The Water Travelers – is quite the wet dream

4 of 5 Cool and Refreshing Stars – The Water Travelers by Daniel Waltz.

I didn’t expect to like this book. It’s fantasy, and I’ve never been a big fan of that kind of fiction. Often times, I just find it silly. Childish, if you will. But this book was not silly, or childish. It was actually quite a refreshing read.

It’s the story of The Water Travelers, people who can travel from one planet to another through water portals. Pretty much any body of water that is deep enough to submerge in, can be used for a portal to another world. As the story begins, our hero Aaron, the prince to the Kingdom of Upitar, loses his brother, due to a mis-travel in the water. When someone mis-travels, they are assumed dead, gone to an otherworldly place, like heaven, which they call The Reverse.

Years later, Aaron is sent on a quest to fetch and kill a girl from Earth, because it is prophesied that she will destroy the Kingdom of Upitar. So, Aaron sets off through a portal to Earth. This is where the story gets fucking stupid. Not silly or childish, just plain stupid. Can you guess what happens next?

Aaron meets a young girl on earth, whom he grows quite fond of. I’ll bet you can guess the story now. These two sort of fall in love over the course of the first half of the book. Hundreds of pages go by, before Aaron, the retarded Prince of Upitar realizes that this girl is, in fact, the girl he is supposed to kill. Because, duh. Of course she is. I say it’s stupid, because the whole time, he’s had a map in his pocket that shows the exact real-time location of the girl he intends to kill. Like magic GPS or something.

I mean, the story is a fun and engaging read. I really enjoyed it. But the moments of sheer stupidity just threw me. I just assumed through the first half of the book that Aaron was aware that this girl was his quest target. I thought that he was just ignoring his father’s orders, which princes are wont to do. He was just being a rebel. But no. He was just being retarded.

From there on, the story really picks up, and it turns into a Lord of the Rings type quest through impossible terrain on Upitar, to reach the Keeper of the Orb, who could maybe turn this cute prophecy girl into a Water Traveler herself. So then, his father would have to approve, right? He wouldn’t want her head on a platter anymore. He’d welcome them with open arms. Right?

Not so much. I’m sure you can guess the rest. Now, his father wants them both dead. So, not the most brilliant plan. Yes, this book had plenty of predictable parts. But so what. Big fucking deal. It was still a fun adventure, and well worth reading.

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