Just Finished Reading: Leviathan’s Deep by Jayge Carr



In their ever expanding need to seek out new markets the Terrene have begun to exploit the world of Delyafam. On the face of things it will be a push-over. The Delyene are a primitive Bronze Age civilisation based around a warrior culture and steeped in the ideas of honour and duty. But they pose no direct threat to the humans. They are outgunned and out-‘scienced’ at every turn. It seems that assimilation is inevitable and that any form of resistance to a much stronger invading culture is dangerously pointless. The Lady Kimassu thinks otherwise. A virtual outcast in her own society because of the paleness of her skin, she is captured and held hostage by the captain of the human star ship because of her perceived beauty. When he fails to indoctrinate her to human ways and human values she becomes the Terrene’s most implacable enemy. So begins a fight for the world of Delyafam and for the soul of the Delyene.


I couldn’t help wondering if James Cameron had read this novel since its publication in 1979. Throughout the novel I couldn’t help thinking of scenes from Avatar or, maybe, the author was simply channelling the story of Pocahontas which they could share as a common originating idea? In either case it was a little off-putting to say the least. But even saying that, this was an interesting, well told and dramatic tale of the clash of cultures and technologies we have seen throughout world history and something that will, no doubt, be seen on other worlds if we even get there and meet other ‘people’ already occupying them. If we’re lucky (in one sense at least) it will be us doing the assimilating. If not we will be on the receiving end of a very dirty stick.


It is books like this, I believe, that laid the seed that grew into my fascination with other cultures. The description of the alien Delyene is fascinating: A Matriarchal Bronze Age warrior culture whose evolutionary ancestors were fish (not that long ago) who had lived much the way they had been found for thousands of years. The society itself intrigued me a great deal and would be an Anthropologists dream to study. It is this that made the book so readable for me. The clash between human and alien cultures – whilst interesting enough – was very much of secondary appeal. All in all, especially considering that this was it was Ms Carr’s first novel, this was an enjoyable read and is recommended to anyone with an interest in ‘alien’ cultures.