Written by Mermaid Priscila
“Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony” was originally meant to be set in the real world, however the conception changed during writing, and now, it’s agreed that the novel is set in an alternative world combining realistic and fictional elements.
Maxine Foti has done a great job, merging real-life facts with fictional concepts. Mermaids and mermaid kingdoms are obviously fictitious, but what about other things? How realistic is “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony”? You can learn the answer from this article.
Let’s start from the sea bottom. Many people believe that the sea bottom is too dark and cold for anyone to live in. And they’re right; although there are areas filled with vibrant sea life, at some depth, there just isn’t enough light and oxygen. So mermaids couldn’t really live there, and if they did, their world wouldn’t be as colorful and beautiful, as the one described by Amelia. So regarding this aspect, the novel unfortunately isn’t realistic.
Then, the novel discusses various inventions that mermaid use, to facilitate their life underwater. Some, like chemical lights or glass bottles with movable bottoms, sound smart and entertaining. However, fans have questions whether they could actually work in real life. Once, Amelia mentions eating grilled fish with Jet Mir. If you wonder how they grilled it underwater, you’re not alone. Another invention which was mentioned to be working underwater, is the fax machine. How does it work? That’s a good question.
In any case, in this novel, the mermaid world doesn’t seem to be much behind from the human world. Amelia dealt well with her life on land, although some things that humans use, like the hairdryer, puzzled her.
Another matter raising questions, are the geopolitical themes explored in the novel. Amelia’s world has both real and fictional countries, which creates potential for complex and turbulent global dynamics. However, mermaids don’t know much about the human world, and vice versa, so there’s very little interaction between the two. When writing mermaid stories, Maxine never focuses much on real life countries, although she does draw from their culture to make mermaid kingdoms more interesting. Their problems are typically inspired by what she’s learned in high school and college. For example, there’s that memorable scene, where Davika complains to Amelia about the Thai Pearl Empire suffering from the cheap influx of goods coming from the Coral Sea. While this is a real problem, it’s not one concerning Thailand and Australia. So, mermaid countries can’t be “translated” into real-life countries that lay nearby, and the problems can’t be attributed to the regions where they can be described. Having said all this, geographical locations remain real, and the same goes for the plant and animal species. Maxine Foti always researches things before writing.
It’s not easy to create a world which has both fantasy and realistic elements, but we believe that everything works well in “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony.” I strongly recommend you pick up the book because it is a masterpiece and nobody should miss it!
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Grab your copy of “Mermaid Princess Amelia and the Lost Symphony” here:
English: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T6BJ6RG
Spanish: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z8GK1JX
Italian: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0953PN3Y7
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