Rusalka is entirely a water world, colonized by humans hoping to extract valuable heavy metals from the deeps. Katya is a newly licensed submarine pilot, working her first job for her Uncle. They are sunk by a mysterious monster then rescued by the military.
It is a fast-moving story that mostly takes place under water. giving this a post-war thriller feeling.

read 1/24/2024 ( )

I can't talk about this book without spoilers. The whole theme and all after it will become very easy and predictable if it happens. This book is better be explored without prior knowledge.

Although I say that this was subjectively good book without been good objectively. I've read it in the right time. I will be thinking about it for a while. ( )

Russalka is a Terran colony. It's a world of all water, except for the poles, and if not for its extensive mineral deposits it would not have been colonized. Russalka's colonists come from what was Russia, but as the centuries pass they've become far more Russalkin than Terran.

Katya Kuriakova is fifteen and about to take her first voyage as navigator of her Uncle's mini-submarine. It should be routine. Though it's her first time in the navigator's seat it's nowhere near her first time on this sub. Everything changes when a Russalkin military officer commandeers their boat to transport an infamous criminal to Russalka's most secure prison. The officer orders Katya to plot a course through dangerous waters and once in those waters they're attacked.

This begins Katya's involvement with things she never imagined. She finds herself in the company of pirates and murderers, fighting for her life and the life of her planet. She finds herself becoming a hero.

Something very, very cool about this young adult novel with a female protagonist is that there is no romance. None. Katya is very busy saving the world, she's got no time for that. I'm not against romance, but I am tired of romance dominating the storyline in so many books. Another great thing about Katya, is that she may respect people and their cause but that doesn't mean she likes them or wants them in her life. She has a very good idea of the people that are toxic to her life and she wants them out of it.

I was glad I had the second book on my Kindle so I could dive right into it after I finished this one. ( )

I had to keep reminding myself, as I read Katya's World, that without Wesley Crusher, who annoyed millions with his over-the-top precocity and tendency to save the occasionally weirdly bumbling asses of the crew of the Enterprise-D, we would not have the 24k slab of awesome that is Wil Wheaton today. Which is to say that sometimes, it's worth putting up with an improbably gifted young protagonist being the one to think of all the solutions to all the problems in order to enjoy the rest of a show's or novel's offerings.*

And what offerings there are! Like a stormy human-colonized water world, in which everybody lives in underwater cities, travels by submarine, and struggles to exploit the amazing mineral resources on the ocean floor and in the ocean water. Like a colony of entirely Russian descent (the powers-that-were in the waves of human colonization having concluded that removing the possibility of ethnic tensions was a very good idea) who eschew intoxicants and other Russian folkways because the environment is too hostile and drunkenness can easily lead to death.

Like a war fought under the waves, not among said Russian-descended colonists, but against invaders -- from Earth! A war that warped the culture of Katya's world forever, ten years before the events of this novel unfold, and is still warping it.

And, most importantly and excitingly, like a giant mysterious something haunting the deep, destroying subs and interfering with transport and commerce, which Big Benthic Baddie starts having a direct and frightening effect on Katya's own fifteen-year-old life as she starts her career as a submarine navigator! Said BBB and its secrets providing a marvelously creepy and menacing undertone to the whole novel. Yowza.

All this and a fascinatingly enigmatic hero-villain amalgam who totally steals the book even before we find out what he's really up to. Except that might not be what he's really really up to. Except that it might be after all. See?

So on the whole, I agree with my dear EssJay, who loved the Snape out of this book and hopes to see more works, maybe even for grown-ups, set in this fascinating world. Howard handles the science and the sociology very well, as well as the tension of sub-oceanic combat, sub-hunting, seek-and-destroy missions, discussions on the nature of synthetic vs. artificial intelligence**, so I know that, for instance, some prequel work on the war that preceded this story, or how Earth went from a colonizing powerhouse to something mysteriously crippled and desperate, would make for good reading for any age group.

And really? Katya's Wesley Crusher-ism isn't that annoying. If you could tolerate Sheriff Carter's always being the one to come up with the brilliant off-beat solution that all the scientists in Eureka couldn't, Katya won't bother you at all. But if you caught yourself rolling your eyes at Carter sometimes, well, they'll roll a bit more for this. But don't let that stop you. This is a neat book!

*And really, I want to forgive said annoying precocity and ass-saving as maybe one of the necessary trappings of young adult fiction, which I have but rarely read, even back when I was a young adult, but is that the case? At any rate, I probably wouldn't have noticed/been bothered by it so much had this been a first person narrative, in which case I could take it as a slightly unreliable narrator maybe inflating her importance to the course of events a bit, instead of the third person omniscient that I got. A pity.

**And, as Essjay so gleefully pointed out, even this heady stuff is made lucid for young readers but is never presented in a condescending info-dump, in narration or dialogue, which is always appreciated! ( )

This is the type of book that flips everything that you think you know on its' head. In fact it does it more than once. This makes for a very exciting read. You would never know it by the opening scenes. I almost gave up on the book once, but persevered, and I am oh so glad that I did. The very beginning pages are kind of slow - so in that way it is kind of like a roller coaster; going up a hill, until it gets to the top. Once it gets there, there is no looking back.

Katya is an apprentice submarine navigator on a world colonized by Earth. She is on her first voyage after getting her license with her Uncle as Captain of the submarine on a world that is almost all water. To say that the voyage turns out to be more than she bargained for is an understatement. I won't give the plot away, as the twists and turns are too fundamental to the story, and nothing is what it seems when you first begin the book, so I won't give any details and spoil the experience for future readers. Needless to say, the book kept my attention riveted from after the initial scenes, and I was completely mesmerized by worldbuilding of the author as well as his fruitful imagination in creating such incredible characters and imagery. I was literally blown away and keep thinking about the book weeks after I have finished it.

This is a definite must read for all science fiction and fantasy fans - but also people interested in political intrigue will be interested in this book as well. It is extremely well written, with excellent characterization, advanced plotting, good pacing (with the exception of the first chapter set up) and a really nice ending. Overall, you don't find books this well done that often, and no matter what genre you like, if you like warfare, submarines, political intrigue, technology, space, human drama or just a good thumping read then this book is for you. ( )