Ascension

Water #1

by Kara Dalkey

Nia, a young mermyd of the Bluefin clan, has had one wish all her life -- to be an Avatar in her beloved home of Atlantis. The ten Avatars rule the beautiful and peaceful undersea city alongside the ancient Farworlders, whose magic keeps their world alive. To be an Avatar is an honor and a great responsibility, and Nia dreams of taking her place among the noble ten. Now, at sixteen, Nia has a chance to see her dream come true. Atlantis is choosing its next Avatar, and Nia knows she is supremely qualified. But there is something Nia doesn't know -- if she gets her heart's desire, it could mean the end of her treasured world of Atlantis forever.

Genres: Fantasy, Mermaids, Young Adult, Fiction, Mythology, Childrens, Magic

235 pages, Paperback

First published February 5, 2002

About the author

Kara Mia Dalkey is an American author of young adult fiction and historical fantasy. She was born in Los Angeles and has lived in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Seattle. Much of her fiction is set in the Heian period of Japan.

She was married to author John Barnes; they divorced in 2001. She is a member of the Pre-Joycean Fellowship and of the Scribblies. She is a graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing in Los Angeles.

She is also a musician and has gigged extensively on electric bass (which she plays left-handed) and harmony vocals, with such bands as Runestone, the Albany Free Traders, and Nate Bucklin and the Ensemble (in Minnesota) and Relic and Voodoo Blue (in Seattle.) At different times she has also played drums, banjo and acoustic guitar. She is a songwriter, but her total output is low, and consequently no CD or other album is presently in the works.

Reviews

[Allyse Near]

This isn't really a review but I read this book YEARS ago and I have been looking for it ever since. Believe it or not, Google failed me everytime, even when my search tags included 'mermaid' 'she's already got legs', 'some sort of competition thing?' 'squids as rulers' 'baby squid has telepathy', 'eeeeeeeveryone dies'... Anyway, I just stumbled across it now! Think I'll see if the library can get it in, and if these specifics are as ...specific... as I remember.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me two tries to read this book. The first time, it was just so cute and bubbly I nearly puked (I picked it up because I liked the author). The second time I picked it up, I realized what age group it was targeting, and then it didn't bother me as much.

This story has a strange mixture of being incredibly cute and innoscent, then diving into mass murder (no joke). It seemed like its target audience was pretty young, and things felt dumbed down, but then it threw in some darker elements--betrayal, deceit, death--which in my opinion is when the book got interesting.

The beginning was a little too slow, but it starts to pick up, and the world of the Mermaids is intruguing. The ending starts to gain more mystery and complexety, and pulls everything together for a satisfying ending.

It was an intertaining read, but I think some people will feel insulted by it (because it seems so childish), and the ones looking for a clean story won't be happy with the violent(?) ending. I'm still not sure what I think of this book.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the single best series of books I have ever read in my entire life. That I can promise you. It is about a mermyd named Nia. She lives in Atlantis. Atlantis has rulers called Avatars. Her dream is to become one.
She is in love with Cephan, a young boy mermyd from a lower clan. Her parents don't understand her and she is pretty much a typical 16 year old. (besides the whole mermyd thing).
Anyway, back to being an Avatar. When one becomes an Avatar, you are joined to a Farworlder King, which is a sort of alien being that can only talk to the person they are connected to. Each clan gets their own Avatar. When Nia's cousin is chosen instead of her, she is extremely upset. Then, Cephan is chosen for his clan. After a while, Nia realized the contest had been meddled with and cheated on. The city is shut down by an Avatar who wants all of the power. Nia realizes it is up to her to save the city, and the mermyd's way of life. It’s pretty difficult, because after she is joined with a Farworlder King instead of her cousin. Then a land dweller takes her baby Farworlder and she needs to get it back, for neither can survive long without the other.

[Janina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The underwater setting was interesting and described vividly. I liked how the background and structure of the mermaid society were included in the story. The author inserted some sea vocabulary without trying too hard to be funny/authentic.

The voice of the main character, Nia, seemed young for a 16-year-old, but not in a annoying way. I liked her a lot.

The book was very short (only 235 pages with a big font), so in the end, I felt like some parts – especially the love story and Nia's relationship with her parents – remained a little flat. There was a lot more potential in those issues. I'm not sure how things will developed, though; it's the first book in a trilogy after all.
But the mystery part of the story was compelling and very unpredictable. There were a lot of twist I would never have expected.

So, if Olivia hadn't mentioned that the second book in this trilogy is a big step down, I would definitely read it ;).

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book brought a very creative idea about Atlantis. I've heard everything from merpeople to advanced technology to an alien race, but this is book first introduced me to the idea of all three combined into one where that mythical city was concerned.

The ideas in it were very inventive, but the writing left a little to be desired. The point came across just fine, but it's obvious that this book was geared toward a younger audience. I first read this book when I was eleven or twelve, and even then, this book was simple for me, but I really liked it then.

The ideas in this book were really good, and even though I remembered the basics about what would happen in the end from ten years ago, I still enjoyed it and its fresh take on Atlantis and merpeople.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sixteen-year-old Nia loves her home, the beautiful and peaceful underwater city of Atlantis. And her greatest wish is to be one of the ten Avatars that rule the city alongside the ancient alien race known as the Farworlders. Now that one of the Avatars and his Farworlder companion are retiring from the Council, Nia finally has the chance for her dream to come true. When another from her clan, the Bluefins, is selected to compete for the honor instead, Nia is devastated. How could her untalented cousin Garun be chosen over her? When Cephan, whom Nia secretly loves, shows her a secret that challenges her deepest beliefs about her home, she is crushed. Has everything she has always held to be true really a lie? Cephan seems to care about her, but is he holding something back? Nia is on her own, and if she wants to uncover the secret of Atlantis, time is running out.

I loved this book and I can't wait to read the other two books that will complete this trilogy. I highly recommend this book to teens who enjoy fantasy novels or who are interested in the legend of Atlantis. It's a wonderful, unique, and magical tale that brings the legendary lost city to life.

[Ithlilian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was weary when I noticed this book had big print, a large amount of space between lines, and 200 pages. However, from the first pages this book draws you in. There are plenty of secrets that everyone is keeping from our main character that aren't easy to figure out. So you keep reading and reading and reading, feeling for the main character's plight and wanting to know what's going on. When all is revealed it's a bit of a shock, which is great. This book had more surprises and turns than some of the mysteries I've read lately. I can't wait to read the rest of the trilogy, I hope it's just as good. By the way, this book isn't just for kids, don't be turned off by it's size.

[Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first found this book on my 8th grade English teacher's shelf and read it during downtime in class. I remember being wholly unable to put it down (and being grumpy about being made to do so when it was time to pay attention). I'd never read a mermaid book like this, one so full of informed decision-making regarding their lives, their culture, or the logistics of their life underwater. Being a kid, I had no idea that conspiracy theorists linked the sinking of Atlantis to alien intervention, so the idea of aliens living alongside mermaids fascinated me deeply. My teacher didn't have either of the book's sequels, though, and for some reason I never sought them out.

Now, at 26, I finally remembered the name of this book and found it at my library. I was skeptical that it could be as good as I remembered it to be when I was 13, but I'm happy to say I was wrong. Yes, it's clearly a book written for teens, and I tend to avoid YA these days because of the repetitiveness I find in a lot of the books, but Ascension was just as unique and interesting as I remembered it to be. An intriguing story, a fascinating setting, and this reader's ingrained love of mermaids and underwater stories made for a very entertaining reread of an old classic. And now I can finally read the sequels!

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

20ish years ago I read this series, and something in my environment had a certain (nice) smell that to this day, every time I smell it makes me think of these books. Which would have been fine if I had remembered what the books were. Instead, it was MADDENING.

I remembered merpeople (✔️), Atlantis (✔️), and something Arthurian (false memory? spoiler for a future book? TBD) but every time I Googled some variation of those things, I couldn’t find it.

Now, usually, when my students are in a predicament like this (“uh it’s sad and the cover is blue”), I’m a pro as deciphering their vague book clues and finding the right title. But for something like 2 DECADES this was practically my Roman Empire (I only thought about it a few times a year maybe, whenever that smell popped up, but OMG when I did, it consumed me). I started to think it was some kind of personal Mandela Effect.

WELL, on a whim the other day, I chucked a few keywords at Google and I FOUND IT. So even if it doesn’t live up to my tweenage memories of it I DON’T CARE BECAUSE IT EXISTS AND THIS IS MY VICTORY LAP AND NO ONE CAN TAKE THAT FROM ME AND I’M GOING TO READ THE SEQUELS TOO SO THERE.

[Kiera Beddes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genre: fantasy,
Summary: Nia is a young mermyd from the city of Atlantis. She wants to be chosen as the next Avatar (the mermyd companion to the Farworlder prince). Farworlders are a squid-like alien with magical powers who unite with a mermyd and together with ten other companions they help rule Atlantean society. Nia is upset when her clan chooses another representative to participate in the Trials that will determine the next Avatar. As Nia does some digging, she finds that Atlantis is not the utopia that it once promised to be. Nia must save her city from the greed of banished Farworlder and his companion mermyd. This is the first in the series of three.
Response: As a general rule, I don't like series books. There is too much left hanging after the first one. It is an uncomfortable feeling knowing that much more has to take place before the story is over. This series is done by the same author who wrote Little Sister and The Heavenward Path both of which I enjoyed thoroughly. This book was pretty good. It takes quite a bit of suspended belief because it deals with mermaids and aliens. It is a little stretch of the imagination, to be sure. However, it is a pretty good mystery, even though you have to read the others in the series to see the end.

[Izlinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The age group target for this book is probably middle-schoolers, if not a tad bit younger. I got this book as a gift and finished it in one day. It shows an interesting set of characters. The inclusion of the Far Worlders as aliens in a mermaid setting is rather interesting. The plot flows pretty well, though the ending and a character's true feelings are abrupt. As the first book of a trilogy, it's an okay book.

[Nichole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have spent YEARS searching for this book. Finally I stumbled across it on accident. I remember reading this ages ago and being utterly devastated at the end. So much so that I refused to read the rest of the series. Don't waste your time with this. It starts out cute and innocent and then just....doesn't match up at the end

[Becky - Pug and Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The City of Atlantis seemed to sparkle more than ever this day. The high-towered palaces of the noble clans, carved from coral stone, marble, and malachite, some faced with shimmering mother-of-pearl, glimmered all around them. The blue-green bioluminescent light from the enormous globe lamps that hung over the city seemed to glow brighter. The lamps provided the primary light to this dim world in the depths of the sea. To the mermyds, sunlight was a thing mentioned only in fairy tales and history books."

Ascension by Kara Dalkey

Star rating: ★★★★ ☆ 4/5 stars

Format: paperback

Summary: Nia lives in Atlantis, one of the Bluefin clan a noble mermyd clan. She is excited for the upcoming trials where one member of each clan is selected to compete to gain a place on one of the councils that rule their city. She is devastated when she is not chosen to represent her clan and tries to move on, but everyone I her family is acting suspicious.

Review: I've been trying to find this book for a while. I read it when I was 13, borrowed it from the library and wanted to finish the series but my library only had the first and third books, not the second. I remembered this book and tried to track it down and boy was it difficult. I tried every sort of Google search I could think of, searched every mermaid YA list I came across and even posted in several places where you vaguely describe a book you're looking for and other readers help you figure out what book you're looking for. Nothing. Finally I remembered that the book series was called Water so I started looking for that and finally found this!! Whew, quite a journey.

So it's weird to come back to a book I read and loved as a teen and then try to review it. I'm giving it my best though. I'm not sure I'd love it as much if I was reading it for the first time right now so that also makes it difficult. I still enjoyed it a lot and I liked being able to sort of reminisce as I read.

I had totally forgotten about the alien squids that make up the high council for Atlantis. I don't know how I could have when that's such a unique and kinda out there addition. I think it does work, I think some of it is a little weird like the aliens changing some humans into mermyds but they still lived with humans for a bit. It was a bit unclear about the whole sinking of Atlantis, they lived on land for a while but were still mermyds? I didn't fully understand that.

I like Nia and her storyline, I like how she tried her best to move past her disappointment and help her cousin to compete. I'm still not sure how I feel about Cephan's betrayal but yet still wanting to be romantically involved with Nia. I mean, dude, you just stabbed her cousin in front of her, why would she be into that?

There is a lot of things in this book that I hadn't seen before in another mermaid story. I think there is a lot of fun things going on, I'd love to have some of the history cleared up but the direction the series is going I'm not sure that is likely.

Recommendation: I definitely want to continue this series and I think that's a good sign of a book after doing a reread years later. I think this is a bit more of a middle grade level book than YA but it's still a good and interesting mermaid story.

[Lane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, I think. I picked this up because I was really in the mood for a mermaid book. I liked the concept and the idea that they existed in a bubble under water and needed the air moving constantly and all that jazz. Incredibly intrigued by the Farworlders and the fact that they’re aliens and I was so excited to get more information on them. Writing was pretty good and despite having a 16 year old mc it felt a little more like middle grade but I didn’t mind in the slightest. Not 100% sure I’m going to continue on at present though, purely because of that ending. I was really feeling that underwater vibe and I’m not excited for the direction it seems like book 2 will be taking. I know it will get back to what I want eventually but given my mood at the moment, I don’t want to continue on and hate it purely because it wasn’t what I was looking for. I definitely am curious enough about what’s to come for the mc and the people of Atlantis so maybe (probably) one day!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was part of a challenge where one of the criteria was a book from your childhood. This book I remember reading in 4th or 5th grade. It's part of a series and I remember being blown away. Outside of Harry Potter it was my first series. I got the first one at a book fair and begged to go to the book store to get the others.
This time around I was still hooked and I had forgotten everything but bits and pieces that didn't give anything away.
The basis of the book is all of the merpeople that come of age participate in an Olympic style game. This year however there is a twist.
Whether you're young and need a good entry into fantasy or a seasoned reader this book is one to check out.

[Alys Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

She likes this guy, Corwin. I really don't remember much about this book. I never even read the second, just the first one and the third. I think I read it in 5th or 6th grade. But here is what I can recall out of all: They all make fun of Nia because, even though she lives in Atlantis, she was legs with fins. Corwin and Nia are not allowed to be together? Their first kiss happens when he sends a note through a Shrimp clam maid; it takes place in the hallway. For some reason - if I'm not confusing this with another book - they go on errands from one place to another, even to the bottom of the city, where it is less populated by the merfolks.

[Desarae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this at a book sale years ago and finally decided to read it. I was pleasantly surprised!! Though aimed at middle school to junior high readers, I found the storyline intruiging from the start and the world building so unique from any take I've read on mermaids or Atlantis! A page turner that had me hooked, now I'll have to track down the rest of the series to finish! Wasn't overly predictable, there were a couple surprises and a great running plot that helps with any juvenile themes that would otherwise cause a grown person to lose interest.

[Sirius Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

From what I remember, this was an AMAZING read, and I’ve been trying to find it again for five years, atleast. I’ve searched for it everywhere, and finally I just found a list of mermaid books published before 2014, and i scrolled through until i saw the cover. This series has been haunting me since i was in the FOURTH GRADE! I’ve wanted to find it forever. I’ll read it tomorrow and review it again then :)

[Avani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cool version of Atlantis and prequel to Arthurian mythology! Dalkey really put thought into how living underwater would affect daily life - from concepts of beauty to how daily activities would have to be adjusted for people who had to constantly move to breathe. The narrative is engaging and quickly paced, keeping you engaged the whole way through.

An awesome read!

[carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. This is 2.5 stars. The writing was really poor in the first chapter and I almost stopped reading. And the whole world building was a little over the top. I understand mermaids and generally mermaid mythology and the weird explanations around why water flow was needed started off interesting and then only served as plot devices later. I did finish it because the story drew me in a bit.

[Beth Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently discovered this series, though it was written well over a decade ago. The author was a local friend before she moved away, so I was curious. The book is a little slow to start but picks up and is generally enjoyable. I liked the underwater worldbuilding. The ending is quite dark, but propels the reader into the next book.

[kelsey! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This held up far better than I thought it would! Sometimes it borders on dumbing things down for kids but, for the most part, it kept me engaged and intrigued. The dialogue may be somewhat stilted but I love the world-building (and the surprisingly death-filled ending!).

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my *favorite* books in middle school. I would check it out from the library over and over and OVER again. However, my school library did not have the sequels so I never got to see how the story ended. I recently came across the trilogy online and ordered them. Even though it has been over a decade since I last read this book, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a simple, quick read, but the story is intriguing and unique. There are a couple of sentences that I felt were awkwardly worded and some of the character's names were a bit out there, but I know that Ms. Dalkey intended this story for a younger audience. Despite that, it felt well written. I am satisfied with it being a YA novel, but I think it has the bones for incredible adult novel as well.

[Ryan]

I read this series many many years ago and loved it. I still have two out of the three books and would recommend it to anyone with a young child interested in fantasy.

It's a simple read with dark undertones of betrayal, loss, death, loyalty, and determination. 10/10 recommend.

[The Canadian Book Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only vaguely remember it, but this book was the book that started my love affair with fantasy books. So I will forever be thankful for that. I was 10-11 when I found it in a bookstore the year it came out.

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I assumed this was a series I would start and then not care for but I got sucked right into the story and its characters. It is such a unique tale and I had a hard time putting it down!!

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good settings and enough suspense to keep me interested in reading, but not so much that I felt overwhelmed. I immediately wanted to read the rest of the series.

[Amara White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this in high school and loved it! If you're into legends or fantasy, this is a great read!

[Crog · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this series when I was younger

[Marena Galluccio · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in middle school and I loved it! It took me about another 10 years to find all three books at my book resale store, but I'm really glad I found them.