This is a book review of book 2 in the One With Nature series by author Andrew McDowell.

Please note, if you have not read the first book in the series, the blurb below may include spoilers for that book.

Beneath The Deep Wave

by Andrew McDowell

The Second Book in the One with Nature Series, This is another book of High fantasy featuring magical creatures such as dragons.

Dermot, Brian, Ruairí, and Ciara have been training for their role as the next generation of the coven of sorcerers known as the Dríacht. But their training will have to wait. War is upon Denú. Dark forces loyal to the evil sorcerer Taranis are on the rampage.

They make new allies, including Denú’s royal family, one of whom seems familiar to Dermot. The Dríacht must now take different paths to save lives and uphold the people’s morale. For Dermot and his friends, they will embark upon a series of adventures that will teach them what it means to be a dríadór.

Meanwhile, Taranis has enslaved Dermot and Brian’s father. Will the brothers see him or their mother again? Before a tremendous battle begins, many secrets long kept deep shall finally surface.

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My Review

This story leads off from the last book – Mystical Greenwood – following our main character, Dermot, now-16 year old, in a land called Denú – he, his brother, and his friends are novices to the Driact, guardians of all that is green and wild.

It is a multiple POV story, moving through the perspectives of Dermot, Granuaile (Dermot’s mother), Princess Eilwen and Taranis to name a few. I always like books with multiple POVs especially when characters break into groups and go in different directions.

The pacing was faster in this book and there was a lot more that the characters had to face, between dragon attacks, rampaging soldiers and natural disasters.

Taranis is an excellent villain and I enjoyed seeing him scheming. I think his character came across really well with how he treated those loyal too him.

As in the first book, we see several locations in detail and the continued focus on Nature and the natural world, especially in regards to how animals are impacted, is a lovely touch and reminds us all how fragile the world is.

There were some great reveals in the story, though I was keeping an eye out for the deep wave mentioned in the title. It does come up later in the book – I’ll admit to assuming it would have featured more heavily.

I found Dermot’s character had started to change more and while sometimes I thought his reactions were foolish, it made sense with his still being so young and having to learn to manage his thoughts and reactions while in difficult situations. He is still quite an impetuous character, but I like seeing the growth he is going through.

Eilwen’s character was interesting and I liked her backstory and her development. I’m looking forward to learning more about her in book three.

I did notice that there was very little character descriptions of the main characters. I couldn’t remember what many of the characters looked like as their descriptions were not referenced much if at all. It did make it hard to picture them.

Loved the action and the rising tension as Taranis attacks the villages and even the stronghold of Denú’s royalty. I can’t wait to see this all come to a head in book 3.

My rating:

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