The Litany of Earth

Decades after the residents of Innsmouth were forced into internment camps by the United States government, Aphra Marsh discovers humans trying to replicate her people's secret mystical rituals.

In a review for Io9, Charlie Jane Anders described The Litany of Earth as "a fascinating spin on the Cthulhu universe, in which the Deep Ones are real, and the government takes notice."{{cite news |last1=Anders |first1=Charlie Jane |title=The U.S. Government Inflicted Horrible Atrocities On Cthulhu's Followers |url=https://gizmodo.com/the-u-s-government-inflicted-horrible-atrocities-on-ct-1586754141 |access-date=6 September 2021 |work=I09 |publisher=Gizmodo |date=June 5, 2014}} In The Verge, Andrew Liptak describes The Litany of Earth as "helpful to read" before the Innsmouth Legacy series sequel Winter Tide,{{cite news |last1=Liptak |first1=Andrew |title=Winter Tide subverts Lovecraft's legacy with sympathetic monsters and terrible humans |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/23/15355944/winter-tide-ruthanna-emrys-lovecraft-book-review |access-date=1 September 2021 |work=The Verge |date=April 23, 2017}} and describes both as works in which Emrys "subverts Lovecraft's notorious racism by making his monsters — which were often thinly veiled stand-ins for people of color — sympathetic protagonists."{{cite news |last1=Liptak |first1=Andrew |title=How author Ruthanna Emrys is subverting Lovecraft's tropes with her own cosmic horror series |url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/15/16315248/ruthanna-emrys-subverting-lovecraft-tropes-cosmic-horror-winter-tide-deep-roots-interview |access-date=1 September 2021 |work=The Verge |date=September 15, 2017}} With regard to Litany of the Earth, Noah Berlatsky writes for The Verge, the "real horror in this story update isn’t fish-people; it's violent prejudice, as seen from the monsters’ perspective."{{cite news |last1=Berlatsky |first1=Noah |title=Carnival Row is the latest H.P. Lovecraft descendant to directly subvert his racism |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/9/20856492/carnival-row-amazon-hp-lovecraft-racism-cthulhu |access-date=1 September 2021 |work=The Verge |date=September 9, 2019}}

In a review of Imperfect Commentaries, a collection of 25 stories and poems by Emrys, Publishers Weekly writes, "Emrys's tales abound with magic and marvels, but her focus is on the nuances that define the humanity of her characters, seen most perceptibly in "The Litany of Earth," which introduces the protagonist of her novels Winter Tide (2017) and Deep Roots (2018): a descendant of the amphibious race in Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth" whose persecution has echoes of the plight of contemporary refugees. The author's frequent feminist and queer spins on familiar fantasy tropes add an exhilarating freshness."{{cite news |title=Imperfect Commentaries |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59021-702-3 |access-date=1 September 2021 |work=Publishers Weekly |date=May 1, 2019}} The Litany of Earth was also listed on the Locus Magazine 2014 Locus Recommended Reading List.{{cite news |title=2014 Locus Recommended Reading List |url=https://locusmag.com/2015/02/2014-locus-recommended-reading-list/ |access-date=6 September 2021 |work=Locus Magazine |date=February 1, 2015}}

• An analysis of the 2015 Hugo nominating ballots by Andrew Liptak of Io9 that corrected for the involvement of the Sad Puppies indicated that Litany of Earth could have been a finalist for that year's Hugo Award for Best Novelette.[https://io9.gizmodo.com/this-is-what-the-2015-hugo-ballot-should-have-been-1725967147 This Is What The 2015 Hugo Ballot Should Have Been], by Andrew Liptak, at Io9; published August 23, 2015; retrieved April 4, 2018
• 2019 finalist for Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature (The Innsmouth Legacy series: The Litany of Earth, Winter Tide, Deep Roots){{cite web |last1=Emerson |first1=David |title=2019 Mythopoeic Awards Finalists Announced |url=http://www.mythsoc.org/news/news-2019-06-05.htm |website=Mythopoeic Society |access-date=1 September 2021 |date=June 5, 2019}}

{{reflist}}

• {{ISFDB title|id=1751557|title=The Litany of Earth}}
• [https://www.tor.com/2014/05/14/the-litany-of-earth-ruthanna-emrys/ Text of the story] (Tor.com)
• [https://www.npr.org/2017/05/04/526591070/remastering-the-mythos-questions-for-ruthanna-emrys Interview with Emrys about writing the story], at National Public Radio

{{Ruthanna Emrys}}

{{The Shadow Over Innsmouth}}

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Category:Cthulhu Mythos stories

Category:2014 short stories

Category:Works based on The Shadow over Innsmouth

Category:Tor Books books

Category:Works originally published in Reactor