166 pages

English language

Published Dec. 17, 2019

ISBN:
9781534439863
Goodreads:
42201962

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5 stars (1 review)

The Deep is a 2019 fantasy book by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. It depicts an underwater society built by the water-breathing descendants of pregnant slaves thrown overboard from slave ships. The book was developed from a song of the same name by Clipping, an experimental hip-hop trio. It won the Lambda Literary Award, and was nominated for Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards.

2 editions

Review of 'The Deep' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This story covers a number of different themes in such a rich way that it seems impossible it could be as short as it is. I personally really resonated with how the main character, imbued with the memory of their people, runs away from this duty because it is killing her. Much like Atlas bolted when Hercules gave him the chance, Yetu can't take it anymore. When coupled with the environmental and human (mermaid?) rights themes of this book, I couldn't help but think of how many people have burned out of activism while fighting to make the world a better place.

Yetu's struggle with balancing her own well-being and that of her people is really the conflict here, with the fate of the world dependent on one person. The story didn't pull any emotional punches and hit me a lot harder than any typical farmboy with a sword narrative …