Of Sea and Stone

Summary:

All her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.

When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.

Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving...  (Summary and book cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

First of all, I am slightly sad because (warning) Ellison has me enraptured with another series that has not yet been completed.  But in good news, the next two books are already out so I will be reading through those in the near future!  This was a great book that is half “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and half Tamora Pierce.  Aemi is a strong, intelligent character who managed to be adaptable and willing to allow her mind to be changed.  This is set to a background of an advanced underwater civilization with mesmerizing imagery.  I really enjoyed the depictions of the gardens.

A few plot points seemed a little too coincidental to me, but overall I really enjoyed this book and will be looking forward to see what happens next in Itlantis.

Please note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review courtesy of Xpresso Book Tours.

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it?  Anyone looking for a new fun and unique science fiction series.