The Deep (John Crowley)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Deep is an early (1975) short novel by John Crowley.

A visitor arrives from elsewhere on a strange mediaeval world where the two ruling powers, the "Reds" and the "Blacks", wage a long and protracted war through battle, murder and treachery.

It soon becomes apparent that he (it) is only superfically human. Damaged in a skirmish between Protectors and the Just at the start of the book, he and we spend the rest of the book finding out how and why he was made and sent. Early on, Fauconred quotes their book to him, which says: "the world is founded on a pillar which is founded on the Deep".

Whilst a war of succession (apparently patterned on the Wars of the Roses) plays out, the visitor changes roles into secretary, then recorder; and travels to the edge of the world to meet Leviathan. Meanwhile, the slow stable world which has been "immortal" because repeating for uncounted years begins to spiral into the unknown path of development.

[edit] External links

• http://home.att.net/~Storytellers/jcrowley.html "a strange and difficult book with some truly beautiful writing"
• http://pluto.spaceports.com/~mot/books/books7.htm#deep