Undersea

Got this one as part of the Humble Ebook Bundle. Interesting plot about a scenario where humans have had to settle underwater in huge ships. Reasonably fast paced and good central characters. A sequel would have been great.

A good premise, and technically good writing that was nonetheless really a pretty boring read. There was no authorial voice and the characters felt pretty one-dimensional. Plus there were a few plot points that really stretched the limits of credibility.

What's more interesting than a story about two generational ships locked in decades-long battle with each other? The same, but in the depths of the ocean!

There's a lot of interesing stuff going on here - a look at generational conflict within a generational ship, the mechanics of a city-sized submarine, and some discussion of the human tendency to fight with outgroups, rather than work with them. There are also, in Thom and Ralla, some very interesting characters.

Unfortunately, the (to me) interesting stuff all takes place on the sidelines, and the main plot, with its cliched madman of a villain and boring love triangle, wasn't as nearly as interesting as the other stuff.

A nice, entertaining read. I'm a sucker for underwater action and this book delivered that in spades with some solid character work thrown in to boot.