Pregnant women who were thrown overboard en route to becoming slaves instead birthed the wajinru, mermaids who have their own unique society and way of life. The Deep is both the story of the wajinru, and the story of Yetu, the Historian of the wajinru. Yetu is responsible for keeping the traumatic story of the wajinru to herself most of the year, sharing it with her people only during a special ceremony. Yetu is losing the battle to keep herself sane and whole when dealing with the memories - but can she abandon her people to save herself?
I liked this novella. I liked reading about Yetu, I liked getting the backstory of the wajinru, I liked the two-legs Yetu meets, and and I like the ending. I almost wish it was longer - spoilers after this - I would have liked to have the perspective of the wajinru who stayed in the womb, but the stream-of-consciousness nature of the wajinru sans their historical memory combined with the presumably overwhelmed nature of their thoughts during that period would make it a difficult thing to write coherently. I also would have liked to find out more about the war between water and land than we did.
All in all, this is an effective novella. I recommend it. It's a good read. I really need to get around to listening to the song.
I liked this novella. I liked reading about Yetu, I liked getting the backstory of the wajinru, I liked the two-legs Yetu meets, and and I like the ending. I almost wish it was longer - spoilers after this - I would have liked to have the perspective of the wajinru who stayed in the womb, but the stream-of-consciousness nature of the wajinru sans their historical memory combined with the presumably overwhelmed nature of their thoughts during that period would make it a difficult thing to write coherently. I also would have liked to find out more about the war between water and land than we did.
All in all, this is an effective novella. I recommend it. It's a good read. I really need to get around to listening to the song.