I am always on the lookout for natural history books, but as an avid gardener and professional horticulturist, my interest is usually drawn by books about plants and terrestrial environments. The intriguing cover and blurb of this book caught my eye, so I thought I’d give it a try and am I ever glad I picked up this ARC! The Brilliant Abyss is densely packed with information, an enjoyable recreational read for someone like myself with an interest in science and the environment, but veering close to a textbook at times. I would have appreciated if the narrative storyline from Helen Scales’ experiences at sea featured a little more prominently, but I still found the book fascinating and worth reading to the end. Being so packed with information outside of my area of expertise, it did take me a while to read and I usually read small chunks at a time, over my lunch break or after dinner. I don’t know if the print copy will have a picture insert, I often found myself googling pictures of the interesting creatures and seascapes featured in the book! The earlier chapters give all the informative background one needs to delve into the second half of the book where impacts and implications of human interaction with the ocean are explored: deep sea fishing, mining and climate change to name a few. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science and natural history, and encourage even terrestrial folks like myself to give it a try.

One subject I haven’t read enough about is the ocean. So it’s something of interest to me. When I came across The Brilliant Abyss, I instantly knew I wanted to give it a go. Helen Scales wrote a truly fascinating book, which offered an in-depth look at some of the murkier depths of the ocean as well as a number of the amazing animals that live there.

The first portion of the book was spent expertly showing how diverse, delicate, and vital deep-sea environments actually are. The animals have a much bigger role to play in the depths of the ocean than what even I originally gave them credit for. The kind of resilience needed to survive at depths with crushing pressure, frigid temperatures and searing hot (and often toxic) hydrothermal vents is almost unimaginable—yet it exists. And The Brilliant Abyss excels at making this point.

So in the later to last potions of the book, the implications of the damaging and irreparable effects of deep sea mining and fishing was laid out on the table. Loss of habitat was one key factor—i.e. the destruction of old growth coral and the steep declines in animal populations that can’t keep up with demand. The argument Scales’s makes is backed up by a few examples. Such as when she talked thoroughly about the history of a deep sea fish called Orange Roughy.

The Brilliant Abyss was an excellent read. It leaned hard into the science behind what makes the ocean the ocean, and all the many ways the animals that live there have adapted to the characteristics of their environment. Many different studies were cited, which included a few detailed sections about Scales’s own experiences. In conclusion, the abyss is as brilliant as it is fascinating.

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Atlantic Monthly Press) via Netgalley for this review, thank you!

What a stellar book, utterly breathtaking! Talk about a fascinating topic...I feel smarter after reading this and can't stop talking about it. The fact that the moon is more studied and known than this portion of the ocean is mind blowing but it makes sense. So many things stand out in my mind but one in particular is the marble analogy wherein the author asks readers to picture a marble dropping from a boat through the layers, assuming it doesn't get hung up en route, and describing what each layer contains and how long the marble takes to fall through each. Brilliant. Easy to visualize. Unforgettable.

The author poses many questions and important points which made me really stop and think such as the ocean providing antibiotics, feeding us, mining and what the future looks like. I didn't realize that the sun doesn't penetrate beyond 3,300 feet which means much of the earth doesn't ever see it! Though I knew about underwater mountains I didn't realize there are abyssal plains as well. So many new creature discoveries as well. Makes me wonder how many remain undiscovered!?

The descriptions of the creatures including snagged starfish, scale worms, purple "sock animals", Pompeii worm, Yeti crabs, Mariana snailfish, slimehead, and those which hunt with searchlights and have illuminated skin, I learned about chimneys, hydrothermal vents, silver pools and drowning livestock from ships. The sheer quantity of information here is stunning!

The description at the end of the author sitting at her little stone house resonates with me as I yearn for my sweet little stone house near the Adriatic.

If this book had photographs it would be a very, very easy 5 star for me, no question.

My sincere thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for allowing me the pleasure of reading this riveting and life changing book...I learned a LOT! When swimming in the Adriatic I will be sure to scrutinize each creature more than ever before.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic/Grove Atlantic Press, Helen Scales, and Netgalley for providing this book to me for review.

"The deep sea will never run out of things for us to dream about. Places will remain unseen and unvisited, fleeting moments will be missed, and nimble creatures, whose existence nobody can guess, will keep slipping out of sight. We need to do all we can to keep it that way."

I had next to no knowledge of the sea, the creatures that live in it, or how one could profit from its resources before I began reading this book (in part because deep water terrifies me and the creatures that live in it do the same). Scales does a remarkable job at providing an overview of the topography of the oceans, all of the creatures that live in them, the scientific uses and significance of pretty much anything found in the ocean, and how for-profit deep-sea exploration could very well ruin a very vital ecosystem.

For the most part, the book is a quick read with each point moving quickly but you can tell where Scales may have become hung up on describing and redescribing some of the more science-y details about sponges and the mechanics of equipment used for exploration and exploitation. This may just be due to this title being aimed at a reader who is more knowledgeable or concerned with those details.

Scales does do an exceptional job at describing the appearance of topographies and organisms, especially since the Netgalley copy doesn't include any photos or other illustrations. I would recommend telling any future readers to get ready to spend a lot of time looking up the organisms and locations mentioned just to get an even better appreciation for the topic.

Ultimately, this book was a four-star read since it kept my interest all the way through but dragged in some places and could definitely have benefitted from illustrations or in-text links.

My thanks to Grove Atlantic/Grove Atlantic Press, Helen Scales and Netgalley.
In my honest opinion Grove Atlantic did a grave disservice to this author. This is not a book to be placed on Netgalley. This, in my eyes must be one hell of a book! Photographs and words. Anything less is tucked up! Truly!
The words and meaning are there, but without the photo's? That's all on the publisher.
I give this 4 stars because of how it is meant to be.

The publishers? Those bastards should be ashamed of relinquishing a book so early. This would have been a great one!