The Seep

by Chana Porter

Hardcover, 203 pages

English language

Published by Soho Press.

ISBN:: 9781641290869

(11 reviews)

A blend of searing social commentary and speculative fiction, Chana Porter’s fresh, pointed debut is perfect for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Carmen Maria Machado.

Trina Goldberg-Oneka is a fifty-year-old trans woman whose life is irreversibly altered in the wake of a gentle—but nonetheless world-changing—invasion by an alien entity called The Seep. Through The Seep, everything is connected. Capitalism falls, hierarchies and barriers are broken down; if something can be imagined, it is possible.

Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence—until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, which will give her the chance at an even better life. Using Seeptech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina devastated.

Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina follows a lost boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest. In …

A blend of searing social commentary and speculative fiction, Chana Porter’s fresh, pointed debut is perfect for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and Carmen Maria Machado.

Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina follows a lost boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest. In her attempt to save him from The Seep, she will confront not only one of its most avid devotees, but the terrifying void that Deeba has left behind. A strange new elegy of love and loss, The Seep explores grief, alienation, and the ache of moving on.

1 edition

enne📚 reviewed The Seep by Chana Porter

The Seep

4 stars

Content warning minor spoilers

This short novel is about "the softest invasion" of earth, by an alien lifeform called The Seep that infiltrates the drinking water and causes humans to hear each other's thoughts, feel joy and peace, gain immortality, and also be able to magically transform themselves and the world around them. The Seep loves humans (like an overprotective parent) and wants to help humans create a perfect world (whatever that means).

But, if anything, this soft-but-creepy invasion by the Seep is more of a backdrop to the narrator Trina's own grief, and her anger about changes in the world. The arc of the book is mostly a very personal one focused inwardly on the narrator; the climax of the book, even as it is very explicitly a confrontation with The Seep itself is ultimately an internal and emotional one.

The Seep is a neat alien overall and was a lot of fun to read, especially as most of what we see of it is not some on page monster but instead is only visible through the changed interactions of other humans. And, I like a book complaining about capitalism as much as the next person, but it was also refreshing to have this book magically wave past such problems into some further future with its own issues.

The fact that humans are able to suddenly understand each other's feelings and suffering via the Seep turns the world into a (terrifying?) neverending therapy processing session. Some of this reminds me of the vibes of Lois McMaster Bujold's Shards of Honor, where Cordelia goes back to Beta Colony and is constantly harassed about therapy until she escapes. I think The Seep's patience and implacability also remind me some of the Oankali in Lilith's Brood, where they hold all the cards and think they know best for humans.

The main character is a butch trans woman who laments the wild clothing and appearance changes that the rest of the world goes through, feeling lost about how to be butch and what feels comfortable for her in these new spaces. And maybe this is spot on for Trina herself, who is mostly just angry about change as a character trait, but at one point there's a line: "She’d fought and kicked and clawed to have her insides match her outsides, and now people changed their faces as easily as getting a haircut." Mostly this was jarring to me because universally most trans folks I know would be overjoyed for others to more easily be able to change their bodies.

Overall, this had some really neat ideas, wrapped up with a good emotional arc, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I read this because it's on the Otherwise Award's 2020 Honor List: otherwiseaward.org/award/2020-otherwise-award/2020-honor-list

Monika reviewed The Seep by Chana Porter

Review of 'The Seep' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

The world-building and the storytelling is superb. I don't always do well with fiction on audiobook, which is how I took in this story, but I was hanging on every word. The premise was so cool, executed wonderfully, and brought up a lot of things to think about. I was reminded of the …

Chana Porter's The Seep takes place after an alien invasion that, instead of bringing war and destruction, makes people kinder, more caring and thoughtful. Earth has become a utopia, free of capitalism. Everyone has the ability to be whoever or whatever they feel they need to be, and they are kept happy and soothed. But there's an air of toxic positivity and superficial spirituality, too. The protagonist, Trina, sees through it and struggles with her conflicting, unsatisfied feelings. When her wife Deeba decides to make the ultimate Seep modification, Trina is left to deal with her grief.

The world-building and the storytelling is superb. I don't always do well with fiction on audiobook, which is how I took in this story, but I was hanging on every word. The premise was so cool, executed wonderfully, and brought up a lot of things to think about. I was reminded of the final season of The Good Place, but with a darker tone. What makes humans unique? What makes us human? Where do we find contentment, curiosity, or the will to live? How would we feel if we had access to everything we could ever want or hope for?

callan reviewed The Seep by Chana Porter

The Seep - whoa

5 stars

Just read this one in less than an hour and a half. Amazing, like nothing I've read. A bizarre utopian dystopia. My brain is like... too full to do it justice right now. I hope we never get to a point where people we love want to become babies again.

Hope reviewed The Seep by Chana Porter

Review of 'The Seep' on 'GoodReads'

4 stars

This is not a perfect, flawless book and sometimes it is quite heavy handed in its parodies, and I suspect would make some of my friends roll their eyes. But I do not care. It is deeply imaginative, and made me shake my head at myself when sometimes it held up a mirror with a wry knowing smirk. And in the end it was deeply sweet.