What do you think?
Rate this book
Diving Universe
Maelstrom: A Diving Universe Novella
Nedda Ferguson-Lithe lost her father on the Gabriella’s final mission. The ship’s disappearance remains one of the great mysteries of the sector.
But as Nedda interviews the crew’s survivors, she finds more questions than answers.
No one knows who or what causes the maelstroms that make exploring Nájar Crater on Madreperla so dangerous. But everyone knows that the rumors of the crater’s riches prove far too tempting despite the danger.
Every time a ship ventures into that crater, a maelstrom drives it out. Or destroys it. Nedda hopes to find out which fate met the Gabriella—and her father.
Nominated for the Asimov’s Readers Choice Award for best novella, Maelstrom proves a heart-wrenching addition to Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s award-winning Diving Series.
“Like everything [Kristine Kathryn Rusch] writes, the story is beautifully-told and has a lot of heart. Who could ask for anything more?”
—SFRevu
But as Nedda interviews the crew’s survivors, she finds more questions than answers.
No one knows who or what causes the maelstroms that make exploring Nájar Crater on Madreperla so dangerous. But everyone knows that the rumors of the crater’s riches prove far too tempting despite the danger.
Every time a ship ventures into that crater, a maelstrom drives it out. Or destroys it. Nedda hopes to find out which fate met the Gabriella—and her father.
Nominated for the Asimov’s Readers Choice Award for best novella, Maelstrom proves a heart-wrenching addition to Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s award-winning Diving Series.
“Like everything [Kristine Kathryn Rusch] writes, the story is beautifully-told and has a lot of heart. Who could ask for anything more?”
—SFRevu
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 23, 2021
19 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
1,366 books722 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
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 29, 2021
I was really bored with this book. I don’t know how it is connected to the diving universe. I didn’t find the story compelling, it was not my cup of tea. I have a bunch of this author's short stories. I plan on reading those and then reading the most recent book in the series. I like the author, this just wasn’t my favorite book.
March 14, 2021
While probably not an essential part of the Diving Universe series this novella is nonetheless an interesting and well written story.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch never disappoints.
Kristine Kathryn Rusch never disappoints.
March 21, 2021
I read the novella Maelstrom by Rusch. I didn't find it as good as other novellas by her but still enjoyable to read. It will be interesting to see how she fits this into her Diving Universe.
June 11, 2021
Maelstrom was interesting and I’m curious if this story will tie into the rest of The Diving Universe series.
September 30, 2024
Space explorers are confronted with a moon that likely has very valuable minerals but any approach to the richest area is met by maelstroms that are extremely dangerous but whose cause has yet to be defined. I found this to be a very smart of novella which sets up a mystery which it does not resolve but instead delves into both the human side of the people who survived or died in the spacecraft destroyed or damaged by the maelstroms as well as the technical aspects of the ships that may or may not have had anything to do with their destruction. p.s. this author has entered my life to stay and I always have another book or story by her coming up to read soon; OK, with the exception of fantasy novels.
October 6, 2021
Very different for the diving universe
Very interesting story, though I don't really consider this part of the Diving Universe. This novel has no relation to any of the characters or or entities in those stories. The only common ground is the search for information about a lost ship. It is written as a report, so don't expect a lot of character development or action. The mystery of the crater, the maelstrom and the fate of the lost ship is not resolved. Of course, now I want to know more about this place! Perhaps the author will travel there again in the future. She's tricky that way.
Very interesting story, though I don't really consider this part of the Diving Universe. This novel has no relation to any of the characters or or entities in those stories. The only common ground is the search for information about a lost ship. It is written as a report, so don't expect a lot of character development or action. The mystery of the crater, the maelstrom and the fate of the lost ship is not resolved. Of course, now I want to know more about this place! Perhaps the author will travel there again in the future. She's tricky that way.
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.
With the exception of Maelstrom.
I don't know why Maelstrom is included in the Series, there is literally no aspect of it that relates in any way at all to any strand of the stories so far. In that sense, I feel cheated having paid to read it!
I didn't even enjoy it as a standalone -- it felt like an odd journalistic-style exercise in which the protaganist tried to pull together an understanding of a historical event but wholly failed.
With the exception of Maelstrom.
I don't know why Maelstrom is included in the Series, there is literally no aspect of it that relates in any way at all to any strand of the stories so far. In that sense, I feel cheated having paid to read it!
I didn't even enjoy it as a standalone -- it felt like an odd journalistic-style exercise in which the protaganist tried to pull together an understanding of a historical event but wholly failed.
February 17, 2022
Interesting after accident report on a (future) space ship crash.
February 23, 2022
Interesting bit of psychology...
It is part of the Diving Universe, but didn't need to be. Stands alone just fine.
Short.
It is part of the Diving Universe, but didn't need to be. Stands alone just fine.
Short.
October 6, 2024
In many ways this reminded me of the archaeological novella on Amnthra—supposedly part of the same series, the reader is given no information about how this connects to the Fleet or Lost Souls. But while the Amnthra story was enjoyable based on it’s own merits, this one doesn’t carry the same strength.
It’s very clear here that these guys have no connection whatsoever to the Fleet, so it remains to be seen how and whether the larger Diving Universe connects to this title. This separation from the stories I really like made this book tough to appreciate. In addition, the introspective report-style storytelling differs greatly from what I’ve come to expect from a Diving story, so this also put me somewhat off.
Where can this go from here? I’m guessing we either see the creation of the maelstrom or someone else caught in it. But, then again, it wouldn’t be bad to never come back to it and to leave this episode behind.
This review was originally posted on my blog.
It’s very clear here that these guys have no connection whatsoever to the Fleet, so it remains to be seen how and whether the larger Diving Universe connects to this title. This separation from the stories I really like made this book tough to appreciate. In addition, the introspective report-style storytelling differs greatly from what I’ve come to expect from a Diving story, so this also put me somewhat off.
Where can this go from here? I’m guessing we either see the creation of the maelstrom or someone else caught in it. But, then again, it wouldn’t be bad to never come back to it and to leave this episode behind.
This review was originally posted on my blog.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews