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Aquaman: Undertow
AQUAMAN hits the big screen on December 21, 2018. The all-star cast includes Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe, and more.
Aquaman: Undertow is the never-before-seen prequel story of a young Arthur Curry, set in the cinematic world of Aquaman and the DC Universe—perfect for fans of the highly anticipated movie!
Before he was King of Atlantis . . .
Thirteen-year-old Arthur Curry has enough troubles to sink a ship. His mom left him and his dad when Arthur was only three years old. He doesn't fit in with the other students at school. To them, he's just “fish boy,” a weird, freaky kid. But Arthur has a secret. Something so secret, even he doesn't know what it is.
With the help of his only friend, Claudia, Arthur will begin to learn the truth about his mother, himself, and a legendary world that may actually exist.
Oh, and he learns about octopuses. Octopi. It's probably octopi, right?
Aquaman: Undertow is the never-before-seen prequel story of a young Arthur Curry, set in the cinematic world of Aquaman and the DC Universe—perfect for fans of the highly anticipated movie!
Before he was King of Atlantis . . .
Thirteen-year-old Arthur Curry has enough troubles to sink a ship. His mom left him and his dad when Arthur was only three years old. He doesn't fit in with the other students at school. To them, he's just “fish boy,” a weird, freaky kid. But Arthur has a secret. Something so secret, even he doesn't know what it is.
With the help of his only friend, Claudia, Arthur will begin to learn the truth about his mother, himself, and a legendary world that may actually exist.
Oh, and he learns about octopuses. Octopi. It's probably octopi, right?
210 pages, Hardcover
Published November 6, 2018
6 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 13, 2018
This is a fun look at Arthur's life as a kid and his slow discovery of who he is and his powers.
January 4, 2019
My 2nd read of the year!
Really enjoyed reading it! It’s gives like a somehow a back story of Arthur in his childhood before he was Aquaman, so it was nice to read it and there were some funny parts as well.
Really enjoyed reading it! It’s gives like a somehow a back story of Arthur in his childhood before he was Aquaman, so it was nice to read it and there were some funny parts as well.
June 7, 2019
This is Arthur’s story before he was Aqua Man. He learns of his mother and what he is capable of doing. One of those things being rising above bullies, and staying true to himself no matter how difficult.
January 23, 2022
My grandson is going to love this.
February 6, 2022
I did not begin this book thinking it would be a literary masterpiece. I went into this thinking it would be a simple story about Aquaman as a kid. What I got was a rehashing of the beginning of the Aquaman movie interspersed with random, meaningless scenes of Arthur doing basically nothing, and in the eleventh hour, it pulled out a single uninteresting rescue moment. I read the whole book in a single sitting because by about page 72 I knew if I put it down, I’d give up on it. I kept waiting for something meaningful to happen.
I’ve read children’s fiction and I’ve read more than one movie novelization and this book is nothing if not an insult to the children that would read it. There is no plot, no character development, the dialogue is boring and stilted. No one involved in writing this book cared about making something that mattered. I am fully convinced that they threw this together with the exact thought, “Kids are stupid so they won’t care.” It’s this perceived attitude that gives children’s literature a bad name. It makes adults cringe at the idea of reading a ‘children’s book’ because they read this type of story and the lack of care behind it. There are many great children’s fiction books that stand the test of time and are valuable to both children and adults. This is not one of those books.
There is nothing redeeming in this book. At best it’s boring and adds nothing to the character. At worst it is an insulting cash grab aimed at children.
I’ve read children’s fiction and I’ve read more than one movie novelization and this book is nothing if not an insult to the children that would read it. There is no plot, no character development, the dialogue is boring and stilted. No one involved in writing this book cared about making something that mattered. I am fully convinced that they threw this together with the exact thought, “Kids are stupid so they won’t care.” It’s this perceived attitude that gives children’s literature a bad name. It makes adults cringe at the idea of reading a ‘children’s book’ because they read this type of story and the lack of care behind it. There are many great children’s fiction books that stand the test of time and are valuable to both children and adults. This is not one of those books.
There is nothing redeeming in this book. At best it’s boring and adds nothing to the character. At worst it is an insulting cash grab aimed at children.
March 26, 2019
Arthur has always felt different. But when a trip to the aquarium takes a turn for the weird, Arthur is left with even more questions about his mother. He doesn't understand why she left them and hates being different from the other children in class.
He gets picked on by the kids, especially by Matt and Mike, but there's one person who always seems to stand up for him: Claudia. She's tough and is a friend who won't let Arthur stand alone. When a storm comes in, it's up to Arthur to save those who bullied him, but it might just help them see him in a new light.
I love who awesome Claudia is and how strong she is. Arthur needs someone whether he realizes it or not and I love that Claudia was there even when he pushed her away. This is perfect for Aquaman fans who want a little more about what his childhood had been like. It's a great read after watching the movie.
Final Verdict: I would recommend this to fans of Aquaman, superheroes, and stories about friendship and overcoming bullying.
He gets picked on by the kids, especially by Matt and Mike, but there's one person who always seems to stand up for him: Claudia. She's tough and is a friend who won't let Arthur stand alone. When a storm comes in, it's up to Arthur to save those who bullied him, but it might just help them see him in a new light.
I love who awesome Claudia is and how strong she is. Arthur needs someone whether he realizes it or not and I love that Claudia was there even when he pushed her away. This is perfect for Aquaman fans who want a little more about what his childhood had been like. It's a great read after watching the movie.
Final Verdict: I would recommend this to fans of Aquaman, superheroes, and stories about friendship and overcoming bullying.
May 23, 2019
Good junior novel
January 23, 2020
Jacob did not care for this book like the other super hero books he has read. I told him he didn't have to finish it but he wanted to...krb 1/22/20
October 8, 2020
it was so descriptive that it was boring if only there were more memes
December 29, 2020
I’m not impressed with the excitement level but that’s understandable considering it is a kid’s book. Still, this is the prequel novel for the Aquaman movie!
Anyway the story was nice if the plot was slow.
Anyway the story was nice if the plot was slow.
January 8, 2021
Had my attention the entire time, read in less than a day.
October 8, 2023
Cute book. Bought it for my classroom and decided to give it a read before putting it on my classroom shelf. If you have seen the movie, some of the scenes in the book played off parts of it.
April 7, 2024
Really cute and just a fun read in general
January 15, 2025
Now I want to watch the movie.
May 1, 2020
Aquaman: Undertow is a quick, easy read that tells a good story about how Arthur Curry discovered his powers and his Atlantean heritage.
A prequel to the 2018 DC Extended Universe film, this short novel is aimed at younger readers and mostly tells snippets of Arthur's life where we see his powers manifest. It concludes with a slightly longer look at the first time he used his powers to save a group of people.
There's certainly nothing groundbreaking here, nothing that turns all the typical superhero-finding-their-powers cliches on their head, but Arthur is sympathetic and and the story is told well. The Aquaman movie skips over this part of Arthur's story almost entirely, so in that way Undertow is a good way to fill in the gaps.
However, there's also not much explicitly tying it into the DCEU (beyond the extension of one pre-opening credits scene that still holds weight if you didn't see the film), so I imagine it would be a good read for younger folks who want to read a teenage superhero tale and aren't looking for things like new canon and nods that pay off down the line in other media.
A prequel to the 2018 DC Extended Universe film, this short novel is aimed at younger readers and mostly tells snippets of Arthur's life where we see his powers manifest. It concludes with a slightly longer look at the first time he used his powers to save a group of people.
There's certainly nothing groundbreaking here, nothing that turns all the typical superhero-finding-their-powers cliches on their head, but Arthur is sympathetic and and the story is told well. The Aquaman movie skips over this part of Arthur's story almost entirely, so in that way Undertow is a good way to fill in the gaps.
However, there's also not much explicitly tying it into the DCEU (beyond the extension of one pre-opening credits scene that still holds weight if you didn't see the film), so I imagine it would be a good read for younger folks who want to read a teenage superhero tale and aren't looking for things like new canon and nods that pay off down the line in other media.
March 4, 2019
This was a decent read, the author has a great grasp of Arthur's personality, and getting a deeper look at what he was like as kid was kind of fun, though this book doesn't have much of a plot. It's basically just snippets of Arthur's everyday life as kid and possibly seeing his powers manifest. This does have the scene from the movie where Arthur goes on the field trip to the aquarium, though with a few additions. That's basically the extent of what is directly from the movie. This is a lot less connected to the movie than I thought it would be. Like I really wanted Vulko to be in this book because in the movie we see flashbacks of him training Arthur in his various abilities, but he and everyone else from the movie except his dad are no where to be found.
Overall this was kind of a fun read, though not quite what I expected or wanted. This would probably be best for very young kids who like superheroes, but won't notice that it doesn't have much of a plot or any fighting of bad guys.
Overall this was kind of a fun read, though not quite what I expected or wanted. This would probably be best for very young kids who like superheroes, but won't notice that it doesn't have much of a plot or any fighting of bad guys.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews