But the more that something terrifies me, the more I tend to obsess over it. And ever since that fateful starfish encounter, the ocean, with its strange inhabitants—that’s right, I’m looking at you, various echinoderms and ophiuroids—has loomed large in my mind as a place of unknowable power, unimaginable beauty, and untapped potential.

Rick Riordan’s Daughter of the Deep captures every single facet of that awe and terror.

If you have ever craved a story that will leave your heart racing, your lungs gasping from numerous twists and turns, your soul heaving from the effort of carrying around an ensemble cast that includes smol, ingenious, and possibly bloodthirsty cinnamon rolls (oh, and a humongous creature of the deep who, truly, just wants love), you will find all that and more in the pages ahead. Our story begins with two warring schools and a cataclysmic event that sends the freshman class of the elite Harding-Pencroft Academy on a deadly mission to unearth a secret about the kind of technological power that can remake the world. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time as the crew navigated high-tech high jinks, deep-sea riddles, and the sort of military tactics that somehow make me feel smarter despite the fact that I have been ensconced in a soft blankie for the better part of the day.

I cannot think of a better captain to helm this watery adventure than the formidable Ana Dakkar. Ana is everything I wished I could be at fifteen. Fearless, brilliant, a linguistic whiz, friends with a dolphin named Socrates, and—most importantly to a daydreaming adolescent Rosh—burdened with an ancestral legacy that is the stuff of legends.

You see, Ana is one of the last descendants of Captain Nemo, and that’s where things get complicated. As the last of the Dakkars, Ana not only finds herself grappling with an inheritance that could change the entire world’s understanding of technology, but she’s also struggling with larger questions, like what are we owed, and what do we owe others? It’s easy to make the right decisions when all the world is watching, but when you’re deep underwater, where the sun can’t see you, you might just end up doing something you never expected….

To me, this story is a lot like the ocean. Equal parts thrilling and terrifying, and, no matter which way you look at it, downright cool. Enjoy! And don’t eat too many cinnamon rolls.

INTRODUCTION

My journey under the sea started in landlocked Bologna, Italy, in 2008. I was there for a children’s book fair, right before The Battle of the Labyrinth and The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones were scheduled for release. I was having dinner in the basement of a restaurant with about fourteen of the top brass from Disney Publishing when the president of the division turned to me and said, “Rick, is there any existing Disney intellectual property you’d love to write about?” I didn’t hesitate in saying, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” It took me another twelve years before I was ready to write it, but my version of that story is now in your hands.