Sunker's Deep by Lian Tanner

cover image

The Hidden series, bk 2. Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN: 9781743435427
(Age 8+) Recommended. Screaming mobs rampaged through the streets, determined to destroy the machines that they blamed for all the wrongs in the world. They smashed automobiles and typewriters, omnibuses and telephones. The police were helpless against them. The army, brought in by the collapsing government, destroyed its own gun carriages and joined the mobs. Everyone else, frightened and confused, barricaded their doors, telling each other that the madness must stop soon.
But they were wrong. The long harsh reign of the Anti-Machinists was only just beginning.
Under the water Sharkey is a hero. Everyone knows about him and how the ancestors have talked to him. What no one but him knows is that his whole life is based on a lie. So when the time comes for Sharkey to step up and save the day, he doesn't know how to go about it. Above the water, Petrel, Fin, the Captain and the crew of the oyster are on their way to land, to try and bring machines back to the rest of the world and stop the Devout's influence.
When Petrel and her friends get stranded and Sharkey's family gets kidnapped, both parties have to band together to rescue each other and themselves.
I would recommend this novel to girls and boys above the age of eight. The Hidden series is very intriguing to read and they are like nothing I have ever read. I would also recommend this to people who enjoy reading sci-fi as it is set in the future. As this is the second book in the series, I would recommend reading Ice Breaker first.
Lian Tanner has shown great imagination in this original story. Her way of writing is interesting and shows that books really can take you to another place.
Jazmin Humphries, Year 7

booktopia