Deep Water

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Buffy book reviews)

DEEP WATER

By Laura Anne Gilman & Josepha Sherman (2000)

RATING: 4/5 Stakes

SETTING: Season Three

CAST APPEARANCES: Buffy, Giles, Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia, Angel, Joyce, Willy

MAJOR ORIGINAL CHARACTERS: Ariel (selkie), Dr. Julian Lee (marine researcher)

BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: “Willow’s soft spot for critters finds her spending a cold winter morning along the coast as part of a volunteer rescue team, cleaning up an oil spill that has damaged the marine habitat. While climbing over some rocks, she discovers another unexpected victim of the spillage--a selkie, a shape-shifting seal girl who won’t be able to return to the sea until the oil is removed from her coat. Willow takes the creature back to the library so that Giles and the Slayerettes can help her to restore her magickal coat. However, though ‘Ariel,’ as the posse dubs her, is endearing in her innocence, Buffy can’t quite shaker her innate suspicions of the creature whose nature, like the ocean, is ever changing. Unfortunately, the spill has forced more than a selkie from the cold water. Merrows look very much like traditional mermaids--with one important and fatal difference. As if things weren’t complicated enough . . .”

REVIEW

The basic plot of Deep Water is relatively simple--Willow discovers a young selkie that has taken the form of a ten-year old girl. Stranded on the beach because of oil on her coat, the selkie is unable to return home unless Willow and Giles can discover a way to return the coat to its natural state. Of course, nice selkies aren’t the only denizens of the ocean--a band of bloodthirsty merrows has decided to make the beaches of Sunnydale their home. Throw a semi-crazed marine biologist and a war between merrows and vampires into the mix, and you have all the makings of what could be a rather cheesy addition to the Buffy canon. Indeed, Deep Water isn’t even the first time the Scooby Gang has faced monsters from the ocean--the Season Two episode “Go Fish” featured a demonic swim team similar in essence to merrows.

However, the authors of Deep Water somehow make the book work. Not only is the story well plotted and paced, the novel contains a rarity among Buffy books: real humor and strong dialogue. Of particular interest is the portrayal of Buffy’s jealousy over Giles’ father-like bond with the selkie girl. Cordelia has some great moments in the book and the turf-war between merrows and vampires is exciting and bloody--indeed, it’s one of the only times I can ever remember cheering for Sunnydale’s most-pummeled inhabitants. Although Deep Water isn’t a deep or moving novel, it does contain the wit and action of a solid Buffy episode and is therefore worth picking up.