Science Fiction Review: Into the Drowning Deep

Into the Drowning Deep

by Mira Grant (pen name for Seanan McGuire)

438pp, Orbital, 2017

(looks like it's free as an audiobook this week!)

This is a tale I’ve been hoping for for a long time – a great, epic marine creature novel. It tops most competitors in science, characterization, plot, and/or writing skill, and that makes it one satisfying read.

Many authors have tried to turn mermaids into believable creatures, and some have done it well, but no one’s done it like this. The science, the “casting,” and the plot here are almost perfect.

First is my primary interest, the science.  There are two aspects here, the marine science/technology and the mermaids (or “sirens”). I’m a science writer, and I do a lot of open-source research in my day job, and the work that went into this just blew me away.  The research ship Melusine  has been custom-built by the Imagine Network to follow up on the mysterious events on their much smaller ship, the Atargatis, over the Mariana Trench.  Bits of video on the internet from the Atargatis appear to show some kind of amphibious creatures vaulting onto the ship, leaving nothing but a blood-stained derelict. 

The Melusine has everything possibly needed for finding, studying, capturing, and/or killing  new creatures, although most of the scientists aboard don’t expect mermaids: they’re piggybacking on that mission to do a multitude of studies on this patch of the Pacific, from the surface to the Challenger Deep. Cryptozoologist Luis Martines is one who does think they’ll find something, as does his research partner, marine biologist Jillian Toth, whose academic reputation has been pretty much wrecked by her belief in such creatures.  The ship and scientists are described so well you think you’re on board, although I’d be interested in a diagram of the very complex vessel.

Once they get to their search area, things start getting weird. A fatal submersible descent, a crewman yanked over the side, and a bizarre range of sonar and hydrophone readings indicate the mermaids are real, although some of their actions seem inexplicable. Naturally, everyone from the network stays focused entirely on delivering good TV.  Then come more documented (sometimes fatal) close encounters.  Things get really fun here as the author details the rivalry between different scientists with different motivations (some scientific and some very personal), disciplines, and methods, who nearly come to blows over who gets what sample and whose theories make more sense. 

Then the fun is over, as the mermaids decide this weird floating reef full of edible creatures merits an all-out attack. (One aside here: The expedition has research dolphins, and I think the author overreaches in giving them intelligence fully equal to humans, from deal-making to long-range planning to philosophy. But this is a novel about mermaids, after all, so go with it.)

Now we get into the mermaids/sirens. They are nothing you’d expect from Walt Disney. The ancestry, anatomy, and capabilities of the predatory creatures are thoroughly explored, and it all makes sense.  They are almost too perfect, too capable both in body and brains, but McGuire makes you believe.  Again, the research involved simply makes my head hurt. Some things done really well in this section. One is linguistics, as the humans try voice and sign language and attempt to decipher the mermaids' communications, with a clever nod to a famous Star Trek: TNG episode. Another is the appearance of two very intriguing humans, a pair of unethical but superb big-game hunters who describe themselves as “throwbacks” and think everyone else on board is useless, except maybe as bait.  As scientists try to find answers and security plans and equipment (believably) go to hell, the tension goes up and up and up. There was only one spot, about 75% through the novel, where the details of who reported to who and who hated who got a little dense, but it didn’t last. I was on board to the end. I stayed up late to finish this, and for a guy with serious sleep problems and a need for a careful routine, that’s saying something.

McGuire, it should be noted, does not stint on the violence here—and a couple of scenes involving toxins are really yucky—but there’s nothing that feels shoveled in to appeal to violence-lovers. The sex/romance is likewise only what’s needed, with a lot of allusions but only one love affair being even PG-rated.

I’m not calling this book THE definitive marine creature thriller, since I thought there were a few minor flaws, and because someone can always come along and top even a very impressive accomplishment.  But the science here is excellent, all the characters are interesting, and the creatures are very cool.  I had some reservations on whether the sirens would develop the intelligence level they have or be able to find enough large prey, but McGuire is aware of these issues and does the best she can to keep the plausibility level high. She also works in intriguing ideas on everything from deafness to evolution, never preaching but letting the characters speak in ways that make sense. 

If you want a novel that’s all slam-bang creature action, or a tight little thriller like Jaws, this isn’t it. This is a complex novel that’s creates its own very believable reality and maintains it, and that is high praise.

Note to cryptozoology friends: if you're considering a purchase, the author is very sympathetic to cryptozoology, both in this novel and elsewhere – she went on Twitter recently to state her belief the thylacine still exists. (She also, when we've met a conferences, loved my Dubnjkleostus collection, so I'm not unbiased. Trust me, though.  This is a crypto-epic done right.