Deep Wizardry takes place in the mid1980s. The modern setting is reflected in the breezy, idiomatic style that Duane uses to convey the protagonists' words and thoughts, very different from the stately tones often adapted by writers of fantasy. Duane's remarkable use of detail to set a scene also reminds readers that this is not a fantasy set in the timeless past. For instance, the youngsters (in whale form) swim past castoff beer cans and other trash dumped in the Atlantic Ocean. The two adult wizards who act as advisors to Kit and Nita are available by telephone. And at one point, an undersea peak is said to be the height of "five Empire State Buildings on top of each other."

Duane places her characters on the edge of two worlds, land and sea, with the sea at the heart of the story. The land is Southampton...