A window into the deep oceans

Our deep seas are the most difficult environments to study of our planet and they are full of wonders. From species with amazing adaptations to total darkness, incredible pressures and cold to geological marvels such as black smokers and manganese nodules that only grow a few millimetres in a million years.

Stacey looks at the abyss from a range of perspectives including scientific, aesthetic, philosophical, ethical, literary and artistic. Together these create a book that is a clarion call to protect these environments and not let them be pillaged by our insatiable need for resources to fuel our modern lives.

This book seemed very interesting, but it was prohibitively dense. I love theory and I love the subject matter. I have read dense and academic non-fiction books before. The structure of this title was just so unforgiving, with no sense of story or no break in the complexity to give the reader time to breathe. I would definitely have preferred this in physical form where it is easier to skim and skip--although that's not really a glowing recommendation either.

That said, I think the author is wonderfully smart and was exploring a super fascinating concept. I really will keep trying to get through this in pieces because I want to know what she knows.

This was such an informative and fascinating read about the deep sea! It definitely reads more as a report which isn’t for everyone at all, and I had to be in the right reading mood for it but I enjoyed it due to my interest in the subject.
I would recommend if you’re interested in this subject matter as I appreciate it’s not everyone’s cup of tea!

DNF. This is a super academic book about deep sea creatures in popular culture, and I don't have the attention span to read it unfortunately. I was tricked by the wonderful cover into expecting a less dense book.

Fine, but not for me. If I had to summarize: a book about media about the deep sea. It's very dense, and often felt like I was reading a book report.

**I received my copy from Netgalley.

This ended up being a book I was in a very specific headspace for, but if you are not interested in looking at the HOW of how information about the deep sea is discussed and disseminated in both popular and scientific culture, this will not be a book for you. This kind of stuff fascinates me deeply, especially because it focuses on the depictions of the deep sea. (Dialectics of art!!) It is a dense read, but a great one, and definitely worth your time when it comes out in May.