The final book, and the pace and power of the story haven't faltered once. The present tense narrative remains, but Dunmore abandons the first person during the first chapter, which is a shame.

The four friends - two Mer, two Human - have been chosen to make the Crossing of Ingo - a trip from one side of the globe to the other, within the magical realm. Politics prevents their taking the traditional route down the Atlantic and round the Cape, so they head north, under the ice cap and over the Lomonosov ridge (though Dunmore gets a bit carried away and forgets her geography when they "turn" south!), through the Bering Strait and across the Pacific. Ervys is defeated, perhaps a bit too easily, but the battle provides a poignant resolution to the family tensions. All the loose ends of the story are tied up, and yet there is still the feeling that more could happen. Maybe in another generation Mordowrgi will be feeling the pull of his mixed ancestry, which after all he may not even know about...

This book has no reference material in the back, so I had to find my own. This map is very useful, although it only shows surface currents, probably because we haven't mapped the deep ones yet. (I can't help thinking that project ought to have been called "Ingo" rather than "Argo"!) The Wikipedia article on the Arctic Ocean is also fascinating.

Previous book: The Deep

On a picnic table on the beach, not far south of the Grand Pier.

I've not reread the book, but one thing I remember is that the Mer technique of slowing time was not worked out very well.