The Sea King's Daughter
by Barbara Michaels
Blurb:
Since Sandy Frederick first set foot on the volcanic Greek isle of Thera, this breathtaking place of ancient myth and mystery has haunted her dreams. Joining her estranged, obsessed father on a dive to find astonishing secrets from the ocean's floor, she cannot shake the feeling that she was meant to be here; that some ancient, inscrutable power is calling to her. But there are others who have been eagerly waiting for her arrival to drag her into a tangled and terrifying web of secrets, dark superstition, betrayal, blood, and death. And suddenly Sandy's heritage and her destiny could be her doom.
My Reaction:
This is another of Barbara Michael's 1970's gothic thrillers. I think I've read most of them, at this point, and while not without its faults, I enjoyed it (especially the first half) more than I expected. I think it was better than the last few of hers I've read.
What made this one better? Three things come to mind:
- Exotic locale.
The beautiful setting of Santorini worked in its favor and gave it a light touch of the Mary Stewart vibe. It's much more appealing than the last one I remember reading, which was set against the scintillating setting of some boring college, a creepy old grump's deteriorating (?) mansion, and the claustrophobic home of two aging religious obsessives. (Search the Shadows, if that has tempted you...) - Non-academic heroine.
Obviously I don't object to an intelligent heroine, but it does make a bit of a change that this one starts out being more interested in athletic pursuits than books—though she still comes across as unusually well-informed in some rather niche subjects, which was a bit silly. Either commit to a non-bookish heroine or don't! Ah well, at least she tried. It's definitely a break from the author's usual style, and that gave it a fresher feel. - Less "male chauvinist pig"-hunting.
Some of these books are heavy handed with the attitude of, "Oh, what a good feminist am I! I shall find offense hidden in every little thing, because it's us against them!" It gets old, and the language feels outdated. (The funny thing is that there are some very unenlightened, cringe-inducing elements in some of these books, despite the attempt to be oh-so correct.) There are a few... moments, but it's less than usual.
Those positives aside, I didn't give two figs about the romance and found the whole mystery a bit blah. The early hints at the spooky supernatural came to naught, and despite some literal earth-shaking developments in the plot (not to mention a few natural fireworks), the whole story felt flat for me. I just... didn't really care.
It was okay. At least I didn't actively hate the heroine by the end of the book, which isn't always a given with these things!
