Fire in the Sea

December 2, 2013
Australian author Bartlett’s first novel, which won its publisher’s Text Prize in 2011, stars teenager Sadie Miller, who gets a swift introduction to an ancient battle involving gods, demons, and the potential for global destruction. Shortly after Sadie witnesses a fatal assault on an elderly man by a pair of “withered and horrible”–looking attackers, she is contacted by the man’s lawyer and learns that she has inherited his seaside estate in suburban Perth; she then encounters a gorgeous boy, Jake, who claims to be the dead man himself. Sadie finds Jake’s talk of immortality, reincarnation, and a cursed aquatic civilization difficult to swallow, but events—including the appearance of a powerful and violent minotaur—speak for themselves. While Bartlett has created an intriguing mythological backdrop, it’s the normalcy and believability of his contemporary Australian setting and characters that make the story work so well. Sadie and her friends behave like ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances, and their shortcomings and foibles make their moments of heroism feel all the more real. Ages 14–up. Agent: Barry Goldblatt, Goldblatt Literary.

December 15, 2013
Immortality, a sunken city, a violent Minotaur and a cult join in contemporary Australia for adventure that's haphazard but fast-paced. Sadie longs to leave Perth's stultifying beach days for "Oxford. Melbourne. Anywhere." Excitement comes when she witnesses an attack on an old man. She chases off the attackers, and before dying in the hospital, the stranger bequeaths her his house--then promptly returns in a teenage body. Jake's an 8,000-year-old immortal envoy from the Gods. The attackers, who escaped into the sea, are Drowners with "soft-boiled eyes" and "bile-coloured lips," doomed to rot in the ocean depths. Jake guards a power-wielding demon in a box, which the Drowners want for their ruler, who's underwater in Atlantis; but if anyone uses the demon's power, "the Gods will set the whole planet ablaze." There's gore and nonstop action as Sadie and Jake dash around town coping with Drowners, a murderer, a human-devouring Minotaur and evangelists craving blood sacrifice who think Jake's their savior. Despite deft handling of Sadie's grief over her parents' deaths years ago, Bartlett neglects Jake's crucial emotional back story: Supposedly, fear and shame prevented Jake from solving the demon/Gods crisis ages ago, but the text gives barely a nod to Jake's emotions, so that explanation seems empty. Narrative perspective wanders; careless slams ("lezzo"; the Drowners "look...Japanese") rankle. Aussie-flavored excitement with ancient Greek tidbits, underdeveloped in places. (Fantasy. 12-15)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

June 13, 2012
Sixteen-year-old Sadie is growing tired of spending her summer days lounging on the beach with her tedious cousins and her wants-to-be-more-than-a-friend Tom. She can’t wait to bid farewell to her grandparents (her parents are dead) and the dull life of her hometown Perth, and embrace the excitement and purpose that obviously comes with being an adult. Fortunately, Sadie doesn’t have to wait too long. After doing her best to save an eccentrically dressed old man from being beaten to death by some very strange looking assailants, Sadie finds herself the sole heir (conditions apply) to a huge old beachside house and its delightfully mysterious contents. From here the action really kicks off, with a storyline that involves rotting ancient sea monsters, minotaurs, gods, cults, endof- the-world situations and an enigmatic and attractive bare-chested boy. What I enjoyed most about this book, however, was how refreshingly realistic the character of Sadie was. She wasn’t instantly an expert fighter, and right up to the end, she kept that innocent selfishness that all teenagers possess. Fire in the Sea is a magnificent tale, which young adults aged 13 and up (in particular, fans of Skulduggery Pleasant and Percy Jackson) will enjoy reading. It was the winner of the Text Prize for young adult and children’s writing in 2011.

Dani Solomon is a bookseller at Readings Carlton in Melbourne