Deep Water

James Bradley Press Reviews

‘Deep Water is a major achievement; a vast fathoming of the pasts, presents, and futures of the world’s oceans and seas. Bradley’s skills both as novelist and essayist converge here to create this wise, compassionate, and urgent book, characterised throughout by a clarity of prose and a bracing moral gaze that searches water, self, and reader.’ -- Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland

‘What a wondrous book. In vivid, urgent prose, James Bradley takes us on a journey through oceanic worlds. Epic in scope and charged with a compulsive capitalist critique, Deep Water balances the grief of environmental catastrophe with a profound sense of awe and possibility. There is no false hope here. But there is hope.’ -- Billy Griffiths, author of Deep Time Dreaming: uncovering ancient Australia

‘A sublime exploration of one of Earth’s most immense, powerful, and obscure entities, awash with humanity and wisdom. Deep Water will transform how you think about the ocean.’ -- Richard Fisher, author of The Long View

‘A sublime work, quite literally: vast, beautiful, sometimes frightening. Bradley is a talented scholar, surveying widely in various disciplines. But he keeps his novelist’s eyes for poignant intimacy: moments of love and grief, curiosity and rage. If you care about our oceans, submerge yourself in Deep Water.’ -- Damon Young, author of The Art of Reading

‘No part of the Earth system is more vital to the human past and future than the world ocean, and few indeed are better qualified to tell its stories than James Bradley. A love letter and a warning, Deep Water is a work of rare scholarship, wide range, and fierce urgency.’ -- Caspar Henderson, author of The Book of Barely Imagined Beings

‘Teeming with mysteries, wonders, and heartbreaking facts, this beautiful, lucid hymn to the sea is a reminder of what we still have, what we stand to lose, and why we must never stop fighting to save our home.’ -- Tim Winton, author of Cloudstreet

‘Astonishing in both its depth and breadth, Deep Water is an incisive, thoughtful exploration of the complicated and crucial relationships we have with our oceans. James Bradley has written a tour de force at a moment when we need it most.’ -- Juli Berwald, author of Life on the Rocks and Spineless

Praise for Ghost Species: ‘Ghost Species is a perceptive and timely tale about what it really means to take care of the Earth … spelling out ... where ordinary folk will fit in the future that Elon Musk and Bill Gates built.’ -- Simon Ings - The Times

Praise for Ghost Species: ‘Ghost Species is absorbing, sensitively written, and full of heart. A landmark novel in today’s environmentally ravaged world.’ -- Anne Charnock, author of the Arthur C. Clarke 2018 Novel Award-winning Dreams Before the Start of Time

Praise for Clade: ‘Moving and nuanced characterisations distinguish this subtle look at an Earth suffering the consequences of climate collapse.’ -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

Praise for Clade: ‘A stunningly beautiful novel, characterised as much by lyricism as pointed critique of how humans are stewarding the planet.’ - Chicago Review of Books