Deep Roots

May 21, 2018
Emrys extends her homage to H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth,” begun in Winter Tide, with this absorbing continuation of that tale’s treatment of cultural identities in conflict. Aphra Marsh, a descendent of amphibious folk who were routed by the Feds from their hometown of Innsmouth in 1929, returns to team up with FBI agent Ron Spector and his investigative team in Brooklyn, this time to track down runaway Freddy Laverne, a teenager whose developing “Innsmouth look” betrays his heritage. For Aphra, Freddy represents a hope for rebuilding Innsmouth and sustaining her people’s bloodline. But Freddy has been seduced to the cause of the Outer Ones, otherworldly visitors whose cryptic plans to “save what can be saved of humanity” portend dire consequences for all Earth-inhabiting races. Emrys sets her tale in 1949, in the wake of World War II, and presents Aphra’s poignant quest to save her race in the context of that era’s many displaced persons and cultures. Fans will enjoy her numerous subtle references to Lovecraft’s stories and her dexterous use of his tales’ set pieces for her own imaginative goals. Agent: Cameron McClure, Donald Maass Literary.

June 15, 2018

Aphra Marsh is a descendant of the Chyrlid Ahja, the People of the Water. After surviving the Deep One internment camps, Aphra, her brother Caleb, and her friends now want to rebuild Innsmouth as a safe haven for the People, before developers take over the land. In the hopes of repopulating their community, they travel to New York City in search of other Chyrlid Ahja who fled Innsmouth, as well as mistbloods: people who are half-Chyrlid Ahja. Their search leads to the stunning realization that some have disappeared, and Aphra focuses on finding a missing child who might be one of the mistbloods. As she nears the end of her hunt, old and new enemies appear, along with a disturbing force that may prove more than Aphra can handle. The author's well-crafted prose continues to take H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos in a new direction, echoing the themes of immigrants and governmental reaction. VERDICT Emry's follow-up to Winter Tide is even more action-packed as it takes readers once again into an alternate post-World War II America.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
Aphra Marsh of Winter Tide (2017) is back, continuing her search for others of her scattered people who will return to and live in their home town of Innsmouth before it is taken over by developers. Marsh's goal is not accomplished easily, and she is confronted by a cousin, Freddy, who is friends with an old enemy, the Outer Ones. Freddy, because of his friendship with the Outer Ones, does not want to listen to Marsh's warnings nor abandon his friends, even though he has begun to physically change as people of the sea do. Marsh must navigate the needs of her people and the Outer Ones' hold over Freddy and the Earth as well as the fact that her people are disappearing. Once more, Emrys is true to the the world of Lovecraft, and fans will appreciate her attentiveness to the Cthulhu mythos even as she takes the world and flips it on its head to fit her needs. Deep Roots is a marvel of a fantasy novel, with monsters fighting for their very existence and a place to call their own.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)