When I first started reading this, I though dull, dull, DULL. I stuck at it, and and was amply rewarded for doing so, because the ending is superb. I can only recommend this to people with patience enough to read a slow developing story, but those who do will love it as much as I did.

I have followed Alexander Jablakov's work since his powerful short stories in Asimov's back in the 1980's. Nobody else seems to know who he is. Anyhow: River of Dust is his most powerful to date. The society is riveting, its history mysterious, and the central tale -- the tale of three siblings (one of whom we never meet) -- is tragedy as Shakespeare would have written if he had written science fiction. I only give a 10 to a novel that I want to immediately re-read, but this one makes it to my "I will re-read it when I run out of new books to read" list (the 9 list).

Hard to believe that was written in 1991. Boring and hokey as...

This is a gem of a book which I found by pure coinsidence in a small libraby. It is one of those futuristic novels which reawakens ones primal passion for the SF genre. It is a very sophisticated novel with the most lovable heroes. The plot equals the masters of the genre and a language like an aribian tresure. Zelazny said of this book, that it is everything a good science fiction novel should be - memorable characters, a well-realized future milieu, clever plotting, appropriate pacing. And he loved every minute of it. What more can be said?

It's so rare to find a futuristic SF novel that dares deal with main stream art: painting / sculpture / whatever. To find a book that does it beautifully, in the background of a great detective plot full of interesting social structures and characters, well... I loved it. Oh yeah, I read it almost a year ago. This really is a book you'll remember.

A Deeper Sea has been unfairly criticized, I think, because reviewers were looking at it mainly as hard science fiction. And, certainly, the hard SF elements are there. This book includes plenty of scientifically credible portrayals of marine mammal communication, underwater and space exploration, and so on. And it's humorous that the dolphins, whom we tend to sentimentalize, turn out to be SOBs when they start talking.

But the real focus of this book is the main character's spiritual journey, as he is gradually transformed by guilt and self-punishment. There is much meditation on the nature of god (in the generic sense) and human responsibility toward the divine. Though it's been a few years since I read Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment, I think A Deeper Sea has much the same agenda. It's probably not a coincidence that the main character is a Russian, of the gloomy and philosophical variety.

Those who enjoy a strong character study and the pleasures of philosophy will find this unusual book a rewarding read.

This is my favorite Jablokov novel. I feel it was his most original (not to say his others are bad). I suggest everyone purchase it.

This was a very interesting book. Jablakov does a wonderful job in a futuristic story about the interactions of Dolphins, Whales, Humans, and the God that is waited for. A definate page turner, worth the wait of finding an out of print copy.

This diverse collection of stories runs the gamut from sly humor to dark melancholy. Like all collections, some of these stories are better than others, but the best ones are awe-inspiring. The title story, in particular, is brilliant and haunting. This man is a masterful writer.

One of the best things about Jablokov's writing is the infusion of ideas that elevates great characterization and imagination. His novels, though I love them, can ramble. His short stories, however, distill his best points and this collection is a rewarding read.

It's a pity that this fine, complex book is out of print--I encourage other readers to make the effort to find copies.

This story is hard to describe in a few lines, but centers around the protagonist's reluctant attempts to revive memories of his past as his former associates are picked off by an unknown murderer. Conspiracies and cover-ups abound. The characters are richly drawn and the near-future environment is wonderfully detailed and inventive. The novel takes the hard-boiled-detective noir genre and makes it fresh.

Thematically, the novel deals with some very interesting questions of identity and memory. One character who lives in a made-up reality seems to be the most lucid person in a world where identity can be manufactured. This is a book you can read both for the pleasure of the story and for the intellectual challenges the story poses.

My only problem was with the main character, who is such an ass that it's hard to identify with him as a hero. (Probably intentional on the part of the author.) But once the tale got into full swing, I forgot how much I disliked the hero and enjoyed the ride.

Several other reviewers have summarized the plot of this story quite nicely, so I won't repeat their efforts. The main problem I had with this book is that the motivations of the main characters are totally opaque. Because of this I couldn't relate to them; never really felt sympathy for or liked them; and ultimately wasn't interested in them. Are these people in it for money? Curiosity? Love? Boredom? It's ironic that the one character the dust jacket describes as the most enigmatic is actually the easiest one to understand. The most intriguing characters to me were the various alien species. There's one really marvelous description of an alien named Doc Kraken, a composite organism who finances it's tour of the galaxy by deconstructing and reconstructing itself in front of spectators. At a restaurant. Hilariously strange.
This book is reminiscent of Bruce Sterling's Schismatrix stories, but in a good way. Not at all derivative. I read the whole book in less than 24 hours, so I probably shouldn't complain too much. But even when I was really concentrating I couldn't follow the story, and I'm a pretty good reader. I guess I just kept hoping that it would start making sense to me at some point, or that the climax of the story would somehow explain it all. But it never happened. To his credit, Jablokov did tie all the various story lines up pretty neatly, so I didn't put the book down feeling dissatisfied. Overall I think this book is worth reading.
And by the way, this book has the coolest luggage ever imagined!

If you've ever seen the opera "La Boheme," or even the musical "Rent," you know this story. Well, this story suffers from the same plot problem that La Boheme has -- all of the action is in the first act! After we leave Venus, a little before halfway through the book, we just have a long slow decline as the characters recombine and reminisce. I've never liked this plot, and am disappointed in Jablokov for resurrecting it.

I give him three stars though for three things that deserve special note : 1. His language, 2. His Science, 3. His Aliens. As always, Jablokov has a poetry of language and beauty of vision that gives his books a grace, indeed a tangible texture, that few other sci-fi authors achieve. You will remember this book as as much in your senses of touch, hearing, and taste as you do the story. Despite the near mysticism of the Deep Drive, Jablokov remains rooted in hard science. He made me believe that people will live on Venus some day. No mean feat, that! A great planetary vision. Finally, Jablokov does a great job getting rid of the putty-head aliens from Star Trek -- His aliens are fully thought out, and yet emotionally understandable to humans.

...

When I was a kid, not that long ago, one could still read, without too much suspension of disbelief, science fiction set in the Solar System, where people traveled around from Mars to Venus and met fun and interesting alien species. Alas, NASA killed off that genre. But Jablokov makes a fair attempt to revive it with Deepdrive.

His gambit is to imagine a future where the Solar System has been colonized by not one but 11 alien species. (You don't meet most of these creatures--do I detect the beginning of a series?) They've settled down in various places--some burrowing under Venus' terraformed crust, some swimming in the seas of Ganymede, some tunneling into various asteroids. When's the last time your read an SF book where there was something worth visiting going on on Mercury?

The aliens are intriguing, too--though they come in many varieties, mostly they seem to rely on biotechnology for most of their needs. Symbiosis seems to be the big galactic fashion, and the way humans fit into this ecosystem was compelling.

The characters are pretty three-dimensional, or at least solidly two-dimensional. In fact, their relationships give the book a lot of its drive, and when they split up roughly halfway through, things sort of slow down. Still, I did not find this a hard book to get through.