MassiveJS version 7 went places. await db.select( db.libraries .join(db.holdings) .join(db.books) .join(db.authors, db.$join.left, {[db.authors.$id]: db.books.$author_id}) .filter({ [db.libraries.$postcode]: ‘12345’, [`${db.authors.$name} ilike`]: ‘Lauren%Ipsum’ }) .project({ $key: db.libraries.$id, $columns: […db.libraries], authors: [{ $key: db.authors.$id, $columns: [ db.authors.$name, db.expr( `extract(year from age(coalesce(${db.authors.$death}, now()), ${db.authors.$birth}))` ).as(‘age’) ], books: [{ $key: db.books.$id, $columns: […db.books] }] }] }) ); It’d be stretching an ecological metaphor