Synopsis from Amazon:
"When the caveat whale is gone, the time of the end has come, but the rise of Shunda will stem the tide.”
A medieval-like fantasy set on tropical islands and under water!
Mermen are capturing aquavians and enslaving them to fight land battles in the MerKing’s quest for world domination. But on the world of Aiqua Marrin, there have never been people as peaceful as the aquavians. And of all the aquavians, there has never been someone as peace loving and joyful as Shunda. Why does the MerKing want him so badly?
Mookori fights on land and Qoshonni fights in the sea. While both warriors fight to protect Shunda, they glean a hint as to how important he is to stopping the worst war Aiqua Marrin has ever seen.>>>>>
My Review:
I love mermaids. I really do. I love the various ways writers have described and portrayed them in different works. Yates really adds a whole new level to the mystique of merfolk by developing a new race that is a hybrid between a merperson and a human: they walk on land, they breathe with both lungs and gills, and they have webbing between their fingers and toes. This new race is called aquavians.
I also appreciated the balanced nature of the narrative in this book. Obviously, from the blurb, one might conclude that there is one particular character designated as the "Chosen Savior" and all the story is about his struggles and successes. Not so; Yates gives other characters equal time to shine, and I dare say focuses more on others like Qoshonni and Mookori than on Shunda. The driving force of the story is the cruelty of the MerKing and the concerted efforts of the humans allying with the aquavians to stop him. I loved the obvious creativity that went into developing a world with its own history, and the "side glimpses" the narrative provides, of things that might affect the main conflict later on, but for now, they serve to build up the world Yates has created as her setting.
That being said, the one thing that almost (almost!) made me reluctant to continue it, in spite of the dire straits of the characters, is the complicated and confusing names for both characters and creatures. To create a language is a wonderful thing; but the more complex a term (like "buhoondogot" or "Iunshun") the faster you have the potential of losing your audience unless there is a way to simplify it. I came to almost dread the three- and four-syllable names, and every time I had to stop and decipher a word and try and figure out what or who it referred to, it would take me a while to get back into the story.
The pacing of The Captives is neither stodgy nor electric; it drifts along in a steady--albeit moderate--pace. This also made it difficult to traverse the complicated names, as sometimes there were whole paragraphs where I had a sinking feeling that important characters were interacting over important things--but I couldn't understand a word of it because it wasn't English!
The Captives earns a ****FOUR STAR**** rating, because it was unique and creative, and definitely a worthwhile story--it's certainly worth it if you've got the while! Hence I am also applying the Upstream Writer Official Recommendation to it. If you want a relaxing, quiet, imaginative read, The Captives is definitely for you!
Further Reading: (Fantasy/Mermaids/Non-Human Characters)
Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tale Series--Pauline Creeden
-Submerged
-Salt
-The Seventh Crow--Sherry D. Ramsey
-Chasing Rabbits--Erin Bedford
-Conner's Odyssey: Discovery--Ian Bristow
Wonderland Guardian Academy Series--Pauline Creeden
-Red The Wolf Tracker
Talented Series--Amy Hopkins
-A Drop of Dream
-A Dash of Fiend
The Portal Prophecies--C. A. King
-A Keeper's Destiny
-A Halloween's Curse
-Frost Bitten
The Fair Folk Chronicles--Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
-Foul is Fair
-Street Fair
-A Fair Fight
-All's Fair
The Therian Way--Kimberly Rogers
-Leopard's Heart
-Wolf's Path
-Tiger's Shadow
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