Help looking for a sci-fi story?
April 26, 2011 3:17 AM   Subscribe

I'm looking for a web novel/short story: sci-fi, underwater research facility, end of society, etc.

I remember a different short story by the same author being posted on MeFi a while back that was about a spaceship that had a character named The Chimp onboard. The spaceship ended up flying through a monolithic sentient being, killing it.

The author had other stories on his website. The one I'm looking for was about an underwater research facility and the crew that inhabited it. Everybody that worked there gradually started spending more and more time outside in the deep ocean and taking less and less safety precautions, until eventually some people would spend 100% of their time out of the facility, feeding on dead fish for sustenance.

There was a subplot regarding an intelligent form of virus that was taking over the world's computers? Or something similar, and the head of a corporation had to blow up the west coast to destroy the virus.

The author called Vancouver "Hongcouver".

The book was the first of a trilogy.

Ring any bells? Thanks!
posted by Cpt. The Mango to Media & Arts (5 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Peter Watts; the behemoth trilogy.

here
posted by dubold at 3:20 AM on April 26, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Zing! Thanks.
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 3:23 AM on April 26, 2011


no problem. they're really good stories; the imagery stuck with me for a while. Enjoy!
posted by dubold at 3:26 AM on April 26, 2011


Actually, it's called the Rifters trilogy, and the books are, in order, Starfish, Maelstrom and Behemoth.

The "different" short story was "The Island," and it won Peter Watts the Hugo Award for best novelette last year (previously on MeFi). Watts's most recent story, "The Things," was just nominated for a Hugo (previously on MeFi). His other short fiction is here.

And then there's Blindsight.

Previous posts about Peter Watts.
posted by mcwetboy at 5:26 AM on April 26, 2011 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: I don't find his writing that great, though I do remember being enthralled by Starfish when I read it. Thanks again.
posted by Cpt. The Mango at 2:57 AM on April 27, 2011


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