“I can’t fathom them, and neither can you.”
The ageless water witch Arahab has been scheming for eons, gatherin...
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Oct 19, 2009
Ben
rated it: 
As a caveat, I found the description on this edition of the book quite misleading. Its tone is glib. Phrases like "task force" and "add in a hapless fire inspector who's just trying to get his paperwork in order" cultivates a tongue-in-cheek feel that made me expect a zanier book than Cherie Priest delivers. So if you're basing your decision to read the book on the description, don't be surprised if Fathom defies your expectations.
That's essentially Fathom in a More...
That's essentially Fathom in a More...
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May 27, 2011
Sarah
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I picked up this book because I really enjoyed Priest's Eden Moore series. That also meant I hadn't read anything about it -- including reviews or the inside cover summary. So, it was much to my surprise when I realized this book wasn't the horror story/ghost story that I had expected. Instead, it was something rather different and quite awesome. Priest tells us one story from multiple points of view. While in other books this might be tedious, it was not for Fathom. Instead, we learn to love th
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Jan 09, 2009
Garret
rated it: 
I read this book in one sitting, too engrossed to remember the tea I'd left steeping or that (for the first thirty minutes) I should probably sit down. I've read Four and Twenty Blackbirds, also by Cherie Priest, and it was good, but it was nowhere near as good as this.
This book makes me want to geek out in so many ways. It's a story that clearly references myths and mythical characters, but itself follows many of the elements of myths; the cyclic nature, the importance of kin, the n More...
This book makes me want to geek out in so many ways. It's a story that clearly references myths and mythical characters, but itself follows many of the elements of myths; the cyclic nature, the importance of kin, the n More...
Aug 20, 2011
Mary Ellen
rated it:
I didn't like it. Then I liked it. Then I didn't like it.
That pretty much sums up my reaction to Fathom. Look, I know that "start with a bang" is something that's drummed into the head of every genre writer. But there also needs to be some context and some level-setting, and that doesn't happen for about 100 pages. And that's a long time to be confused.
But then the threads started to weave together, and I thought I had found a treasure that only a patient reader wo More...
That pretty much sums up my reaction to Fathom. Look, I know that "start with a bang" is something that's drummed into the head of every genre writer. But there also needs to be some context and some level-setting, and that doesn't happen for about 100 pages. And that's a long time to be confused.
But then the threads started to weave together, and I thought I had found a treasure that only a patient reader wo More...
Jun 14, 2011
Jenn
rated it:
Typically, I love the atmosphere and world-building that Cherie Priest does. Not so much here, for me it fell quite a bit flatter than anything I've read so far (by her). Nia goes to meet her cousin Berenice. During this 1st visit, Nia sees her kill her stepfather and has to run when Berenice tries to kill her too. Both girls run into the water, Nia hoping to escape. But...the water-witch takes Berenice and Nia rejects the witch, yet is saved by another elemental who remakes her into a stat
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Feb 18, 2010
Juushika
rated it: 
Nia and her unstable cousin Bernice flee into the ocean, one to be captured by a water witch who wants to awaken the sleeping Leviathan and bring on the apocalypse, one to be rescued by a disgraced god who is not yet ready for the end of the world. With the broadest scope of Priest's novels, Fathom has the potential to be her best work yet—but for want of a protagonist, the novel flounders. Neither a fun read nor particularly meaningful, the book is a disappointment and I don't recommend it.
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Jul 26, 2009
Reading Sarah
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Oct 31, 2010
Shannon
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Apr 16, 2011
Alice
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It's difficult to judge how much I might have enjoyed a book by how quickly I read it. Some books I slog through, but, generally, the less I'm enjoying it, the faster I read it so I can be done. But sometimes, I come across a book that has tight tension and good characterization that's anything but a chore to finish, and I keep absorbing words until I'm out of pages. This book was definitely the latter case; I was disappointed to be done. Not because the plot wasn't resolved (it was), but be
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Mar 31, 2010
Chris
rated it:
I love Borders (can I say that?). I really do. Here's why: When they have an educator's week, they mean all educators, not just k-12 grade. I love that.
It helps because I am addicted to book buying. I can't buy just one book. It doesn't work. I swear the book gets lonely by itself in the bag. It starts to cry. It's very sad.
Anyway, I picked this help during educator's week in part because it sounded more interesting than Boneshaker and because it was educator's w More...
It helps because I am addicted to book buying. I can't buy just one book. It doesn't work. I swear the book gets lonely by itself in the bag. It starts to cry. It's very sad.
Anyway, I picked this help during educator's week in part because it sounded more interesting than Boneshaker and because it was educator's w More...
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Mar 18, 2009
Angela
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Cherie Priest's Fathom claims on its inner flap that it is "quite unlike anything you've ever read", and I'll give it this, it's right.
Nia is visiting her cousin Bernice and other family members on a island in Florida when Bernice unexpectedly commits a crime--and when Nia refuses to help her cover it up, the two of them are in turn ambushed during their struggle by a water goddess bent on using Bernice to further her aim of awakening a being even older and more powerful t More...
Nia is visiting her cousin Bernice and other family members on a island in Florida when Bernice unexpectedly commits a crime--and when Nia refuses to help her cover it up, the two of them are in turn ambushed during their struggle by a water goddess bent on using Bernice to further her aim of awakening a being even older and more powerful t More...
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Jun 16, 2010
Heidi
rated it:
I decided to read this because I really enjoyed Priest's latest novel, Boneshaker. Fathom wasn't as enjoyable for me, although it is very unique - the author definitely has her own voice. This particular novel is sort of a fantasy-fable-historical fiction mashup, which I liked about it, but the story ultimately fell flat. In short, a powerful water witch and her human allies (who consist of a pirate and a psychotic teenage girl) try to destroy the world by awakening a godlike giant who is slumbe
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Feb 18, 2011
Andrea
rated it:
It's so much easier to explain what I don't like about books than what I do like about the ones I love. But I enjoyed Fathom enough that I feel compelled to make the effort.
This novel feels like a chip off a larger diamond of a story: something incomplete, sharp-edged, yet glorious. It follows the supernatural adventures of farm-girl Nia: her introduction to a sea-witch/goddess bent on destroying the world, her transformation into a creature never before seen on the earth, and he More...
This novel feels like a chip off a larger diamond of a story: something incomplete, sharp-edged, yet glorious. It follows the supernatural adventures of farm-girl Nia: her introduction to a sea-witch/goddess bent on destroying the world, her transformation into a creature never before seen on the earth, and he More...
Oct 29, 2010
Kelly
rated it:
This was one of those books that I had to let percolate for a bit before I could review it. It's oddly haunting and, while much of what happens is hard and harsh and brutal, you still come out of it with a pale feeling of optimism. I'm also finding this book difficult to classify. It's part horror story, part transformative tale and partially an ode to the old Gods. The Gods who roamed the earth before mortal man was a twinkle on the skin of the world.
Cherie Priest's writing is l More...
Cherie Priest's writing is l More...
May 03, 2011
Ian
rated it: 
I am still reading this, but it isn't in the genre I was expecting. Cherie was recommended to me as a steam punk author, but this is more Lovecraft horror. Admittedly it's in the right time period, but theres no steam punk at all. That aside, I'm only somewhat interested in the characters, still confused about what's going on halfway through the book, and only peripherally interested in finishing reading the story. I like Lovecraft, but I don't find her character development to be compelling
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Jul 28, 2009
Fathom - Cherie Priest
Very strange plot, definitely grabs you. Mythic fantasy. Light reading.
This is a difficult genre to write. There is a thin line in making believable fantasy. There are moments when this book slips, but Priest brings it back, which gives it just a little camp edge, probably intentionally. Most certainly Priest is a clever writer, who is pushing some boundaries here, twisting events in unexpected ways.
I can't recomend this unreservedly, but i wa More...
Very strange plot, definitely grabs you. Mythic fantasy. Light reading.
This is a difficult genre to write. There is a thin line in making believable fantasy. There are moments when this book slips, but Priest brings it back, which gives it just a little camp edge, probably intentionally. Most certainly Priest is a clever writer, who is pushing some boundaries here, twisting events in unexpected ways.
I can't recomend this unreservedly, but i wa More...
Mar 26, 2009
Robin
rated it:
This book caught my attention in a Publisher's Weekly starred review. It described the book as, "equal parts horror, contemporary fantasy and apocalyptic thriller." And, really, it was all that. Stylistically, this author has got it going on. I really enjoyed the storytelling-- as I read, I felt as if I was looking through gauze. I knew this world, yet I didn't; I could follow the chronology, but at the same time there was this sense of timelessness; I felt like I understood the mythos
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Mar 03, 2010
Janet
rated it:
While lacking the detailed complexity of "American Gods" this book presents a world in which the supernatural lives startlingly close to ordinary life, and is far more potent than most people dream.
I especially enjoyed the characterizations in this book, especially that of Arahab. Other characters refer to her as "the sea witch" but she is clearly a primordial goddess on the order of Tiamat. It would have been easy to present her as a raging, simplistic nightmare, More...
I especially enjoyed the characterizations in this book, especially that of Arahab. Other characters refer to her as "the sea witch" but she is clearly a primordial goddess on the order of Tiamat. It would have been easy to present her as a raging, simplistic nightmare, More...
Feb 27, 2009
Mike
rated it:
Cherie Priest is an author better known for Southern Gothic fiction and, despite its Florida locale, Fathom is a slight deviation from that area. Fathom certainly makes use of Priest’s familiarity with that genre but places more emphasis on the fantastic elements and overarching plot than on the setting and atmosphere of the story. In essence Priest trades elements of horror for elements of the fantastic to craft a story more in vein with Charles de Lint than say Edgar Allan Poe.
Rea More...
Rea More...
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Mar 29, 2010
Jeff
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Cherie Priest writes an interesting look at old gods influencing the inhabitants of Florida. Fathom is an easy read and contains many intriguing moments that all lead up to an unexpected twist. While I enjoy the characters some of them fall by the wayside (in this case I mean they die, most in some sort of grisly fashion) rather rapidly. The gods involved do reveal their identies but spend a fair amount of time explaining that they are known by many names. Fathom is a little less polished th
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Mar 18, 2009
Tamora
rated it:
Duelling powers, one water, one earth, take over cousins as they drown in the 1930s. Arahab, a water goddess who wishes to wake Leviathan and destroy the world to gain his favor, remakes the murderess Bernice to survive in the water and through time. Mossfeaster fixes a cocoon of stone around Nia and waits for her to become as stone, to be a fitting player in opposition to Bernice and her goddess.
It's . . . beautiful, creepy, alien, familiar, and sweeping, all together. I loved th More...
It's . . . beautiful, creepy, alien, familiar, and sweeping, all together. I loved th More...
Feb 11, 2012
7hir7een
rated it:
This novel was quite unlike anything I've read before. Cherie Priest quickly became one of my favorite authors with her Clockwork Century series. I breezed through Boneshaker, Clementine and Dreadnought, and loved them all. That said, this work by Priest is an entirely different beast from those novels. However, it is worth mentioning that it is still undeniably Priest. The styling is masterful, and her great skill at story-crafting makes the book an interesting and enjoyable read. Having always
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May 22, 2010
Catherine
rated it:
It was strange to read this book directly after Lovecraft: awakening elder gods! Ending the world as we know it! A church with some very odd goings-on, connecting to a much earlier belief system than Christianity. But Priest's novel has a very different feel -- mythic but somehow very much connected to everyday life, with a solid sense of place and (early 20th c.) time. There are two sets of characters, Arahab the water witch and her adopted children, the no-longer-human Bernice, once a spo
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Aug 16, 2010
Rachael
rated it:
Fantastic book! Cherie Priest is a new talent in modern myth-making. If you enjoy Neil Gaiman or Christopher Moore, or any of a number of original voices in urban fantasy, you will enjoy this. It does not have the sense of humor that the above authors employ, but Priest drags you along for the ride.
This title is set in 1930's Florida-a unique but enticing period.
I absolutely, 100%, must recommend this magical book. Please don't let me lousy punctuation deter you f
This title is set in 1930's Florida-a unique but enticing period.
I absolutely, 100%, must recommend this magical book. Please don't let me lousy punctuation deter you f
Jul 28, 2009
Dana
rated it:
I will likely go out and find the author's other books based on this book. I really enjoyed the way she spun together mythical gods/beasts, sci-fi/fantasy, historical lore, and regional lore. It took a few chapters to get into the story and start to follow what she was going to do with the characters, but once I got into it I wanted to finish it as soon as possible. She is not the kind of author who is afraid of bloodshed, but also isn't gruesome for gore's sake. I wouldn't mind another story ab
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Jan 11, 2010
Matt
rated it:
Cheri Priest is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her books are complex, well thought-out, and character driven and Fathom was no exception.
I thought I might not like Fathom after reading the bizarre summary on the book jacket but I am glad that I overcame my misgivings and gave it a try. The story follows several people who have been altered by forces that they do not understand to play a part in a very old story. The plot also involves a water witch, a psychotic young More...
I thought I might not like Fathom after reading the bizarre summary on the book jacket but I am glad that I overcame my misgivings and gave it a try. The story follows several people who have been altered by forces that they do not understand to play a part in a very old story. The plot also involves a water witch, a psychotic young More...
May 20, 2009
Laura Margaret
rated it:
I enjoyed this book, which is set near Tampa in the 1930s. A little slow to get going but I couldn't wait to find out how it ended. The only thing that threw me off was that a critical plot point involved Ft. De Soto being a few miles south of Ybor city (when it's closer to 40 miles and at least an hour's drive). Still, good book, fun to read about a city where I used to live, and now I really wish I had visited Bok Tower Gardens while I was living in FL.
Dec 04, 2010
Corinne
rated it:
One of a kind book. I expected nothing less from Cherie Priest and was not dissappointed ;). The story started very speedy and so fast that while I was reading it I felt like screaming "What's going on here?" and "How did this happen?". Throughout the whole book, there is a nebulous feeling that some figure will finally answer all the questions I got, but nobody's there and the story ends as mysteriously as it began. A treat :)
May 27, 2010
Purlewe
rated it:
Interesting take on mythology. I have never read any Cherie Priest before. I have only heard good things, even if this isn't the one that people recommend. I personally enjoyed it. I think the idea behind taking typical myths and making them your own a really fresh idea on the fantasy story.
The water witch wants to distroy the world. A lesser god of decay and dirt wants to keep it safe. Both create their own destroyer from a mortal girl (cousins). The story winds its way thru the be More...
The water witch wants to distroy the world. A lesser god of decay and dirt wants to keep it safe. Both create their own destroyer from a mortal girl (cousins). The story winds its way thru the be More...
Jul 13, 2011
Brad
rated it:
This qualifies more as urban fantasy, as it takes place in a recognizable early 20th century Florida and the fantasy comes from some of the characters. Best quick summation I can give is that it tells the story of the machinations of different elementals as one tries to rouse one of the old gods to destroy the world with water. There is some family drama, but it's secondary to the bigger picture.
Entertaining, and I will certainly be reading more from Priest, but nothing in particul More...
Entertaining, and I will certainly be reading more from Priest, but nothing in particul More...
