Race To The Bottom Of The Sea

Race To The Bottom Of TheSea by Lindsay Eagar, 423 pages

“When her parents, the great marine scientists Dr. and Dr. Quail, are killed in a tragic accident, eleven year old Fidelia Quail is racked by grief. But she is forced out of her mourning when she's kidnapped by Merrick the Monstrous, a pirate. Her task? Use her marine know-how to retrieve his treasure, lost on the ocean floor. As Fidelia and the pirates close in on the prize, with the navy hot on their heels, she realizes that Merrick doesn't expect to live long enough to enjoy his loot. Could something other than black-hearted greed be driving him?”  This book was pretty amazing.  I would give this to kids that like adventure, historical fiction, or strong female characters.

Sigurd the Volsung

The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Nibelungs by William Morris, 345 pages

Now famed more for his contribution to the visual arts than for his poetry, among the notable literary works of William Morris is this adaption of the Volsunga saga into English verse.  Morris was fascinated by Norse myth and legend and had already completed translations of a number of Icelandic sagas before beginning this work, which was contemporaneous with but independent of Wagner's operas.

The poetry is deliberately archaic, not only in language, but in rhyme and meter - it is often easy to forget that it is an original work based on classical sources, and not a direct attempt at translation.  The obvious comparison is with Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and the fact that Morris' work can hold up to that comparison is testament to its quality and power.

     Ye have heard of Sigurd aforetime, how the foes of God he slew;

     How forth from the darksome desert the Gold of the Waters he drew;

     How he wakened Love on the Mountain, and wakened Brynhild the Bright;

     And dwelt upon Earth for a season, and shone in all men's sight.

     Ye have heard of the Cloudy People, and the dimming of the day,

     And the latter world's confusion, and Sigurd gone away;

     Now ye know of the Need of the Niblungs and the end of broken troth,

     All the death of kings and of kindreds and the sorrow of Odin the Goth.

The Expeditioners And The Treasure Of Drowned Man’s Canyon

The Expeditioners And The Treasure Of Drowned Man’s Canyon by S.S. Taylor, 375 pages

The three children of famous explorer, Alexander West, discover a map that their father left behind.  West has been missing and presumed dead for several months and the three kids, Kit, Zander and M.K., decide to follow the map.  Unfortunately, several people from the government seem keen to take the map away from them and claim the treasure they expect to find for themselves.  The trio manages to evade capture and, accompanied by the daughter of another famous explorer, they are able to set out and make an amazing discovery.  Unfortunately, the government agents are hot on their tracks and it’s up to the kids to keep them from the discovery.   This was a fun adventure story, set in a futuristic time that is very different from most imagined futures.  A lot of kids who like adventure stories will enjoy this beginning of a new series.