I found this book blander and less interesting than the first, for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, the main premise of the volume is the capture of the entire group. Having discovered five apparently uniquely-powerful individuals, all of them young teenagers, and being constantly under threat of war from sea-dwelling Merlons, the island of Etlantya and all its wise sages allow them to go off into a secluded cove to practise swimming, without any kind of guard or protection other than the wall that will definitely protect them. Despite the fact that Merlons have already dug a tunnel into the very centre of the island in the previous book. There's not even anyone watching. And when one of them does spot danger, the others decide it's a joke (because it's not like they're at war or anything), so they don't escape. It was just not plausible for me.

I mean, there's apparently not even any kind of magical alarm or ward or a way for people swimming to alert the island to an attack from swimming people. You'd really think that'd be one of the very first things they'd make...

The bulk of the book consists of their undersea adventures, or rather them being underwater while people exposit at them. There's a lengthy escape sequence, which eventually fizzles out with them all being captured again. I couldn't work out what the point of this was, narratively speaking. It demonstrates their helplessness, but it's a very lengthy way to do that and it was already kind of obvious. The natural momentum of the scene seemed to be building towards a rescue by the magic carpet, but that dissipates, to be reused in the *second* escape. It's not the worst thing ever, but it felt unnecessary to me and made the book seem quite repetitive. ( )

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Cousins Gwen and Vic Pierce, the protagonists from CRYSTAL DOORS, are back in this exciting follow-up, along with some of the other great characters we came to know and love in the first book: Uncle Cap, Ali el Sharif, Tiaret, Lyssandra, and even the wonderful djinni, Piri.

The magic of the world of Elantya is also back, along with the Citadel, Sharif's magic carpet, Tiaret's warrior skills, Lyssandra's telepathic and interpreting abilities, and the natural curiosity of Gwen and Vic. Unfortunately, that also means that the bad guys from the first book, most noticeably the merlons and their king, Barak, have also returned.

Uncle Cap (Gwen's uncle and Vic's father) has made it through the crystal doors and finally arrived on Elantya. But even before a happy reunion can happen, the merlons kidnap Gwen and Vic, none too happy about the last skirmish that took place. This time, their plans are even greater: they're hoping for total destruction of the Elantyan world and, quite possibly, the crystal doors themselves.

The twins will have to use all of their knowledge and wits to keep this from happening. Thankfully, they also have their close friends to rely on, as well as some new allies. It's not going to be an easy feat, but somehow they must defeat King Barak, Orpheon, and Azric's immortals.

The climax of OCEAN REALM is a fantasy-lover's dream, with action-packed scenes that will have you flipping pages as quickly as you can. Readers of the first two books in the series will be eagerly anticipating the third, SKY REALM, set to be released in June 2008. ( )