Deep Sea EmbersAshes of Deep Sea

深海余烬

This is not the tale of Duncan Abnomar, Captain of the Vanished. This is the story of mankind's final stand against the onslaught of the harbingers of end-time, of humanity's indomitable will to preserve their dying embers of civilization.

Let's talk about other epic stories you've read in novelupdates: LotM, ORV, SCOG, EER, TCF. You have the emotional investment in the MC, in their journey to be powerful and save the world, and rarely you see the effort of anyone else to achieve the same goal. The main characters always struggle alone. In itself, this is not a bad narrative at all; you get to feel for them, to feel as strong, as resilient, as hopeful as them. By making all the characters work as hard as them, the MC ceases to be special.

Deep Sea Embers managed to showcase the divine power of the MC while not undermining what can a normal, hard-working citizen can do; in fact, what drives me in writing this review is how impeccably written is the story of side characters. We get to see how each crew have their own power, how the authority and religious government actually works towards the well-being of mankind, how each and every civilian is ready to sacrifice themselves to pass the torch of civilization.

The story, while having comedic tone sometimes, is pretty full of despair; the world is dying, the remaining outpost of humanity is slowly being corrupted and destroyed by otherworldly being outside and inside (cultists), the border between reality and alternate reality is collapsing, and the sun is burning out. But in despair can we see how powerful the conviction of every and any human is.

In their despair, each citizen is capable, willing, and proud to use their body to halt the advances of supernatural forces. The priests and military, stereotypically corrupt and useless in another novels, actually put the best interest of all before their own, not hesitating to self-destruct their ships, buildings, vehicles, and even islands to prevent contamination from spreading. The brave explorer of the sea, realizing they have been dead 6 years prior and are merely echoes of the past, shut themselves so as not to corrupt their families and die once again. The ghosts of the loyal Queen's Guard shall never falter to purge any evil in their beloved city-state. All of these are beautifully written, with expressive and exhaustive details.

The ultimate fantasy of the modern era, humanity's union against a common foe and the sacrifice of each and every being, will never be realized in our world. That's why you should read DSE