This one was better than the first, at least after you got past the first chapter or two where the author feels the need to briefly review everything that happened in the first book. This world was more imaginative, very creative and descriptive. It was a play on the search for the lost city Atlantis, but that's o.k. All of the cool water technology distracted you from the borrowed Utopia plot. This book also had a bit more mystery and puzzles to solve, and it wasn't nearly as violent as the first book either. Perhaps though, the bad guy seemed a bit easier to defeat this time. Still some occasional mild language. :(