Into the Drowning Deep

Mira Grant is, as we all know, one of Seanan McGuire's pen names. McGuire is an author I like a great deal, and when I like an author a lot, I often react by trying to read everything they have published (viz: Jane Austen, Patricia Briggs). So I have undertaken the project of reading everything McGuire has published. This is a big job, because she's prolific. Also, she publishes under at least three different names that I know of (Seanan McGuire, Mira Grant, A. Deborah Baker).I'm currently working my way through the Mira Grant oeuvre. I started with her Parasitology series, which was dreadful: one to two stars. I then moved on to the Newsflesh series, which was ever-so-slightly better: two to three stars. At this point I was beginning to suspect that Mira Grant was somehow McGuire's toxic waste dump. I wondered if I should abandon the project. However, by now I have already read most of the Mira Grant oeuvre. Moreover, my associates on Goodreads have intimated that the mermaid books are better.I am happy to report that, indeed, they are. Or at least Into the Drowning Deep is. Into the Drowning Deep is a Good Book -- not a Great Book, but definitely worth a read, if this is the kind of book you're into.Into the Drowning Deep is a plot book, not a character book. The plot, of course, centers on an expedition to find "ancient sea creatures of legend" (as the publisher's blurb says). I think I can, without spoiling anything, translate that phrase as "mermaids". It will also not be a spoiler to tell you that they find *something*. Finally, since Mira Grant is McGuire's horror brand, you will not be surprised to hear that the "something" found is scary. If you enjoy the frisson of horror, Into the Drowning Deep works -- it is scary and tense.There are some well-drawn characters, particularly marine biologist Victoria (Tory) Stewart and sirenologist Jillian Toth. Tory Stewart is the closest Into the Drowning Deep has to a main point-of-view character. But the focus is not on character -- not on telling people's stories.McGuire's treatment of scientists is better in Into the Drowning Deep than in her other Mira Grant novels. In particular, the scientists -- most of the characters of Into the Drowning Deep are scientists -- seem human. They're not all good or nice humans -- quite a few of them are real jerks. (Since I intend to post this review on Amazon, I'm avoiding stronger terms, but use your imagination.) That's OK -- scientists are human, and some real scientists are indeed colossal jerks.The bigger problem is that the characters of Into the Drowning Deep are not scientists. Over and over, when I read Into the Drowning Deep, I found myself thinking, "No scientist I have met thinks or talks like this." But that's not quite true. There is one scientist I know who talks and thinks like the scientists in Into the Drowning Deep: Jim Watson. James D. Watson is one of the men who received the Nobel Prize for working out the structure of DNA. He wrote a famous memoire, The Double Helix, about his part in that work. I am willing to entertain the hypothesis that The Double Helix accurately depicts the thought processes of one scientist: Jim Watson. It is certainly not the way most scientists think.The depiction of scientists in Into the Drowning Deep is what I might expect if someone read The Double Helix and took it as a true depiction of the way scientists think and talk. I am not saying that that's what happened -- I don't know if McGuire has ever read The Double Helix.

I loved this unique, sci-fi take on mermaids! Kept me turning the pages and wanting to know more.A group of scientists and workers for an entertainment company set sail on the Melusine to find out what happened to the Atargatis 7 years ago, now a ghost ship due to a suspected carnivorous mermaid attack. And when they discover what lurks beneath the deep, they might have wish they hadn’t…This is a far cry from the beautiful, curious mermaids who want to live with people of the fairytales we grew up with. These are alien-like, creepy, and they’re hungry for flesh.The cast of characters is huge and I found all of them so interesting. You have Tory Stewart, a marine biologist who wants to avenge her sister Anne, who was on the Atargatis, who comes on board with her friend Luis. Olivia Sanderson is a news reporter for the entertainment company and Ray is her cameraman. Then there’s Dr Jillian Toth, who is a sirenologist and has come onboard to study the mermaids, followed by her estranged husband. Holly and Heather are deaf twin scientists who have come to learn how to communicate with the mermaids with their older sister Hallie. And Jacques and Michi Abney are a married couple of big-game hunters who have come for their greatest kills yet.I loved the representation and diversity, in terms of ability, sexuality, and age and how all the characters are so distinct from each other. Not all of them are likeable, but they’re all well-written.It starts slow, and there are news reports and quotes from the characters interspersed within the chapters, giving it a very realistic mock/documentary-like feel. But once it gets closer to the discovery of the mermaids, it ramps up and doesn’t let you go. I loved every second of it and was dying to know how it was going to end.4 stars because I’m not used to the writing style and the head-hopping, but Mira Grant pulls it off without it all getting muddled in confusion. There were times when I got confused which character had what role up until the middle of the book because there were just so many of them. And it ends quite abruptly.Still, I really enjoyed this book. I will be checking out Mira Grant’s other works!

I absolutely loved this book and couldn't put it down. A sci-fi horror thriller about mermaids! Yes mermaids. Not the red headed singing and friends with seagulls kind, the creepy scary cannibalistic kind.Official synopsis: 'Seven years ago, the Atargatis set off on a voyage to the Mariana Trench to film a “mockumentary” bringing to life ancient sea creatures of legend. It was lost at sea with all hands. Some have called it a hoax; others have called it a maritime tragedy.Now, a new crew has been assembled. But this time they’re not out to entertain. Some seek to validate their life’s work. Some seek the greatest hunt of all. Some seek the truth. But for the ambitious young scientist Victoria Stewart this is a voyage to uncover the fate of the sister she lost.Whatever the truth may be, it will only be found below the waves. But the secrets of the deep come with a price.'The tension builds beautifully after a brutal opening chapter. There is a wide range of diverse characters and everyones got their own baggage and their own reason to be on the voyage. The story really does play on how scary the ocean is and how we don't have a full understanding of what is down there.I loved the few brief moments that the POV switched to the creatures and we get to see their world view. I would have liked more of that. I also really enjoyed the scenes between Hallie and the captured individual and thought that might be explored further.There was gore throughout but not overly so but enough to give you an idea of the horror. There is also a lot of science talk, this did not feel too much to me and swamp the story, instead it grounded the story in reality making it even scarier.The only down side for me is that I felt that it finished too quickly especially after a significant event near the end of the book. I am really hoping we get a sequel! I neeeeed a sequel.Great read

I picked this up as I’m a sapphic who loved horror but honestly I appreciated this so much more than expected.Firstly, there is so much diversity in this book. As a neurodivergent myself I’m living for the MC lesbian autistic rep, there is also deaf rep in two of the fairly centric twin characters.Though this book contains a large focus on 6 or so MC’s the two central and most talked of characters are queer (one bi/pan and the other lesbian) though their romance is touched upon there is little serious romance scenes between them, just lightly touched upon moments which are still entirely cute. However I do wish maybe this was a heavier focus in some parts just to give breath to the heavy scientific content.If you love sci-fi you will love this. It’s horror meets sci-fi but with a heavy scientific dialogue and well managed and planned backstory/ biology behind the ‘mermaids’.I know a lot of people have complained about the ‘science waffle’ but as a lover of science and fantasy I found this added to the story and truly enjoyed learning so much about their methods of communication and biology. If I had to compare I would state it were detailed similarly to Stephen King works, with a parallel in the levels of description, prose and pacing.My only complaints were I felt maybe the ending was slightly rushed, I would have appreciated more detailing there, and that the romance could have been slightly more explored just because I felt as if a page or two was kind of rushed. These are minor complaints though in a book I struggle to fault. It is one I wouldn’t pick up again until a few years had passed mainly because the biggest grip of reading this is the surprises and twists.

First, it's all about mermaids -- which is a trend I'm loving so much at the moment -- but also Mira Grant has put such a clever and unique spin on it. Possibly the most original I've seen?Into the Drowning Deep goes down the science fiction route, looking at mermaids not as a mythical, fantasy creature, but as a newly discovered marine animal... and a vicious predator. I loved this angle. The whole story felt so realistic and plausible, at times I completely forgot I was reading SFF.The ensemble cast is massive and brilliantly diverse -- I've listed the representation as best I remember, but I might easily have missed someone (let me know in the comments). Even though there are loads of characters, they all felt fully rounded out to me. I never got the characters confused or had a character whose POV I wanted to skim. Even the despicable characters had a glimmer or something that made them just relatable enough. Even Jason... whose face I wanted to get eaten off.Finally, I was so impressed by the atmosphere! The whole book was incredibly written. It had a claustrophobic, pressure-cooker thing going on throughout. I was on the edge of my seat and it felt like no-one was safe. I'll definitely not be booking myself on a cruise anytime soon.

I have so many feelings about this book and I just know that my review could never do it justice! It is incredibly written, engaging and suspenseful. The author has a wonderful ability to introduce intelligent commentary (such as pollution, climate change and marine concerns) without this feeling forced or boring - it was surprisingly thought-provoking for a book that is marketed solely as a horror. Not only is it eerie and fascinating, but the cast of characters and diverse representation is wonderful – from ASL speakers, to neurodivergence, the LGBTQ+ community and anxiety/therapy representation. The intertwining relationships are cleverly developed and have you rooting for every character, whether you like them or not.All of this is before I even touch on the plot of the book – it asks whether humans are truly the apex predators and what happens if we aren’t. The rumours and speculation as to the tragedy of the Atargatis is eerie and the suspense ramps up with every failed security test. Is an Entertainment Company truly the best entity to supervise a scientific mission? The stakes are huge, as the mission becomes life or death. The monsters are truly terrifying, the scenes vivid and the story unforgettable.

Mermaids are lovely, aren’t they? I’m thinking the 1989 Walt Disney cartoon or Daryl Hannah in the 1984 comedy ‘Splash’. Well, Mira Grant, the author of staggering number of horror novels, some of which I’ve read and were quite good, has a rather different take. In this entertaining story, mermaids are super-predators with razor sharp teeth, and they hunt in packs. Their prey this time are the people trapped on board a cruise ship sent out into the Pacific Ocean to find evidence of mermaids (as if the video evidence from the previous voyage, which showed mermaids devouring everyone on board weren’t enough). It’s a great idea for a story (possibly even a film), but Grant sorely needs an editor. The book is over-long and repetitive, and with such a large cast, it became quite difficult to remember who was who — for example Holly, Heather and Hallie are sisters (two of whom were deaf, two — or maybe all three — were scientists). All the main characters, or at least the likeable ones, are women. But the mermaids turn out to be … well, I don’t want to give that one away. I can only add that if this ever did become a film, it would probably have the same effect as ‘Jaws’. No one will want to go anywhere near the water ever again.