Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed, 464 pp. Solaris
I love cosmic horror. There is something unsettling about one day finding one’s self battling against giant incomprehensible forces older than humanity itself. Add a dash of action/adventure to the mix and set it in the early 2000s and I am hooked.
Premee Mohamed’s 2020 novel, Beneath the Rising, gives readers this exact combo. It’s about an ordinary teenager and a child scientist battling to save the world from an ancient evil threatening to destroy it. They travel the world together, confront their childhood traumas, and defeat real monsters to save the planet. The book is funny at times, heart-breaking at others, while the looming sense of dread throughout amps up the tension with each chapter. By their wild journey’s end, both characters and reader alike understand the weight of genius, and the cost of saving the world.
