# Looking for a novel that takes place underwater **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172 "2011-06-03T06:25:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/1 "2011-06-03T06:25:23Z")
Are there any novels that take place underneath the surface of earth’s oceans? They could be fantasy (about a fictional species down there), sci-fi (about humans living down there), or about a shark or a whale or something. What I’m not looking for: any submarine fiction, including 20k LUS, or stories that go back and forth to the surface (like about scuba divers, for instance.) Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/2 "2011-06-03T06:39:49Z")
[Aquarius Mission](http://www.amazon.com/Aquarius-Mission-Martin-Caidin/dp/0553112678/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_4), maybe? Lots of submarine stuff, but also a subspecies of human evolved to live underwater. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/3 "2011-06-03T06:44:30Z")
Orson Scott Card’s novelization of _The Abyss_ ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/4 "2011-06-03T06:51:44Z")
Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/5 "2011-06-03T07:57:55Z")
[Dome](http://www.amazon.com/Dome-Michael-Reaves/dp/0425095606/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307087428&sr=1-1) by Micheal Reaves is set in an undersea city; no one goes to the surface because it’s recently been rendered uninhabitable. [The Watch Below](http://www.amazon.com/Watch-Below-James-White/dp/1882968085/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307087615&sr=1-1) is set among a small group of shipwreck survivors who live underwater in a air containing section of their wreck for generations (they managed to set up a small near self sustaining ecosystem, almost like one of those sealed terrariums), and a fleet of water breathing aliens traveling to Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/6 "2011-06-03T13:23:13Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea? That’s what he meant by 20k LUS, Sam. Maybe [The Deep Range](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range) by Arthur C. Clarke. It’s about undersea farming communities - mainly harvesting plankton and herding whales, iirc - but I don’t recall if any of it is set on land. Peter Watt has some deep ocean sf novels, but I haven’t read them so maybe a lot is on the surface… ---
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/7 "2011-06-03T13:39:38Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Maybe [The Deep Range](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range) by Arthur C. Clarke. It’s about undersea farming communities - mainly harvesting plankton and herding whales, iirc - but I don’t recall if any of it is set on land. It is. More submarine and scuba than full living underwater. An awful long time since I read it but I certainly remember sequences on the surface - training orcas to heard whales comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/8 "2011-06-03T13:55:23Z")
Not a novel, but… “The Dictionary of Imaginary Places” has several listings for underwater worlds and the novels that they came from. > **[The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic:...](https://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Imaginary-Places-Updated-Expanded/dp/0156008726)** > > The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated and Expanded Classic \[Alberto Manguel, Gianni Guadalupi, Graham Greenfield, James Cook\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: The Newly Updated... ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/9 "2011-06-03T14:02:57Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Peter Watts has some deep ocean sf novels, but I haven’t read them so maybe a lot is on the surface… I’ve read the first one, _Starfish_. It’s set almost entirely at the bottom of the ocean, in a facility that’s harnessing geothermal power. The crew are a bunch of bio-engineered people with serious emotional issues. The theory is that living at the bottom of the ocean would drive anybody crazy, so rather than ruin good personnel, why not send down people that are already crazy to begin with? The book is full of cool technology and interesting concepts, but I was lukewarm on the story. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/10 "2011-06-03T14:07:29Z")
_ **Sphere** _ by Michael Crichton ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/11 "2011-06-03T14:32:31Z")
[The Water-Babies.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water-Babies,_A_Fairy_Tale_for_a_Land_Baby) (OK, probably not the sort of thing you are looking for.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/12 "2011-06-03T17:23:56Z")
\*Fury \*by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore is set below the ocean’s surface, but is the ocean of Venus. _Fury_ is pretty old, but still pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/13 "2011-06-03T18:07:33Z")
If other planets are in, “Surface Tension” by James Blish takes place in a tide pool on some other planet. The protagonists are a handful of microns tall, IIRC. They do go to the surface, but in a specially-designed vehicle that lets them survive there. ---
**Author:** ![Kylede](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kylede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kylede)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/14 "2011-06-03T20:24:38Z")
Might not be Earths Ocean, but try “Startide Rising” by David Brin ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/15 "2011-06-03T20:34:46Z")
“Under Pressure” by Frank Herbert (before Dune) takes place on a submarine towing oil. It’s been ages since I read it, but I seem to recall it totally or almost totally takes place when submerged. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/16 "2011-06-03T20:49:43Z")
I enjoyed the the novel version of The Deep. It was a lot more detailed, and when I was a kid I absolutely loved books, movies or documentaries about diving for treasure or finding sunken wrecks. Even today I always love when they have shows on wreck diving, or ROVs searching for shipwrecks. Used to love Treasure Hunters when it was on. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/17 "2011-06-03T21:01:56Z")
Arthur Conan Doyle’s [The Maracot Deep](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maracot_Deep) is an exploration novel set almost entirely underwater. Roger Zelazny’s novella, “The Eve of RUMOKO” in his collection [My Name is Legion](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_is_Legion_%28Zelazny_stories%29) is mostly set in an underwater city. I have not read this book but [Profundis](http://www.ibdof.com/book.php?book=7398) by Richard Cowper is apparently about a British submarine with a crew of 45000 , HMS Profundis, which is doomed by nuclear war to remain underwater for a hundred years. The last admiral comes to believe himself as Almighty God. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/18 "2011-06-03T21:16:36Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > “Under Pressure” by Frank Herbert (before Dune) takes place on a submarine towing oil. It’s been ages since I read it, but I seem to recall it totally or almost totally takes place when submerged. I read an excerpt in one of his collections. It was then titled [The Dragon in the Sea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dragon_in_the_Sea). One part I remember was the concept of “vampire gauges”: small instruments permanently in the bloodstream that would monitor your medical status. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/19 "2011-06-03T21:25:10Z")
Children’s book, but mostly underwater (and looks to be spawning sequels, as kid stuff usually does) Dark Life by Kat Falls. I’m also seconding Startide Rising, Sphere, and Fury. Good stuff there. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172/20 "2011-06-03T21:37:25Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > That’s what he meant by 20k LUS, Sam. Ah - I wasn’t expecting a ditloid puzzle. 😃 But it’s set o a submarine, so I shouldn’t have mentioned it anyway. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-novel-that-takes-place-underwater/584172.md?page=2)