Faces Under Water

The Secret Books of Venus #1

by Tanith Lee

The Secret Books of Venus series—each book woven around the alchemical elements of water, fire, earth, and air—begins with Faces Under Water, in which Tanith Lee immerses her readers in ancient Venetian canals and the secret terror that lies beneath.

In the hedonistic atmosphere of an eighteenth-century Venice Carnival, gaiety turns deadly when Furian Furiano happens upon a mask of Apollo floating in the murky waters of the canals. The mask hides a sinister art, and Furian finds himself trapped in a bizarre tangle of love, obsession, and evil, stumbling upon a macabre society of murderers. The beautiful but elusive Eurydiche holds the key to these murders and leads him further into a labyrinth of black magic and ancient alchemy. Why do secrets from Furian’s past seem tied to the mysterious Eurydiche? In Tanith Lee’s brilliantly imagined world of violence and terror, Furian must find a way to survive and stem the obsession driving him toward his hidden destiny.

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult, Alchemy

230 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[Kaila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanith Lee and I have a strange relationship. Every time I read her I think, “Maybe I should stop reading so much Tanith Lee,” and then she pulls me back in like some sort of fever dream. None of her books leave a lasting impression, except a vague disquiet and increased vocabulary about colors (she really likes describing colors). Even while reading them I forget what is happening. But there’s something about them. Like all her books, it was not life changing or emotional or memorable, but I want to fall into them anyway. I wonder if my favorite Tanith Lee will always be my first Tanith Lee, and none of her other books will ever live up to it (my first Tanith Lee was Black Unicorn, which I LOVED).

The ending was intense. She writes about sex a lot but I don’t remember it ever being quite so vivid. It was disturbingly sexy, causing prickly uncomfortableness and a blush of ashamed arousal. This is the first book in a series but felt self-contained, so I’ll be interested to see where it goes from here.

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

enough of this is wrought from lee's typically striking, specular imagery to overcome the bits that feel uninspired. as usual, i say this every time, you can sense lee's own level of interest in the nitty-gritty of storytelling -- when she's on the work blossoms, and when she's not, the work skips past its more tiresome obligations. as a writer i admire that honesty. is the job of an artist to create a perfect object? idk. seems impossible. certainly a "good editor" could've sewn the seams shut, but in doing so would've rid her writing of its unpretentious transparency.

also -- queen of writing characters that are unsympathetic if not totally opaque. she rly demanded that you get on her level or move on !!

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book set in Lee's alternate history of Venice, and it's got all the hallmarks of her approach: luscious writing, weirdly fantastic plot elements, irritatingly unlikeable characters. About halfway through I didn't know whether it was going anywhere or not, though it was so enjoyable to read I hardly cared. But the plot strands all tie together in admirable fashion, and even more magically make the characters sympathetic after all (well, most of them). I haven't read enough Lee to rank the book definitively but it seems clear it's in the top tier.

[Isotta Zanon · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5
Incest and cock rings and strange stuff. I don’t even know why anything happened in this book. Some of the weirdest shit I have ever read

[Cat Hellisen]

Though the writing felt staccato -almost tripping over itself - at times; even with this narrative tic I rushed through. The story, for all its obliqueness, is pretty linear, but the descriptions are perfect: the drowned cities, Venus/Venice a place of magic and nightmare, Furian an unlikely and unlikeable hero, and Eurydiche a flat and distressing damsel in distress.

And yet and yet and yet, I swept through it, ate it up. While Eurydiche is not Lee's most interesting female creation, nor Furian her most interesting male, there's something about the way she paints the obsessive and revolting qualities of lust/love*, the dark movements of humans and the subtle press of the gods they worship, that keep me fascinated with her storytelling.

Her human characters feel like beetles - pretty and scintillating-bright - but still just insects, crawling across the far more interesting character of her cities. Perhaps that's why I love her books. It's not about people, but about the way cities shape their people, and *that* fascinates me.


*I am reminded of a lyric from MSP's Life Becoming a Landslide: "My idea of love comes from/ A childhood glimpse of pornography/ Though there is no true love/ Just a finely tuned jealousy."

[Justin Howe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like Anne Rice meets Fritz Leiber, but maybe better than both.

[Carol Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struggled with this

[Lissa Notreallywolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by Tanith Lee, and I am generally delighted. I came across it by searching for alchemical novel. It's set in an alternative Venice named for Venus, and the use of planetary correspondences in this book, as well as alchemical references delighted me. It's an elemental book, favoring water and it has all the shades of Death in Venice and also remaniscent of a scene from The Master, where a dress bubbles up from the canal. A woman with an alabaster face, some genetic disorder that paralyses the facial features, is the water element, and love interest of a down in the heels member of the gentry. We have a creepy alchemist, Jewish, behind a rabbit mask accompanied by his familiar, a Magpie. Issues of eternal life also play into this strange book, complete with a Borgia-esque father of the mute, Eurydiche. Notably this leader of a faction of the maskmakers guild wears a wolf mask, and seems to symbolize antimony, although this is not stated, and Eurydiche seems to be emblematic of the Doves of Diana. I will have to reread the series more carefully, but honestly couldn't wait to start Saint Fire. The writing is lyrical dark and nuanced. Very happy to see she has written many books.

[Hesper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tanith Lee creates exquisite worlds inhabited by dream-like creatures she tries, and fails, to pass off as people. The alternate-world Venice of this book is a prime example: crisp, deft, intoxicating prose; plot and character not so much.

Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. Think of this book as a mildly exotic amuse-bouche. Not every novel can, or should be, a feast.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stumbled across this book when I was looking for something to read, and I discovered that Tanith Lee was a prolific science fiction/fantasy writer who died in 2015. I figured since she’d published a vast number of books, it was worth it to give her chance.

The good: Lee had an incredibly artistic voice. Her prose is almost poetic and it’s incredibly evocative. The reader can visualize every detail of this story, which is set in a fabulous, Venice-like-but-not-quite-Venice city. Carnival is vivid as are the masks, the boatmen, the fisherman, the maskmakers, etc.

The not so good: I can’t quite figure out what on earth I just read. Furian, the main character, feels muddled and without purpose. The plot is never fully clear. The story, which is about suspicious deaths during Carnival that Furian investigates, is muddy and seems aimless for the first half of the book, and even when a real plot seems to develop, the motives are bizarre and unclear.

All in: I guess I might try something else by Lee, not one of her more popular books. She wrote beautifully; the gorgeous prose was what kept me reading. But I could have done with a tighter plot.

[James Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me reading Tanith Lee is like going to a grand banquet. She serves up her best dishes, her words and stories. Lee is a genius chef, one who knows which herbs and spices are best for each dish. Faces Under Water is the opening volume in her quartet, The Secret Books of Venus. Each entry is inspired by one of the four elements, earth, air, Fire and Water.
Here she brings her story of an alternate Venice centuries ago. The story, as with the element water, is full of darkness, dream and mystery. Water is a feminine element and this story takes us deep into alchemy, treachery and mystery.
The story takes place during the Autumn Festival, a month in which all residents of Venice are required to always be masked.
Lee’s descriptive power seems unlimited. She writes of the fantastical in such a way as to put the reader there in the story. All is wild and crazy yet seems real.
This is a delicious story, filled with tasty morsels, spiced perfectly. Great read!

[Varadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Furian Furiano was a ridiculous angry young man who was an asshole, and really annoying to spend time with. Super gross about women and anything that didn't play into his understanding. I did not believe the love story, and wished we got to spend more time with Eurydiche. The epilogue is her quick POV of her entire life and also the plot of the book. This woman with the frozen face thing is definitely a thing Tanith Lee has visited before. I read at least one short story with that going on.

[Shane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a huge Tanith Lee fan, but that said, it's definitely a love/hate relationship. This one was on of the later. It just kind of meandered as if she were writing off the top of her head, hoping to finally latch on to a plot, but it never happened. Many time I was just left completely confused by her similes and metaphors and I just kept waiting for something to happen.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to read Tanith Lee as a teen and think they were mysterious and amazing. As a 47 year old this just seemed a babble of pointless events and a sexually distasteful ramble with a plot tacked on in the last 2 chapters. Rubbish

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another weird, great Tanith Lee book - she never disappoints!

[Jenni Higginbotham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wacky! I like the alternate history Venice, and the writing is beautiful and weird as hell. Of COURSE it is sexually deviant like most Tanith Lee stories. Enjoy!

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Faces Under Water, by Tanith Lee, was one of those books: picked up because I knew the author's name and figured "well, why not?" Having read the book, I can now answer that question. Lee's storytelling style, while gorgeous, lacks a sense of clarity and comprehensibility. Which is all well and good, except rumor has it that something might have been happening in the plot and it would have been nice to have been able to follow along. That, however, is the least of the book's flaws.

The story, once I figured it out, was not all that bad. Furian, a young lordling who abandoned his family for reasons unknown, is working around the canals of Venus (Venice) when he comes upon a mask under the water, presumably still attached to the body last wearing it. He takes it to his doctor friend and proceeds to forget all about it, at least until a couple of hitmen start hunting him and he falls for a lovely maiden in a butterfly mask. Things "get weirder" as Furian finds himself enveloped in a giant conspiracy run by some fairly prominent members of Venus
and it is only with the help of Doctor Shaachen's magic and his newly found love that he has the smallest chance of survival.

I was particularly unimpressed with Furian as a hero. His motives are never clear and, while Lee clearly wants him to be the archetypal lord's son with a heart of gold, you get the feeling that Furian's behavior is because his author is directly forcing him to be this way and he's cooperating rather sullenly. His love for the butterfly lady is completely unbelievable and feels much more like fleeting lust cemented by sex with a wooden doll. And then he has his clich_�d moment of doubt in order to add to the angst. That just killed it for me. I have no problem with creating situations in which the hero/ine is unsure of a lover's fidelity and behaves accordingly. But in order for me to believe that Furian actually doubted her, then he would have to be an utter moron. To be fair, though, his behavior in the rest of the book does not suggest any differently, but I'm incapable of rooting for a hero with a total of two brain cells to rub together who is supposed to be intelligent.

If you can get past the first one hundred pages, which are tedious beyond all measure, there is a reasonably interesting mystery behind it all. What is happening is clear (err, except to Furian the idiot) from the beginning, but the how is what kept me reading and the way Lee ties everyone together is extremely satisfying. The book's high point is definitely Doctor Shaachen and his magic; everything was much more entertaining when he was around.

Lee does have a lovely way with words and the images she can evoke are almost better suited to poetry than to fantasy. Her descriptions of Venus are deliciously full and inviting. Despite the strange and dreamy quality of her words, the place she creates comes through with all the vividness of a surrealist painting. It is disappointing to find that the material does not remotely do justice to the language.

[✵ Kas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book was a fever-dream of passionate prose and luscious Carnival imagery. It was definitely a 'What am I reading?' sort of book but it really intoxicated me. Even when i thought I might dnf (I wasn't sure where the plot was going), I had to come back (and my god the end was intense, i'm so glad i carried on). The tale is set in an alternate, magical Venice with references to the Zodiac, Greek mythology and alchemy. It is dark, mysterious, weird and very sexy with its hedonistic atmosphere. And my stars are really for that rather than being a sophisticated, organised plot. But thats just the kinda gal i am, give me loads of dreamy metaphors to drown in.

I loved the characters, especially the magical Doctor with his magpie familiar. Furian, the main character was very likeable to me despite being a complete moron at times. And the love-interest, Eurydice was a super interesting character with her dark history and her face like a true, motionless mask.

I can't give it a full 5 stars because despite the creativity, it really needed better editing and lacked some comprehensibility and some parts are a bit 'of its time', but I was happy enough to get lost in the mad wonder of the authors mind from the weird late 70s era of fantasy. THE ENDING IS VERY EYEBROW RAISY.

Tanith Lee is fast becoming one of my favourite authors, i find her mind so fascinating.

[lfthndofdrknss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of interesting ideas but seemed a little simplistic. I am not a fan of long speeches that reveal the sinister plots of any villain and the one in this book felt too heavy. I will; however, read the next one since I hope for better things to come.

[Cozette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful story in an alternate Venice; the best of dark masquerades and magic.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as dark as the Books of Paradys, I enjoyed the writing here but I feel Tanith Lee is much better than this.

[A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not sure why this book utterly failed to hold my attention, seeing as I usually love Tanith Lee, but I gave up halfway through.