CoW Ep. 196: She Sleeps Beneath the Sea

[danooli]

Episode 196: She Sleeps Beneath the Sea by Shveta Thakrar

• Narrated by Mahvesh Murad
• Audio production by Jeremy Carter
• Originally published in Faerie (Issue 31, Summer 2015)

Our story this week is the haunting and lovely She Sleeps Beneath the Sea by Shveta Thakrar. Shveta is a writer of South Asian–flavored fantasy, social justice activist, and part-time nagini. She draws on her heritage, her experience growing up with two cultures, and her love of myth to spin stories about spider silk and shadows, magic and marauders, and courageous girls illuminated by dancing rainbow flames. When not hard at work on her second novel, a young adult fantasy about stars, Shveta makes things out of glitter and paper and felt, devours books, daydreams, draws, bakes sweet treats, travels, and occasionally even practices her harp. You can find more of her work in Uncanny and the excellent Kaleidoscope anthology, and her poems have appears in Mythic Delirium and Strange Horizons. Learn more on her website and Twitter.

Your narrator is the extremely talented Mahvesh Murad. Mahvesh is a voice artist, editor, book reviewer and recovering radio host. She’s the editor of the Apex Book of World SF 4, as well as the co-editor of a forthcoming anthology of jinn stories from Solaris. She lives in Karachi, Pakistan. You can follow her on Twitter and her website.

She sleeps beneath the sea. Shh, shh, plish, splash. The susurration brushes past her unresponsive ears as the surf tucks itself below her chin, a sleek coverlet of warm salt water in shades of blue and green and bordered with seed pearls of foam. Reclining on her side, her dark tresses matted against the damp sand and one brown hand supporting her head, she hints at secrets in the mysterious tongue of slumber: a slight gasp here, a soft sigh there.

Click here to listen to Episode 196
Click here to read the text of the story

Shveta’s inspirational image, La Dormeuse, by Alain Lacki.

Tags: Cast of Wonders, dissatisfaction, family, Fantasy, fitting in, growing up, Mahvesh Murad, Modern Fantasy, naga, ocean, shape changer, Shveta Thakrar, wanderlust, Young Adult fiction

[Unblinking]

I like to see less utilized mythical creatures show up in fiction now and then.  Nagini are one of those. 

I didn't really get into this one, though, I'm afraid.  I didn't find either half of the narrative particularly compelling for some reason.  The interaction between the two, the friction caused by some awareness leaching across, but as a whole it didn't draw me in enough.

[Devoted135]

I had a hard time following this one. The writing was good, but I think that it was atmospheric enough that I had a hard time keeping it in my mind, especially at the beginning when it seemed to contradict itself. Beautiful narration though.