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Diving Universe #4
Skirmishes
The answers Captain Jonathon “Coop” Cooper and the crew of the Ivoire seek lie in the Boneyards. But they must wait for Boss and her team to dive it, explore the wrecks, and piece together what happened in that faraway place.
Boss loves the challenge. Thousands of ships, centuries of history, all play to her strengths. In her absence, she trusts Coop to defend the Nine Planets Alliance against the Enterran Empire.
But an encounter from Coop’s recent past shows up to haunt him, an encounter he never told Boss about, an encounter that could threaten her future, his life, and the fragile peace between the Alliance and the Empire.
Boss loves the challenge. Thousands of ships, centuries of history, all play to her strengths. In her absence, she trusts Coop to defend the Nine Planets Alliance against the Enterran Empire.
But an encounter from Coop’s recent past shows up to haunt him, an encounter he never told Boss about, an encounter that could threaten her future, his life, and the fragile peace between the Alliance and the Empire.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
40 people are currently reading
214 people want to read
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,365 books721 followersKristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.
In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".
She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
August 23, 2019
This science fiction novel in Rusch’s Diving Universe alternates between the slow, tense exploration that heroine Boss does in a graveyard of broken ships, and the sudden death that haunts the skirmishes between her ally Coop’s ships and the expansionist Enterran Empire. This is probably my favorite Diving Universe novel to date, with its swerve into military confrontation and nail-biting showdowns.
October 9, 2013
Another of the diving series with Boss and Coop. Great read altho occasionally a bit disjointed when you hopped from episode to episode and definitely need to have read past books to understand the flow. But who would not want to? This is another great series from a master story teller
January 10, 2023
While the first book remains my favourite because it was the one that held the most unknowns and the dives were as thrilling as they were terrifying, these books are consistently good. I'd say this is the one that has the least amount of action, and it still has a considerable number of explosions in it.
It's hard to review a fourth book in a series without getting into spoilers, but I'm eager to continue reading it and happy there are so many books still ahead of me.
It's hard to review a fourth book in a series without getting into spoilers, but I'm eager to continue reading it and happy there are so many books still ahead of me.
August 24, 2018
What an awesome return to form for this series. Every time I come back to it I wonder what’s kept me away.
June 27, 2021
Great book! The reading went by so fast. I loved that we finally went into the Boneyard (title from book #3). Also, loved how the situation with the 9 planets was resolved so far but I know it's far from over. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
August 27, 2015
This next step in the Diving series is more like a leap that starts (presumably) the next trilogy. It's been about 5 years since Boss found her Commander from 5000 years ago, and they are ready to have an influence on their current universe. There are many more characters, which dilutes Boss's inner monologue, plus the then-and-now switching, but KKR is a master writer, and the story stays intriguing and intense all the way through.
The story ends without a cliff-hanger, but you know there is more to come. And I'll be reading it.
The story ends without a cliff-hanger, but you know there is more to come. And I'll be reading it.
April 19, 2015
Rusch has done it again. She has created a universe where there are old, wrecked spaceships and people get to "dive" them, much like SCUBA divers get to explore wrecked sailing vessels. I enjoy the characters and where the story is going. This may have been the best book of the series so far. It did leave me wanting more, so there had better be a next book (and others after it).
December 27, 2017
It almost feels like cheating, but I don't think people are really following me for my reviews and I know that Rusch writes amazing books so if she comes out with some new sci-fi, I'll be there to read it eventually. Great series.
January 9, 2021
The next part in the Diving Universe series. This part continues pretty much from where the former ended while there are some chapters which are flashbacks to earlier books which are now presented from another point of view. For example, we learn what happened at the Room of Lost Souls. It wasn’t as straightforward an operation as Captain Jonathon “Coop” Cooper - who was flung from the past in a working Dignity Vessel (which paradoxically is by far the most “modern” and powerful warship ever seen by any living person) - was led to believe. The “Boss”, the heroine of the earlier parts is starting to study the “graveyard”, a location in the space filled with shipwrecks, and which is protected by a forcefield. And the Empire who lost its main research base in a raid organized by “Coop” and the “Boss” is not going to stand quietly by when their “cloaking” experiments are destroyed. A very exciting book that was fast and fun to read, and it was very easy to follow in spite of several viewpoint characters and several timelines it tracked. It is a vastly better book than the plot synopsis (which sounds slightly “pulpish”) with well described and believable characters and enjoyable writing. I already purchased the next part.
April 28, 2021
Diving the Boneyard
While Boss dives the “boneyard” of 5000 year-old military ships in order to bring back some and build a fleet, Coop finds himself defending the ragtag nine planets with only his ship, the Ivoire, against an invading armada of Empire ships led by Elissa Trakov, the commander he nearly killed at the room of Lost Souls.
This was a good continuation of the story that included my two favorite characters of Coop and Boss. Rusch balances exciting military action with complex characters. The crew of the Ivoire, affected by fold space, has been thrust 5000 years into the future. Captained by Jonathon Cooper, “Coop,” the whole crew has to deal with finding themselves in a strange new universe 5000 into the future and an ongoing war, not of their making.
For those in this bewildering future, the huge repository of derelict military ships might offer a way back to their lost time, or at least an explanation of what happened to their fleet in the past.
For Boss’ divers, entering the shielded area with its weird energy signatures and damaged ships contains immense danger.
Rusch writes a compelling story and has received many awards for her wide range of books.
While Boss dives the “boneyard” of 5000 year-old military ships in order to bring back some and build a fleet, Coop finds himself defending the ragtag nine planets with only his ship, the Ivoire, against an invading armada of Empire ships led by Elissa Trakov, the commander he nearly killed at the room of Lost Souls.
This was a good continuation of the story that included my two favorite characters of Coop and Boss. Rusch balances exciting military action with complex characters. The crew of the Ivoire, affected by fold space, has been thrust 5000 years into the future. Captained by Jonathon Cooper, “Coop,” the whole crew has to deal with finding themselves in a strange new universe 5000 into the future and an ongoing war, not of their making.
For those in this bewildering future, the huge repository of derelict military ships might offer a way back to their lost time, or at least an explanation of what happened to their fleet in the past.
For Boss’ divers, entering the shielded area with its weird energy signatures and damaged ships contains immense danger.
Rusch writes a compelling story and has received many awards for her wide range of books.
February 15, 2022
The Diving Universe Reviewed.
I am not doing separate reviews, just some general remarks--this review will appear on all the Diving books starting with Stealth. I read from Stealth forward in the series through Squishy's Teams--still waiting for (and looking forward to) Chase.
So, these are very pleasant engaging reads. The Diving universe is coherent, well-imagined, and intriguing. For serious fans (what I used to call 'fan-boys', but that's too gendered) of Rusch, I recommend reading them all. For less committed readers, it is probably enough to just read the full-length novels and skip the novellas. There is some overlap between the novels and the novellas, but it is often fascinating, as when one gets to see the same incident from two different directions. But the novellas are often short and padded out to printable (sellable) length with previews or other stuff. The novels carry the whole narrative and major characters forward on their own. The novellas can be outtakes of the novels, or fun original stuff.
This is not my usual space opera. The orbital mechanics sometimes don't make sense and so on, but the writing and editing are very good.
Enjoy!
I am not doing separate reviews, just some general remarks--this review will appear on all the Diving books starting with Stealth. I read from Stealth forward in the series through Squishy's Teams--still waiting for (and looking forward to) Chase.
So, these are very pleasant engaging reads. The Diving universe is coherent, well-imagined, and intriguing. For serious fans (what I used to call 'fan-boys', but that's too gendered) of Rusch, I recommend reading them all. For less committed readers, it is probably enough to just read the full-length novels and skip the novellas. There is some overlap between the novels and the novellas, but it is often fascinating, as when one gets to see the same incident from two different directions. But the novellas are often short and padded out to printable (sellable) length with previews or other stuff. The novels carry the whole narrative and major characters forward on their own. The novellas can be outtakes of the novels, or fun original stuff.
This is not my usual space opera. The orbital mechanics sometimes don't make sense and so on, but the writing and editing are very good.
Enjoy!
April 19, 2020
8/10: Excellent read, well written, fell right into the fictional world created.
She had also wormed her quirky, eccentric way into his heart.
It was good to be back with Coop. POVs from both Boss & Coop had me in my happy place.
The story is moving forward at a great pace, and I can't wait to find out what happens.
He couldn’t bear to lose Boss. He wasn’t sure if that was because he loved her more than he had loved anyone else, or because he had experienced so much loss that her death would be the last straw.
She had also wormed her quirky, eccentric way into his heart.
It was good to be back with Coop. POVs from both Boss & Coop had me in my happy place.
The story is moving forward at a great pace, and I can't wait to find out what happens.
He couldn’t bear to lose Boss. He wasn’t sure if that was because he loved her more than he had loved anyone else, or because he had experienced so much loss that her death would be the last straw.
July 30, 2019
really enjoyed this story with lots of action in two different parts of the universe. the style of writing where alternating chapters follow different plots can be really jarring, you have to remind yourself where the characters were. i’m not sure why so many writers use this device. it certainly slows me down as i think “oh, just hen it was getting interesting now i have to care about someone else, some place else”... and i put the book down for another few days.
March 24, 2023
Two stories in one
This book tracks the activities of Boss and Coop while they are on separate missions. The story flips back and forth between the two as well as flipping back and forth in time. It is all really very interesting. I love the adventure as much as the science, and there is plenty in this book to keep me entertained. The trajectory of the storyline fascinating. Coop sees two possible futures. I wonder which will prevail?
This book tracks the activities of Boss and Coop while they are on separate missions. The story flips back and forth between the two as well as flipping back and forth in time. It is all really very interesting. I love the adventure as much as the science, and there is plenty in this book to keep me entertained. The trajectory of the storyline fascinating. Coop sees two possible futures. I wonder which will prevail?
September 10, 2019
She’s a good writer and she has a good story, I only wish she didn’t spend so long revisiting every single bit of the previous book’s plot through each of the characters’ POV in this book. It slowed the pace (which is already fairly slow due to Boss’ method, which is usually fine) and I had to skip paragraph after paragraph.
March 4, 2022
I have just read the Diving Series back to back (the 16 books that exist thus far, including novels and novellas) and have to say that I absolutely love this series.
Skirmishes continues the Boneyard story arc, and also continues the aftermath of Squishy's actions in the previous book. Both are well progressed here.
Skirmishes continues the Boneyard story arc, and also continues the aftermath of Squishy's actions in the previous book. Both are well progressed here.
May 19, 2017
A pleasant enough read, but it moved too slowly for me. Every single book talks about the cautious approach Boss takes to her dives, and it takes up pages and pages and pages. Every. Time. She. Dives.
September 26, 2017
The story is okay, however I felt it was hard to follow in places.
August 7, 2018
This book, the fourth in the series, explores multiple timelines and gives more depth to the characters. I must admit I am addicted to this series.
March 3, 2019
Love this series. This book isn't really a novel, as the title suggests. It *is* a must read for those who have read earlier books in the series.
June 10, 2019
Another great "Diving universe " story.
January 15, 2022
For me, this was one of the strongest books in the series so far. Really enjoyed the read a lot!
May 29, 2024
The diving series continues to intrigue as Boss and Cooper pursue their sometimes different but always interlinked objectives. This continues to be a unique series and now on to the next story.
December 19, 2024
A really good addition to The Diving Universe where we find out more about The Boneyard and the vessels lying within it and how that leads to further conflict between The Empire and The Nine Planets.
August 15, 2016
Rusch is a good writer, and even though the Diving Universe series is very light as far as science fiction goes, it's still a very enjoyable read.
That being said, it feels like the most the series progresses, the less each book feels like a complete story and the more it feels like just a part of a larger book that was split for commercial reasons. The fact that the books are short and can be read in just a few days doesn't help. The story is entertaining, it's well written, but it also feels incomplete. You get to the end and it feels like it needs more. Like two hundred pages more. And I'm sure there will be a new book soon, which will have the same issue.
In any case, there's a huge improvement I noticed in this book. Previous books had left me with the impression that I was to assume that the Empire is evil just because I'm told, just because they're an Empire, and, in a way, just because they're a government. Even though various small episodes in previous books showed them to be rather benign as far as empires go, Boss, or heroine and main character, kept insisting they were evil at every opportunity, and that view was never challenged. With this book we get that challenge in the form of Coop's opinions, who rightly notes that they're just a normal expansionist regional power, and not the embodiment of evil previous books made them out to be, in description if not in deeds. We also get the point of view of an Empire military commander, in what's probably the best part of the book. She has had people under her command killed by the main protagonists, and see them as terrorists. And reading those free chapters where we get to see Coop's actions through her eyes, here does look kind of bad himself.
Anyway, good addition to the series. I just wish it were more of a complete story.
That being said, it feels like the most the series progresses, the less each book feels like a complete story and the more it feels like just a part of a larger book that was split for commercial reasons. The fact that the books are short and can be read in just a few days doesn't help. The story is entertaining, it's well written, but it also feels incomplete. You get to the end and it feels like it needs more. Like two hundred pages more. And I'm sure there will be a new book soon, which will have the same issue.
In any case, there's a huge improvement I noticed in this book. Previous books had left me with the impression that I was to assume that the Empire is evil just because I'm told, just because they're an Empire, and, in a way, just because they're a government. Even though various small episodes in previous books showed them to be rather benign as far as empires go, Boss, or heroine and main character, kept insisting they were evil at every opportunity, and that view was never challenged. With this book we get that challenge in the form of Coop's opinions, who rightly notes that they're just a normal expansionist regional power, and not the embodiment of evil previous books made them out to be, in description if not in deeds. We also get the point of view of an Empire military commander, in what's probably the best part of the book. She has had people under her command killed by the main protagonists, and see them as terrorists. And reading those free chapters where we get to see Coop's actions through her eyes, here does look kind of bad himself.
Anyway, good addition to the series. I just wish it were more of a complete story.
November 21, 2024
I would have liked this more if it hadn’t been for the faux skirmishes in the Boneyard. I was much more intrigued by the action involving Coop and the potential fleet battle (as well as its historic play throughs) rather than the metaphorical skirmishes fought by Boss in the Boneyard. That said, I understand the title and the parallelism, so I can only applaud Ms Rusch’s style for making it all so palatable.
Not fully knowing the Fleet’s rules of engagement, it could seem that the actions taken by Coop were of an unjustified order. Or, at least, I feel that the author could have expanded on the captain’s thinking as to why some actions were necessary. Right now, some of the manoeuvres—even as exacted in self defense—feel like they could have been carried out with less fatalities.
Perhaps the fact that the basis of the weaponry isn’t properly explained adds to this, as it wasn’t even clear what the weapons were that the Fleet used in this case. Was it the minimum, maximum, or something in between?
None of these items were enough to make me dislike the book. These are more akin to small gripes that don’t really affect the whole, but which could lead to plot holes if information provided in the future contradicts what was done here. But that doesn’t mean I could plan for every eventuality if I tried to create an universe like Ms Rusch, so I can only applaud the very good in this—and there is a lot of that!
This review was originally posted on my blog.
Not fully knowing the Fleet’s rules of engagement, it could seem that the actions taken by Coop were of an unjustified order. Or, at least, I feel that the author could have expanded on the captain’s thinking as to why some actions were necessary. Right now, some of the manoeuvres—even as exacted in self defense—feel like they could have been carried out with less fatalities.
Perhaps the fact that the basis of the weaponry isn’t properly explained adds to this, as it wasn’t even clear what the weapons were that the Fleet used in this case. Was it the minimum, maximum, or something in between?
None of these items were enough to make me dislike the book. These are more akin to small gripes that don’t really affect the whole, but which could lead to plot holes if information provided in the future contradicts what was done here. But that doesn’t mean I could plan for every eventuality if I tried to create an universe like Ms Rusch, so I can only applaud the very good in this—and there is a lot of that!
This review was originally posted on my blog.
April 15, 2017
I'm getting a little antsy, as I've almost caught up with the production of this series. The next book apparently doesn't include the main characters, but I'll certainly give it a try, while impatiently waiting for the book after that.
Like the earlier books in the series, this one has interesting and engaging characters competently dealing with suspenseful circumstances. Like the previous book, it jumps around in time, though not quite as much as Boneyards. I still find the jumps a bit of a nuisance, partly because I'm reading most of the series in ebook form and I'm not very skilled at going back and forth in ebooks to remind myself what happened when.
Like the earlier books in the series, this one has interesting and engaging characters competently dealing with suspenseful circumstances. Like the previous book, it jumps around in time, though not quite as much as Boneyards. I still find the jumps a bit of a nuisance, partly because I'm reading most of the series in ebook form and I'm not very skilled at going back and forth in ebooks to remind myself what happened when.
September 19, 2013
Finished this book in a matter of hours on the day it was released... and now I'm jonesing for more in the Diving Universe!
What a blast! Every trip back to this series is an adventure, giving us answers to some questions, and more mysteries.
Boss and Coop each have their own stories this time, running concurrently. Boss is diving the Boneyard to find out more about the Fleet, while Coop defends the borders of the Nine Planets Alliance against an old foe with a grudge. And that potentially sets up a new recurring antagonist for the series.
I need more in the universe! This is good stuff!
What a blast! Every trip back to this series is an adventure, giving us answers to some questions, and more mysteries.
Boss and Coop each have their own stories this time, running concurrently. Boss is diving the Boneyard to find out more about the Fleet, while Coop defends the borders of the Nine Planets Alliance against an old foe with a grudge. And that potentially sets up a new recurring antagonist for the series.
I need more in the universe! This is good stuff!
September 20, 2013
At this point I'm addicted to these Diving Universe books, they're a good fun way to forget you have university work to do. At the end of these books I end up wishing there were more of them to read.
Those of you who have read the previous books: Diving into the wreck, City of Ruins, Boneyards. Will know what to expect from this book and out of all those books I slightly favour this one, though I do wish Skirmishes was twice the length it is(I need my fix). I read this book the day I got it, its that gripping.
Those of you who have read the previous books: Diving into the wreck, City of Ruins, Boneyards. Will know what to expect from this book and out of all those books I slightly favour this one, though I do wish Skirmishes was twice the length it is(I need my fix). I read this book the day I got it, its that gripping.
December 27, 2014
A very episodic installment in the overall series narrative. I guess it had to be done. I still like the characters, and I love the parts about diving the Boneyard. The bits from the past with Coop's and Elissa's stories are fun too. It's just so very much a middle book, it's a number of novellas of material we need to know before we can go forward - and we still don't get an answer to the mystery of the Boneyard by the end. I suspect it needs a book for itself, but I am impatient.
Next book!
Next book!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews