Driving the Deep

<i>Driving the Deep</i> was a fabulous follow-up to the first book about repo-man Fergus' adventures in <i>Finder.</i> No, you don't need to read it first. Yes, you should, because Fergus will undergo a very profound change in that book that will continue to impact his emotional and physical being.<br /><br />So after the dramatic events at the spacestation Cernee, Fergus is chilling post-last-book with his shipmaker friends, when they convince him it is time to take care of some old emotional business on Earth--returning the motorcycle he stole from his cousin when he escaped his very unfortunate home life. Unbeknownst to him, a police detective has been watching that storage locker for two years for completely different reasons. When Fergus breaks in to liberate his cousin's motorcycle, there's a bit of a mix-up, but any thoughts of dealing with old family issues are wiped away when he receives a distress call from his friends. I'm really not giving any spoilers--this is pretty much where the story <i>takes off.</i><br /><br />You know what I think about this book? This is what <i>A Long Way to An Angry Planet</i> could have been if Chambers had a little bit better grasp of plotting. This is <i>Leviathan Wakes</i> with less mystery, more rescue. <br /><br />I love the characterization, and that Fergus is mostly ethical. I like the range of people he runs into, and I felt a number of them came alive, although I'd have to say that some were a bit odd just for the sake of being odd, it seemed (much like <i>Angry</i>). There's a cat, as there should be on a ship, and the cat's mostly just a cat, which I actually appreciated.<br /><b><br />“The farther you get from Earth, the more you’ll encounter people hacking the phenotype, either for aesthetics or survival. Often both. Try not to act like an originalist if you encounter any."</b><br /><br />The plotting was tight, and if there was one angle that I solved before Fergus (or along with?), it really didn't spoil anything, because it was the last part of the book anyway. Action was fast-paced, veering from Fergus' internal struggle, to interpersonal tension, to large-scale environmental stresses. I appreciated the variety, and the fact that Palmer didn't allow Fergus to wallow. Ultimately, he's a Han.<br /><br /><b>"Here, the only thing they have to defend against is one rogue hauler pilot with a stray cat and, I suppose, possible discovery by a lackadaisical Alliance."</b><br /><br />Atmosphere was decent. Most of it came alive for me, although a couple of times, I'm not entirely sure I felt the weight of the moon above as much as in other books (thinking of you, <i>Starfish.</i>). I mean, perhaps it's hard to find words above it because it is all darkness that deep, but that's why the weight of the ocean and the claustrophobia become so important. But maybe it was decent. I'd have to read it again. Certain parts did come very alive.<br /><br />It isn't an outright funny book, but it has it's moments. The almost-A.I.s in particular do a nice job of verbal fencing. And I'm almost positive I caught a couple of nerd-references to the first Star Wars (<i>who</i> shot first??). Zucker, the detective who reluctantly signs on for the ride, is also very good at being a foil, both literally and verbally.<br /><br /><b>"There were clearly significant advantages, in terms of avoiding law enforcement, of having spent a career inside of it."</b><br /><br />While this plot wrapped up very satisfactorily, it was a <i>very</i> quick ending, post climactic scenes. There was an epilogue to the scene that brought Fergus and Zucker together in the first place that I found rather unsatisfactory, but perhaps that was the strain of reading all day. I'll have to give it another shot and see if it feels more comprehensive. <br /><br />I really enjoyed Palmer's tone, which was occasionally irreverent, but always managed to be appropriately serious at the right times. Every now and then, she'd pull out the stops for some beautiful writing:<br /><b><br />The planet—hundreds of years later, there was still active resistance to its demotion to microplanet—was a beautiful tapestry of browns and blacks and tans spun together like a rich, poorly stirred hot chocolate, even down to the tiny hint of foam at its polar cap.<br /></b><br /><br />Altogether, one of the few books that have held my attention (as in sit-down-and-read-all-day kind of attention) since recovering--we hope--from Quarantine Brain. Definitely a fan.<br /><br />Re-read April 2021. It definitely holds up. What was especially interesting to me this time around is that I hadn't remembered how action-focused the story is. However, Palmer really varies the <i>kinds</i> of action happening, it crept up on me. But there's a lot of tension here that I didn't remember from the first time around. And just perhaps, she did better with the oppressive weight of the ocean than I remembered.

Fergus Ferguson everyone's favorite sparky Scottish space adventure is back in book 2 of the excitingly fun series. where the first simply titled Finder is like a sci-fi western this one is more sci-fi cop caper.<br /><br />Fergus has unfinished family business on earth. He returns to return his cousin's motorcycle and in classic Fergus style gets involved in a art heist. but before long his friend on the Pluto shipbuilding yard are attacked and he has to put everything on hold to save them. He finds them under Enceladus' ice sheet because he's the finder. They are involve in a federation conspiracy for the elusive fully automative AI. After stopping the federation plan and saving his friends. Fergus returns to wrap up the art heist plot line which really only takes a chapter. then finally back Scotland where his character gets family depth. I took off a star because the structure of a story inside a story (art heist) is kinda wonky and did not really work. <br /><br />This series is fun, exciting, humorous, and has a great main character. It also has lots of fun tech talk and plots. fun series for anyone who likes that kind of thing. Looking forward to more!

<u>Update:</u><br><br>I have been thinking about this series a lot lately. I can't believe I still haven't read this.<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1551237637ra/27123339.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br><u>Previously:</u><br><br>Yayee! It's time to celebrate. ARC received!!!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1583175666ra/29047771.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Publishing, for always being so kind to me. I have really been looking forward to continuing on with this story.<br><br><u>Original:</u><br><br>More Fergus Ferguson!!!<br><br><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1574265045ra/28481604.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"><br><br>Is it May yet?<br>I need this yesterday...

<b>Lost in a good book</b><br />Which is a really good feeling! First-rate sequel to "Finder" (2019). It took me a little while to warm up to this one: I thought the scene-setting in Glasgow was a bit tedious, and the retired NYC cop obnoxious. But by about p.70, when Fergus is back out to Pluto at the small shipyard collective that's his new Found Family -- and where Dark Deeds have just struck! -- I had no further complaints. Pretty much a read-at-one-sitting book, and one that I expect to reread down the line. This book exactly fills Paul Di Filippo 's prescription for "Radical Fun SF", which is pretty much the stuff we loved as young SF readers, but better-written! In Palmer's future, humans are out in the galaxy in the billions. There are cool aliens. We have FTL starships, and human-level AIs. Palmer's offworld places have an appealing lived-in feel, and she provides nicely-drawn characters, from jerks to geniuses. And Fergus, bumbling his way to saving his friends. I had a great time reading "Driving The Deep" and I bet you will, too. 4.5 stars, rounded up.<br /><br />See Carol.'s review for more good reasons to read this one: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/06/17/driving-the-deep-by-suzanne-palmer/">https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/...</a><br />Excerpt:<br />"Driving the Deep was a fabulous follow-up to the first book about Fergus' adventures, Finder. No, you don't need to read it first. Yes, you should, because Fergus will undergo a very significant change in that book that gives him a very useful and needful talent here.<br /><br />You know what I think about this book? This is what A Long Way to An Angry Planet could have been if Chambers had a little bit better grasp of plotting. ....<br /><br />I love the characterization, and that Fergus is mostly ethical. I like the range of people he runs into, and I felt a number of them came alive, although I’d have to say that some were a bit odd just for the sake of being odd, it seemed (much like Angry). There’s a cat, as there should be on a ship, and the cat’s mostly just a cat, which I actually appreciated."

I loved this. If possible even more than the first book in the series. Fergus is such a great character, a magnet for bad luck, clever with a wry sense of humor. I find myself loving these worlds that Suzanne Palmer is creating and the people that she fills them with. I do however worry about the number of times Fergus gets hit in the head and loses consciousness. Post concussion syndrome is no joke!

4.25 - so much underwater fun (but DEEP underwater, so no aquatic creatures) with lovable characters and story. <br /><br />The only caveat: every single meal, beverage, and nap is mentioned (if I'd made a coffee drinking game out of every time a character drank coffee, I'd be a jittery mess now). I hope the editor cuts most of these mentions next time because they get a bit repetitive. That said, the story was still really enjoyable, had good pacing, and I kept regretting when a character left the stage because each one was interesting and had their own unique chemistry (positive or negative) with the protagonist. Another plus for me was that again, the story remained romance-free, and focuses on friendships instead (which was a good fit - a romance would have added a lot of bloat). <br /><br />Can't wait to continue the series!

First book read in 2022, as well as first review of the new year!<br /><br />I had absolutely loved Finder, which is book 1 in the series, then life got in the way, and I never got around to reading book 2, until now. I must admit that this is even better than book one. I know, shocking!<br /><br />The action resumes a couple months after Fergus stole the Venetian Sword back and returned it to the Shipmakers. And we finally get to meet the famous shipmakers! They are everything I could wish for. Zanny, funny, and slightly crazy in their own way. And you can understand why the Shipyards are more home to Fergus than any other place in the galaxy, as much as he calls anywhere home.<br /><br />So when the Shipyards are attacked and his friends are missing when he arrives, you can bet that it becomes a very personal mission for Fergus. But he isn't a finder for nothing. He will find his friends, and he will find those responsible for their kidnapping, and he will make them pay for it.<br /><br />I love how effortlessly the author creates likeable characters. And I'm not only speaking about the protagonist here, or his closest associates. Almost everybody in this book is memorable, even if we only encounter them once or twice during the whole book. Like Psych with his ice cream and glasses of booze. Or Transit Control. Or poor Mister Feefs, the only cat on an underwater world. Every character you encounter, you can't help falling in love with, or at least having a chuckle at. Some even earn your grudging respect after a while, like a certain retired detective. I really hope we see more of him in the next book. My point is, this world is populated with fully realized characters who feel alive and who each could be heroes of their own stories. That's wonderful, especially after the last book I read, where that was definitely not the case.<br /><br />This new world Fergus has to navigate in this book is absolutely fascinating as well. Imagine a planet that is pure ocean. No landmasses. It is also so far from the Sun, that this ocean is encased in 25 kilometers of ice on top. Then only way in and out are human made Bores that pierce that ice cap in several places. Close the bores, and the humans are effectively trapped in the dark and the deep. This is a claustrophobic nightmare, but also a fascinating place to explore. And explore it Fergus does. I loved those explorations and how thought out this environment was! We don't really think about it, but humans aren't used to enclosed spaces. We evolved under an endless sky with fresh air and no treat of decompression and collapse if something goes wrong. Put humans in a starless darkness that can crush them before it drowns them, and no wonder people go crazy. The story itself moves at a fast pace and in the usual Fergus Ferguson way - meaning that no matter what kind of plans he makes, things will always go spectacularly wrong and he would have to improvise and fly by the seat of his pants... but everything would resolve to everybody's satisfaction in the end. Well, not for the bad guys, of course, but who cares about them, right?<br /><br />I really hope that the last book in the trilogy is just as good. I also hope that we will see the reappearance of some of the character we grew to love in this book (like a certain retired detective). But no matter what happens, I will be along for the ride!

4.0 to 4.5 stars - certainly a page turner, roller coaster of a ride, and a fine followup to Fergus Ferguson the defective’s, I mean, the deTective’s first book. Didn’t love the semi-absurd continuing coincidences that somewhat drive plot development, though they aren’t so blatant as to disrupt suspension of disbelief and obviously aren’t uncommon in caper or spy thrillers.

<b>10/10/2020 Notes:</b><br /><br />- New Narrator: I enjoyed Paul Woodson's narration more than Joe Hempel from #1. <br />- Middle of the book dragged due &amp; I wanted a reason for the psychological affect of the "deep" that was happening to people but that didn't come across well despite repeating ideas &amp; descriptions. <br />- The minor plot line that is introduced in the beginning was not given enough to develop room to grow into a solid piece with the rest.<br />-While this book was more rough than the first, the concepts are great, aliens are still very alien and Fergus doesn't know how to stay out of trouble.

That was even more fun than the first one! Fergus Ferguson has finally girded his loins and he's ready to trek back to Earth to make amends for a motorcycle theft some 19 years earlier. Shortly after his arrival in Scotland, he's kidnapped, gets a message that the Pluto Shipyard has been attacked, kidnaps his kidnapper, and he's back out to Pluto to search for his missing friends. I think that was the first two chapters. <br /><br />In the previous book, Fergus picked up a semi-clone sidekick, the smart-mouthed Mari. This time he has Zacker, a bitter, angry former cop who is hunting for the crew who robbed an art gallery and shot his daughter. I was a little concerned about there being two unrelated storylines, art gallery theft and Fergus's missing friends, however the art theft mystery was like little apostrophes on the main story of the missing Pluto Shipyard scientists. <br /><br />The plotting on this one was tighter than the previous novel and it sped along at a nice clip. I read it in two sittings and enjoyed the world under the ice of Enceladus and Fergus as an...ice trucker? As usual, Fergus keeps collecting random people with a mix of personalities and expertise. He is competent at solving issues, without stepping into Marty Stu territory. This time around he did not get knocked unconscious nearly as much. <br /><br />Overall this was a fun, quick read with a unique mix of characters and a tight plot. This is also the second book in which an AI plays an important role and I am hoping that the author continues to explore questions of AI sentience.