The Eternal Sea

Frazier, Angie. (2011). The eternal sea. New York: Scholastic.  Camille Rowen, 17, bears a weighty responsibility on her shoulders. Having chosen to use an enchanted stone known as Umandu, to bring back to life Oscar, the man she loves, she is haunted by the knowledge that she chose his life over her father's. All of these events and more were described in the previous book, Everlasting. Readers would be advised to check that one out first in order to prevent disorientation as they read The Eternal Sea. But Oscar is determined to head to Egypt in search of the companion stone--and he plans to do without Camille. Determined to figure out what has prompted the changes in Oscar that seem to have left him cold and distant, Camille manages to follow him. Randall Jackson, the man Camille's father selected as her fiance, also meets up with them, and the two try to outdo one another in claiming her affections. Improbably, Camille finds that she is attracted to both men and is unable to choose between them. As she sleeps each night, she doesn't dream of her suitors, though, but of the Forelands and of an icy region where she is attacked by a female wolf. Determined, earthy, and brave, Camille never stops in her determination to reach those lands and save Oscar's soul.

The author has created a decidedly frightening underworld with a sea in which dead folks float about and reach out to grab living humans for their warmth. There are enough puzzles, hieroglyphics, chases, and exotic locales to please lovers of adventure stories. Reader interest is heightened by the difficulty in distinguishing between the good and the bad guys as well as by Camille's romantic vacillation. Give the author plaudits, though, for creating a heroine who doesn't simply pine for love and rely on others to save her, but rather plots her own course.

Favorite Lines:

"The color of the sky wasn't the same the next day. The bleached horizon and the impossibly blue dome had a yellow tinge to it, as if draped with a muslin sheet. Maggie didn't need her napkin and plate hat, and the apples of Camille's cheeks no longer ached from squinting" (p. 265).