Starred Review McKinley and Dickinson's first collaborative work offers six mesmerizing stories, three from each writer, steeped in the lore of merfolk and creatures of the sea. The writing is lyrical, and the characterizations are remarkably well developed. Themes resonate with clear-cut meaning, and emotions run the gamut--from fear and courage to love and joy. In the first story, Pitiable Nasmith's dismal life takes a turn for happiness when she learns her heritage and rescues a stranded sea-girl; in another, Jenny finds true love with the sea king's son; in a third, a ferryman tilts the contest between the Earth-mother and the Father-god by outwitting a sea serpent. Then there's the tale of Tamia, apprentice of the Guardian of Western Mouth, who finds herself facing the destructive Water Horse, which the Guardians have been unable to curb; and the story of the mer-king's daughter, who inadvertently awakens the deadly Kraken. In the final piece, Hetta's dreams of a desert land turn to reality with the help of a golden eye in a pool that stretches from Homeland to Damar, McKinley's well-known land. It's a bountiful collection for fantasy lovers. Despite the differences in themes and characters, the stories fit so nicely together that the collection will be very hard to put down.

Each highly respected authors in their own right, husband and wife Dickinson (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Ropemaker) and McKinley (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Spindle's End) collaborate for the first time on a collection of enchanting tales linked by an aquatic theme. Infused with selkie legends and Greek and Roman underworld myths, the tales possess a consistently compelling, rhythmic tone, despite the fact that the authors alternate in the tellings. Dickinson's opening "Mermaid Song" sets the tone for a tenuous relationship between those who dwell on sand and in sea; only the landsman who has listened to the stories passed down through generations can accord the sea its proper respect. McKinley's "The Sea-King's Son" builds on the traditional tale of the Sea-King's daughter who falls in love with a musician, but with a satisfying twist. Taken together, the installments also raise some thought-provoking issues. In "Mermaid Song," for instance, Pitiable Nasmith must lie in order to escape her grandfather's abusive home, while Hetta in "A Pool in the Desert" struggles with what constitutes truth. The workings of the Guardians' magic in McKinley's "Water Horse" remains mysterious, and Dickinson never entirely explains the gender-divided mythology in "Sea Serpent" but fans of myths won't mind filling in the gaps. These creative interpretations brim with suspenseful, chilling and wonderfully supernatural scenes, from Iril's daring plan to kill the murderous sea serpent to Hetta's literal leap of faith. Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(June)

In this collection of alternating short fantasies, the stories take their directive loosely enough (oceans, a tidal river, a desert pool) to present a diverse and satisfying whole. Both writers' tendency to luxuriate in the conventions of fantasy is a strength in many of the stories. Readers versed in these writers' work will recognize familiar themes and references; newcomers will find scope for imagination; and all will be richly rewarded.

Veteran fantasists bring six new short stories to readers in a collection that explores aspects of water both benign and malignant. The subjects are quite varied: a young woman, abused by her grandfather, saves a water-girl and, in doing so, herself; a land-girl meets and falls in love with "The Sea-King's Son," in a sort of happy reversal of "The Little Mermaid"; a wily ferryman outsmarts a sea serpent and unseats the old goddesses; a young apprentice Guardian pressed into service far too early nevertheless saves the land from a rampaging Water-Horse; a rebellious mermaid-princess plumbs the depths of the sea's darkness in "Kraken"; and, in a story sure to please fans of McKinley's early works, a tired young woman from a modern Homeland finds her way (via her garden pond) to the desert of Damar's past. Dickinson's ( Ropemaker , 2001, etc.) tales lean toward the dark, the violent, the malevolent; McKinley's ( Spindle's End , 2000, etc.) are by and large gentler, emphasizing love, not conflict. Despite thematic differences, it is a remarkably consistent collection, tonally speaking, each tale slowly and completely developing its unique setting, plot, and characters with slow, stately language. This language, though, sometimes gets out of hand, particularly in McKinley's tales, where commas insert themselves freely into sentences that seem to go on and on, until readers who are not paying attention may find themselves at the end of a sentence of which they have forgotten the beginning. Readers who can stick with it will find themselves rewarded with watery riches, and will look forward hopefully to Earth, Air, and Fire. (Short stories. YA)

Gr 6 Up-Two generally brilliant writers alternate first-rate tales in this six-story collection. McKinley allows hearts' desires to be achieved in all three of her contributions: one young woman braves a curse and falls in love with "The Sea-King's Son"; another discovers her own subtle kind of magic in defeating a giant, wildly destructive "Water Horse." A third dreams of Damar, the setting of McKinley's Blue Sword (1982) and Hero and the Crown (1984, both Greenwillow), then finds a way to travel there, escaping through space and time from a soul-deadening existence. In Dickinson's tales, which are darker in tone, a "Mermaid Song" helps an abused child escape her violent father; a lame ferryman, caught in a struggle between old gods and new, battles an immense "Sea Serpent"; and while helping to save human lovers from drowning, a mer-princess draws the attention of an immortal, coldly alien "Kraken" from the deeps. The masterfully written stories all feature distinct, richly detailed casts and settings, are free of the woodenly formal language that plagues so much fantasy, and focus as strongly on action as on character. There's plenty here to excite, enthrall, and move even the pickiest readers.-John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.