★★★★★ @michellediener #NetGalley #WaveRider #MustRead
When it comes to Ms. Diener, I am always enthralled with the worlds she creates. This is book 5 in the series and can be read as a standalone. Warning, if this is your first book in the series, you might end up picking up all the previous books in this series. I did and went on a weekend binge reading of her Verdant String series.
I picked up this book specifically because it implied that it is water themed. I am happy to report, it is not only water themed but it also kind of includes a marine biologist. I'm now completely entranced. Anja is the scientist studying these native "leviathans". I'm not sure what they are, but in my mind, I think they are a cross between a water dragon and a whale. Either way, I'm intrigued by these majestic beasts and completely understand why Anja wants to study them. Her isolation in the science station may be hard on her. For me, I think even though I'm an extrovert, I would love it. Especially as there are some natives that live here called "wave riders". I want to be a wave rider.
Cal is a wave rider who is intrigued by Anja. She is more friendly with the wave riders which is different than the other scientist before her. When their paths cross, life gets really interesting. They run across something they didn't expect find. In addition, the leviathans are behaving so differently than what they have traditionally seen.
Honestly, I loved everything about this book. I loved what happened with Cal and Anja to make them and Cal's friends different. This book reminds me of the Dragonriders of Pern written by Anne McCaffrey. Why? Because Cal and Anja encounter an ancient artifact that could explain more about their mysterious ancestors. I have my suspicions as to what happened. There are several other authors that do this that I adore.
What I love most is Anja and Cal's new abilities to work as a team and how they can be in the water longer and swim faster. This ability is something I can only fantasize and dream about. It is as if Ms. Diener plucked my deepest wish and wrote it into a book. This fantasy is highly recommended to sci-fi readers who are water babies and love everything about diving, swimming and large marine mammals.
*provided by NetGalley
