Into the Drowning Deep - Mira Grant
"Did you really think we were the apex predators of the world?"
When I discovered that an author I loved had written a book about killer mermaids, I knew I had to read it eventually. It was on my TBR for a long time but a few weeks ago, I decided to give myself a little treat and finally unleash the deep.
The opening of this is very good. Seven years previous to the start of the book, Imagine Entertainment, an analogue of the Syfy Channel, had sent a ship out to the Mariana Trench to film a mockumentary about mermaids. The only problem was that the boat came back ransacked and empty. No one knows what happened to the Atargatis and the only clue is a leaked video of monsters on deck that television company claims is just special effects.
Now a new ship is headed out to try and discover what happened out there. Everyone on board is there for different reasons. Most of the scientists are there because it’s a great chance for them to do their own research using the Imagine’s money as long as they pretend they’re also looking for mermaids. For Tory Stewart, it’s what she’s been waiting years for: a chance to use her research to find out what really happened to her sister on the Atargatis. Dr. Jillian Toth’s research into mermaids is what inspired the original trip and now she feels she must follow through. It’s a job for Olivia, an on camera personality for Imagine and for the three Wilson sisters, it’s a chance to work together for once.
This book is very much structured like a 90s horror/action movie, a Jurassic Park if you will. As I was reading, I could see each beat in my head, watching each scene lead into the next, going from boat science to hearing a sound to ominous shadows in the deep. Honestly, I feel like this could be adapted into a movie pretty easily and would watch that movie on repeat, also much like Jurassic Park.
The lore that Grant (or McGuire, as Mira Grant is pen name for Seanan McGuire) has developed with these mermaids is delicious. I don’t want to give too much away because finding out more about them is definitely a driving force of the plot of the book but pretty much straight away you know that their tales are more like eels and they can mimic sounds. There is something so unsettling about a monster that can sound like you. Just genuinely great creature design.
My only real drawback on this was that it was really long. Grant’s descriptions are great but there’s just so much of it. Details that could be sentences become paragraphs. It’s almost 450 pages and trimming that down by 100 pages, at least, would keep the momentum up as the plot moves forward. It’s simply a case of too much of a good thing.
Overall, however, if these mermaids sound up your alley, I can highly recommend checking this book out. And again, please make a movie of this yesterday.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is published by Orbit Books and you can find links to purchase it here or find it at your local library!
Looking for more spooky stories in stranded climates? Have I got some treats for you!
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes: This is the haunted house in space book you were looking for! A salvage crew finds the long missing Aurora, a luxury space cruiser that disappeared on its maiden, celeb-filled voyage, on the edge of space. Knowing that just one thing off that ship could pay off everyone’s debts, they choose to board and investigate. But what happened to this ship and could it possibly still cause harm, twenty years on? Event Horizon meets Titanic meets Aliens, I adored this.
All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes: Do you want to read period The Thing with a kickass trans protagonist? You know you do. Post WWI, a youngest sibling decides to do what his older brothers always dreamed about: follow Australis Randall to the Anarctic. Stowing away with a childhood friend, the two find more than they bargained for at an abandoned base camp. For all your scary, chilly period men needs!
The Deep by Alma Katsu: You enjoyed evil mermaids, may I interest you in a haunted boat? What if I told you the boat was the Titanic? Alma Katsu does a lot of great ‘historical fiction horror’ and this book, which switches between ghostly mischief on the famous ship and a survivor on a sister ship, the Britannic, several years later who sees a familiar face onboard. More spooky than scary, very atmospheric, and hard to put down. I read it almost completely in one sitting last year. Always binge a Katsu.
Next Time
This email is actually coming out pretty close to the wire as my life has been consumed by writing fanfiction like it is 2009 again. I’m trying to write just a tiny update every day and my little community of readers has been very supportive and no, I will not share anything more about it because I am trying to keep my little fandom life separate from my normal life. It’s more peaceful there.
I’ve also been working on some freelance projects for a manga publishing company where I go over translated scripts and make sure they make sense in English/insert vernacular/make sure the format is correct. It’s been super fun but also some of these books are bonkers. When they start coming out, I’ll share my favorite ones.
Editorial Assistant update:
We’ve gotten some new subscribers since the last newsletter so WELCOME! So happy to have you! Paid subscribers, reminder that you can email me anytime and let me know what book you want me to read! The reason we’re doing another horror in a row (not my original plan) is because of that falling into fandom and running out of time to read normal books. But if you give me an assignment, I’m on it~!
See you all in two weeks! Happy Reading!