What do You think about Starfish (2000)?
3.5 Stars"Welcome to Beebe Station.You're three kilometers below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. You're perched on the shoulder of an active volcano. The local fauna is very large and very nasty. If it doesn't kill you, a mudslide or an erupting smoker probably will. Your fellow employees are rapists, pedophiles, borderline psychotics, and victims of same. You feel very lucky to be here. This is a damn sight better than the life you left behind"Starfish takes place in the year 2050 and centers around a small station located on the Juan de Fuca Ridge at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean (just west of Vancouver and Seattle). The ridge is on the Pacific Ring of Fire, so needless to say, it is a very active and perilous location to drop a facility on - unless there's good reason to. The crew of Beebe Station is comprised of "rifters" which are physically modified humans that are able and/or willing to survive and work in that high stress environment. Rifters can breathe underwater, see in the dark, and thrive under the incredible pressure living three kilometers underwater, due to their cutting edge bio-modifications. This isn't Arthur C Clarke with the well oiled crew of good natured scientists working towards a common goal, (ala Rendezvous with Rama) this this is a crew of broken people- both victims and agressors kept in the dark both literally and figuratively about just what the hell is going on. It's amazing that this is Peter Watt's debut novel because with the exception of some pacing issues, it really doesn't feel like it. The dialogue is fantastic. The prose can be almost poetic at times:"You know, when they first sent me down here I thought this place would be a real shithole. I figured I'd just knuckle down and do my time and get out. But it's not like that. You know what I mean Lenie?"I know. But she doesn't answer. "I thought so," he says, as though she has. "It's really kind of.. well, beautiful, in a way. Even the monsters. once you get to know'em. We're all beautiful (Watts, 114)."The pacing is the only reason I can't give it 4 stars. Two thirds of this book appears to be one thing, and really centers around the crew and the station and then it really takes off in another direction in the last third. It can meander a little bit in the beginning, although I really enjoyed getting to know that dysfunctional crew a lot. Despite the meandering issues, It was never boring and I was always happy to go with it. Then it really kicked into another gear. The stakes become ridiculously high, and that's the kind of drama I want in my science fiction. We went from playing for quarters to playing for the continuation of life itself as we know it in this poker game. At that point, I couldn't put it down. It should be noted that this is book 1 of a trilogy and it really ends on a cliffhanger. That may turn some people off, but this novel is only about 318 pages, so its not an enormous investment of time to read. I really enjoyed it and am hooked on for the rest of the ride. Peter Watt's 4 novels (The Rifters Trilogy and Blindsight) as well as his short stories are all available on his website http://www.rifters.com/real/shorts.htm under the Creative Commons license. So you can LEGALLY go and check it out.
—Guillermo
I have now concluded that Watts simply writes the kind of fiction that I like to read. I just wish he'd write MORE. It appears he does have two more on the way, one of which is a "sidequel" to Blindsight, so this makes me happy. I also, of course, have the rest of the Rifters series to read.A very engaging read, this is an edgy story with some very real characters, with both the hard and soft sciences playing a major role. Starfish is set in the not too distant future, with the Earth being in a downward spiral due to population and energy problems. They've begun to tap into the Earth's vast energy supply found in the geothermal vents at the bottom of the oceans. At the same time, the world is beginning to integrate "gels" (a sort of intelligent organic computer) into society. The story mainly revolves around the "rifters", which are the people who have been modified to be able to work at the bottom of the ocean. They run into something no one expected down there...and basically things get out of control.By the way, all of Watts's books are available for free at rifters.com under the Creative Commons license.
—Ben
If you like your sci-fi hard and your main characters psychologically disturbed, this is the book for you. Peter Watts takes a mission on the floor of the ocean and turns it into a crucible where some mad beings are formed. But, as Dickinson once said, much madness is divinest sense. The crazies aboard deep-sea station Beebe are smarter than their masters on the surface think they are, and they uncover a government plot with mistakes that would be comical if the circumstances weren't so dire.The first thing that struck me about this story is how detailed the science is. Peter Watts went through a lot of effort to recruit the help of scientists and military experts to get all the details as close to right as possible. Much of the science is speculative (and still is 11 years after the book's writing) but it's all based on actual research and Watts is nice enough to include the names of the journals he referenced in the acknowledgments.But what drives this story isn't the science, nor the events, nor the odd setting of the bottom of the Pacific, where bioluminescent creatures roam with giant scary fish. The real engine of this story is the cast of characters, each with their own flavor of psychosis and history of abuse. The rigors of life on the deep-sea station Beebe would drive you mad, so it helps if you were already pretty crazy when you got there.The first three quarters of the novel were riveting, but the ending leaves you hanging. That's not a major issue since this is the first of a series, but if you like your stories to have endings with everything neatly tied up, or don't have the patience to read the whole series, the ending might disappoint. But if you're looking for a new sci-fi series with absolutely fascinating characters, Starfish is a good place to start.
—Ramsey Isler
