UNDERJUNGLE

By James Sturz

Cover Design by Jaya Nicely

Deep below the surface, our world is cold, dark, and content. Colors are fickle. Red disappears first as you descend, followed by the yellow of the sun. The hundred shades of blue last the longest, but eventually there is only black—and the candied ooze of the ocean floor...

In Underjungle, an intelligent life form known as the yc exist in the ocean’s depths, an apex predator among most fish. Long ago, this species fractured from a single group into seven distinct tribes, each with their own dialect and cultural idiosyncrasies. Now, one tribe, the Gjala, has stumbled across a most intriguing and unusual object: a sunken corpse. As news travels across the ocean, and the other tribes converge to investigate, the consequences and questions raised will reverberate for generations to come.

of themselves, but of their species. A broad metaphysical story of fantastical worldbuilding from accomplished journalist and nature writer James Sturz, Underjungle is a lyrical tale of love and war, encompassing the marine environment, science, art, philosophy and grief—as deep and surprising as life on the seafloor, where much of this story is set. Buoyed by humor and tinged with the unshakeable melancholy of loss is the existential question that forever ties the novel to our human experience: what is our purpose?

living room shag carpet was finger coral. Now based in Hawaii, he has covered the underwater world for The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The New York Times Magazine, Outside and Men’s Journal, among many publications. His fiction and journalism have been published in 18 countries and translated into nine languages. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell University and is a PADI Divemaster. His first novel, Sasso, was set in the caves of Basilicata, Italy, very far from the water.

Underjungle asks readers to give themselves up to another world: not just to step outside

James Sturz grew up in New York City, snorkeling in his bathtub and pretending the

Artist Hannah Polskin

In this collection Hannah Polskin has reclaimed found objects from the region, letting the Luberon landscape leave its mark on the work. From turn of the century Pétanque balls, to preindustrial-revolution mallets, old masonry sievs, and ancient doors with original rusted hinges, the result is a primitive aesthetic that pays homage to the ancient limestone cave atelier in which the works were made.

View the collection on hannahpolskin.com