''The Deep'' is a 1975
speculative fiction novel
Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from realism, or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural, futuristic, or other imaginative realms. This ...
by American writer
John Crowley, who described it as being "based quite closely on events in the English
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...
". The novel is set in a medieval world where the two factions, the "Reds" and the "Blacks", struggle for supremacy through battle.
Plot
A visitor arrives in the conflict between the two factions, the "Reds" and the "Blacks". It soon becomes apparent that he (it) is only superficially human. Damaged in a skirmish between Protectors and the Just at the start, he and we spend the rest of the book finding out how and why he was made and sent. Early, Fauconred quotes their book: "the world is founded on a pillar which is founded on the Deep". This turns out to be true.
Whilst a war of succession plays out, the visitor becomes secretary, then recorder; and travels to the edge of the world to meet
Leviathan
Leviathan ( ; ; ) is a sea serpent demon noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, and the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch. Leviathan is of ...
, an immemorial creature who built the world to shelter his sleep from the heaven stones. Meanwhile, the slow stable world which has been immortal because repeating for uncounted years begins to spiral into the unknown path of development.
Reception
Critics
Brian W. Aldiss
Brian Wilson Aldiss (; 18 August 1925 – 19 August 2017) was an English writer, artist and anthology editor, best known for science fiction novels and short stories. His byline reads either Brian W. Aldiss or simply Brian Aldiss, except for oc ...
and
David Wingrove
David Wingrove (born 1 September 1954) is a British science fiction writer. He is well known as the author of the '' Chung Kuo'' novels. He is also the co-author (with Rand and Robyn Miller) of the three ''Myst'' novels.
Personal life
Wingrove ...
praised ''The Deep'' as "a remarkable first novel, well written and darkly true to human nature." They described it as "a complex novel of many layers
hose
A hose is a flexible hollow tube or pipe designed to carry fluids from one location to another, often from a faucet or hydrant.
Early hoses were made of leather, although modern hoses are typically made of rubber, canvas, and helically wound w ...
people live and breathe and die horribly in
tspages.
["Aldiss & Wingrove, '']Trillion Year Spree ''Trillion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction'', commonly referred to as ''Trillion Year Spree,'' is a 1986 book by Brian W. Aldiss and David Wingrove. It is a book-length history of science fiction. The book is an expanded version of Aldi ...
'', Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...
, 1986, p.453
References
Further reading
*
External links
Archived Review of Various novels including ''The Deep''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deep, The
1975 science fiction novels
1975 American novels
Novels by John Crowley
Doubleday (publisher) books
Wars of the Roses in fiction