Fathomfolk

Fathomfolk is set in Tiankawi, a semi-submerged city built on strict segregation between humans in the dry towers above and the fathomfolk, sirens, seawitches, kelpies, kappa, and other water-dwelling peoples, confined to the flooded streets below. Mira, half-siren and the first of her kind to captain the city's border guard, works within the system to improve conditions for her people, even as she's constantly reminded she'll never be fully trusted by either side. Her uneasy position grows more precarious when Nami, a headstrong water-dragon princess, is exiled to Tiankawi and placed under her watch. When extremists sabotage a city festival, the resulting crackdown strips away fathomfolk rights and pushes the city toward open conflict, forcing Mira and Nami to decide how far they're willing to go, and what they're willing to risk, for change. Drawing on East and Southeast Asian mythology, the novel is a political fantasy about xenophobia, assimilation, and revolution as much as it is a story about mermaids.