★★★★☆ Loss and sorrow in a Lovecraftian world

The Litany of Earth

Ruthanna Emrys

I have resisted reading anything H.P. Lovecraft wrote. I nevertheless know something of the world his fiction built, because it shows up so often in work by authors I admire, for instance N.K. Jemisin and Charles Stross. (There are any number of others.) Without exception, these authors explain, sometimes at length, how *awful* Lovecraft was: unreadably tedious and racist. (To be fair, racism is a charge justly raised against a lot of early twentieth century authors.)

Yet Jemisin, Stross, and now Ruthanna Emrys seem unable to resist the call of Lovecraft's stories. And, judging by the results, they are right to give in. They have produced powerful stories by giving in.

The Litany of Earth is a story told from the point of view of one of the Deep Ones, a worshipper of Dread Cthulhu. Until they were taken from her and destroyed by the government, Aphra March lived in Innsmouth, Vermont, with her family. Aphra now lives in San Francisco with a Japanese family, the Kotos, who know what she is -- they call her Kappa-sama (河童様). They also had their lives taken from them when they were put into an internment camp, during the second World War.

Aphra is a gentle soul who is as kind to the human mortals around her as she can be. There is no Lovecraftian horror here. The Litany of Earth is a novelette, that is, a long short story (32 pages in kindle). It can be read for free at Tor.com.

The Litany of Earth on Tor.com

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