Otherwise: Three Novels By John Crowley (Paperback)

beasts is interesting, but crowley purposefully leaves the story unfinished; it is never seen through to completion. this aspect of the novel, although done in purpose, was not fully satisfying.

the deep is wonderful. i agree with the last reviewer that it is just as good as engine summer. but it is a retelling of sorts of the war of the roses. for those interested in such aspects of crowley's works one should turn to snake's hands, which is a book of criticism on crowley's writings;it is especially helpful in reading engine summer.

These days, two decades later, I almost never read science fiction, and certainly never read fantasy. But when I saw that "Engine Summer" had been reissued with two other early Crowley novels, I decided to buy it and see if it lived up to my memory of it.

It did. "Engine Summer" is still a thoroughly engaging book. It's pastoral, summery feel makes it ideal to read while sitting in the garden, with your feet up, on a warm, sunny day.

Next I read "Beasts", which I hadn't previously encountered, and which was something of a disappointment - it read as though it was written to fulfill a contractual commitment. Perhaps I'm being unfair, but it was nowhere near the standard of "Engine Summer".

Finally, "The Deep", a short novel I remember looking at twenty years ago but not being motivated to read. This time, however, I did read it and it was almost as good as "Engine Summer", although very different. While "Engine Summer" has a breezy, pastoral feel, "The Deep" has a darker, claustrophic atmosphere. Although a short novel, I often had the sensation that its depth (trying to avoid a pun on its title) exceeded its length. There are many passages of great beauty, and I found it a very compelling story. It is an unusual book, but it is not nearly so weird as some reviewers have suggested. It also hs nothing to do with the English Civil War or the War of the Roses, as some people have suggested, although it does have many echoes of Norse mythology and the Nibelung saga. My only criticism is that the names of the characters (many are variation of "Red" and "Black") are confusing.

Both "Engine Summer" and "The Deep" contained worlds I was sorry to leave behind. If Crowley ever wrote sequels to either, I would eagerly buy both. As it is, this collection of three early novels by Crowley contains two absolute gems, "Engine Summer" and "The Deep" which I would recommend highly to anyone interested in good writing and with a taste for the unusual.

The last book is arguably one of Crowley's very best (for which I believe he was predicted to become 'the next Bradbury', a rather unfortunate title for him in my opinion), while the first two are not in the same league. That said, as with all of Crowley's work, The Style and The Meter of the first two are eminently enjoyable. Not to mention the creativity.

All three books are very worthwhile and necessry reads for Crowley fans. Like all of Crowley's novels up until the Aegypt series, all three are wondrous self-contained universes when compared with the majority of 'literature' that gets written.