What is this science fiction book?

September 6, 2008 3:02 AM

Several spaceships enter a region of space and disapear. Another spaceship goes to investigate, containing humans and other futuristic sentient species. They find themselves at the bottom of an ocean that is composed of deuterium isotope water. There are sentient creatures living on the ocean floor. Later, two humans are captured by a group of cockroachy creatures. Hilarity ensues. In the end, they escape. A sequel seems possible. What is the book? Who is it by? Is there a sequel?
posted by lazy robot to writing & language (7 comments total)

It could be David Brin's Startide Rising. If so, yes, there were six books written in the Uplift Universe, two trilogies. Startide Rising is the second book in the series, but the first trilogy are all stand-alone novels with a few minor links, so no harm in reading it first.
posted by bonehead at 7:06 AM on September 6, 2008

It's definitely not Startide Rising, but it really sounds like either Infinity's Shore or Heaven's Reach, from the second Uplift Trilogy.
posted by beandip at 8:19 AM on September 6, 2008

Actually I kind of think it isn't any book in that series, because in none of them does hilarity ensue. But I agree that aside from that, the plot does sound a bit like a blend of startide rising (which involved a ship crewed mostly by dolphins hiding out in an ocean with heavy metals, and some sentient creatures down there, sort of) and heaven's reach/infinity's shore (same ship hiding on the bottom of a different ocean that was earth-like, futuristic creatures in a home-made submarine descend to look for it, humans are occasionally captured by aliens at various points).
posted by advil at 10:11 AM on September 6, 2008

Sounds like a Culture novel by Ian M. Banks... Hmmm... No... Ok, I've read this one, but have to do some digging.
posted by jkaczor at 9:09 PM on September 6, 2008

Maybe something by Alastair Reynolds - though neither Culture, nor Revelation Space have "hilarity ensues"...
posted by jkaczor at 9:14 PM on September 6, 2008

I don't think it's Banks or Reynolds. I've read all of both authors' sf (multiple times)---the plot in the question doesn't resemble any of my recollections of their works.
posted by bonehead at 9:36 PM on September 6, 2008

It's not Reynolds.
posted by neuron at 9:03 PM on September 7, 2008