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We now have the complete Rifters Trilogy available on Offworlders.com in both Kindle and Epub format.
Peter Watts Rifters trilogy, which started with the publication of “Starfish,” was aptly described by Tor Books as “Psychopaths at the Bottom of the Sea.” For the most part, the three novels take place at the crushing depths of a rift located at the lowest point of the Pacific Ocean. The crew chosen to live in this undersea environment are severe abuse and trauma survivors cybernetically and biologically adapted to survive and thrive in a deep sea habitat. This magnificent specimen of speculative science fiction includes inhabitants adapted to underwater living to such an extent that they have one lung replaced with a gill and gain the ability to breathe using nothing more than water. The trilogy wraps up with “Behemoth” and a frightening apocalyptic scenario. Download all three today!
This trilogy, by Peter Watts, so influential to my own writing, I highly recommend any writer of sci-fi to read this series to know what excellence is.
Peter & I have much in common. Both of us are around the same age, both of us have biological & technical backgrounds. It made me love his writing even more and none of the marine science or programming terms was lost on me.
But a funny thing happened. Before I even knew who Peter Watts was, I was in the NYC library and came across his second book, Maelstrom. I went onto the library’s checkout list and saw there was one copy of Starfish but that I was like, the fifth person in the queue for a two-week checkout each. So I grabbed Maelstrom first and read it. I was so hooked that I sought out a contact link for Peter Watts and emailed him how much I loved Maelstrom, even knowing that Starfish was the 1st in the series, and that I could not wait to get Starfish from the library. I also told him we had very similar backgrounds.
The email I got back from him was terse–“You are suppose the read starfish first! Go buy it!”
Honestly, having read Maelstrom first, did not reveal any spoilers, in fact, made Starfish seem like a super great backstory and made the ending trilogy dessert! However, I will recommend you read them in order, and if you do not, just don’t let Peter know.
As an aside, Peter’s response to me has made me, as a writer; think about the readers of my current WIP (Silversides Trilogy) and can I make each seem like a complete work, yet strung together seem brilliant? So far, I feel my second draft will make this a reality. So thank you Peter Watts.