After his father's death,13 year old Andrew is forced to move with his mother from his home in the Far Kingdom to Faridale, a large, chaotic merchant's city perched on the edge of the Five Kingdoms. They go to live with Andrew's wealthy Uncle Maxwell.
Uncle Maxwell is a slave trader who has made a fortune from plundering the so-called "Savage Lands" and selling Savages as slaves to wealthy nobles and farmers. Though Maxwell is brutal to these Savages, he is very kind to Andrew and takes him under his wing, offering Andrew a place on his ship when Andrew shows an interest in the sea life.
Andrew accompanies Maxwell and his crew on a slave raid in the Savage lands. The raid doesn't go as planned, and Andrew accidentally shoots a baby Savage girl. In retaliation, the girl's brother attempts to kill Andrew, killing Andrew's friend and mentor by mistake.
The Savage boy and several others are clapped in chains and put on the ship. But on the journey back, the ship is pulled into a whirlpool and attacked by a massive sea-creature. Andrew and the Savage boy are the only ones not to be eaten or drown. Instead, they find themselves plummeting to the sea floor, crashing through a secret door lying on the bottom.
The boys find themselves in a strange underwater world, populated by people that call themselves "The Hidden". They are welcomed into the world and ingratiated into the society, living with boys in "School 8", boys that are their age that live, learn, and eat together. Andrew and the Savage boy (whose name is Ajali) are forced to partake in all aspects of the society, even ones they find odd or frightening.
In this world, an election for the fourth council member is about to take place. The candidates campaign fiercely, but none more than Octo, who goes against his countrymen in saying that The Hidden should activley pursue and plunder sailing ships, rather than pick over shipwrecks that took place naturally.
Throughout the novel, Andrew and Ajali explore their differences and come to an uneasy friendship, all the while attempting to make a life in this foreign land, and to find out just what Octo is up to. In the end, they find that Octo may have had more to with their own shipwreck than they thought, and is planning something even more devastating for The Hidden.
Uncle Maxwell is a slave trader who has made a fortune from plundering the so-called "Savage Lands" and selling Savages as slaves to wealthy nobles and farmers. Though Maxwell is brutal to these Savages, he is very kind to Andrew and takes him under his wing, offering Andrew a place on his ship when Andrew shows an interest in the sea life.
Andrew accompanies Maxwell and his crew on a slave raid in the Savage lands. The raid doesn't go as planned, and Andrew accidentally shoots a baby Savage girl. In retaliation, the girl's brother attempts to kill Andrew, killing Andrew's friend and mentor by mistake.
The Savage boy and several others are clapped in chains and put on the ship. But on the journey back, the ship is pulled into a whirlpool and attacked by a massive sea-creature. Andrew and the Savage boy are the only ones not to be eaten or drown. Instead, they find themselves plummeting to the sea floor, crashing through a secret door lying on the bottom.
The boys find themselves in a strange underwater world, populated by people that call themselves "The Hidden". They are welcomed into the world and ingratiated into the society, living with boys in "School 8", boys that are their age that live, learn, and eat together. Andrew and the Savage boy (whose name is Ajali) are forced to partake in all aspects of the society, even ones they find odd or frightening.
In this world, an election for the fourth council member is about to take place. The candidates campaign fiercely, but none more than Octo, who goes against his countrymen in saying that The Hidden should activley pursue and plunder sailing ships, rather than pick over shipwrecks that took place naturally.
Throughout the novel, Andrew and Ajali explore their differences and come to an uneasy friendship, all the while attempting to make a life in this foreign land, and to find out just what Octo is up to. In the end, they find that Octo may have had more to with their own shipwreck than they thought, and is planning something even more devastating for The Hidden.