Need help, looking for a book

mdin · Dec 28, 2005

Not a specific book, just a book about a particular subject.

Can anyone name an adult fantasy novel where the primary setting is under water AND where the main characters are water breathing? Most of the ones I find are either childrens' books or about surface breathing characters who come into contact with water people. That's not what I'm looking for.

The most satisfying fantasy underwater scenes I've read lately are in The Scar by China Mieville, but that's not an under water book. I asked this question a while ago on another forum, and nobody had an answer for me. I know there has to be a few out there.

veinglory · Dec 28, 2005

I can't think of one--although it has been on my mind to write along these lines ever since I saw a video of a rat breathing liquid CFC demonstrating mammals could live in a liquid media. I can think of several good reasons for having space ships work with a liquid rather than gaseous atmosphere...

Sorry about the digression--I guess I am saying I would certainly be interested in hearing about that sort of book too.

Dawno · Dec 28, 2005

In the Amber books by Zelazny there is an underwater kingdom that is a 'mirror' of Amber with a working pattern, etc. There are quite a few scenes set there, but it's not a whole book. I don't recall either hearing of, nor reading one, entirely set underwater.

Google gave me this: VAN GORES, ALIDA (stories) (assoc.)

* * *Mermaid’s Song (NAL Signet 0-451-16113-0, Aug ’89 [Jul ’89], $4.50, 396pp, pb) Fantasy novel set in a merpeople culture; a first novel.

mdin · Dec 28, 2005

Thanks, Dawno and Vein. I've been googling like crazy, and I'm having difficulty coming up with one.

My current WIP is set completely underwater, but I want to see how other authors deal with some physics issues.

HConn · Dec 28, 2005

http://www.newsarama.com/dcnew/Aquaman/swordofatlantis.htm

The new Aquaman comic is going to leave the original Aquaman character and will focus on a new guy, and it will be an underwater fantasy series written by Kurt "Astro City" Busiek, not a regular superhero book.

mdin · Dec 28, 2005

Thanks. That's awesome. I used to have Aquaman Underoos.

azbikergirl · Dec 29, 2005

Startide Rising by David Brin has some characters who are dolphins/porpoises ("uplifted" to sentience) and their part of the space ship is in water. But they are not water-breathing.

MadScientistMatt · Dec 29, 2005

XThe NavigatorX said:
Thanks, Dawno and Vein. I've been googling like crazy, and I'm having difficulty coming up with one.

My current WIP is set completely underwater, but I want to see how other authors deal with some physics issues.

If you have any physics questions, feel free to post 'em here. We have plenty of physics-minded types.

mdin · Dec 30, 2005

Well... physics is the wrong word. Luckily I have a brother who is a physicist and works for NASA for those kinds of questions.

I want to see how they deal with certain issues of world building under water.

mdin · Jan 24, 2006

No one

?

Fahim · Jan 24, 2006

Wish I could help :-( About the only one even coming close that I can think of is Arthur C. Clarke's "The Deep Range" but that's neither fantasy or totally set underwater. Besides, it's very, very old ...

Jarsto · Jan 25, 2006

There's only one book I can think of right away and it's science fiction, not fantasy. Bio Rescue by S. L. Viehl is partly set under water. A number of the main characters are water-dwellers who have been surgically altered to be able to survive out of the water for a time in order to pilot intra system space flights. But parts of the book are set in the under water society.

I'm not sure this is what you're looking for though, the under water life is quite close to that of whales or dolphins on earth, so there are no buildings etc. (at least not for the native waterdwellers). That said it is a great read regardless of what you're looking for in an under water society.

mdin · Jan 26, 2006

Thanks for both the suggestions.

Fahim · Jan 26, 2006

You're welcome

I'm just sorry that I couldn't be of more help ...

TheIT · Jan 31, 2006

I can't think of a fantasy underwater setting offhand, or a book, but two things come to mind. The movie The Abyss is set on an underwater mining base. I believe the old Dungeons and Dragons sourcebooks had suggestions for running campaigns underwater. I don't know how much help they'll be, but they might give you some ideas. Have you tried a google search for "mermaid"?

peer54 · Jan 31, 2006

The Dargonesti (Lost Histories, v. III) by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook

It's an old DragonLance book that features a waterbreathing race (the dargonesti). It's been years since I read it but I think large hunk of the book takes place in an underwater city.

Hope it helps.

mdin · Feb 1, 2006

peer54 said:
The Dargonesti (Lost Histories, v. III) by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook

It's an old DragonLance book that features a waterbreathing race (the dargonesti). It's been years since I read it but I think large hunk of the book takes place in an underwater city.

Hope it helps.

Thanks! I'm going to get a copy of it immediately. I'm not a big fan of DragonLance stuff, but this is exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.

re: mermaid books. There are some mermaid stories out there, but most of them seem to be retellings of The Little Mermaid and/or Romance.

Kevin Yarbrough · Feb 6, 2006

Nav, I found three books and although they are not exactly what you are looking for they might work. They mainly have aliens that live underwater. In one book the aliens try to destroy Earth, in another a downed submarine is terrorized by water breathing aliens. These are all old books, two are from the 70's and one from 1980. But Amazon did have all of them.

Candle in the sun by robert wells
The watch below by james white
Out of the deeps by john wyndham

mdin · Feb 6, 2006

Thanks, Kev. I'll check them out.

SeanDSchaffer · Feb 8, 2006

Dragon Steel by Lawrence Yep took place underwater, and had the characters breathing the water like they would air. Mr. Yep's writing had a tendency to make me forget that it took place underwater, which I thought was a pretty cool part of the book.

I hope this helps. I'll talk to you later.

mdin · Feb 9, 2006

Thanks, Sean. I just looked it up, and it appears to be a sequel to another book. And it's a YA book, but I'll check it out. My to-read pile is pretty big right now.

SeanDSchaffer · Feb 9, 2006

Yes, it is a sequel, although I don't remember the title of the original book. I think it was the middle part of a trilogy, if I'm not mistaken.

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