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The Descent #2
Deeper
Hell exists. It is a real, geological, historical place beneath our very feet. And it is inhabited savagely.In an intense and imaginative tour de force, "New York Times" bestselling author Jeff Long takes readers into the depths of the earth where a primordial intelligence waits in the darkness.
A decade has passed since doomed explorers unveiled a nightmare of tunnels and rivers honeycombing the earth's depths. After millennia of suffering terror and predation, humanity's armies descended to destroy the ancient hordes. Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, a doomed science expedition killed the subterraneans' fabled leader, and suddenly it seemed that evil was dead and all was right with the world again.
Now "Deeper" arrives to explode that complacency and plunge us back into the sunless abyss. Hell boils up through America's subways and basements to take its revenge and steal our children. Against the backdrop of a looming war with China, a crusade of volunteers races to find the vestiges of a lost race. But a lone explorer, the linguist Ali von Schade, learns that a far greater menace lies in the unexplored heart of the planet. The real Satan can't be killed, and he has been waiting since the beginning of time to gain his freedom. Man and his pitiless enemies are mere pawns in the greatest escape ever devised.
Mesmerizing and concussive, this darkly brilliant work of imagination galvanizes Jeff Long's reputation as a prodigious talent. At once a love story, the ultimate thriller, and an extreme adventure, "Deeper" will leave you breathless.
A decade has passed since doomed explorers unveiled a nightmare of tunnels and rivers honeycombing the earth's depths. After millennia of suffering terror and predation, humanity's armies descended to destroy the ancient hordes. Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, a doomed science expedition killed the subterraneans' fabled leader, and suddenly it seemed that evil was dead and all was right with the world again.
Now "Deeper" arrives to explode that complacency and plunge us back into the sunless abyss. Hell boils up through America's subways and basements to take its revenge and steal our children. Against the backdrop of a looming war with China, a crusade of volunteers races to find the vestiges of a lost race. But a lone explorer, the linguist Ali von Schade, learns that a far greater menace lies in the unexplored heart of the planet. The real Satan can't be killed, and he has been waiting since the beginning of time to gain his freedom. Man and his pitiless enemies are mere pawns in the greatest escape ever devised.
Mesmerizing and concussive, this darkly brilliant work of imagination galvanizes Jeff Long's reputation as a prodigious talent. At once a love story, the ultimate thriller, and an extreme adventure, "Deeper" will leave you breathless.
461 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
127 people are currently reading
1710 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Long
22 books404 followersLong is a veteran climber and traveler in the Himalayas rock climbing often manifests in his writing. He has also worked as a stonemason, journalist, historian, screenwriter, and elections supervisor for Bosnia's first democratic election.
Many of his stories include plot elements that rely heavily on religious history or popular perceptions of religious events.
Many of his stories include plot elements that rely heavily on religious history or popular perceptions of religious events.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
September 29, 2022
What a disaster of a sequel. I really enjoyed the first book and was looking forward to the sequel for years, but this was just awful. I don't know if this was a cash grab or the author had a contract to fulfill, but it took everything that was great about the Descent and took a big, steaming crap on it.
***Spoilers below*******
The best thing about the Descent was how the newly discovered underworld provided the basis for all of our hell, devil and demon myths. The majority of the book tried to make logical leaps for how people would build religions and myths around the unknown in the deep. There was a little bit (maybe?) of magic-ish stuff happening, but for the most part, it was grounded in the real world. Deeper just tosses all of that out the window. Now we have an actual fallen "angel" immortal Devil/God, ghosts and souls.
The Descent ended with a "cliff-hanger" where Thomas is about to take over Branch's body. In Deeper, Branch is never mentioned and we find out Thomas was just a regular human that was a decoy/spy for the real devil. No mention is made of the Beowulf Circle or their murders. January is mentioned as being dead, but no information is given on how she died. It could have been natural causes or it could have been Thomas. I thought it was telling that January's end was suspiciously missing from the Descent, but guess it didn't really matter either.
Then there's the plague that wiped out the hadals. Ali knows that it was someone from her expedition that planted the plague, but apparently has never made the connection that Shoat's GPS trackers were actually plague containers and that she set them off. What happened should have been painfully obvious to her and Ike once they reached the surface and found about about the Prion-9 release.
Basically, this whole book was a waste. Characters are introduced for no apparent reason. Ike and Ali don't act anything like Ike and Ali from the Descent. The hadals are almost completely absent from the book, which is a shame, because you're hoping something will kill most of the characters. The whole child crusade is just a waste of pages. They make the wrong decision over and over and over again. If they flipped a coin before making every decision, they'd have ended up with a better outcome. They could have all stayed home and the end result would have been virtually the same.
The side story about US/China aggression was completely unnecessary. They could have mentioned it as a hand wave for why the army couldn't go look for the kids (even though they did). Their didn't need to be constant updates about what was going on on the surface.
The SEAL team was laughable. I get that they've never seen hadals in real life, but didn't anyone show them a picture of them? How do you accidentally kill a whole group of Chinese settlers on accident. Especially the kids. You're there to save some kidnapped children, so you decide to shoot all of the children too?
Honestly, this book just made me mad. I lost track of the number of times I read something, said "Are you fucking serious?" out loud and then shut the book for a few hours. I wish I had never read it because it makes the Descent worse just because of it's existence.
***Spoilers below*******
The best thing about the Descent was how the newly discovered underworld provided the basis for all of our hell, devil and demon myths. The majority of the book tried to make logical leaps for how people would build religions and myths around the unknown in the deep. There was a little bit (maybe?) of magic-ish stuff happening, but for the most part, it was grounded in the real world. Deeper just tosses all of that out the window. Now we have an actual fallen "angel" immortal Devil/God, ghosts and souls.
The Descent ended with a "cliff-hanger" where Thomas is about to take over Branch's body. In Deeper, Branch is never mentioned and we find out Thomas was just a regular human that was a decoy/spy for the real devil. No mention is made of the Beowulf Circle or their murders. January is mentioned as being dead, but no information is given on how she died. It could have been natural causes or it could have been Thomas. I thought it was telling that January's end was suspiciously missing from the Descent, but guess it didn't really matter either.
Then there's the plague that wiped out the hadals. Ali knows that it was someone from her expedition that planted the plague, but apparently has never made the connection that Shoat's GPS trackers were actually plague containers and that she set them off. What happened should have been painfully obvious to her and Ike once they reached the surface and found about about the Prion-9 release.
Basically, this whole book was a waste. Characters are introduced for no apparent reason. Ike and Ali don't act anything like Ike and Ali from the Descent. The hadals are almost completely absent from the book, which is a shame, because you're hoping something will kill most of the characters. The whole child crusade is just a waste of pages. They make the wrong decision over and over and over again. If they flipped a coin before making every decision, they'd have ended up with a better outcome. They could have all stayed home and the end result would have been virtually the same.
The side story about US/China aggression was completely unnecessary. They could have mentioned it as a hand wave for why the army couldn't go look for the kids (even though they did). Their didn't need to be constant updates about what was going on on the surface.
The SEAL team was laughable. I get that they've never seen hadals in real life, but didn't anyone show them a picture of them? How do you accidentally kill a whole group of Chinese settlers on accident. Especially the kids. You're there to save some kidnapped children, so you decide to shoot all of the children too?
Honestly, this book just made me mad. I lost track of the number of times I read something, said "Are you fucking serious?" out loud and then shut the book for a few hours. I wish I had never read it because it makes the Descent worse just because of it's existence.
June 1, 2012
The Descent was a modern Jules Verne for adults. Its sequel, however, is a supernatural fantasy through and through. The antagonist is an immortal fallen angel yearning to escape his underworld prison. Prominent roles are played by souls that linger and speak to the living. Make no mistake: Deeper is a different animal than its predecessor.
If you're still interested, then know that Ali and Ike (apart, not together) reprise their roles as heroes of the story. You'll travel through the dark interior. You'll discover the remains of another amazing, pre-historic city. You'll encounter the remaining hadals and some human monsters too.
Deeper follows two main storylines. One is the mission to rescue a group of children who were stolen from above. The other is a battle of wills between the devil -- seriously, no joke -- and the human companion(s) it manipulates. There's a sub-plot of escalating military tensions between China and the U.S., but it adds little to the story.
Deeper will re-immerse you in the environment of The Descent and reunite you with two beloved characters. On the other hand, the metaphysical fabric of the world is quite a departure, and the story isn't equal to that of the first book. Depending on your tastes, you'll love this book, like it moderately, or better spend your time with a different tome.
P.S. - I gave four stars to The Descent. Anyone looking for a thrilling adventure (with a side helping of horror) will enjoy it.
If you're still interested, then know that Ali and Ike (apart, not together) reprise their roles as heroes of the story. You'll travel through the dark interior. You'll discover the remains of another amazing, pre-historic city. You'll encounter the remaining hadals and some human monsters too.
Deeper follows two main storylines. One is the mission to rescue a group of children who were stolen from above. The other is a battle of wills between the devil -- seriously, no joke -- and the human companion(s) it manipulates. There's a sub-plot of escalating military tensions between China and the U.S., but it adds little to the story.
Deeper will re-immerse you in the environment of The Descent and reunite you with two beloved characters. On the other hand, the metaphysical fabric of the world is quite a departure, and the story isn't equal to that of the first book. Depending on your tastes, you'll love this book, like it moderately, or better spend your time with a different tome.
P.S. - I gave four stars to The Descent. Anyone looking for a thrilling adventure (with a side helping of horror) will enjoy it.
November 24, 2023
With Halloween approaching, I felt in the mood for a good scary novel. And this book by Jeff Long fit the bill. Some years ago, I read Long's "The Descent," about the discovery of an extensive tunnel system under the world inhabited by humanoid creatures who have been preying on humanity for millennia. These "hadals" are considered to be the basis of our stories of demons or devils. In the end (sorry, this is a spoiler for "The Descent"), a bioweapon was released to exterminate the hadals. In"Deeper," the story picks up ten years later (by the way, this book was published in 2007). People have been exploring the tunnels, and also mining and colonizing in them, all confident in the belief that the hadals are gone. But are they? When a raid by the creatures onto the surface leads to the killing of adults and the kidnapping of children. humanity realizes that at least some of their age-old enemies have survived. The military sends in a team...and the war is on again. This time, the human race faces an even greater evil than before... This sequel is not quite as good as the first book--no surprise!--but it certainly had its scary moments. The big surprise for me is that no film that I know of has been made based on these books by Jeff Long!
February 20, 2014
3 Stars
I loved the Descent book one in this series by Jeff Long and have put off reading this book for quite a long time. It is a fun and easy page turner that does not live up to the first book. This book does not have the tension, the scary moments, and it lacks the magic of discovery that The Descent had in spades. It does a nice job at moving the story 10 years further on and creates some very plausible outcomes of Humans versus Hadal's.
The story telling and the interview chapters with the Angel make this book better. Several characters make a welcoming return to this book.
Highlights include further depth to the story about historical Satan. Some good underground action scenes. A great plot line. A story of apt length.
I enjoyed this book, I did not love it. It is worth a read to fans of the spelunking genre.
I loved the Descent book one in this series by Jeff Long and have put off reading this book for quite a long time. It is a fun and easy page turner that does not live up to the first book. This book does not have the tension, the scary moments, and it lacks the magic of discovery that The Descent had in spades. It does a nice job at moving the story 10 years further on and creates some very plausible outcomes of Humans versus Hadal's.
The story telling and the interview chapters with the Angel make this book better. Several characters make a welcoming return to this book.
Highlights include further depth to the story about historical Satan. Some good underground action scenes. A great plot line. A story of apt length.
I enjoyed this book, I did not love it. It is worth a read to fans of the spelunking genre.
February 3, 2025
'Deeper' holds a difficult position: as the sequel to one of the decade's most shocking and imaginative horror novels, it creates very high expectations in its readers. It is hard for such a book to fulfil them, and disgruntled, disappointed fans are almost given.
In my opinion, 'Deeper' is a logical continuation of the original material. While it is true that Long abandons the scientific concepts introduced in 'The Descent' in favour of the religious and even supernatural, I have to admit that - again, in my opinion - this development seems neither forced nor farfetched. There was always something religious to the deep, even besides the associations with biblical hell; for much of book one, Ike seemed like a lost son, caught between two worlds, unsure of where he belonged. Much of his solitary time was spent turned inward, in reflection. The deep had a grip on him that was far beyond the Stockholm Syndrome. For him to return to the dark, to seek out what was haunting him and, if necessary, to rid himself and his loved ones of it, seems inevitable.
With everything that is different in 'Deeper', it also manages what many other sequels can't: it stays true to the characters its predecessor brought to life and once again creates the same dread, horror and oftentimes disgust we have already come to love. Yes, we have seen/read about mutilations before, nevertheless Long never ceases to finds new, disturbing angles to human suffering.
Whether you love(d) 'The Descent' or not, I'd advise to approach this piece of work as a book of its own right. Give it some room to breathe and unfold its own tale, and you will likely meet with a novel that holds up on its own, and is more than just a run-of-the-mill sequel.
Give it a chance: step into the dark once more, let it enfold you and join us in prayer for the advent of the long awaited conclusion to this trilogy.
In my opinion, 'Deeper' is a logical continuation of the original material. While it is true that Long abandons the scientific concepts introduced in 'The Descent' in favour of the religious and even supernatural, I have to admit that - again, in my opinion - this development seems neither forced nor farfetched. There was always something religious to the deep, even besides the associations with biblical hell; for much of book one, Ike seemed like a lost son, caught between two worlds, unsure of where he belonged. Much of his solitary time was spent turned inward, in reflection. The deep had a grip on him that was far beyond the Stockholm Syndrome. For him to return to the dark, to seek out what was haunting him and, if necessary, to rid himself and his loved ones of it, seems inevitable.
With everything that is different in 'Deeper', it also manages what many other sequels can't: it stays true to the characters its predecessor brought to life and once again creates the same dread, horror and oftentimes disgust we have already come to love. Yes, we have seen/read about mutilations before, nevertheless Long never ceases to finds new, disturbing angles to human suffering.
Whether you love(d) 'The Descent' or not, I'd advise to approach this piece of work as a book of its own right. Give it some room to breathe and unfold its own tale, and you will likely meet with a novel that holds up on its own, and is more than just a run-of-the-mill sequel.
Give it a chance: step into the dark once more, let it enfold you and join us in prayer for the advent of the long awaited conclusion to this trilogy.
November 2, 2012
I didn't love this book they way I loved it's prequel The Descent. The first book was more of an adventure/exploration story, going down into the earth and discovering the Hadal's civilization. This one delved more into the identity of "satan" or the being trapped in the earth. He apparently has supernatural powers, but is unable to leave his prison. So he lures travelers and pilgrims to his lair, where he either tortures and kills them, or takes them on as a temporary disciple.
The story criss crossed between the evil down below, and a hunt for some children that were abducted and taken into the earth. While the beginning of the book was interesting, towards the end it became more metaphysical, and more about the torture inflicted upon the people. The underworld, which was so believable in the first book, became more and more unbelievable to me. So I felt a little let down by this one.
The story criss crossed between the evil down below, and a hunt for some children that were abducted and taken into the earth. While the beginning of the book was interesting, towards the end it became more metaphysical, and more about the torture inflicted upon the people. The underworld, which was so believable in the first book, became more and more unbelievable to me. So I felt a little let down by this one.
January 4, 2012
I read the first book, The Descent right at the end of last year so when I found there was a sequel I had to read it straight away. I found Descent gripped me all the way through so I was hoping the same would be true for this one.
Immediately, this lacked the "edge of your seat" suspense and horror that the previous book did. The bulk of this takes place 10 years after the end of The Descent. The underworld is available for exploitation but only nervous nibbles are taking place.
They all have links to eachother at the start and they grown even more loose throughout. But I didn't feel as though any were concluded in a way that felt finished. Almost as if the writer ran out of steam and just finished the plots in the quickest way possible. I felt there wasn't as much depth as the previous books. The underworld and atmosphere had been created so vividly in the previous that something felt lacking in Deeper.
I don't think this is essential reading after reading The Descent, that can definitely stand alone and is by far the better book of the two.
Immediately, this lacked the "edge of your seat" suspense and horror that the previous book did. The bulk of this takes place 10 years after the end of The Descent. The underworld is available for exploitation but only nervous nibbles are taking place.
They all have links to eachother at the start and they grown even more loose throughout. But I didn't feel as though any were concluded in a way that felt finished. Almost as if the writer ran out of steam and just finished the plots in the quickest way possible. I felt there wasn't as much depth as the previous books. The underworld and atmosphere had been created so vividly in the previous that something felt lacking in Deeper.
I don't think this is essential reading after reading The Descent, that can definitely stand alone and is by far the better book of the two.
April 17, 2023
I was hesitant going into Deeper after reading a few reviews but OH MY GOD, it was amazing!! I didn't think it would be possible for Jeff long to improve upon The Descent but I honestly loved this one more! I was already so invested in the characters from the first book so it was a delight to follow along once more on their adventures. The subterranean world Long created in Descent was expanded upon and the world above was slowly plunged into peril. The question he poses is who is the real monster. Phenomenal stuff, thought provoking and relentlessly brutal at times. My only complaint is that he never wrote another. The book ends with a clear idea of where to take a third installment but sadly it was never written. I've looked into Mr. Long and by all accounts he's lived an amazing life. If you're reading this Jeff, we're ready for the last installment. We need the last installment!
If you haven't read this series, I implore you to go and do it. You won't be disappointed. Meanwhile, I'll be here, dreaming of the day a third book is announced...
If you haven't read this series, I implore you to go and do it. You won't be disappointed. Meanwhile, I'll be here, dreaming of the day a third book is announced...
June 11, 2008
I've waited a long time for this book and I wasn't disappointed. It's not often that a sequel is better than the original but Jeff Long's sequel to The Descent is better and more terrifying than the first.
August 29, 2009
I really enjoyed The Descent but this follow-up was just plain nasty. Too much religious babble. Also had too much blood, gore, angst, torture, gore, evil, greed and more gore with no real pay-off. Seems like a set-up for yet another round below ground. Sadly disappointing.
September 2, 2022
Mmm no me convenció del todo. El primer libro es maravilloso, una historia de ciencia ficción sólida. En ésta secuela el autor deja de lado la ambigüedad y se tira de cabeza en la fantasía 😬. La trama de El Ángel es la que menos disfruté. Si se ponía el foco solo en el viaje de Rebecca la historia le quedaba más redonda.
July 17, 2012
Do not read while pregnant/hormonally challenged.
April 25, 2015
Jeff Long is a paradox to me. I first read his work when I read his superb novel, "The Descent." I found I could not finish his next book, "Year Zero." It was just too dull. "Deeper" is the sequel to "The Descent". Or sequels. There are so many story lines occurring throughout the pages of this book that it is hard to stay with it. I stayed till the end, in part due to my own personal obsession with good stories about what is beneath the earth, deeper than the deepest caves. I was hoping that Mr. Long would continue the excellent tale he had told in his first book. All the way to the end I held onto the hope that it was going to come together. It just never does. And it certainly doesn't beg for another sequel. I think Mr. Long's imagination wrote a check his talent couldn't cash. I can't say I'll be reading any more of his work. There is just too much other good stuff out there to read.
September 10, 2015
I may be under-rating this. As a sequel to something as original and epic as The Descent, this story never quite overcomes the fact that we already know (or suspect) who's who and that there is an agenda. I suppose I wanted there to be a shocking revelation as well as resolution, and didn't feel entirely satisfied. That said, if Jeff Long were to write book three, Even Deeper Than That, I'd buy that sucker in a heartbeat.
January 22, 2017
Long is a wonderful writer, but I thought this book would never end.
It was good to revisit the main characters from The Descent. However, passion and interest-grabbing momentum just aren't present in this sequel. What this story has in abundance are gratuitous violence and death, violation, and a boring and all too human fallen angel.
It was good to revisit the main characters from The Descent. However, passion and interest-grabbing momentum just aren't present in this sequel. What this story has in abundance are gratuitous violence and death, violation, and a boring and all too human fallen angel.
July 24, 2008
only complaint was that the author has too many sub-plots and it can be distracting
October 20, 2025
This is tough… I really wanted to like this book, as I appreciated its predecessor and thought the world introduced in The Descent was worth exploring more thoroughly. However, as I progressed through the pages of Deeper, I started losing interest fast and actually had to force myself to finish it. This is one underground adventure that might have been better off left buried.
It’s been ten years since Ike and Ali returned from their ill-fated expedition into the underworld after unwittingly exterminating the Hadals with a hidden virus. The couple doesn’t get their happily ever after on the surface, though, as Ike soon finds himself lured back into the abyss by a strange song, disappearing off the face of the Earth and leaving Ali to her own devices. Years later a surviving faction of Hadals invades the United States and kidnaps a large group of children. One of the bereaved mothers - Rebecca - gathers an army of volunteers to chase after them and off we go into the depths again for another wild, crazy and hyperviolent ride. Oh and did I mention the USA is on the brink of an all-out war with China, somehow further complicating matters?
A lot is going on in Deeper, but most of it doesn’t really amount to anything special. The geopolitical conflict between the USA and China, for example, is basically background noise and only leads to a cliffhanger that - since a third book doesn’t seem to be in the cards - will probably never get resolved. The pseudo-scientific approach to the Descent is unceremoniously dropped by the wayside, in favour of a fantastical, religious and often philosophical approach with lots of lengthy conversations that, while certainly evocative, never truly seem to go anywhere in the end. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a lot of potential here, but the often great concepts Jeff Long comes up with have a tendency not to deliver on their promise.
Character development remains Long’s achilles heel. Deeper is filled with potentially interesting figures - a disgraced sniper, a hubristic documentary filmmaker, a NASA scientist who has spent a bit too much time underground - but they either immediately descend (no pun intended) into caricature or their presence in the story is so limited that it’s hard to genuinely care about what happens to them. None of the characters evolve in a natural way, leapfrogging from one stage to the next instead of logically flowing between them.
At least it’s good to see Ike and Ali again, even if the former is sidelined for most of the story. Their plight ultimately got me to the finishline. If you were hoping to catch up with Branch as well, you’d be out of luck, as the stern military leader who made quite the impression in The Descent is never seen or heard from again in this sequel. He doesn’t even get mentioned; Long effectively ignores the one cliffhanger from The Descent that I really wanted to see resolved.
Deeper is not a total disaster. Long can turn a poetic phrase and his underground world remains absolutely fascinating. In the book’s best moments, he either makes you contemplate the existence of the devil and mankind’s place in the universe, or takes you along on a wild and dangerous journey through a netherrealm that clearly hasn’t yet given up all of its secrets. Those moments are, however, few and far between and most of the elaborate set-up from the book’s opening half doesn’t get a satisfying pay-off. I recommend staying on the surface for this one; the first trip down into the abyss turned out to be more than enough.
2,5 stars, rounded down.
It’s been ten years since Ike and Ali returned from their ill-fated expedition into the underworld after unwittingly exterminating the Hadals with a hidden virus. The couple doesn’t get their happily ever after on the surface, though, as Ike soon finds himself lured back into the abyss by a strange song, disappearing off the face of the Earth and leaving Ali to her own devices. Years later a surviving faction of Hadals invades the United States and kidnaps a large group of children. One of the bereaved mothers - Rebecca - gathers an army of volunteers to chase after them and off we go into the depths again for another wild, crazy and hyperviolent ride. Oh and did I mention the USA is on the brink of an all-out war with China, somehow further complicating matters?
A lot is going on in Deeper, but most of it doesn’t really amount to anything special. The geopolitical conflict between the USA and China, for example, is basically background noise and only leads to a cliffhanger that - since a third book doesn’t seem to be in the cards - will probably never get resolved. The pseudo-scientific approach to the Descent is unceremoniously dropped by the wayside, in favour of a fantastical, religious and often philosophical approach with lots of lengthy conversations that, while certainly evocative, never truly seem to go anywhere in the end. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a lot of potential here, but the often great concepts Jeff Long comes up with have a tendency not to deliver on their promise.
Character development remains Long’s achilles heel. Deeper is filled with potentially interesting figures - a disgraced sniper, a hubristic documentary filmmaker, a NASA scientist who has spent a bit too much time underground - but they either immediately descend (no pun intended) into caricature or their presence in the story is so limited that it’s hard to genuinely care about what happens to them. None of the characters evolve in a natural way, leapfrogging from one stage to the next instead of logically flowing between them.
At least it’s good to see Ike and Ali again, even if the former is sidelined for most of the story. Their plight ultimately got me to the finishline. If you were hoping to catch up with Branch as well, you’d be out of luck, as the stern military leader who made quite the impression in The Descent is never seen or heard from again in this sequel. He doesn’t even get mentioned; Long effectively ignores the one cliffhanger from The Descent that I really wanted to see resolved.
Deeper is not a total disaster. Long can turn a poetic phrase and his underground world remains absolutely fascinating. In the book’s best moments, he either makes you contemplate the existence of the devil and mankind’s place in the universe, or takes you along on a wild and dangerous journey through a netherrealm that clearly hasn’t yet given up all of its secrets. Those moments are, however, few and far between and most of the elaborate set-up from the book’s opening half doesn’t get a satisfying pay-off. I recommend staying on the surface for this one; the first trip down into the abyss turned out to be more than enough.
2,5 stars, rounded down.
November 10, 2019
The author can write. It's why I finished the book. Reading it was not an enjoyable experience. For many reasons... and I finished it regardless, which I never do when I'm not enjoying the book.
My philosophy is quit reading a book that you don't like. The number of books you get to read in your life is a finite number. If you use up your reading time on a bad book, you miss out on a good one!! Time will run out eventually. So just read books that you like.
but I digress, back to "Deeper."
Why did I finish it? First off it was recommended by a friend who is a great reader. OK. I got the book and started. It was the second book of a trilogy. Oh, well. She recommended it. The first third of the book was very interesting. Well written. Exciting. Then.... yikes, ugly ugly plotlines of violence and weird-ass characters. Some didn't make any sense. By that time I needed to get to the end and see how it was all going to come together.... I made it to the end. I will not read book 3. Oh, ya...and... she was confused and wanted me to read book #1 not this one!!! LOL
I actually scanned about 12 pages of bloody fighting.
So, I have to say the idea of an entire civilization down in the depths of the earth, living with no light and having evolved further than the population on the surface is a fascinating concept for a book. So Jeff Long has a great imagination for his books. But the wars and violence are hideous.
And the ending sucked. I didn't care about any of them. Or was at all curious about what would happen and why.
My philosophy is quit reading a book that you don't like. The number of books you get to read in your life is a finite number. If you use up your reading time on a bad book, you miss out on a good one!! Time will run out eventually. So just read books that you like.
but I digress, back to "Deeper."
Why did I finish it? First off it was recommended by a friend who is a great reader. OK. I got the book and started. It was the second book of a trilogy. Oh, well. She recommended it. The first third of the book was very interesting. Well written. Exciting. Then.... yikes, ugly ugly plotlines of violence and weird-ass characters. Some didn't make any sense. By that time I needed to get to the end and see how it was all going to come together.... I made it to the end. I will not read book 3. Oh, ya...and... she was confused and wanted me to read book #1 not this one!!! LOL
I actually scanned about 12 pages of bloody fighting.
So, I have to say the idea of an entire civilization down in the depths of the earth, living with no light and having evolved further than the population on the surface is a fascinating concept for a book. So Jeff Long has a great imagination for his books. But the wars and violence are hideous.
And the ending sucked. I didn't care about any of them. Or was at all curious about what would happen and why.
June 14, 2021
Really good sequel
After rereading the descent, pleased and surprised to find a sequel. Excellent job of returning us to the world below our feet.
After rereading the descent, pleased and surprised to find a sequel. Excellent job of returning us to the world below our feet.
August 31, 2021
As surprisingly good as The Descent is, Deeper is just... fucking bad. A fiasco. Incoherent, incomprehensible, and just plain annoying. There are like fifty fucking plots in this book and somehow none of them pick up on the sequel hooks that the first book ended on. All the convincingly unconvincingly 'fringe science' from last time is gone, replaced by literal supernatural stuff that still never manages to be cool or interesting. Characters become one-man armies that can genocide entire cities because they've been lectured ad nauseum by the Devil. Nuclear war happens in a passing subplot. Between chapters, a character is raped so hard that they're left unable to walk, after which they're immediately psychologically healthy and having pleasant conversations. The entire second half of the book is so full of characters hallucinating and running into other characters shapeshifting and talking to ghosts and meditating and dreaming and going crazy and even coming back to life that it's impossible to tell what's actually going on and it gets to be like you're just hearing a friend describe a dream they had, with no stakes or reason to be invested. Oh, you were back in high school and Woodrow Wilson was teaching second period French? FASCINATING.
None of the characters are sympathetic. Ike is a deadbeat dad who spends pretty much the whole book having philosophical conversations and the conclusion he finally arrives at is "It's good not to let little girls die." Groundbreaking stuff, Ike, thanks for playing. New character Rebecca just wants her kid back, but the book is so sneering of her and her allies that you're just waiting for them to get their comeuppance already, and it takes the whole book to finally get on with that. Yeah, take that, that's what you assholes get for--wanting to save kidnapped children. Ali wants peace with the hadals--a race of rapists, slavers, and child murderers--because all the rape and slavery and child murder is just their culture. Yeah, not the best time to trot out that 'humans are the real monsters'. (The narrative seems to think we should agree with this and in fact seems to hold more disdain for Fox News viewers than these rapists/slavers/child murderers) (And yeah, I get that Fox News is real while these underground child rape monsters don't exist, but it doesn't do anything for my suspension of disbelief for the book to stop literally every chapter for 'political satire' when I'm supposed to be getting invested in the threat of the monster people. Can you imagine if in every scene of Aliens, the Colonial Marines mused on the importance of getting enough fiber, because Xenomorphs can't really get you--but constipation can?)
And the premise--that hundreds of American citizens are killed and dozens of children are kidnapped, but the US military does nothing because it would somehow cause an international incident with the Chinese, so instead a barely trained rabble goes down to save them--it's just the most bullshit contrivance imaginable. And by the end, we find out that this was all done to lure Ali in by the literal Devil who has superpowers and an army of demons. Well, why didn't he just send them to grab HER, one person, instead of grabbing dozens of OTHER people and hoping she would eventually come after them, which she is barely convinced to do, and then she almost dies on the way there!? You'd think the Devil would be more of a smooth operator than that, wouldn't you? Just challenge him to a fiddle contest, Ali, this is clearly the Devil that loses those, not the one that makes little girls vomit pea soup.
None of the characters are sympathetic. Ike is a deadbeat dad who spends pretty much the whole book having philosophical conversations and the conclusion he finally arrives at is "It's good not to let little girls die." Groundbreaking stuff, Ike, thanks for playing. New character Rebecca just wants her kid back, but the book is so sneering of her and her allies that you're just waiting for them to get their comeuppance already, and it takes the whole book to finally get on with that. Yeah, take that, that's what you assholes get for--wanting to save kidnapped children. Ali wants peace with the hadals--a race of rapists, slavers, and child murderers--because all the rape and slavery and child murder is just their culture. Yeah, not the best time to trot out that 'humans are the real monsters'. (The narrative seems to think we should agree with this and in fact seems to hold more disdain for Fox News viewers than these rapists/slavers/child murderers) (And yeah, I get that Fox News is real while these underground child rape monsters don't exist, but it doesn't do anything for my suspension of disbelief for the book to stop literally every chapter for 'political satire' when I'm supposed to be getting invested in the threat of the monster people. Can you imagine if in every scene of Aliens, the Colonial Marines mused on the importance of getting enough fiber, because Xenomorphs can't really get you--but constipation can?)
And the premise--that hundreds of American citizens are killed and dozens of children are kidnapped, but the US military does nothing because it would somehow cause an international incident with the Chinese, so instead a barely trained rabble goes down to save them--it's just the most bullshit contrivance imaginable. And by the end, we find out that this was all done to lure Ali in by the literal Devil who has superpowers and an army of demons. Well, why didn't he just send them to grab HER, one person, instead of grabbing dozens of OTHER people and hoping she would eventually come after them, which she is barely convinced to do, and then she almost dies on the way there!? You'd think the Devil would be more of a smooth operator than that, wouldn't you? Just challenge him to a fiddle contest, Ali, this is clearly the Devil that loses those, not the one that makes little girls vomit pea soup.
July 5, 2016
"Helvetin sydän" on jatkoa "Helvetin piireille". "Helvetin piirien" lukemisesta oli kulunut aikaa, mutta kärryille pääsi ihan hyvin ilman muistinvirkistystäkin ja kirjan pystyy muutenkin lukemaan ihan yksittäisenä teoksena, vaikka suotavaa on ensimmäisen osan lukeminen ensin.
Kirja kertoo maanalaisesta maailmasta, jota asuttavat hadaalit, ihmisistä erkaantunut julma laji. Syöverissä majailee vankina metkujaan hautomassa ja toteuttamassa itse Saatana, langennut enkeli. Vihjailtiin, että vielä syvemmältä löytyy sellainen pahuus, että ylemmät kerrokset vaikuttavat lasten temmellyskentältä. Se mitä syvemmistä syövereistä todella löytyy jää tässä kirjassa arvoitukseksi. Juonesta sen verran, että hadaalit olivat napanneet maan pinnalta lapsikatraan vangikseen ja syöveriin lähti parikin ryhmää pelastus yritykseen. Kirja sisältää raakuuksien kuvailua, kauhua, jännitystä ja mm. yhden rasittavan päähenkilön (pelastusarmeijaa johtava nainen, jonka lapsi on yksi vangeista). Kirja ei ollut niin hyvä kuin "Helvetin piirit" johtuen luultavasti uutuuden viehätyksen puuttumisesta, koska maailma oli jo entuudestaan tuttu. Tykkäsin kirjasta silti. Lopetus antaa ymmärtää, että jatkoa on vielä luvassa.
Kirja kertoo maanalaisesta maailmasta, jota asuttavat hadaalit, ihmisistä erkaantunut julma laji. Syöverissä majailee vankina metkujaan hautomassa ja toteuttamassa itse Saatana, langennut enkeli. Vihjailtiin, että vielä syvemmältä löytyy sellainen pahuus, että ylemmät kerrokset vaikuttavat lasten temmellyskentältä. Se mitä syvemmistä syövereistä todella löytyy jää tässä kirjassa arvoitukseksi. Juonesta sen verran, että hadaalit olivat napanneet maan pinnalta lapsikatraan vangikseen ja syöveriin lähti parikin ryhmää pelastus yritykseen. Kirja sisältää raakuuksien kuvailua, kauhua, jännitystä ja mm. yhden rasittavan päähenkilön (pelastusarmeijaa johtava nainen, jonka lapsi on yksi vangeista). Kirja ei ollut niin hyvä kuin "Helvetin piirit" johtuen luultavasti uutuuden viehätyksen puuttumisesta, koska maailma oli jo entuudestaan tuttu. Tykkäsin kirjasta silti. Lopetus antaa ymmärtää, että jatkoa on vielä luvassa.
August 13, 2018
The sequel to Long's 'The Descent' picks up a decade after the events of the first book. Despite how the first book ended there is still some nasty stuff happening deep within the Earth (is it...Hell?) and somehow the stakes are even higher. And nastier. The narrative slogs a bit during the middle chunk, but Long slathers on the gruesome-ness pretty regularly to kind of slap readers awake. Overall the story is pretty bleak, and the final section gets pretty high on the "holy shit!" scale.
August 6, 2008
Not the best follow up. The descent was one of my all time favorite books. It blended action and adventure with horror so well. Deeper is the follow up. The author decided to go a different route with this one. It's still a better than average read, but it lacks the horrific punch the first book had.
May 11, 2013
The Descent was an adventurous thriller and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to know more about the inner earth, about the Hadals, about all the strange things happening there. It was such a great setting. Deeper didn't revive that feeling in me. I'll just say that it was a bitter-sweet return to the underworld.
Note to self: I hated Rebecca and her "WHAT ABOUT MY CHILD!?!!?!?" story line.
Note to self: I hated Rebecca and her "WHAT ABOUT MY CHILD!?!!?!?" story line.
December 19, 2007
This is a sequel to Long's earlier book The Descent. I loved that book and I loved this one as well. In fact I re-read it almost immediately after finishing it.
June 22, 2008
A worthy sequel to The Descent.
November 24, 2025
“Deeper” (book 2 -The Descent) by Jeff Long.
I read the first book “The Descent” decades ago. It’s been a book that I read with my elder sister. Funnily she’s just finished reading the second book, whereas I started the second book. It would have been great if I’d read the first book again before reading this book, as it would have been a good refresher.
The characters in the first book:
Ali, Ike and Branch.
In “Deeper”, I like how the author explores from a different angle. The first book was all about explorers going into the descent and learning about what they find. Ali, a survivor linguist from the first book, she gets captured by the hadals.
In Deeper, the hadals have come up on to society land and have kidnapped all the children (on American soil). The hadals are humans, living deep underground, the atmosphere, the darkness, affects your skin and transforms you, giving you horns, wings. Deforms you.
Subterranean grounds.
Ali and John Li - survivors
Ali lost her child and her man Ike.
The Halloween chapter was probably the scariest part of the book.
Rebecca and the mob, want Ali to guide her deeper to find her / their children. They torture John Li, thinking he’s hadal. Clements a filmmaker who has turned too!
Beckworth a soldier who went down there to kill hadals, killed innocent Chinese settlers. “Green barrens incident”.
Now they’re calling him “beckwith” - typo?!! He joins Rebecca’s mob. They have no idea what coming for them. He has an eye for sniper/shooting.
“There is nothing more dangerous than one’s own creation,” the angel tells him. “The monster that squeezes out from our own nature is always the most deadly one.”
Just a bit disappointed on the way the book ended. It started off fast, became slow, and I ploughed through hoping it will get a better. It didn’t. It turns from an scientific horror to religious. Didn’t enjoy that. Annoyed as the first book was brilliant.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I gave it only 3 stars because the first book was really good.
Rebecca, new character, main character in this book, takes a mob with her, deeper to rescue all the children who were stolen on Halloween. Her story, she’s religious. She goes mad at the end, she finds her daughter, but doesn’t listen to Hunter, causes everyone’s deaths. She listens to Clemens.
Clemens was the villain all along long. it was his plan to steal the children. The hadles were going to kill their tribe and sacrifice themselves to the mushroom god. Clemens being a film director in his previous life, came up with this idea. The young boys were used as skin flags, the girls are used for something worse - reproducing etc.
There are scenes in the book, which reminded me of “The Troop” by Nick Cutter - newspaper, magazine articles, news reports - the show the reader the bigger picture, what’s happening above ground.
The strange angel chapters, didn’t make sense to me. But we learn the angel is Ishmael (moby dick reference), he’s been training Ike and keeping him alive.
I don’t think there’s much character development in the book. Why did Ali go back down to the lower levels of the subterranean unexplored underground world? To rescue the children? She learns that Ike is alive. Gregoire dies by accident.
No one actually leaves the underground. Lost forever as they ended up going to an unmapped area that the above ground people don’t know about.
I read the first book “The Descent” decades ago. It’s been a book that I read with my elder sister. Funnily she’s just finished reading the second book, whereas I started the second book. It would have been great if I’d read the first book again before reading this book, as it would have been a good refresher.
The characters in the first book:
Ali, Ike and Branch.
In “Deeper”, I like how the author explores from a different angle. The first book was all about explorers going into the descent and learning about what they find. Ali, a survivor linguist from the first book, she gets captured by the hadals.
In Deeper, the hadals have come up on to society land and have kidnapped all the children (on American soil). The hadals are humans, living deep underground, the atmosphere, the darkness, affects your skin and transforms you, giving you horns, wings. Deforms you.
Subterranean grounds.
Ali and John Li - survivors
Ali lost her child and her man Ike.
The Halloween chapter was probably the scariest part of the book.
Rebecca and the mob, want Ali to guide her deeper to find her / their children. They torture John Li, thinking he’s hadal. Clements a filmmaker who has turned too!
Beckworth a soldier who went down there to kill hadals, killed innocent Chinese settlers. “Green barrens incident”.
Now they’re calling him “beckwith” - typo?!! He joins Rebecca’s mob. They have no idea what coming for them. He has an eye for sniper/shooting.
“There is nothing more dangerous than one’s own creation,” the angel tells him. “The monster that squeezes out from our own nature is always the most deadly one.”
Just a bit disappointed on the way the book ended. It started off fast, became slow, and I ploughed through hoping it will get a better. It didn’t. It turns from an scientific horror to religious. Didn’t enjoy that. Annoyed as the first book was brilliant.
SPOILERS AHEAD
I gave it only 3 stars because the first book was really good.
Rebecca, new character, main character in this book, takes a mob with her, deeper to rescue all the children who were stolen on Halloween. Her story, she’s religious. She goes mad at the end, she finds her daughter, but doesn’t listen to Hunter, causes everyone’s deaths. She listens to Clemens.
Clemens was the villain all along long. it was his plan to steal the children. The hadles were going to kill their tribe and sacrifice themselves to the mushroom god. Clemens being a film director in his previous life, came up with this idea. The young boys were used as skin flags, the girls are used for something worse - reproducing etc.
There are scenes in the book, which reminded me of “The Troop” by Nick Cutter - newspaper, magazine articles, news reports - the show the reader the bigger picture, what’s happening above ground.
The strange angel chapters, didn’t make sense to me. But we learn the angel is Ishmael (moby dick reference), he’s been training Ike and keeping him alive.
I don’t think there’s much character development in the book. Why did Ali go back down to the lower levels of the subterranean unexplored underground world? To rescue the children? She learns that Ike is alive. Gregoire dies by accident.
No one actually leaves the underground. Lost forever as they ended up going to an unmapped area that the above ground people don’t know about.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2017
I've read this 2 times, I think, and the first part, The Descent, I can't remember how many times.
What did Ike do to deserve that? And that stupid, simpleton idiot with a sniper rifle, infuriating! Clemens is OK, a great villain that thinks much of himself but in reality is just a pawn... As Ike. Hunter is a copypaste of the Helios leader... Shoat? No, Shoat was the governor's son... What was his name?
But to the review: a great novel, not as much as the previous one, obviously, but decent enough, it holds its grounds against what I consider the greatest adventure novel ever written. We go, well, deeper. We visit a new underground city, we meet the son of the angel, and of course we get to know the angel and its motives, its dreams and frustrations.
Ali somehow manages to keep in his neverending search of the first word. Ike can't escape the depths. The hadals aren't all dead, and we accompany a texan mother in her search for her daughter and the other kids.
While The Descent was mostly based on fact, with bits and pieces of mythology and fantasy, Deeper goes over the board with fiction. Eternal life and resurrection and souls being the most blatant themes. It's not that its bad, but Descent felt more believable: you continuously found yourself (at least I did) thinking "this is good, this is actually good because it's believable"; Deeper is pure fiction, and the unbelievable kind. Not bad, I insist, it just stretches the suspension of disbelief a bit too much.
The Helios expedition was fantastic to read, not so the Rebecca expedition, but that's OK because we don't want a remake, and we already knew most of the things there were to know about the depths, the author doesn't repeat himself and that's quite refreshing.
A worthy successor to an amazing first part.
What did Ike do to deserve that? And that stupid, simpleton idiot with a sniper rifle, infuriating! Clemens is OK, a great villain that thinks much of himself but in reality is just a pawn... As Ike. Hunter is a copypaste of the Helios leader... Shoat? No, Shoat was the governor's son... What was his name?
But to the review: a great novel, not as much as the previous one, obviously, but decent enough, it holds its grounds against what I consider the greatest adventure novel ever written. We go, well, deeper. We visit a new underground city, we meet the son of the angel, and of course we get to know the angel and its motives, its dreams and frustrations.
Ali somehow manages to keep in his neverending search of the first word. Ike can't escape the depths. The hadals aren't all dead, and we accompany a texan mother in her search for her daughter and the other kids.
While The Descent was mostly based on fact, with bits and pieces of mythology and fantasy, Deeper goes over the board with fiction. Eternal life and resurrection and souls being the most blatant themes. It's not that its bad, but Descent felt more believable: you continuously found yourself (at least I did) thinking "this is good, this is actually good because it's believable"; Deeper is pure fiction, and the unbelievable kind. Not bad, I insist, it just stretches the suspension of disbelief a bit too much.
The Helios expedition was fantastic to read, not so the Rebecca expedition, but that's OK because we don't want a remake, and we already knew most of the things there were to know about the depths, the author doesn't repeat himself and that's quite refreshing.
A worthy successor to an amazing first part.
April 20, 2024
So I read "Deeper" by Jeff Long. No, it is not what it sounds like, despite being called "Deeper" by an author named Long.
It's actually a horror novel about caves being real big and magical and scary. Oh also people are living down there.
This is the second in a series, the first book is called "The Descent", and you should absolutely read that one. When it comes to the sequel, though...
The setting is brilliant. I love reading about caves, especially supernatural, monumental, civilization containing caves.
The horror sections are ridden with clichés. I don't even *like* horror as a genre, so it really dragged at those parts.
The worldbuilding, how the caves work, the ecosystems, the civilizations hiding within it, very enthralling. Loved that part, can we get just that, please?
I also really liked the diary entries, military forms, etc. that are scattered between chapters. Adds a lot.
The pacing is too fast. The first book is almost 600 pages, it draws you in slowly as our heroes traverse a planet spanning cave network under the pacific. You feel how long their journey is, and you, as a reader, are mentally *deep* into the caves when things finally go wrong.
Not so with this second entry! It wants to tell a much larger story, about politics, about imperialism, about nuclear conflict and what the discovery of basically hell *does* to humanity. But it wants to get that epic story in 420 pages, and did I mention it *also* wants to be a psycho thriller and a classical monster novel at the same time?? Ridiculous!
Also, the politics it *does* cram in are boring and unoriginal. Did you know that american religious fundamentalism is bad? Guys, guys, did you know that republicans are racist against the chinese??
The ending is unclear and vague, and all that good i mean all that bad stuff.
Overall, 5/10, read The Descent though!
It's actually a horror novel about caves being real big and magical and scary. Oh also people are living down there.
This is the second in a series, the first book is called "The Descent", and you should absolutely read that one. When it comes to the sequel, though...
The setting is brilliant. I love reading about caves, especially supernatural, monumental, civilization containing caves.
The horror sections are ridden with clichés. I don't even *like* horror as a genre, so it really dragged at those parts.
The worldbuilding, how the caves work, the ecosystems, the civilizations hiding within it, very enthralling. Loved that part, can we get just that, please?
I also really liked the diary entries, military forms, etc. that are scattered between chapters. Adds a lot.
The pacing is too fast. The first book is almost 600 pages, it draws you in slowly as our heroes traverse a planet spanning cave network under the pacific. You feel how long their journey is, and you, as a reader, are mentally *deep* into the caves when things finally go wrong.
Not so with this second entry! It wants to tell a much larger story, about politics, about imperialism, about nuclear conflict and what the discovery of basically hell *does* to humanity. But it wants to get that epic story in 420 pages, and did I mention it *also* wants to be a psycho thriller and a classical monster novel at the same time?? Ridiculous!
Also, the politics it *does* cram in are boring and unoriginal. Did you know that american religious fundamentalism is bad? Guys, guys, did you know that republicans are racist against the chinese??
The ending is unclear and vague, and all that good i mean all that bad stuff.
Overall, 5/10, read The Descent though!
February 6, 2012
This is the sequel to 'The Descent'. After reading the first novel in a matter of days I went straight out and bought this and it did not let me down or fail to deliver. All the claustrophobia is there as well as new and interesting (if not fantastic) characters make you re-evaluate your initial thoughts of The Descent. I couldn't put this down and finished it within days like I did the first.
Plot ***Spoilers***
While tensions between the United States and China increase on the surface, sub-planetary exploration and colonization is booming, ratcheting up potentials for international conflicts.
On Halloween night, scores of children are suddenly abducted by the long-thought-extinct Hadals, who brutally kill any adults attempting to intervene. The Hadals take the children back underground with them, leaving the United States in a panic. Due to the tensions with the Chinese, the U.S. government decides against mobilizing the military to perform a sweep of the sub-planetary Pacific region in search of the kidnapped children and the apparently-not-extinct Hadals.
Ali von Schade is approached by Rebecca, a tall and statuesque young woman whose husband was killed and whose daughter, Samantha, was kidnapped by Hadals. Due to Ali's previous experience with Hadals and the sub-planet, Rebecca wishes to enlist her help in searching for her daughter. When Ali declines and warns against searching, Rebecca eventually creates an army of volunteers and mercenaries to rescue the kidnapped children. Some of these volunteers are the same people who angrily attack Ali's research institution, believing her to be more sympathetic to the Hadals than to her own people. Clemens, who escaped Hadal captivity and is wracked with brutally inflicted scars and deformities, is present at the attack on Ali and becomes a supporter of Rebecca and her goal of entering the sub-planet.
Rebecca's army enters the sub-planet, aided surreptitiously by the U.S. government and overtly by a mercenary leader named Hunter, and begins traveling toward the Hadal metropolis discovered by the Helios expedition a decade earlier. She encounters an AWOL Navy SEAL sniper named Beckwith, who had deserted the military after he and his colleagues had mistakenly murdered a group of Chinese settlers after believing them to be the children-snatching Hadals. Rebecca, Hunter, Clemens, and Beckwith descend through the interior of the planetary crust toward the metropolis. They discover the remains of all the male children, who were apparently killed by the Hadals after being unsuitable captives.
Ali and a colleague, Gregorio, enter the sub-planet themselves on a similar quest.
Meanwhile, as both Rebecca's army and Ali and Gregorio separately descend in search of the kidnapped children, Ike Crockett has been conversing with an ominous "Angel," who appears to be a superhuman being as old as Earth itself. Ike appears to be a captive of this being, who explains that he himself is the prisoner and wishes Ike to "free" him. The Angel reveals that he has directed both human and Hadal evolution.
Gregorio dies in a climbing incident, leaving Ali by herself. Rebecca's army, having shrunk considerably due to desertions, eventually discovers a second Hadal metropolis, this one decorated with statues and emblems of oxen and Minotaurs.
Ali is discovered by the Angel, who takes her to his lair. There, she watches in shock as he removes his "disciple," who is revealed to be Ike, her husband, from a walled-in room and forcibly gives him an amphetamine-like drink. Ike rushes off, having been given instructions by the Angel to bring him the kidnapped children.
Rebecca's army discovers a complex of pyramids across a river from the city and, led by Clemens, enters it across a large bridge while Hunter's mercenaries and Rebecca herself remain behind. The volunteer army, now down to less than ninety men, discover troves of treasure and begin looting. Suddenly, they are ambushed by Hadals and effectively massacred - only three make it back to the city. Rebecca, Hunter, the mercenaries, and the three volunteer survivors use a building on the city's side of the bridge to fortify themselves and a siege begins, pitting the remaining humans against an unknown number of Hadals.
The siege ends in a bloody battle after over a week of Hadal biowarfare, which includes using darts poisoned with the rabies virus and a Hadal who infects himself with Ebola before allowing himself to be killed by a mercenary sniper; soon to be cooked and eaten by the starving humans. Clemens, thought dead in the massacre of the volunteer army, returns and tells them that he has been dealing with the Hadals, who will release the children if the mercenaries surrender to certain torture and death. Hunter refuses and believes Clemens to be in league with the Hadals. Before he can be killed, the zip-tied Clemens is freed by Rebecca, and he promises to return with Samantha. Samantha is brought forth by three Hadals, who use her as a human shield. A battle ensues, and Samantha is killed.
As Ali replaces Ike as the Angel's captive "disciple," Ike enters the pyramid complex. It has been revealed that the kidnapped children are the design of the Angel, but the Angel's plans have been co-opted by Clemens, who was once a "trainee" of the Angel. Ike kills many surviving Hadals and has been told to bring the children and the disobedient Clemens to the Angel. Clemens, however, proves to be a formidable adversary and bests Ike in hand-to-hand combat, inadvertently aided by the sniper Beckwith, who remained undetected by the Hadals and mistook Ike for a bad guy and assumed Clemens was a good guy, shooting Ike's hand. Clemens has the remaining girls and a traumatized and mentally unstable Rebecca (unable to cope with the loss of her daughter Samantha) with him, and tells the girls that he, Clemens, is their rescuer and that Ike is the one who mutilated him.
As he tortures and prepares to kill Ike, Clemens is paralyzed by Rebecca, who uses a poison-tipped barb given to Ike by the Angel. Beckwith arrives and, realizing his mistake, helps rescue Ike, the delusional Rebecca, and the girls. They head toward the surface, suffering from illness and fatigue.
Ali remains with the Angel, knowing that as long as she is his willing captive and "disciple" he will not find a way to "free" himself.
The girls are brought to the surface and their parents celebrate in massive function thrown by the United States government.
Plot ***Spoilers***
While tensions between the United States and China increase on the surface, sub-planetary exploration and colonization is booming, ratcheting up potentials for international conflicts.
On Halloween night, scores of children are suddenly abducted by the long-thought-extinct Hadals, who brutally kill any adults attempting to intervene. The Hadals take the children back underground with them, leaving the United States in a panic. Due to the tensions with the Chinese, the U.S. government decides against mobilizing the military to perform a sweep of the sub-planetary Pacific region in search of the kidnapped children and the apparently-not-extinct Hadals.
Ali von Schade is approached by Rebecca, a tall and statuesque young woman whose husband was killed and whose daughter, Samantha, was kidnapped by Hadals. Due to Ali's previous experience with Hadals and the sub-planet, Rebecca wishes to enlist her help in searching for her daughter. When Ali declines and warns against searching, Rebecca eventually creates an army of volunteers and mercenaries to rescue the kidnapped children. Some of these volunteers are the same people who angrily attack Ali's research institution, believing her to be more sympathetic to the Hadals than to her own people. Clemens, who escaped Hadal captivity and is wracked with brutally inflicted scars and deformities, is present at the attack on Ali and becomes a supporter of Rebecca and her goal of entering the sub-planet.
Rebecca's army enters the sub-planet, aided surreptitiously by the U.S. government and overtly by a mercenary leader named Hunter, and begins traveling toward the Hadal metropolis discovered by the Helios expedition a decade earlier. She encounters an AWOL Navy SEAL sniper named Beckwith, who had deserted the military after he and his colleagues had mistakenly murdered a group of Chinese settlers after believing them to be the children-snatching Hadals. Rebecca, Hunter, Clemens, and Beckwith descend through the interior of the planetary crust toward the metropolis. They discover the remains of all the male children, who were apparently killed by the Hadals after being unsuitable captives.
Ali and a colleague, Gregorio, enter the sub-planet themselves on a similar quest.
Meanwhile, as both Rebecca's army and Ali and Gregorio separately descend in search of the kidnapped children, Ike Crockett has been conversing with an ominous "Angel," who appears to be a superhuman being as old as Earth itself. Ike appears to be a captive of this being, who explains that he himself is the prisoner and wishes Ike to "free" him. The Angel reveals that he has directed both human and Hadal evolution.
Gregorio dies in a climbing incident, leaving Ali by herself. Rebecca's army, having shrunk considerably due to desertions, eventually discovers a second Hadal metropolis, this one decorated with statues and emblems of oxen and Minotaurs.
Ali is discovered by the Angel, who takes her to his lair. There, she watches in shock as he removes his "disciple," who is revealed to be Ike, her husband, from a walled-in room and forcibly gives him an amphetamine-like drink. Ike rushes off, having been given instructions by the Angel to bring him the kidnapped children.
Rebecca's army discovers a complex of pyramids across a river from the city and, led by Clemens, enters it across a large bridge while Hunter's mercenaries and Rebecca herself remain behind. The volunteer army, now down to less than ninety men, discover troves of treasure and begin looting. Suddenly, they are ambushed by Hadals and effectively massacred - only three make it back to the city. Rebecca, Hunter, the mercenaries, and the three volunteer survivors use a building on the city's side of the bridge to fortify themselves and a siege begins, pitting the remaining humans against an unknown number of Hadals.
The siege ends in a bloody battle after over a week of Hadal biowarfare, which includes using darts poisoned with the rabies virus and a Hadal who infects himself with Ebola before allowing himself to be killed by a mercenary sniper; soon to be cooked and eaten by the starving humans. Clemens, thought dead in the massacre of the volunteer army, returns and tells them that he has been dealing with the Hadals, who will release the children if the mercenaries surrender to certain torture and death. Hunter refuses and believes Clemens to be in league with the Hadals. Before he can be killed, the zip-tied Clemens is freed by Rebecca, and he promises to return with Samantha. Samantha is brought forth by three Hadals, who use her as a human shield. A battle ensues, and Samantha is killed.
As Ali replaces Ike as the Angel's captive "disciple," Ike enters the pyramid complex. It has been revealed that the kidnapped children are the design of the Angel, but the Angel's plans have been co-opted by Clemens, who was once a "trainee" of the Angel. Ike kills many surviving Hadals and has been told to bring the children and the disobedient Clemens to the Angel. Clemens, however, proves to be a formidable adversary and bests Ike in hand-to-hand combat, inadvertently aided by the sniper Beckwith, who remained undetected by the Hadals and mistook Ike for a bad guy and assumed Clemens was a good guy, shooting Ike's hand. Clemens has the remaining girls and a traumatized and mentally unstable Rebecca (unable to cope with the loss of her daughter Samantha) with him, and tells the girls that he, Clemens, is their rescuer and that Ike is the one who mutilated him.
As he tortures and prepares to kill Ike, Clemens is paralyzed by Rebecca, who uses a poison-tipped barb given to Ike by the Angel. Beckwith arrives and, realizing his mistake, helps rescue Ike, the delusional Rebecca, and the girls. They head toward the surface, suffering from illness and fatigue.
Ali remains with the Angel, knowing that as long as she is his willing captive and "disciple" he will not find a way to "free" himself.
The girls are brought to the surface and their parents celebrate in massive function thrown by the United States government.
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