Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Maelstrom

Maelstrom

Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

Del Ray, January 2007, $22.95, 256 pp.

ISBN 0345470044

Twins Muriel and Ronan Shongili have the honor of living on the only known sentient planet in the universe, Petaybee. Like their father Sean, the Shongili twins turn into seals when their bodies are immersed in water. Since anyone who lives on Petaybee past puberty can't leave the planet, Muriel and Ronan are going to perform an important mission that will save the people of Halau and their totem animals, sharks and sea turtle, because the terraforming that was performed on their planet is falling apart.

When they arrive aboard the luxurious spaceship that belongs to a Powers That Be Marmian de Revers Algemeine, an ally of Petaybee and its people, they find the planet being bombarded by meteors. They want to look for survivors, but company man Colonel Cally wants to leave before more meteors hit them. Marmian and company are determined to rescue the survivors, even the sharks, and bring them back to Petaybee. The Shongili twins discover alien beings living on the bottom of the ocean of Petaybee when they return, the first natives of Petaybee who can help them defeat the Powers That Be who want to take over the planet and arrest the people in power. The question is will the aliens help them?

Two science fiction greats create a trilogy that focuses on the second generation of the Shongili family. This is space opera at its finest, and the underwater scenes are so vividly described that readers can easily visualize them. Young adults and older will enjoy this action oriented character driven tale starring two preadolescents who get into the heart of the matter and develop a course of action that will keep their planet safe for their parents and friends from the Powers That Be.