Disclosure: I received a copy of this book free of charge for review purposes only. Receipt of a book does not guarantee a review or endorsement.

a letter to the luminous deepThe sighting of an unidentified fish outside the window of her underwater home prompts E. Cidnosin to write to Scholar of Classification Henerey Clel, sparking an ongoing correspondence between the two until a seaquake destroys E’s home and they are both lost to the sea. A year later, E’s sister Sophy discovers their letters and reaches out to Henerey’s brother. Together they piece together the final days of their siblings through the words they left behind.

Instead of reading further, I hope you will return this letter to its envelope or, better yet, crumple it into an abstract shape that might look at home on a coral reef.

The world of A Letter to the Luminous Deep is one of mostly sea, with only very few areas of land. Most people live on or under the water, and there is a strong tradition of academia. Sophy spends much of her time researching the depths in a submersible, while her sister was a recluse in their family home beneath the sea.

E’s sanctuary is disturbed by the appearance of a mysterious structure, one which her artist brother decides to theme his work around, inviting outsiders to her home and worsening her anxiety.

I was so looking forward this, but the writing style was a big barrier to me fully enjoying it. It’s charming in small amounts but it’s quite formal, I guess trying to replicate Victorian letter writing and the fact they are all academics. But this meant all the characters had the same narrative voice and were hard to tell apart. And it wasn’t just two characters writing to each other, they were sending the letters of their missing siblings back and forth, leading to me constantly being confused over who was writing about whom.

Which was a shame because the premise was great, sifting through letters of lost loved ones whilst telling a story of an underwater world. Worldbuilding in epistolary format is difficult, it doesn’t make sense for someone to be explaining the basics of their existence in a letter, but I think Sylvie Cathrall did a good job, balancing scholarly interest and leaving things mysterious for the benefit of the story.

I also thought it was a standalone and it’s not. The ending was satisfactory enough (I’ve seen it called a cliffhanger but I felt like the implication was clear) but there are things about the world I still have questions about and I didn’t like it enough to read a whole other book. Maybe if they stopped the letter writing? I can’t see how they can keep it up for another book!

A Letter to the Luminous Deep is published by Orbit and will be available in hardback, ebook and audiobook formats from 25th April 2024. Thanks go to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

For a different perspective read Nils’ review at The Fantasy Hive.

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