Deep-sea setting, telepathy, monsters, and intrigue...

[doskei]

Hey all! I've been trying to find this book for over a year now and just discovered your forum. Here's hoping you folks can help...

The book took place in a sea-floor lab. The inhabitants had an operation that allowed them to breathe seawater (I believe one lung was replaced), so that they could explore the ocean floor without diving suits (they equalized internal pressure with the ocean). I remember only tidbits of the plot...

All of the inhabitants were a little crazy. By design - those were the folks that had proven they could live with the stresses involved...

They discovered a fundamentally different form of life - I think it had fewer chromosomes or something...

They discovered that, when they were out in the ocean, something about the increased pressure gave them all a form of telepathy...

One of them ended up refusing to come back to the habitat...

They discovered a computer, or an AI, attached to a bomb...

And I remember the ending, but I don't want to post it in the clear.

I know these are non-sequiturs and not terribly useful. That's probably why I've failed to find it for so long. I feel like if I could remember the name they gave the other life-form, I could find it.

No idea on author, title, anything. Anybody have a clue what I'm on about? Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Culhwch]

Sounds vaguely like Michael Crichton's Sphere, but I don't think that's it. Can't help beyond that, I'm afraid...

 

[chrispenycate]

Not fewer chromosomes; a simpler chemical instead of DNA, right? And for computers simpler means better.

If it's the one I think, I've got it in my bookshelves (and the sequel) and, if I remember, I'll be able to tell you tomorrow.

No, Googled it

Starfish, Peter Watts , strike a chord. Followed by Maelstrom and, oh look two volumes of Behemoth that I haven't read.

 

[doskei]

Wooooooo! chrispenycate, you nailed it. Thanks so much!

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

A very interesting but also dark series of books. I am afraid I finally gave up a few chapters into the third volume, thought I was fascinated by the worldbuilding. Spending any more time with those sorts of characters was beginning to really get me down (although Watts provides a good rationale for why the deep-sea crew in the first book are all sociopaths).

 

[ktabic]

Yep, ChrisP has it. Pater Watts Starfish (first book of the Rifters series). I have recently addicted one of my work colleagues to the series.

 

[cernan]

Aside from the excellent Rifters series Watts most recent novel "Blindsight" is definitely worth picking up.

It's very solid in terms of it's use of science and unrelentingly bleak, probably even more so than the Rifters series, and actually manages to shoe horn a viable explanation for vampire biology into a first contact story.

The vast majority of his work is available under creative commons at his site which I can't post due to post count so google watts and rifters! It's all excellent!