Fathomed: Awakened Mer Novellas by Roseanne M White

 This is a collection of three novellas set in Ms White's Awakened Mer world. Each tells the love story of characters mentioned in the longer novels. 

In Captivated, we learn the story of King Seidon's parents. Brenn is being pressured to take over the kingdom of Daryatla but feel insecure about her new roll.  She goes to visit her cousin who rules the Mer People.  When she arrives she discovers that the kingdom under the sea is in the middle of a coup.  She must escape with the help of an old love interest, Atlas. Can their flame reignite in the midst of war?

Celebrated is a Christmas novella where Electra has been ruling in the undersea kingdom for decades. Over that time she struck up a deep friendship with Arden and Seidon's High Gardian, Ryder Mallow.  They have gotten into the habit of escaping the holiday celebrations early to talk and enjoy the view of the ocean depths together.  But as their friendship turns to love, they can't see how they can be together.  Ryder can't leave the Daryatlians, and Electra needs to rule the mer people. Only a holiday miracle could tear down the walls that keep them apart. 

Consecrated is the longest of the novellas, almost long enough to be a stand-alone novel.  In it we are introduced to the desert kingdom of Soltierra which is a matriarchy, and its brother kingdom of the Calm Water Mermen. Lucianna is the crown princess of Soltierra, but struggles to perform her magical responsibilities of directing underground water to the surface to water their oasis in the desert.  Koa is the leader of the Calm Water Mer that we met in an earlier story.  He despairs of ever meeting someone who is his equal to help him rule is tenuous kingdom.  When Lucianna comes in her mother's place to an annual ceremony with the Calm Water Mer, sparks fly between the two leaders, but can Lucianna ever leave her kingdom to be with the man she has grown to love under the sea. 

All three stories have the same basic plot.  There is a lonely monarch, an unlikely match, and a happy ending.  It was mildly satisfying to see the backstory of some of the characters in the full length novels.  All are very religious like the series as a whole but the holiday one was particularly cheesy. It is literary candy but I enjoyed them. I checked them out for a vacation read, and it was just right for the airplane and hotel room. (312 p. 2026)

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

 In this 5th installment in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, Percy has finally turned 16 and his time has come for the final battle between the Titans and the Olympians.  As the Olympians battle Typhon as he advances across the country laying waste to all in his path, Percy and Annabeth fear that his tirade is only a distraction.  It is up to the half bloods to defend Olympus in New York City.  Meanwhile the great prophecy hangs over Percy's head. One decision will decide the outcome of the battle, but which decision?  Can the future of the known world really lie in his adolescent hands?

During this series, Riordan has spun out so many plot threads, that he spends the entire book reeling them in.  To his credit, he does an admirable job of it while still making the plot engaging, the action scenes exciting, and occasionally injecting some major doses of humor. He really is a great writer, and I remember, back when this series was first coming out, when the circulation of the Percy Jackson books outstripped the Harry Potter Books.  I wonder why there has only been the two Netflix series based on the books.  Now that the kids that grew up with the series are in their 30s, maybe some movie company will pick them up and do a major series of movies on them. (2009, 400 p)