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A review by oliviamunrow
Heart of the Kraken by A.W. Exley
2.0
TLDR: A sweet, if simplistic, mermaid love story.
After I'd read the first three Artifact Hunters books, starting with [b:Nefertiti's Heart|22457223|Nefertiti's Heart (Artifact Hunters, #1)|A.W. Exley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402512127s/22457223.jpg|22007347], I was stoked to see that A.W. Exley seemed to have written a fantasy romance featuring mermaids. (The sea is kinda my thing.)
Unfortunately, after the tightly woven and relatively complicated plots of Artifact Hunters, I found Heart of the Kraken a little too simple. Captive pirate and Kraken-summoner Fenton and his equally captive fishy lady love Ailin are just too bland. The raucous pirate Captain Reis and playfully manic steampunk-y wizard Nancy are considerably more interesting to spend time with, but the novel is focused on our sea-crossed lovers instead, to the story's detriment. The only impediment to their feelings is that Fenton half-heartedly wonders if he's succumbed to a siren's song rather than really feeling love. For her part, and this is only barely a spoiler,mermaids have one of those "instantly know your soul mate" type deals so she's all-in pretty early on .
There are, of course, greater impediments to their situation: Captain Reis and his crew plan to turn Ailin over to an impetuous queen who wants to eat Ailin's heart to gain magic powers, and while Fenton theoretically has an interest in sacrificing himself to save Ailin, he isn't quite able to fight through an entire ship full of pirates to get her from the ship's hold back to the sea. The whole scenario gets considerably more complex in the last third of the novel, and the resolution is a convenient Nancy ex Machina.
Honestly disappointed given Exley's other work, and because there are some interesting world elements here. Exley clearly set this up to be the first in a series and there's a pitch for the next story that has potential, but since there's been no follow-up since 2015 (and numerous other works released in the meantime), I'm inclined to guess that the Tales from Darjee have been set aside for now.
After I'd read the first three Artifact Hunters books, starting with [b:Nefertiti's Heart|22457223|Nefertiti's Heart (Artifact Hunters, #1)|A.W. Exley|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402512127s/22457223.jpg|22007347], I was stoked to see that A.W. Exley seemed to have written a fantasy romance featuring mermaids. (The sea is kinda my thing.)
Unfortunately, after the tightly woven and relatively complicated plots of Artifact Hunters, I found Heart of the Kraken a little too simple. Captive pirate and Kraken-summoner Fenton and his equally captive fishy lady love Ailin are just too bland. The raucous pirate Captain Reis and playfully manic steampunk-y wizard Nancy are considerably more interesting to spend time with, but the novel is focused on our sea-crossed lovers instead, to the story's detriment. The only impediment to their feelings is that Fenton half-heartedly wonders if he's succumbed to a siren's song rather than really feeling love. For her part, and this is only barely a spoiler,
There are, of course, greater impediments to their situation: Captain Reis and his crew plan to turn Ailin over to an impetuous queen who wants to eat Ailin's heart to gain magic powers, and while Fenton theoretically has an interest in sacrificing himself to save Ailin, he isn't quite able to fight through an entire ship full of pirates to get her from the ship's hold back to the sea. The whole scenario gets considerably more complex in the last third of the novel, and the resolution is a convenient Nancy ex Machina.
Honestly disappointed given Exley's other work, and because there are some interesting world elements here. Exley clearly set this up to be the first in a series and there's a pitch for the next story that has potential, but since there's been no follow-up since 2015 (and numerous other works released in the meantime), I'm inclined to guess that the Tales from Darjee have been set aside for now.