Diving into the Wreck: A Diving Universe Novel

Diving Into The Wreck is a book that caught my attention because of the title, cover and blurb. It sounded like something that would be right up my street and promised enough to make me wonder how and where the story would go. Although it starts off in a fairly predictable fashion (but enjoyable none-the-less), Diving Into The Wreck turned into a very entertaining and page turning read. The story is split into three sections - the first is the finding and diving of the mysterious wreck, while the second and third follow up on the implications and information found during the first part. If it sounds like I am being deliberately vague it's because I am - going into too much detail on anything past the first section will give some of the game away and this is a story that deserves being read fresh. I will say this about the book - it's an extremely well written and thoroughly engrossing novel with some vivid descriptions while raising some very believable and serious questions. What is especially impressive about Diving Into The Wreck is that Rusch has written it entirely in the first person. This means that what Boss knows, you know. This is a good way to put the reader into the action and allow you to get sucked into the situation. Boss is a character that is identifiable with some aspects of herpersonality (for instance, her privacy) and has values that are fairly straight forward, all going to give us a solid central character. The supporting cast are also introduced and fleshed out as much as the situation needs. This especially helped in keeping the pace of the novel flowing nicely without getting bogged down. Despite how much I enjoyed the novel I had one gripe that I just couldn't shake when I finished - the ending. It's not that it isn't suited, but to me it felt as if it went against the grain of the story. However, despite this I came away from Diving Into The Wreck satisfied and pleased with the overall story. If any sequels where released (and there is plenty of scope) I would snatch them up without a second thought. I'll also be making it my business to check out more work byRusch.

Boss prefers to work alone when diving into a wreck though she works salvage operations with others. She feels she is more ethical than most of her rivals in their search for historical vessels as she always helps those in dire need in outer space though she prefers not to. Some of her unsavory colleagues would wait for a trapped crew to die so they can salvage like scavengers. For her current quest the recluse uses her single crew ship rather than her larger Nobody's Business vessel, but what awaits her is a shocker. Her computer claims the derelict is somewhat between 5,000 and 10,000 years old and from old earth; an impossible scenario as that time frame and locale did not have the technology for the faster than light speed to float this far. She searches for historical data as she is curious about this enigmatic anachronism, but fears what she will learn as the misunderstood ancient sciences might prove deadly. Bringing together a special crew of loner divers, Boss and company explore the vessel while she considers following her mom who left her to vanish inside the mysterious Room of Souls. DIVING INTO THE WRECK is an exhilarating fast-paced yet cerebral science fiction thriller. Filled with action and adventure but purposely with two dimensional characters including Boss who is a bit more philosophical. Kristine Kathryn Rusch uses outer space to have her audience consider ethics and morality re the scientific-government complex and how society looks back at ancient civilizations through a modern day lens while failing to provide a historiography disclaimer about the background of the anthropologist or archeologist leading the glimpse through time. Harriet Klausner

Science Fiction books are my favorite and good Science Fiction books are really my favorite. As far as I am concerned Kristine Kathryn Rusch has never written a bad Science Fiction book and Diving into the Wreck is no exception. The book is composed for three separate parts; Diving into the Wreck, The Room of Lost Souls, and The Heart of the Machine. Finding a ship thousands of years old with some working stealth tech starts a series of events that span all three sections. There are people who feel the tech is too dangerous to have around and want to destroy it. Others want to replicate it for their own purposes. Diving into the Wreck is a well-written Science Fiction story filled with tension, action, interesting characters and adventure. Pick it up if you want a good read.

I found DIVING INTO THE WRECK to be a compulsively readable novel. Taking place in the very, very distant future, the main character makes her living finding ancient wrecked spaceships and space stations, studying them for historical reasons, and acquiring "treasure," if it applies. She also will take tourists out to safer wrecks. The work is similar to deep sea diving with its claustrophobia, dangers, and zero margins for error. When she discovers a Dignity Vessel, thousands of years old, in a part of space it has no business being, she assembles a crew and begins the adventure. But things go horribly awry as she encounters technology that could turn the politics of the galaxy on its head--extremely deadly technology. The novel is engrossing, the character interesting, the SF aspects intriguing and very well written. The story is very atmospheric and Rusch applies a nice hard SF mode to the technology, making the dangers and risks very clear to the reader. I ripped through it. Where I started to come apart was toward the end when, for a variety of reasons I won't spoil here, the main character decides to go about destroying the technology. Although her motivations are clear, never once is the word "treason" uttered, although it appears that's what she and her crew are planning to do, and the repercussions of their actions seem downplayed. And I think you could argue that the politics surrounding it are probably understated as well. But within the context of this diverting novel those are fairly mild complaints and I wouldn't hesitate to buy and read any follow-up Rusch might write.