This was really creative and interesting! The cover copy above gives a nice summary of Rae Mariz’s novella, but there is a striking amount of depth for such a simple plot. Mariz touches on the patriarchy, colonialism, racism, environmentalism, etc. This isn’t just about humans destroying the oceans; the ocean floor intelligence Ceph is a member of are just as powerful, stratified, and destructive as their above water cousins. 

Mariz does a fantastic job conveying the uniqueness and non human-ness of the underwater beings, the way they communicate, the way they interact with their environment, the way they move through space and time. Fantastic cover by Julia Louise Pereira!

Content warning for a sexual assault scene near the end. It isn’t gratuitous or graphic, but the long-term implications of what will happen to the character that experiences it make the act feel even more intense.