The Diving Bundle: Six Diving Universe Novellas

Diving Universe

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Fast-paced action, engaging characterization and page-turning adventures. The Diving Universe novellas have been selected as Readers’ Choice winners three times by readers of Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. The Diving Bundle offers a chance to catch up with this compelling series with the first six novellas, in order: Diving into the Wreck, The Room of Lost Souls, Becalmed, Becoming One with the Ghosts, Stealth and Strangers at the Room of Lost Souls.

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Fiction, Ebooks, Novella

ebook

First published September 15, 2013

About the author

Kristine 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

Reviews

[Shaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as part of the Women in Science Fiction bundle and picked it up to read upon seeing a review of a newer Diving novella that appeared in Asimov's. The novellas somewhat link together to build a bigger picture and I understand that at least some of them have become parts of the novel forms of the story. These really ought to be taken more for what they are, the individual pieces, but it is interesting to glimpse how they come together.
The novella I liked best was Becalmed.

[Ronan L'Hénoret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not very pleased after reading "Diving into the wreck". The story was too short and it was not to my tatse.
The trick is that the author build her world one point of view per book, and it came into form for you to see.
So read more than the first one.
Not great but readable enough for a train trip.

[Natalie aka Tannat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Space is really big, and really dangerous. That means there are a lot of wrecks, damaged ships, abandoned stations, and more. Some people, for money, knowledge, or glory, like to explore these wrecks, much like people in bygone eras would put on a diving suit to explore a sunken ship. But in space, it's a lot more dangerous, as the wrecks mght contain technologies that are lost or poorly understood, and still active, or worse, malfunctioning. And sometimes, even weirder things can be found...

This is a set of novellas, loosely connected, set in the same universe. Many of them are also parts of longer novels. This makes a decent way to sample the universe, but at the same time makes it a little trickier to go further, since chances are you're going to have to commit to rereading something in order to get a fuller story that a novel provides, or risk missing out on something by reading something out of order.

On the whole, though, I liked it. The central diving motif works extremely well, and something I'm surprised isn't hit a lot more in space-based stories (after all, astronauts often train for some of the weirdness of microgravity inside massive water tanks). And a few of the stories genuinely had me swept up and excited to see what happened next... although, at the same time, some of them dragged on a little bit. I don't begrudge this, because it's one of those things where characters have to operate out of an abundance of caution because that makes sense... that discoveries move slowly because the investigators aren't idiots rushing to look at things (mostly) but instead take a slow methodical approach, is actually refreshing, even if it's not always as exciting. And although the novellas are linked, they did offer more variety than I expected. Just when I was beginning to think, "Okay, this is interesting, but I don't know if I can take another few novellas all following the same pattern" the collection switches it up and gives a completely different kind of story.

They do tend to revolve around a single technological thread, in many forms, and it was interesting enough but by the end of the collection, it did start to wear a little thin. I might have liked to see a few stories that involved completely different types of wrecks, maybe even some that are completely conventional but there's a mystery involved. But it's clear the universe and major stories and character arcs are built around this single mostly-lost technology that crops up again and again, and, as I said, it started to wear thin. It's not that I'm not interested in continuing, it's just that I would need a break from it before reading more in this universe. If not for that feeling (and the previously mentioned difficulty of deciding where to go next), I might have gone out and purchased a novel in this universe right away. Instead, I'll merely mark it down as a universe and writer I'm interested in checking out again somewhere down the line.

[Paul Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this bundle of stories. All of them were interesting, but for different reasons. Some had a detective vibe about them, whilst others were exploration of outer or inner space. I really liked the common universe and common tech that played out through these stories, and i will definitely buy another book or bundle of stories in this series.

I had read reviews that placed the first two stories head and shoulders above the rest. And whilst i think the first two were probably the strongest the remainder were also excellent and well written.

When i find great stories like these from authors that i hadn't known previously I'm really happy.

[Fate's Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories, particularly the first one, were top notch and very interesting, but others, including the last two, were tepid at best, an idle dip into an established universe without a whole lot of individual impact. There were also some continuity issues, like characters who were ex-spouses in one novella being shown to barely know each other in the next even though the second novella took place immediately after the first in the timeline. I had fun musing to myself which was written first and whether the relationship was forgotten or merely retconned, but that doesn't mean it didn't blow my suspension of disbelief clear out of the water for that second story.

[Andre · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good series of tales featuring space salvage work adopting the terms and methods of oceanic salvage work. The stories feature lost technology and penetrating the mysteries of the past. A good fun read!

[Tressa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories in The Diving Bundle were familiar from the novels, some were new, and some were different views of events. All were enjoyable. For me, the bundle became more exciting at Becalmed because it delved further into the Fleet.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best science fiction I've ever read! I'm completely enthralled!

[Ken · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this at all. The writing style, the characters, the story. None of it were any fun. I loved the premise of wreck diving in space, but the way these novellas implemented it was crap.

[Fresa J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series of short stories.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give the first four stories five stars. The last two, I'd give two stars.