A sober, daytime, conventionally structured narrative about exploring the deep by manned submersible, made personal by Casey’s quest to descend to the depths herself ... A fine tour of the history and challenges of exploring this most fantastical and forbidding of earthen worlds.
Casey’s most sprawling and ambitious book ... Starts with a cliff-hanger ... She draws back to show in absorbing detail how the deep ocean has fascinated and terrified us for centuries ... Casey shows us, the ocean depths are increasingly threatened just as we’re beginning to learn about them ... Powerful.
Casey’s story is irresistibly personal ... Casey’s descriptions of the shimmeringly strange life teeming below the waves capture her wonder and ravishment in prose that morphs into poetry ... Casey touts state-of-the-art, water-loving organizations like OceanX, which means to inspire change by bringing the ocean’s wonders up to dry land with cutting-edge cinematography, vivid storytelling, and science — to grip us with the same awe, excitement, and call to action as Casey’s luminous book does.
Not just a knowledgeable guide, Ms. Casey is also a memorable wordsmith ... On occasion, her reveries are memorable prose-poems ... Ms. Casey’s book has more than enough deep-sea biology and geology to dazzle.
Casey immerses the reader in the science and history of deep-sea exploration ... While Casey’s joy and awe at what has been and what waits to be discovered resonate throughout, also addressed are the significant threats facing the ocean, including the potential impacts of mining companies eager to explore its depths. Casey’s thrilling account of the wonders to be found on the ocean floor will captivate readers.
Zips as enthrallingly along as the state-of-the-art submersibles in which journalist Susan Casey deep-sea dives ... Casey provides a thorough historical run-up of how the deep ocean has intrigued cartographers and explorers for centuries ... Compels readers to pay attention and learn more about this mysterious but vital world.
