The Dark of the Sea

by Imam Baksh

Obsessed with girls, devoid of muscles and faced with hostile teachers and a reading disability, 15-year-old Danesh has been struggling to survive life in the lower bowls of the Essequibo high school system. In a community wracked by alcoholism, suicide and corruption, he sees no purposeful path for himself. Then, Medusa, a creature of savage beauty and determination, crashes into his life and reveals a whole new world beneath the muddy waves -- a world full of wonder, adventure and the possibility of becoming a better person. But Danesh soon learns that the path before him is not an easy one and to get there he just may have to redefine what it means to be a hero.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

200 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Gail (The Knight Reader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was downright amazing. As a lover of fantasy, to find this jewel written by my countryman, nearly brought me to tears. All you people out there in the first world, you have seen yourself in literature so often I think you almost take it for granted. Me? I had to keep pinching myself to make sure this fantastic experience was really happening at such scale in my little Guyana. Biased much? Maybe. But I saw the boys from home on this page. I saw fantastical creatures talking in WE DIALEcT! Even them spoke like us! Not in the crisp English of ye olde colonizers. My heart is so full and content I want to find Mr Baksh and just give him a big hug. This is a gift. This *waves hands* means something to that Guyanese girl who never thought anything incredible was beyond the backdam.

Full review to come. Akilah! Remind me 🤣

Updated 26/Jan/21

I hereby give you the review of The Dark of the Sea by Guyanese author Imam Baksh as experienced by me a Guyanese reader. First all, I won’t beat around the bush. I loved this story. I rated it 5/5 stars for obvious reasons including amazing storytelling, world building and characters, but my personal reasons are for the simple fact that a kid like my dad starred in this book and the author was unafraid to show our people and our Guyana.

The novel is YA and follows the story of Danesh. He is what some would call unremarkable, attending the “dumb” school and suffering the consequences of the same. He is dyslexic but no one cares or recognizes it. He spends his days just going through the motions and wondering about dropping out of school to become a laborer. Like my dad said, this sounded so much like his life. He wasn’t even compelled to finish school because the job at the cane field was waiting for him. However, something marvelous happens and Danesh literally plunges into an adventure he does not expect. We then begin to realize how kind, brave and remarkable Danesh is as he works with mythical creatures to save the world. Danesh’s kindness shines through, even when he is facing the baddies and we quickly realize that this dyslexic young boy is so much more than the circumstances he was born into.

The battles are epic and Baksh integrates Greek myth and Hindu Gods with a healthy serving of Guyana to keep you on your toes. I can chat forever on the prior but what kept me hooked was the great representation of Guyana that was present including the model of the school system, the issue of suicide and alcoholism and the love of storytelling. If you’re from Guyana and you’re from country, you can tell a story! And Danesh demonstrates that trait quite well.

A key point to bring up which the author did not shy away from was that of suicide. So if that is a trigger for you, please be warned. I find some authors shy away from the topic but Baksh embraced it as one that is truly our problem, especially for Indo-Guyanese persons. I had to message Kiki to tell her how I felt this aspect of the plot exquisitely because I , like those kids in the book, lost someone I knew to suicide (RIP cuz). I don’t feel like our flaws should be hidden, especially in YA. Guyana has the highest suicide rate in th world and Baksh showed that uncomfortable reality. If we can read about kids battling it out in the Hunger Games, I think mentioning this overlooked problem is okay. Why? Because somewhere out there a child is trying to feel seen and Baksh said, “I see you”.

I can chat on forever about sea creatures including the antagonists that spoke in the Guyanese way. They didn’t speak perfect English like all the other baddies out there! But I am sure I will post MANY times about this book to tease it apart. But for once, an author put me in the book ( or daddy!) instead of some perfect speaking lighter skinned kid, and I felt seen. If you are apart of the majority that has many books written with people that look like you, you are blessed. But you know what? This one is worth all of those to me. Thanks Mr Baksh.

[Kiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of 15 year old Danesh living in a coastal town in Guyana who discovered that he could see and breathe as well underwater as above ground when he was a child. This is of little import when the story starts as he and his friend watch the 50th anniversary independence day fireworks in the far, far distance as the corner shop plays song after song about men who don't care about much as long as they can drink. This humorous yet sobering note defines the book as this tale of fairpeople (merpeople of mostly dark blue skin), magic books in secret languages, and giants who are gentle sheep herders is interspersed with colonialism' lasting legacy of patriarchy, colourism, alcoholism, suicide, and a resource starved educational system run with a brand of discipline that recalls the plantation.

I loved Danesh before I started the book, this skinny boy with dyslexia who is good at computers, who kinda brazen when him ready whether it is facing abusive teachers or great turtles more than twice his size. I loved how Baksh was bold enough to suggest alternate paths to education outside of institutions when for a lot of Caribbean cultures that tolls the death knell to prosperity and respectability. I loved how Baksh showed the ambivalent role male parental figures can play in a child's life rather than settling for a one note portrayal of a "positive role model" that others clamour for when it comes to fathers. The one major flaw was the one dimensional, "man hater" writing for Princess Bejara.

Great confluence of Lovecraftian mythology with Greek and Hindu deities and important figures throughout the book with an ending that reminded me a lot of the kaiju fights at the end of a mecha anime or a tokusatsu film (think Godzilla).

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[Amelia Badri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to read a fantasy fiction book set in Guyana. The story is easy to follow and as a Caribbean person, you can easily relate to a lot of what the character is experiencing and saying, although the adventure itself is unique. It reminded me of Percy Jackson in a few ways and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories that mix Guyanese folklore and fantasy in a contemporary way.

[Shivanee Ramlochan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review forthcoming.

[Nathan Monroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dark of the sea critique

As a gesture of good will, I do not start off a book review with a foul note. On that note, The Dark of the sea was written by a Guyanese writer and it won the Bocus Lit award in the Caribbean. It is set in Guyana and shows the life of an adolescent boy, Danesh. My overall rating for this novel is 2 and a half stars. One might think that is harsh, considering I am a Guyanese and I am thrilled that a fantasy book was written in my country’s setting. I had wanted to be bias and rate the book three stars, but it is surprisingly hard to do so when the book continues to dish out terrible writing (more details on that later). As a reader sometimes I do not pay much attention to titles of books written in Guyana, because if I did; I probably would not have bought it. The art work of the book’s cover looks a bit mediocre, but it does however show what the main villain looks like. On the other hand, the title itself is redundant; it is comprised of two repeated use of the article “the.” In addition, it does not fit with the image the picture on the cover captures; which leads me to believe no one in the writing process criticized the title. The synopses of book states “ Obsessed with girls, devoid of muscles and faced with hostile teachers and a reading disability, 15-year-old Danesh has been struggling to survive life in the lower bowls of the Essequibo high school system. In a community wracked by alcoholism, suicide and corruption, he sees no purposeful path for himself. Then, Medusa, a creature of savage beauty and determination, crashes into his life and reveals a whole new world beneath the muddy waves -- a world full of wonder, adventure and the possibility of becoming a better person. But Danesh soon learns that the path before him is not an easy one and to get there he just may have to redefine what it means to be a hero.” The aforementioned synopses leaves much to be desired because--- spoiler alert--- there is not one sentence in this book that shows Danesh was obsessed with girls. Once you get pass the title and the poor cover design, you will reach one of the worse fantasy maps I have ever seen in a young adult low fantasy novel. My first experience with a great novel was the Last of the Olympians by Rick Roddin in the Percy Jackson series. One of the incredible things to note about that book is the map— and as a side note, a map does not have to be complex like Game of Thrones--- allows you to follow the characters journey from point A to point B. Unfortunately, that is impossible to do with the cartoonish map that was created for The Dark of the sea. I know the writer was catering for a large audience of readers from 8 years old to adult stage, but I cannot find any excuses as to why it was done so poorly. Perhaps he wanted it to look a bit funny to give the reader a sense of adventure to start the book or to put the reader in a child-like state of mind, however, if that was his intention, I would say he failed on that notion. Apart from my childish nick-picking of minor details, the book does however start with a prologue. One of the things I love and I do not like to exaggerate this, but it is Google. I believe Google takes you back to kinder garden and I solely know that the author never used Google when writing this book. In fact, if he did, he would have seen from a 2021 article from Masterclass that is “A good prologue performs one of many functions in a story:
• Foreshadowing events to come
• Providing background information or backstory on the central conflict
• Establishing a point of view (either the main character’s, or that of another character who is privy to the tale)
• Setting the tone for the rest of the novel or play”
The prologue that the author established in the book does neither of things mentioned above. Instead the author uses the prologue to describe the main character in front of a wave at the seawalls. I mean, if you want to describe your character in front of a wave, why do that in a prologue and not in chapter 1? One side note to pay attention to; the narrative is written in Standard English and in Guyanese creoles is in character thoughts and dialogue.

The book itself is not labelled in chapters, which is kinda weird for me, but it is unique to its own.
Characters:
Danesh: As a character, he was not three-dimensional and he was at the very least, a one dimensional character. We get to see some sides of Danesh, like for example, when Amit dies and when he finds out his Ajia is evil. Danesh does not have any inner conflict as a character. One may argue that he had inner conflict on deciding to hand over his ajia to the villain or kill him. But Danesh does not have inner conflict with his own feelings or ideas that he may have which may show some individuality for him as a character. Quite frankly, there is no contradiction in ideals he holds as a character nor are there any ideals he holds at all. Danesh does not hold at ideals about life or any subject matter that could have caused him to interact differently with another character in the story or perhaps influence his decision-making. He does not change much in the story in terms of character growth. This is mainly one of the reasons why I think he is one dimensional. Also Danesh over-coming his dyslexia to defeat the villain does not indicate character growth. Character growth shows a difference in perspective or behavior in a character within the story; neither of which were achieved because Danesh does not show that he holds any ideals or any notions for himself. On that note, Danesh interacts with every other characters within the story the same way. On the flipside, there is relationship change within the book between Danesh and Ajai as well as several other characters. Moreover, I feel Danesh’s Dyslexia was a character flaw in order for him to defeat the villain and not something that influenced the plot on a constant basis. For example, Rock lee from Naruto was unable to use chakra to make hand signs. These flaws made him work extremely hard to find a way to compete against ninjas who can use charka. Although this comparison may be a bit off, it does however stipulates that the author failed to make a flaw for Danesh that burden him in his everyday life. For example, given that this story also takes place in the sea, what if Danesh never knew how to swim and was afraid of the ocean? These aforementioned flaws would have greatly influenced Danesh’s experience under water and would have made him a much better fleshed-out character. Danesh reminds me of teenage boys that are on the park and are generally lacking in the commonsense department. I do not like Danesh as a character, he comes off as a bratty and rude teenager that does not know he is flushing his chance at education down the drain. Which I might add that Danesh does not face any parental pressure from dropping out of school or being kicked out of his house. The goals that Danesh gets are not of his own making and is quite troubling, because Danesh does not chose what he ought to do, but more so what others decide. One of the most questionable decision that Danesh makes is when Medusa attacks him and Medusa is injured. Danesh suddenly gains the knowledge that a protocol is in the water and he should help a monster that just tried to kill him. This why I rated the novel as low as I did; there is not much commonsense devoted to Danesh’s actions or decisions. If a fair maid attacked me, I would probably ran as fast as I can once I notice that it is half-dead. The writing in this novel is surprisingly bad that the writer only addresses why Danesh could swim under water is due to the mark of Zoda’quh. In the fantasy genre, there is a phrase known as “magic system”; which basically means how something does that operates differently than mundane stuff works? What is the limitations and strengths of the power? Neither of these questions were really answered. The author never addressed what Danesh limitations are in terms of the mark. Through the novel, it is vaguely mentioned that Danesh knew he could swim for long periods under water and he had super strength because of the mark. Once again, Danesh had no training or nothing was discussed or shown for that matter with regards to his limitations on his powers. On a different note, Danesh’s favorite movie is Shawshank and he likes Bollywood movies and songs. In addition, Danesh does not seem to have any fears. I mean any functional human being has fears and more so which is internalized or that of which is of an external figure (like a snake or spider). While the concept of Danesh overcoming his Dyslexia to defeat Zod’qua; it still however flops a bit. The reason for my two cents on the matter is because we never see Danesh actively trying throughout the book to overcome his reading disorder and the mere fact that he somehow overcomes to win a fight against a god seems a bit far-fetched. On a positive note, Danesh does show in his dialogue that he only can speak creoles because he cannot read. The aforementioned does add some depth to his character in the way he speaks. While we are on the topic of how characters speaks, just a little side note: Not all Guyanese use creoles 100% of the time. For some Guyanese, they switch between Standard English and Creoles in second sentence, mid-sentence, or at any point of their dialogue. I love the complexity of creoles, but when you are creating a character, you must understand that everyone speaks different from other persons. There are Guyanese that use short sentences only, some do not even use Standard English, and some are great at alternating between English and creoles. If you are a real Guyanese, you would know that there are Guyanese that travel abroad to the United States and come back to Guyana speaking a trashy-copy American accent. The author of the Dark of the sea never incorporated any of these things I mentioned. Almost all the characters use the same diction in creoles and the only character or side character for that matter which alternates between Standard English and creoles is the Head Teacher.



Since we are on the topic of side characters or characters in general; some of the side characters in this book serve no purpose to the story and do not have a goal towards pushing the story forward. Here is a list of characters that make no sense to have in the book: Miss Corrine, Shivani Ramgopal, Clarendon, Robot, Nadira, Sir Carl, Kevitt, Alana, and so forth. If you subtract these characters along with their scenes, it would significantly improved the quality of the book. I am now going to wrap this up in a paragraph because this feels depressing and too much like an essay. The writing is 2/10 and plot is 1/10. In addition, character development is 3/10 and pacing is 7/10. This book at best is two stars.

[Shadon · Rating 2 out of 5]

The point is you got to start some time or you don't get nowhere in the end.

Big, unfortunate sigh. I did not quite enjoy The Dark of the Sea. Despite a stellar prologue and fantastic setup that immediately hooked me with its dark and moody atmosphere, past a certain point, the book descended into a directionless, meandering narrative that ultimately lost me far too early on. By the end of the final stand, I was just forcing myself to continue reading so I could write this review in good faith, not because I actually cared about where the story was going or how it would end. My investment fizzled with each page turn until it burned right down to nothing.

Let's start with my favorite aspect, and by far, the most well done. I loved the Essequibo setting and the exploration of a poor, overlooked Guyanese neighborhood and the complex people who dwell in its underbelly. The community is brought to life wonderfully in such little time, transporting you to a vivid setting of pervasive misfortune and struggle where the people suffer in poverty but are resilient in their survival. The book paints a clear picture of Essequibo's place in Guyanese society and how the corrupted system is designed to fail those people who need it the most. Through its depiction of the broken school system and the lingering anger of the staff who take out their woes on those beneath them, we see an achingly real world, brimming with life but also the death of the downtrodden. In young Danesh's (and his schoolmates) attempts to navigate those familiar but miserable circumstances, the story remains its strongest and most compelling. I found myself more endeared to this side of it than anything offered by the more fantastical concepts on offer. My apathy never extended here.

Now, for what I disliked. When we eventually stumble into a new underwater world of fairmaids and magical seascrapers, the whimsy only lasts a few pages before it loses its edge and becomes boring. For some reason, it just wasn't depicted in a way that held my interest very long, quickly becoming repetitive. Nothing stuck. Going to Coral City and meeting all the new people was neat, but when nothing was done with any of the characters, I no longer cared. They're all bland and one-dimensional creatures, so forgettable that they fade into the background. Even Medusa might as well have been a footnote. Further, we're constantly told the world is going to end and danger is nigh, but there's not really a sense of urgency injected into the plot or pacing. Instead, we go sightseeing and swimming, adventuring through portals and spaces that supposedly might not survive the attacks of some mythical toad god. But again, it never feels that way. There's no tension once we descend beneath the waves, and that was the point where it started to sour after such good buildup.

On a night without dawn the dark of the sea comes to end mankind's reign and still the pulse of Earthly life.

Then we get the quests, the maddening, irrelevant quests randomly placed into the plot for something to do, and whose payoff was not worth the pages spent on them. What point did Danesh's random quests serve other than to pad out the length? None of them managed to grip me, and they all went on for too long; the insertion of other mythologies and legends was clunky and never seemed to fit either. What is the cyclops from the Odyssey doing there? I just don't understand why more of the time used for the quests couldn't have been used to develop anything else. Rather than a pulse-pounding adventure, it slowed the pace down and turned everything into a crawl. Why did we not learn more about the toad god or his history until the end? Why did we not build up his goal so the threat felt real and palpable, instead of just something vaguely happening? I don't know.

Between the quests and lack of urgency, Danesh and his relatable struggles kept holding onto my waning attention. I really liked him and his longing to find a place in a world where he cannot imagine one ever being. Can he rise to the occasion and become a hero like the stories? Every time we left Atlantis and the water, I was more interested than the opposite. His character was a great depiction of the cycle of poverty and trauma, how children are often left behind in a system with not enough resources to guide them. He was charmingly authentic in his dreams, fears, and friendships. The children of Essequibo were fun too, and I wanted more of them. However, I wasn't a big fan of how this exploration was tackled, with the random gods and referenced figures of myth who were mostly jarring and took me out of the story. It doesn't come together as seamlessly as it could have, I think. Though sadly, Danesh and his dyslexia and thoughts about the future have no satisfying payoff either. The story just ends with him having overcome his dyslexia to defeat a god, and he still has no idea what he will do or even a semblance of peace that I could discern. Even his budding relationship with Medusa doesn't go anywhere.

The world is saved, the book is over, and he's in the same place as the beginning. It's meant to be a hopeful note, that there is a future if he only makes it, and that the world abounds with endless possibilities for him to discover, but it rang hollow to me. Perhaps I'm a cynical bear. And the last fight was a bit of a nothing burger. It elicited nothing in me and felt like smashing dolls together. I really wanted to care, but I just didn't. The big battle didn't feel like what everything had been leading to either; it just happened, and then it was over with. Lastly, I liked the unabashed usage of creole and I even learnt some brand new words, but it was odd that every character spoke it. I suppose it was filtered through Danesh's perspective, which I accepted when the fairmaids used the shells to translate, but why is the cyclops, Vishnu, and even the toad god speaking in Creole? It was jarring.

Overall, The Dark of the Sea is an ambitious adventure that veered too far off the tracks into a disjointed tale that didn't really seem to know where it was going. Despite a culturally rich setting and gripping premise, it could not hold onto it. There is still a deal of fun to be had and rich themes, but it just wasn't for me. The quests felt random, and the underwater world was just sort of there, but its main character is a compelling character study of self-improvement and the teenage capacity for limitlessness. Its most enduring theme is, of course, that inside all of us is a purpose, a life to be lived, and a hero, waiting to be called upon.

[Jelani st. Aude · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the best books from trinidad