Item - Trapped in the Sea Kingdom

As far as the need for extensive note-taking goes, this is an improvement over its predecessor; the locations are, for the most part, fairly distinctive, so it's much easier to remember where you've previously been. The overall challenge level is also higher than the previous book; while there are some clues about the path to safety, they're not nearly as explicit as before. I like the undersea setting quite a bit, though the story isn't as exciting as it might have been -- far too much time is wasted being captured again and again by countless similar evil races. Really, the most notable thing about the whole book is its "translate the ancient language" cryptogram puzzle, which works surprisingly well and doesn't feel as gratuitous as such puzzles often do. As with the previous book, I really loved this when I first read it years ago, but I wasn't as impressed when I returned to it more recently. I find this a little saddening, though I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my literary priorities have changed a bit over the years....

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