''Deeplight'' is a

young adult A young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages of human development significantly influencing the definition of ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novel by

Frances Hardinge Frances Hardinge (born 1973) is a British children's writer. Her debut novel, '' Fly By Night'', won the 2006 Branford Boase Award and was listed as one of the ''School Library Journal'' Best Books. Her 2015 novel '' The Lie Tree'' won the 201 ...

, published October 31, 2019 by

Macmillan Children's Books MacMillan, Macmillan, McMillen or McMillan may refer to: People * McMillan (surname) * Clan MacMillan, a Highland Scottish clan * Harold Macmillan, British statesman and politician * James MacMillan, Scottish composer * William Duncan MacMi ...

. It is her 9th novel.

Plot

In the fictional island chain of the Myriad, the inhabitants worshiped and revered enormous sea creatures referred to as 'gods' that fed on human fear from a source below the sea known as the Undersea. 30 years before the events of the book, the gods all turned on each other and tore each other apart in a disaster known as the Cataclysm, and the remnants of their bodies are now used as high durability material called 'godware' for various purposes. Our protagonist, Hark, lives on the island Lady's Crave with his best friend Jelt. In an accident involving a stolen

bathysphere The Bathysphere (Greek: , , "deep" and , , "sphere") was a unique spherical deep-sea submersible which was unpowered and lowered into the ocean on a cable, and was used to conduct a series of dives off the coast of Bermuda from 1930 to 1934. The ...

, Jelt seemingly drowns but comes back to life when a submerged ball of godware reanimates his body and heals his wounds. They decide to use the ball to heal people as a way to pay their debts for stealing the bathysphere. However, Hark soon discovers that prolonged exposure to the ball affects your body in strange ways, and is worried about its effect on Jelt, who never leaves its presence. Discovering that the ball is actually the heart of one of the gods, Hark tries to warn Jelt but is too late, as he is already too far gone, having been molded by the heart into something barely resembling a human. In a clash between the two, Hark steals the heart but is captured by the Leaguers, a group who wish to bring back the age of the gods. They transport the heart to the undersea to awaken their own god-construct, made of godware, but Jelt appears and merges with the heart and the god-construct, empowered by the fear in the undersea. In a final altercation, Hark reconcile that Jelt drowned in the bathysphere accident, being only kept alive since by the power of the god's heart. Hark crushes the heart, killing what was left of Jelt.

Reception

''Deeplight'' has received positive reviews from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

,'' ''Readings'', Common Sense Media, and ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

'', including starred reviews from ''

Kirkus ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''. The book also received the following accolades: *

British Science Fiction Association Award The BSFA Awards are literary awards presented annually since 1970 by the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) to honour works in the genre of science fiction. Nominees and winners are chosen based on a vote of BSFA members. More recently, m ...

for Best Artwork Nominee (2019) * Lodestar Award Nominee (2020) *

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten (2021)

References

{{reflist Young adult fantasy novels British horror novels English-language novels 2019 British novels Macmillan Publishers books 2019 science fiction novels 2019 children's books Children's books set on islands Novels set on islands