Coasters Rule by Danar Burkard
Fantastical Realism
Date Published: September 26, 2023
An adventure of fantastical realism told through the eyes of twenty-year-old college sophomore Sofia Sommers. Traveling to Grand Cayman for spring break, Sofia and her childhood friend are looking forward to a peaceful, relaxing week soaking up the sun and decompressing after mid-term exams. Tragedy strikes and Sofia is rescued by the Coasters, a reclusive tribe of merfolk led by the ethereal, mohawk-haired Empress Sundrea, who is not only a benevolent leader, but a fierce warrior in her own right.
Sofia discovers her misfortune was the work of the Dwellers, a murderous gang of mermen human traffickers hell-bent on creating their own deviant gene pool and ultimately a bloodline of immortal disciples.
Come along with Sofia as she must decide whether or not to put her life on the line and assist the Coasters in their endeavor to reclaim a life-altering piece of their ancient history from the hands of Overlord Mercaro and his barbaric band of Dwellers.
Magical realism and mermaids is something I enjoy so I had a lot of high expectations for this book. While it didn’t quite meet the mark, it was a quick and intriguing read.
I enjoyed meeting all the peaceful Coasters and learning about their ways. Their ability to transform into legged people during certain hours is quite fun and made for an interesting plot. The idea that a human could choose to become a merfolk forever is quite fascinating. I would have wanted a lot more detail in the world building and really getting to know what makes every character tick, but we got enough of an overview to enjoy each character and there are some I really enjoyed.
The Dweller villain was just a disguising jerk, nothing to him but greed and power lust. I think Diablo was my favorite character, he definitely got the most development and back story.
The novel is written in a very straightforward here’s what happened easy reading language and is mostly told in dialogue (mostly tell, not as much show) so it is an easy read for middle grade and beyond. As for appropriate age – there is some cursing, lots of violence, and some sexuality (the main characters are college aged).
I think what frustrated me the most is the ending was rather abrupt. I want to know which Coasters survived the battle. Did any Dwellers survive? What about Sofia and Xavier’s family – did they get any closure? Because it felt the book left it slightly open for our interpretation but not really. I feel like we need a second epilogue. But I like my closure.
Overall an easy fantastical read with a fun take on mermaids.
About the Author
I am originally from Western New York and have lived my adult life in northern New Jersey. For the last twenty years, I have been a stay-at-home dad raising two independent and compassionate daughters. I self-published a collection of prose entitled AFTERTHOUGHTS and am also a songwriter who enjoys playing the bass guitar. When not writing, I love spending time with my two rescue dogs and traveling to Comic Cons with my wife Lori.
Contact Link
Purchase Link
