Customer Reviews

Three Novels: The Deep, Engine Summer, and Beasts

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Deep" was very intriguing, and "Beasts" a little to be desired, but "Engine Summer" packs it all with one punch! "Engine Summer" is absolutely the BEST SciFi story I have ever had the pleasure of reading, I cannot recommend it highly enough. The ending will definitely leave you awestruck and I promise when you are finished reading this book, you will wish you could erase the memory of reading it so you could enjoy the story for the first time all over again!

How many books in the Amazon database have been called the best novel ever written (or the best novel in its genre) by *half* of all the reviewers? ENGINE SUMMER was actually the first novel John Crowley ever completed; the ms. then sat in a draw for years while he honed his craft with THE DEEP and BEASTS. The original draft was then rewritten. You thus have a unique combination of an author's most central concerns, his fundamental, primal Tale (always in the first novel), with the skills and knowledge of a mature artist.

Civilization has fallen apart and humanity has returned to a primitive way of life. It's one of the oldest ideas in science fiction, but ENGINE SUMMER is unlike any other post-holocaust novel ever written. Rather than a harsh existence and a struggle to return to former glories, Crowley has imagined a veritable utopian existence -- in a world which knows there can be no going back. This is the long "Engine Summer" ("Indian Summer" misremembered) of the world, and winter is coming. It's a setting of unbelievable poignance.

Rush That Speaks, an adolescent boy, finds himself in a strange place. An unfamiliar woman asks him to tell his story. Since Rush's ambition has always been to become a "saint" -- someone who tells the story of their life in a special way -- he is happy to comply. Where is Rush? Who is the woman? As Rush tells his remarkable tale, the special (and unbearably poignant) circumstance of that telling gradually becomes clear to the reader. ENGINE SUMMER is ultimately a story *about* Story, about the human ability to be moved by tales like this and about our desire to know what happens next. I would say more, but I don't want to even hint at what is going on here.

THE DEEP retells the story of the English Civil War in a unique setting which seems to be genre fantasy but turns out to be something very different. At the time it was published, I thought it was flawed but showed extraordinary promise. That promise was fulfilled in BEASTS, a novel I thought was the best sf novel of its year and one (I'm very proud to say!) I cited, in print, as evidence of Crowley's greatness before ENGINE SUMMER and LITTLE, BIG were ever published. You'll notice I made no attempt to summarize its plot. It's like that.

John Crowley leads up to his first masterpiece Engine Summer, with two earlier, less well known works of fantasy. The Deep is a strong first effort by a burgeoning fantasy author,while Beasts is Crowley's only true Sci-Fi novel, and a very overlooked post-apocalypse novel. Engine Summer is the true highlight of this collection, a stark and understated work of great beauty.

"The World is founded on a pillar, which is founded on the Deep".

The Deep is my favourite book. Is has a strange, ethereal quality and a satisfying completeness that matches the encapsulation of the world described. I've read it at least 5 times, probably 10, limited only by having to leave a gap of a year or two between re-readings to forget the details. Fortunately I have a poor memory.

Engine Summer is also excellent, though pipped by The Deep.

Beasts I've read only once, many years ago, but remember it fondly.

If you've been put off Crowley by the unfortunate Little, Big then please try this instead.

Crowley has got to be one of my favourite authors ever. These books are both beautiful and moving. They are always going out of print and people who own them guard them jealously, so they are even hard to get second hand. Does anyone know why he doesn't write more?

Engine Summer is beyond great:this book has it ALL, great writing, wonderful plot and absolutely poignant and mind blowing ideas. This is one that should never go out of print and should be required reading for as many people as possible.

John Crowley is wonderfully humane in his
writing and these three works are all great
stories. Beasts and the Deep both are notables
but Engine Summer is the best I've ever
experienced. The imagery of the language is
breathtaking. There aren't many books that
make me cry.

This collection of John Crowley's first three novels is in print today as Otherwise, under a different publisher but with the same contents, page layout etc.

All three novels are strong, but the gem here is Engine Summer, a rare and pricey find as a single volume. Technically it's science fiction, and of the post-apocalyptic variety, but its actual concerns are memory and storytelling, altered states, why people are different, time and loss, romantic quest, and the meaning of life. The most beautiful, moving, profound story you've never heard of.

When i first read 'in the deep', i was young, but reall caught by this intense world he creates in the book. This is how a better world could look like, and for hours i was there. Even today, when i read John Crowleys books after 16 years again, they are full worth this 5 stars.

Unfortunately, while I have Engine Summer (and Little, Big) I haven't read either yet and I've never even seen The Beasts (though I'd snap it up if I found it, probably), this is the only place on Amazon where I can write about The Deep, Crowley's famous first novel. This is one weird book, let me put it that way and not weird like mindblowingly weird but just . . . weird. I don't know, I can't explain it but the book feels like it takes place in a fever dream, there's this unreal quality about everything. The plot then. Someone has apparently constructed a giant disk in space and attached a long cord to it (so they say) and there are people on the top of the disc and they endlessly fight in this war of succession. To this mess comes a Visitor who doesn't remember why he came here or even who made him and for most of the story he serves as an observer to the events going on. The only problem I had with this was some of the characters are hard to keep straight because they aren't given proper names, you've got "Red Senlen" and "Red Senlen's Son" and Redhand and Old Redhand and Younger Redhand and Learned Redhand and King Little Black and Black Harrah and Young Harrah . . . you can see the problem. That's a fairly minor quibble though, this is a book that deserves to be tracked down and read. Crowley's writing is amazing, especially since this was his first novel, it's entirely poetic without getting long winded, with a few words he paints brilliant pictures. The premise is utterly unique in its presentation (for the record, I believe that the folks on the disc are reenacting the War of the Roses) and the plot winds along nicely, there aren't many "explosions" but you just snake along, caught up in the dream. The ending is also totally unexpected and completely fits in with the tone of the novel. This is one of the few totally satisifying books I had read, I had expected a lot out of this guy because of the reputation I had heard and he blew away everything I expected. And he only got better. My advice then, get everything you can by this guy, it might take some effort but I have a feeling it'll be worth it. Again, the fact that this brilliant author is out of print and many many many lesser lights are kept in print is beyond me. Get the word out and keep his name alive!