Book Review: Deep Roots by Ruthanna Emrys
Ruthanna Emrys's debut novel, Winter Tide, was a brilliant re-examination and reinterpretation of the Lovecraftian mythos in general, and particularly "The Shadow over Innsmouth," for which the novel was both a sequel and a reframing, as the protagonist and primary point of view was that of one of the Deep Ones, the Innsmouth inhabitants who were reported as arrested in the original tale. Except in Emrys' tale, the Deep Ones didn't attack the town, they were the town, and the government's decision to put them in camps was monstrous, and led to the death of most of them. The first novel introduced the world and the characters, and put them to a trying test. It was an excellent debut. Now comes the sequel, Deep Roots, which was released yesterday. What did I think of it?
In Deep Roots, Aphra Marsh and her friends come to New York City in search of long lost relatives. The deep ones must breed, as their early years - by early, I mean several decades - on land is the time in their lives when they do that. With Aphra and her brother the last known of their kind on land, the existence of further generations of their species is in jeopardy.
Finding their relatives turns to be easy. However, that's when everything becomes more complicated. Several people have apparently disappeared recently, and the reasons for their disappearance are for more complex and potentially dangerous than anyone could anticipate.
The series is called The Innsmouth Legacy, and that name has multiple connotations. Aphra and her brother Caleb are literally trying to save and preserve their people's legacy. But more than that, it is a dialog with the legacy of Lovecraft. These books are written with a deep love for the universe he created, but they also contend directly with the fact that he was, in his life and writing, a nasty, racist, misogynist asshole. HPL's work was all about fear of the other, and while Emrys certainly deals with that, it is definitely not the writer's point of view. Rather, these books are about understanding the other, and coming to terms with it. Even if it's an immortal being of the water, or a cosmic insectlike traveler of the universe.
In this novel, Emrys does exactly what a second novel in a series should do: She expands the world, she adds bigger stakes, and she sets the table for more. It's another terrific novel from a very promising author. I won't get into further details on plot, because spoilers. I will say these books are bold and fun and dark and queer and awesome.
