The Coming of the Whirlpool: Ship Kings #1

The Coming of the Whirlpool by Andrew McGahan is the first in the new young adult fantasy series, The Ship Kings. I enjoyed it because it is a bit different to a lot of the YA fantasy series that I read, in that is has a nautical theme. McGahan has also created an interesting hierarchical culture where the main protagonist's society is subservient to another culture after being beaten in a war. Dow Amber is a fantastic main character and I look forward to the sequel. Lucy

Young Dow Amber is no sailor. But driven by a strange sea-longing he ventures from the high country of New Island all the way down to a grim fishing village on the shores of the bay known as the Claw. There he finds a cursed people living in dread not only of the mysterious Ship Kings that rule their country, but also of the fury of the ocean itself. When the Ship Kings sail their tall ships into the Claw, Dow's forbidden longing only grows. Who are the Ship Kings? How do they navigate the high seas? And what of the strange and fascinating girl who lives aboard one of their ships? When the whirlpool rises, will the call of the sea lead Dow to his heart's desire or to certain death?