fanfic trope? Like that, only with a sex cult.

(In case anyone was worried, they manage to get rescued before they actually have to do it.)

[ladysingsthe]

I keep trying to come up with more thoughts but they won't go ...

[elsane]

...did you say archaeology? that is my secret weakness it even trumps sex cults which otherwise uh.

[skygiants]

LOTS of archaeology! I can't vouch for whether it's good archaeology or not, mind -- well, I mean, quite a lot of it is explicitly not-according-to-protocols archaeology with people making judgy faces about it, but that has its appeal too . . .

[genarti]

You will be unsurprised to learn that "But is it archaeology worth reading about?" was in fact a pressing question for me in reading this review. *laughing*

Judgy faces about protocol are a hopeful sign!

[skygiants]

Also judgy faces about protocol involving deep-sea diving!

I regret to inform you that there are no sharks, though.

[genarti]

Is there marine life in general? Sharks are totally not my only favorite marine creature category, despite what in-jokes you're mostly responsible for would have one believe. :p

(I still remember being disappointed by how little marine life was in Mary Stewart's This Rough Magic, because you see there was a dolphin on the cover of the edition I read as a kid. I think I liked it anyway, but since I've forgotten at least 90% of the content, I should reread it sometime and find out... There were definitely Ominous Relations and (because it's Mary Stewart) a Handsome Man Who Might Or Might Not Be Trustworthy -- I think he was actually named Adonis, and the heroine found this as funny as you'd expect -- and an Ominous Boathouse and various Shakespearean actors and/or scholars including the heroine. IIRC.)

[skygiants]

Sadly I do not think there was any actual marine life -- no, wait, I lie, she makes a fish friend while she's diving! She names it Alice Cooper. After the rocker. Because that's what its face looks like, apparently.

(:O Cruel false dolphin advertising! I should read some more Mary Stewart too, really; I've only read two of the actual Gothics, the telepathic cousins one and the one where she impersonates herself. Neither of which had dolphins in.)

[genarti]

Heee! Well, points for charm, I suppose.

(You should! I am nostalgically fond of her all out of proportion to the amount of memory I retain of her books' plots, thanks to summers as a kid with the Bookshelf Of Agatha Christie, Mary Stewart, More Agatha Christie, And Some Other Mysteries. Books I have read by her:

- the one with the lady vet, the teenaged kid, and the mysterious Lippizaner stallion (Airs Above The Ground)
- the one with the governess in France pretending she doesn't speak French, in a secret-riddled old mansion which is as Gothic as it can be (Nine Coaches Waiting)
- the one with the telepathic cousins which I completely forget (Touch Not The Cat)
- the one we're talking about now
- I think The Ivy Tree except I remember absolutely nothing of it whatsoever
- ...probably... others...? You can tell which ones I reread.

And I mean the Arthurian books, of which I loved The Crystal Cave, liked The Hollow Hills okay, and dropped The Last Enchantment halfway through in disgust at how the love triangle stuff and everybody's doomed tragic endings based on their earlier mistakes kept taking over from the interesting story of Merlin, which shows you my Arthurian priorities right there.)

[skygiants]

There is enough information given that one could probably identify the species of fish, if one wished! What I mean is that I feel confident that Barbara Michaels knew what kind of fish it was even though Sandy doesn't.

(The Ivy Tree is the other one I've read! That's the one where the heroine pops up and everyone's like OH HI and she's all "nope, don't know you, I am some lady who just happens to be IDENTICAL to this girl you all knew" and convoluted fake-doubles plot ensues, although I don't remember why.

I also read the Arthurian ones, finally, a few years ago, after spending my entire childhood not being able to get through the first few chapters of The Crystal Cave. And they're fine, but they are so very not my Arthuriana that it was hard for me to emotionally attach to them at all . . .)