| Title | : | Pouraka |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781537866529 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | ebook |
| Number of Pages | : | 298 |
| Publication | : | First published February 14, 2015 |
The foreign clan fled their homeland in search of another cavern when men invaded their waters. Unfortunately the trouble follows them when an unscrupulous oil rigger's son discovers the rich aquatic life Barnacle Bay harbors. Mermaids, instead of dolphins, become his prey.
The man's quest to capture and sell a mermaid or two to a marine amusement park proves perilous for both Cora and Tas, and their families. Both clans must fight for their lives, and all sea life that call Pouraka home.
Pouraka Reviews
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Pouraka by Dianne Lynn Gardner is an exquisite look at the life of a mermaid. Stunning the way she captures the essence of the underwater creatures and how she brings these mystical beings to life. This story drew me in, at first glance the extraordinary cover that Miss Gardner, the artist created and then I was fascinated by the mere thought that mermaids could have a story to tell.
There is great depth and profound sadness to this story. I was moved by the humanity and the love of more than just ourselves. This is an moving tale that filled my heart with great tenderness and emotion. This tale comes to life, richly told, swift, as if we were seeing the pictures across the screen.
Pouraka is a passion driven book, a love of the ocean and all its inhabitants. A fantasy that took me to another world. The author has the fine ability to bring her characters to life and does so creatively, naturally and articulately. It was easy to fall into the sea with these characters and escape from my not so adventurous life.
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She'd never seen a merman cry before. Tears flowed out of his eyes like streams pouring from the rainy cliffs on the coast of the northern shore. She took his hand and he clasped onto hers so tightly it hurt. But she bore the pain because she knew his agony was greater. She wanted to tell him that it would be okay, that he had a home in Pouraka..." -
Nihil novi sub sole – There is nothing new under the sun. This Maxim from Ecclesiastes could certainly be said to hold true within the realm of mer-fiction as it is a ground which has been plowed many, many times. Plots involving vast undersea cities, sub-aquatic strife, sea-witches, battles with monsters and/or humans, unrequited love, and of course, the perennial favourite of a teen-aged girl/boy suddenly discovering that they are in actuality, a mermaid/merman. This is not to say that such stories boasting these plot-lines – or variants thereof – are dull-making or not worth reading. Indeed, they can be fun, exciting, thrilling, endearing, and a veritable fin-fest. Every once in a while, however, the devoted connoisseur of mer-fiction yearns for something new, something different.
All is not lost. Of late, there have been two mer-novels that have covered fresh territory and have proven to be quite enthralling. The first, Flippin’ The Scales by Pete Tarsi, has already been discussed by this reviewer. The second entry, Pouraka by Dianne Lynn Gardner, is the subject of this review and is undoubtedly a quite noteworthy book.
We poor, landlocked humans are inclined to think of mermaids – and mermen, of course – as living a wild and free existence in the oceans of the world, having the occasional dolphin sidekick with whom they pass the time of day and are happy and joyous 24 x 7. The world which Dianne Garner has created for this story is far different than the one of our imaginations. It is a world where merfolk are a hunted species under constant encroachment by humans, tourists, and oil rigs. The ocean waters that border the land are rapidly becoming an inhospitable place to abide, evocative of the book of Amos, 7:17. “ . . . your sons and your daughters shall fall by the sword, and your land shall be divided by line; and you shall die in a polluted land . . . “ Their dire situation invites the reader to apologise for being human.
Tas is a merman who can no longer remain silent or idly by while his clan slowly dwindles. They continue to be hunted by humans and first his beloved mother fell victim and now his older brother has been wounded by their harpoons. To spend another season where they presently are risks extinction for the entire group. His idea is to take the members of his clan – including the aged and the wounded - North where the hope of a better life – or even simply life itself - beckons.
Conditions are somewhat different for merfolk to the North where Barnacle Bay lies. The merfolk have, overall, a better life and their home cavern – called in the mer tongue, Pouraka – has long provided a comfortable home and although pollution has impacted their food supply to a certain degree, they are much better off than those who live to the South. One of their advantages is that they and their home are protected by the humans who reside in the town beside the bay.
Cora is one of Pouraka’s denizens and she is rather fond of the humans who live on the shores of barnacle bay. Though the magic of Pouraka’s waters, which are jealously guarded by the merfolk, Cora is able to leave the sea behind and walk amongst her shore-bound neighbours, not the least of whom is her best friend, Beth. While Cora is always quick to defend her human friends and protest that not everyone who walks on two legs is a threat to mer-kind, she is nonetheless somewhat naïve as to how the world above the water’s surface works.
Despite the initial impulse of some merfolk to turn away the refugees from the South, they are given shelter and in time, absorbed into the Pouraka colony. It is through this gift of sanctuary that Cora meets Tas and he soon begins to play an increasingly important role in Cora’s emotional life. Sadly, whatever respite the southern merfolk might have gained by seeing refuge in Pouraka is short lived. The northward progression of oil hungry humans continues bringing with it arrogance, death, greed and plunder. The merfolk may be able to run but they cannot hide and a time is fast approaching when hard choices will need to be made.
Dianne Lynn Gardner has woven a thoughtful and provocative story for young adults that is as much about the choices in life which we all must face as it is about scales, tails and survival below the surface. Through the eyes of the mermaid, Cora, readers will learn that life and the world in which we live is not always as simple as we would like to believe. There are two romances in MS Gardner’s story and before the final word on the final page, irrevocable choices will need to be made and each will result in a sundering. Readers – both young and old – will enjoy this story for the plot itself as well as the thought provoking questions which it presents.
Dianne Gardner is without a doubt one of those multi-talented people that those of us who fall into the realms of ‘ordinary’ and ‘really ordinary’ cannot help but envy. Aside from being an author, she is also an illustrator, oil painter and filmmaker. Pouraka is Dianne’s first real foray into the genre of mer-fiction and it is this reviewer’s considered opinion that she seriously contemplate one or more return visits. If she can maintain her fresh approach to the subject, MS Gardner will find a ready and enthusiastic audience. -
Well, let me just thank the Little Mermaid, that even as an adult I still obsess over. It's given me the love of mermaids, and books like this make me love them more :) Under water lives, sea monsters, and a little romance, how does this not perk up your interest. And the writer made me feel how much she loved what she was writing. Oh and a dolphin as your BFF is so damn cool :) But it's not all pretty. The mer people are hunted, the damn humans always wanna kill what they can't control. :) Oil rigs and pollution are damaging their waters.
Tas is a merman. He will not watch everything die, nor will he be quiet about it. Humans are killing them with their waste. Then they killed his mother, and almost killed his brother. He wants to move everyone to the north where there is a better chance of survival. North to Barnacle Bay. It seems like things are better there. Those who live there are much better off than the south folk. And not just that, the humans know about them, and help protect their areas. When they get North, some want them to go away, but they are given a pass to enter. And here's where Tas meets Cora.
Cora is from Barnacle Bay, and she likes the humans. Cora has a little magic, she can walk as a human. She has a best friend named Beth, she can visit human neighbors. Cora defends her friends, the humans, because not every one of them is bad. But sometimes, not being bad doesn't always mean good, and Cora has a lot to learn in this area. You see, humans can travel up north just like the mer folk.
This is a story that really is about becoming an adult, making the hard choices, and living life to the fullest. The romance of the book is sweet and somewhat heartbreaking. Things in love and war are never easy. The writing is fantastic. I will say it's like art, because there's just a way with words that some people have a way with a paint brush. Most of us just can't do that. PS, I have it under authority that this author is both, she painted her cover :) I can say that I just like mermaid stories, but it's not just that, it was an intriguing, and fascinating story. Beautiful! 5 PAWS -
***Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for a review.***
Mermaids seem to be the new trend in UF/PNR. I liked the premise and the concepts, which is why I wanted to read it, but so many things didn't click or ignored logic and common sense just to be put into the story, it kept falling flat.
What's Good: There's a lot of imagination involved. The idea of merpeople transforming into dolphins is an intriguing one. The characters run the gamut, but end up sorta typecast. Cora was a strong character, and Ko was tragically heroic- if not fully explained. Didn't understand the rush to push him through his story arc; he could've hung around a while.
What's Bad: Sharks screaming... mer people getting harpooned left and right, and left and right... dolphin fishing off American shores- which is already illegal, but who cares; we need drama...
If the mermaids were so careful about hiding, how do so many humans always find them? Probably because they keep letting them. It's revealed they actually got discovered because a group of them were lying out sunbathing... right next to a fishing village. And when a newspaper article gets written about mermaid sightings a bunch of tourists find the seaweed baskets they'd been making just lying around in the sand- because they're so careful about hiding. Reading the story really makes you wonder how they'd stayed hidden for so long.
What's Left: It's all par for the YA/PNR course. Nothing has to make much sense, just so long as it happens and there's a love story involved. Our young mer-lovers meet and almost immediately click, so there ya go. Plus there's a budding human/mermaid thing to juxtapose it as well.
Again, it's an imaginative book, but a very clumsy one; I could never warm up to it. It's also not a YA novel; this is definitely Middle-Grade fare. -
Initially, I gave up on the book within the first 15% but because I bought it based on a FB group promotion, I felt I should just finish it and review. First off, the idea is intriguing. I liked the magical water where the mermaids grow feet when they step/submerge in it. I enjoyed the description of the rustic-ness of fishing life. The writing was easy to read and the story was fast paced.
The reasons why I rated it so low was because there was no depth to the characters. They all kind of blended into one. I couldn't tell who was who because they all were so similar. For instance, Ko, Kaile, and Tas seemed like one character. Couldn't put a face to each one individually and couldn't careless who died or who lived or who go injured. Also, I'm so truly confused as to why the mermaids were so...I don't want to use the word, but, stupid. They acted like they knew nothing. Also, if the waters were so dangerous, I don't understand why they don't leave to better places. Just things like that just didn't seem real. I felt like the mermaids could only survive if all was beautiful and peaceful all the time, otherwise they'd just die because they are too dumb to fight to survive. Another thing that bothered me was the mermaids transformation to dolphins. That wasn't written clearly. I don't understand the reasoning behind it since the dolphins seem to get attacked as well. And one more thing, I felt as though the characters were always yelling at each other when they spoke. -
I love it!
The way Dianne writes give me a perfect old Skool feel, the way in which she writes brings back the good old days when writing was educational, refreshing and exciting. When it was inspiring. The effort and perfection conveyed in her work is delightful.
And Pouraka is exactly that.
It's not just beautifully present but I learned a lot while reading it. I never realised what I didnt know about the ocean, and the merfolk, the creatures, everything! I love the story and really dove into it from the get go.
The heartfelt story of Pouraka, the fight for survival, partnership and love, indifference, understanding and bonds between other colonies of merfolk and of course the bonds between the humans. Survival! Pouraka was an eye opener to how cruel humans can be and how real of an issue it is with the poaching that goes on in the world. I'm giving Pouraka a five star. It deserves more.
Pouraka -
If I didn't give out 5 stars very sparingly, I would give this a 5th star. Dianne, again, paints her book with words, drawing the reader into an underwater world of beautiful sea creatures. You can count on her to craft her plot with twists and turns. She usually has a message to her story also and it often is how valuable life is.
Her characters are fleshed out, or maybe I should say scaled out, and well rounded. Each is motivated by their separate desires. The story shows how those desires are played out in a dangerous world, sometimes bringing merpeople and people together and sometimes splitting them apart.
I didn't want it to end when it was over. I wanted more, which is a good place to leave a reader. -
Pouraka is a very entertaining diversion from the normal romance novels I read. There is romance, don't get me wrong, but the romance here is the extra serving instead of the main dish.
This is perfect for any age reader, and a story I intend to read to my grandchildren the next time they spend the night at Nana's house! It has the perfect mix of excitement, danger, and intrigue interwoven with family values, loyalty, and romance.
As an Independent reviewer for Paranormal Romance and Authors that rock, I give Five fangs to this story! I can't wait to pick up some of this authors other writings!! -
I have sat with this one for a bit as I wanted to process it more, but I also forgot to actually sit down and write out my review of this story. I listened to the audiobook while I was doing illustration work and chores, which made for good company. As I love tales of the sea and the denizens thereof I knew that this was going to be an interesting experience.
Dolphin hunting, which is already illegal, impinges on the magical abodes of the mers. Poachers of course are a real world threat, and I can see how they would be a threat to merpeople, and even more so when we discover that the mers are related to dolphins. Going by old tales they are also related to humans, but that still removes no stigma from any mer to human pairs, which gets addressed later in the story. This particular reclusive pod of mers is then forced to abandon the magical pool which sustains them and search for another area containing the magic that they need. This exodus then brings the highly reclusive pod into contact with another mostly xenophobic pod. Tas, our hero, meets with Kora as a result and gets introduced to shapeshifting magic, something he had never needed nor known existed due to the way his pod had once lived.
The story tackles some sticky elements that even in this world need addressing. Xenophobia, pollution to a minor degree, poaching, ocean health, interracial relationships (I am viewing mers as another part of the race of Man as one can assume them capable of interbreeding and due to old legends), and whether or not to get help or take matters into one’s own hands. These are good things to use the medium of fantasy to address and the choice of setting being contemporary brings these matter into more immediate focus than they would perhaps be in if set within the age of sword and sorcery.
The story gets a little bumpy at times due to the pacing. The dialog is a little stilted for some, but fitting for the more introverted and introspective characters. It is less stilted for the female characters, who are fewer. The males are more brusque than the females, which one could expect from a society that avoids humans and often has to defend itself and in a male dominated society that is different from that on land. There are other dangers in the sea that are not addressed as much due to the prominence of the problem of humans. Perhaps future books will expand on these. I want to know what happens beyond the end of this, especially as a bit more magic leaves the world when more mers change forever into dolphins, no longer living in between land and sea as a balance point. -
Review of Pouraka
Pouraka by Dianne Lynn Gardner is a young adult urban fantasy romance. That's a lot of things, but I arrive at that like this: it's young adults, romantically involved, who happen to be mer-people (fantasy) in a contemporary (urban) setting. When I do reviews, I feel the first item on the agenda is to identify the material for the potential reader. If mermaids and romance float your boat (pun intended), read on.
The story opens with Tas and Tama grieving at their mother's grave, but moves on quickly to aspects of undersea life. There's a surfacer attack, Tama is injured and a subsequent decision is made to move to 'safer waters' in the North. I'm on board with getting things rolling fast, but as a veteran fantasy reader I wanted author Gardner to slow down. I wanted to be better anchored in the setting and at least the mechanism of how people speak underwater addressed. Even a one-liner would have satisfied me, so at least I would feel like the author considered it. Given this is taking place under water, my anticipation was that setting would play a larger role as well.
In chapter three we are introduced to Cora, who we are immediately shown transforming from human appearance to mer. She is chided that she spends too much time on land and a whole new aspect is opened up in the milieu. Now, caveat emptor, I am not the typical consumer of romance, so if I'm missing something, it's all on me. Tas the romantic interest is introduced in chapter 3, and not but a few pages later in chapter 4 Cora is confiding semi-serious feelings to her human friend living in Barnacle Cove. I'm pumping the brakes here because we haven't yet even had a personal scene with the beau talking to the heroine (so far, only an initial encounter where they expressed mutual admiration). Am I overthinking things? I write too and I'm jealous because it takes me several chapters to get two characters in each other's sights. Okay, chalk this up to genre unfamiliarity.
In chapter 6, we are back in Tas' point of view. Now, we're having the conversation and getting those signals that I naively expected to come first. The narrative perks up quite a bit here with his thoughts, emotions, and inner dialogue. There's friction and hesitation between he and Cora and that's as it should be.
Calamity strikes in chapter eight, events serving to isolate Tas and Cora. Again, for me it's all happening a bit too fast, as we are pushed toward the schema that best serves the drama. I don't necessarily mind this, but tragedy, especially as compelling as what is suggested needs more setup, execution, and denouement. There's a matter of harpoons being shot with no boats visible. Also, I'm missing why. Because there are evil people? While evil does happen because humans are messed up, typically evil is done for gain of some kind. Not really seeing the motivation. No rationale is offered. The mers of Pouraka cavern who swore such a thing to be impossible just pages before, don't even remark on it. Further, just coincidentally none of the Pouraka clan get targeted. This triggers tremors in the plausibility meter.
Chapter Eleven has Cora's brother Ko willingly choose a life permanently changed into a dolphin. Now, this might have been sold to me if he were old or didn't have a mate. He wasn't old, and left behind a grieving mate. For me, that spanks of a selfishness the character is being portrayed not to have. Further, I didn't really see how being a dolphin was more "natural" than being a mer in the context of the story. For me, the mers who breathe water (or seem to) are more versatile than dolphins that must take air on the surface. So, the whole rationale didn't work for me.
Moving into the middle act the story becomes a multi-sided struggle with selfish wildlife killers, nature respectors, human-phobic and human-admiring mers. This worked to polarize the cast and keep tension in the story.
The final act becomes a rescue mission with Cora pursuing the captured Tas. There are some twists and turns and tension is maintained through to the climax. I won't ruin the ending but I found myself disappointed by choices made by the principle protagonists.
Rating (1-5)Execution : 3.5 — The book is competently written, but as I said in the general sections it felt rushed. The viewpoint is fairly consistent, but it only really goes deeply into the characters in a few spots. I am not a romance reader and for me, the courting aspect of the romance seemed oddly missing. Perhaps that's naivety on my part, not having read very many such stories. Some aspects of the story felt contrived to push the plot agenda. The best example of this is when Tas' clan gets slaughtered out of no-where and Radcliff who instigates the situation, barely owns up to it. Tas' response to the death of his brother as a direct consequence of Radcliff's actions... I had a lot of trouble with that depiction.
Setting : 3.0 — I honestly wanted more setting detail, particularly framing detail. For me, too much was left to my imagination. There was enough that I wasn't completely lost, but given the nature of the story and the difficult to envision environment, more would have helped keep me in the story.
Character : 3.5 — The characters are sympathetic but the sphere of their freedom in the story is very limited. It feels like author Gardner walls them in. This gave the narrative a claustrophobic story on rails kind of feel at times.
Overall : 4.0 — I am rating the overall higher than the breakdown because there is warmth and good intent in this story. I did feel disappointed at the black and white portrayal here. It's pet peeve of mine when a story declares 'there's only one choice' and I can see three or four workable solutions in a matter of seconds. The idea that the mers were truly backed in a corner lacked ambition and courage. It's fantasy, albeit urban fantasy, but if the clan can summon a storm with magic, they had other options. It was simply that those options weren't convenient for the bittersweet portrayal author Gardner was shooting for. I don't begrudge the author being able to put a bow on it, but I just thought the sea people would be just a trifle more resilient and adaptable.
-- Will Greenway
Author of the Ringrealms Cycle
Amazon Author Page (
http://bit.ly/rrealms)
Facebook Author Page (
http://bit.ly/rrealmsfb)
Goodreads Author Page (
http://bit.ly/rrealmsgr)
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One of my most favorite mermaid books I have. It’s beautifully written and open up the worlds under the water. It really brings home the chaos we as people have created for the life under the sea. A fantasy mixed with real world issues, this story is my idea of beautiful artwork.
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I received this book as part of a Goodreads First reads promotion.
This is a young adult book by Dianne Lynn Gardner. It is the story of the merpeople. Mermaids and mermen who live in Pouraka, A place with magical waters. But all is not well in the ocean. Tas ends up being the sole survivor of his group. He falls in love with Cora, a mermaid who enjoys turning into a human form and socializing with a few locals. The merpeople must keep themselves a secret or risk having to leave Pouraka or be forced to change themselves into dolphins for protection. A love story, mixed with some sad ending, I thought it was a good read and think that teenager girls will definitely find this story appealing. -
A nice read!
Pouraka (Series of the Sea Book 1) by Dianne Lynn Gardner is rather different than most tales of mermaids and romance. This captivating story reveals the dreadful fate of our ocean and its inhabitants. It takes you into the frightening world of sea life and the trepidations that mankind puts upon the creatures of the sea. Dianne has managed to combined fantasy, love and human shortcomings into a great and intriguing YA love story. -
I thought Pouraka was a very interesting book. The author spun a tale about mermaids/mermen that could actually be true, that is if you believe they ever existed. The plight of the sea creatures captivated my imagination and Ms Gardner's descriptive writing made the scenes play out in my mind as I read the story. I enjoyed it. -
Enjoyable and well thought out
I enjoyed this take on mermaid mug in modern times. The story is well paced and kept my interest. A few minor edit issues and such but nothing that forced me out of the narrative. -
Great summer read! Beautiful descriptions, wonderful story line, thought provoking. You are taken through a range of emotions with a lovely surprise ending.
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An interesting concept on underwater life.
