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  • The Brilliant Abyss

  • True Tales of Exploring the Deep Sea, Discovering Hidden Life and Selling the Seabed
  • By: Helen Scales
  • Narrated by: Helen Scales
  • Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (73 ratings)
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The Brilliant Abyss

By: Helen Scales
Narrated by: Helen Scales
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Summary

Bloomsbury presents The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales, read by Helen Scales.

The deep sea is the last vast wilderness on the planet. For centuries, myth-makers and storytellers have concocted imaginary monsters of the deep, and now scientists are looking there to find bizarre, unknown species, chemicals to make new medicines, and to gain a greater understanding of how this world of ours works. With an average depth of 12,000 feet and chasms that plunge much deeper, it forms a frontier for new discoveries.

The Brilliant Abyss tells the story of our relationship with the deep sea - how we imagine, explore and exploit it. It captures the golden age of discovery we are currently in and looks back at the history of how we got here, while also looking forward to the unfolding new environmental disasters that are taking place miles beneath the waves, far beyond the public gaze.

Throughout history, there have been two distinct groups of deep-sea explorers. Both have sought knowledge but with different and often conflicting ambitions in mind. Some people want to quench their curiosity; many more have been lured by the possibilities of commerce and profit. The tension between these two opposing sides is the theme that runs throughout the book, while listeners are taken on a chronological journey through humanity’s developing relationship with the deep sea. The Brilliant Abyss ends by looking forwards to humanity’s advancing impacts on the deep, including mining and pollution and what we can do about them.

©2021 Helen Scales (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

What listeners say about The Brilliant Abyss

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent content and narration

I enjoyed this audiobook a great deal and found it fascinating throughout. The polemical tone of the chapters concerning deep-sea mining and the inevitably terrible repercussions of this activity, for me, was entirely relatable, moving and thought-provoking. I reckon it’s a cracking book.

The author’s narration is superb. Her voice is lovely to listen to - very engaging and clear.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Insightful and thought provoking

A magical account of first hand experiences and insightful information about the deep and its importance in the cyclic and connected food chain within eco systems which I thoroughly enjoyed. This narrative also reveals the very real and current political discussions surrounding our future on this planet.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Fascinating until the last few chapters where it drones on a bit

The audiobook started off strong, with great description and narration of the deep sea, there was so much history there and I almost felt transported at times. However the last 1/4 of the book saw the narrator drone a bit, the voice grated me so much in how monotone it was. The worst thing was the change of topic to environmental issues around extraction of rare earth elements. It covered super basic points which most readers of the book will already know and the solutions were so weak like “push your government to take more action” instead of actually talking about seabed ownership and regulation. Felt like the author didn’t really have a clue about the wider macroeconomic or policy issues and it ruined the book for me a bit.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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  • KT
  • 18-03-23

A book of wonder and terror

This was an awesome, beautiful book, the first half is full of the wonders of the deep. There is a vocabulary all its own to describe the creatures and life deep under the sea. The terror comes when you hear what the ever charming human race have been doing and plan to do. Thank goodness for the advocates of the sea and their relentless work to protect it and, by extension, all of us. The last part of the book gives a kernel of hope, but we need to be actively pushing our leaders in the direction of innovation that will in turn protect our magnificent oceans, and to be doing our bit locally, daily, to reduce our relentless overconsumption and reliance on single use plastics.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Rants overshadow interesting bits

As someone who loves the ocean I had high hopes for this book but sadly it didn’t deliver. It has elements of interesting facts but is mixed with too much uninteresting turgidity. What frustrated me most, as someone who also works in the energy industry, was the endless ranting against the realities of modern life and utopian environmentalism which strayed from making fair points to trying to incite activism. This got pretty boring very quickly and undermined the rest of the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book - thoughtful and delightfully read by the author

Well presented and engaging collection of themed essays on the deep oceans and their ecology.
Sharp and direct points on human exploitation and short sightedness and the need for urgent change.
My only criticism - and this could be applied to almost every similar work - is that it fails to acknowledge or discuss the most difficult issue of catastrophic human-induced environmental change, namely that the human population has reached unsustainably high levels.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An incredible listen

This well researched and presented book will install you with a passion for deep sea biology and all the incredible and weird creatures that we share our planet with.
The information is up to date on the cutting edge of the more mysterious part of our world.
The narration by the author is also very well done and keeps you hooked.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book.

Helen clearly has a passion for the deep and that comes across beautifully when she is describing the abyssal layer of the Ocean. It brings up some very serious points that man kind must over come so we dont lose such a beautiful and mesmerising place.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Jj
  • 07-07-21

Great listening

Can tell shes very passionate about her work and it made it more of a joy to listen. Amazing book

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The best book I have read for some time.

Narrator shared her enthusiasm for her subject. There was much food for thought. I hope many people will read this book.

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