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Overview
An enormous tidal wave on the West Coast of North America has just killed thousands. Lenie Clarke, in a black wetsuit, walks out of the ocean onto a Pacific Northwest beach filled with the oppressed and drugged homeless of the Asian world who have gotten only this far in their attempt to reach America. Is she a monster or a goddess? One thing is for sure: all hell is breaking loose.This dark, fast-paced, hard SF novel returns to the story begun in Starfish: all human life is threatened by a disease (actually a primeval form of life) from the distant prehuman past. It survived only in the deep ocean rift where Clarke and her companions were stationed before the corporation that employed them tried to sterilize the threat with a secret underwater nuclear strike. But Clarke was far enough away that she was able to survive and tough enough to walk home, three hundred miles across the ocean floor. She arrives carrying with her the potential death of the human race, and possessed by a desire for revenge. Maelstrom is a terrifying explosion of cyberpunk noir by a writer whose narrative, says Robert Sheckley, "drives like a futuristic locomotive."Author Biography: Peter Watts lives in Toronto, Ontario.
Synopsis
A powerful, dark cyberpunk SF novel from the author of the Hugo Award finalist, Blindsight
Library Journal
A massive tidal wave in the Pacific Northwest causes millions of deaths, yet one woman emerges from the ocean and begins an eerie journey of revenge and salvation. As scientists attempt to discover her identity and her motivation, people begin dying from unknown causes. This sequel to Starfish depicts a dystopic near-future, where cyberspace and real space interact and unique life forms emerge from the depths of the ocean to claim their place in the world. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
From the Publisher
Praise for Maelstrom:“What makes his novel exhilarating instead of depressing is the conviction and control he brings to his material—up-to-date science fiction with a seriously paranoid edge.”—The New York Times
“Watts moves from the relentless pressure of Starfish to the frantic speed of chaos in action, never losing the tight focus on his fascinating characters in this excellent sequel to his debut novel.”—Booklist
Praise for Starfish:
“Like some adrenaline-charged fusion of Clarke’s The Deep Range and Gibson’s Neuromancer,Watts’s trilogy represents a major addition to early twenty-first-century hard SF.”—Publishers Weekly