Trot, a young girl, and her companion Cap’n Bill, an old sailor with a wooden leg, sit by the California coast when they encounter sea fairies. Using magic to breathe underwater and sport fish tails, they travel into the depths of the Pacific Ocean. They visit the mermaid palaces, encounter the Great Sea Serpent, and navigate the treacherous kingdom of Zog. Within this sunken realm, they face capture by a wicked magician who commands sea monsters, requiring them to use wit and fairy assistance to escape his clutches.
Readers who enjoy early twentieth-century fantasy and the whimsical logic of the Oz series will find this expansion of Baum’s multiverse familiar. Children and fans of mermaid mythology read this for its detailed descriptions of underwater civilizations and maritime folklore. The reader learns about the imagined social structures of the sea and walks away with a vivid mental map of a hidden world where traditional nautical superstitions act as literal physical laws.
Practical, outward-looking, clear-cut and escapist; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Curious Generalist. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1911
- Language
- EN
