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Book Review: The Deep by Rivers Solomon

 

The Deep by Rivers Solomon

Saga Press, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1534439863

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

 

Yetu is the historian for the wajniru, underwater beings created when slave traders threw pregnant African women overboard into the Atlantic Ocean. Although the women drowned, their children, born in the deep of the ocean, were transformed and have founded their own underwater society. As historian, Yetu carries the memories of all the trauma the mothers of the wajniru and the succeeding generations alone, to protect the others, and has done so for sixteen years, suffering tremendously from taking the burden alone. Once a year, she gets a three day respite from the memories when the wajniru hold a Rememberance ceremony. At that time, she carefully lets the memories wash back into the entire population so they can feel it collectively. The experience is physically as well as emotionally traumatic– author Rivers Solomon describes it as a seizure– but all the wajniru go through it together, and once they have absorbed the memories and can take no more, Yetu takes them back. Carrying all the history, violence, and trauma of her people has emotionally, mentally, and physically damaged and weakened Yetu, and since she has been carrying these memories since she was a teenager, they have overwhelmed her ability to establish her own identity. This time, after giving the wajinru’s memories back to them, Yetu decides to escape so she does not have to take on their pain again and can have an opportunity to discover who she really is.

Swimming to the surface of the ocean, away from her kind, Yetu is injured and washed into a tide pool. Thanks to nearby humans, and especially the prickly Oori, she begins to heal. An awkward friendship develops between Oori and Yetu, out of discussions about the ocean, family, and the past. Oori, the last of her people, does not know her history, and the fact that Yetu gave hers up is upsetting to her and causes Yetu to rethink whether she can really develop an identity without any knowledge of her history. It becomes clear to her that the increasingly stormy weather is probably due to the wajinru’s group anguish and that she must return to them to retrieve their history.

This story powerfully brings the point home about the physical, mental, and emotional effects of generational trauma that many Black people still experience, even generations after the end of slavery. The situation that created the wajinru is also not the only negative impact the “two-legs” have on them, even down in the deep of the ocean, as drilling for oil not only has a negative impact on the environment but causes the violent deaths of enough of the wajinru that they rise up to wash it away in a tidal wave.  The Deep is not fast paced, as for much of it Yetu is trapped in a tide pool, but it is a story that can be felt deep in the gut.

The Deep is the third iteration of storytelling based on the premise of an aquatic people born from drowned pregnant African women kidnapped to be enslaved(although each version can stand on its own).  A musical duo called Drexciya first imagined it, and their music created a mythology for an underwater utopia born from this terrible oppression. The hip-hop group clipping then wrote their own musical version, “The Deep”, a haunting song about underwater beings who rise as a collective against the “two-legs” after they begin drilling for oil, leading to dramatic climate change and destruction of the oceans, that won a Hugo Award for best dramatic performance. This novella takes the repeated line “y’all remember” from clipping’s song and focuses on the effects of history and collective memory that follow the uprising, While I’m not familiar with Drexciya, both clipping’s song and Solomon’s novella tell powerful, complementary stories about the violence and horror caused by white supremacy and enviromental destruction. Recommended.

I received this as a complimentary ARC from Saga Press through NetGalley.

Posted on November 13, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson.

Quirk Books, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1683691389

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

For anyone claiming to be a horror fan, this is an essential. Women have long been a force in horror and speculative fiction, yet the majority of readers are only familiar with Shirley Jackson, Mary Shelley, and a few others.  Yet, there are dozens more, and it’s doubtful most horror readers are aware of them, much less tried one of the tales by the authors highlighted by Kroger and Anderson.
While I’m somewhat embarrassed to not recognize many of the names in this book, I’m also thrilled by it. After meeting Lisa Kroger, I was wowed by the breadth of the insight both authors had into the importance of women writers in the horror canon.

“Mad Madge” Margaret Cavendish took 1666 by storm (that’s a long time before Frankenstein was written). She was a storm herself, described here as a “Kardashian” of her times (yet one who had a purpose). Her The Blazing World was a science fiction tour de force. In the nineteenth century, Elizabeth Gaskell won the admiration of Charles Dickens and spurred a unique relationship with him. Her ghost tales changed views at the time, while she took societal ills head on– rare for women to do successfully at that time. Amelia Edwards predated Indiana Jones by more than a century, and unlike the famed iconic figure, was real. This lady lived adventures that would have made Indy blush– and then there was her writing. For all her wild excursions, she became a power in quiet horror in the world of Victorian ghost tales. Many others follow, but they’re best discovered while reading the book.  The authors here have captured the stories of each writer as a person first, then as a writer. Kroger and Anderson know their material, yet steer clear of academic jargon. They have penned a highly readable book that one could tear through in a single sitting, although it’s unlikely that that will happen. Most readers will stop from time to time and check libraries, used bookstores and online sources for the stories of the writers detailed within.

This is a treasure trove of amazing tidbits and histories of women who shaped the genre as we know it. From pure adventure to Gothic romance, from science fiction to all-out horror, Kroger and Anderson school the reader on what’s crucial to filling in the holes in readers’ learning about what makes horror what horror truly is. Dive in and enjoy– you’ll want to track down these authors’ works before you even finish reading. Five stars isn’t enough here– this book is crucial, essential to the history of the genre for any true horror fan (as well as or fans of women who bucked the system and challenged what was accepted). You will NOT be disappointed. My interview with the authors will be posted on Monster Librarian soon. Check it out– these two women know their histories and explain it well. They’ve hooked me. Highly, highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Editor’s note: As has been noted in the past, many reference books on horror authors include relatively few women. Librarians and academics focused on related topics will want to consider this as a complement to other biographical reference books on authors of horror and supernatural fiction. 

Posted on August 30, 2019 by , 1 comment

Book Review: A World of Horror edited by Eric J. Guignard, illustrated by Steve Lines

A World of Horror edited by Eric J. Guignard, illustrations by Steve Lines

Dark Moon Books, 2018

ISBN-13: 9780998938325

Available: Paperback, hardcover, Kindle edition

A World of Horror includes twenty-two dark and speculative fiction stories written by authors from around the world, each presenting the legends, monsters, and myths from their homelands. The book presents a vast array of diverse tales that will linger with the readers after consuming the tales between its pages. Guignard includes an introduction regarding cultural diversity in fiction, recognizing that representation is powerful and long overdue. There is a wide range of storytelling in this book that hold all the genres of horror or speculative fiction, and what they do to the genres are incredible. The following are only a few of my favorites from the anthology.

Two stories from authors hailing from South Africa are must-reads in this anthology.  “Mutshidzi” by Mohale Mashigo tells the tale of an African teenager who raises her younger brother and must run the household after their mother dies. She begins to see and hear things that remind her of her mother, but there is so much blood. In the speculative fiction piece “Chemirocha” by Charlie Human, a South African pop song is personified, and how it needs to survive. While not in essence a horror story, it can bring up in the reader a bittersweet memory of that one song that may have affected them in their lifetime.

“One Last Wayang” by L. Chan from Singapore struck a particular chord for me, as my grandmother in-law gifted three wayang puppets to me several years ago. Wayang is a form of puppet theatre that makes use of shadows cast by the puppets to tell a story. Isa’s grandfather tells him of his youth living in a tight knit community, of the hardships they faced, and of the traveling entertainment that would pass through the village. One particular wayang troupe put on a mesmerizing show, and the shadows seemed a bit too real to have been created by the wayang puppets. What follows is the grandfather’s horrific discovery. Without giving anything away, I have a different feeling about the wayang puppets sitting in my office now…

In Thersa Matsuura’s “The Wife Who Didn’t Eat”, a modest Japanese farmer’s prayer to the gods comes true for a bride who was as hardworking as he is, and who doesn’t eat anything. The gods see fit to answer his prayer, but he later discovers the truth about his dutiful wife. I loved the language and twists in this story.

People with disabilities in horror fiction usually take the form of the villain or monster, but Dilman Dila, from Uganda, brings us the story of Agira, a crippled hunter who is shunned by his village but is the only one who can face the “Obibi”.

“Honey” by Valya Dudycz Lupescu is a story from Ukraine with the fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster at its center. Luba Ivanova has stayed in her home, even after the evacuation and warnings about the environment and dangers that living in her home could entail. It’s years later and she opens her home to urban explorers who regularly make their way to the Chernobyl site. What they find in the forest outside her door is something they could never dream of seeing in their lifetimes, and they never get the chance to tell the world about it. Luba never minds this ritual of delivering the last meal to her guests, with the exception of the most recent visitor. He reminds her of someone she once knew. Will she let him wander out in the night after their meal?

There are so many more stories in this anthology I could discuss, but I don’t want to give too much away. Guignard’s selections are powerful, and the authors each bring unique tales from regions some of us may never have explored before. I find myself wanting to read more by those who contributed to A World Of Horror. I have a feeling you will, too.

Highly recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on January 24, 2019 by , Reply
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