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A review by dawn_marie
Driving the Deep by Suzanne Palmer
4.0
I very much enjoyed Suzanne Palmer’s Driving the Deep, the second volume of her excellent Finder Chronicles. Stories about a band of misfits, with a “if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck” leader, stuck in impossible (and sometimes comical) situations are especially appealing to me. Add in sci-fi elements, a sassy AI controlled space ship, and assorted aliens and I have high expectations. Fortunately, Ms. Palmer’s work did not disappoint.
In this offering, we find Fergus Ferguson back in the Pluto Shipyards where his friends strongly encourage him to go back to earth to confront his past. And of course since Fergus (the aforementioned “finder”) being Fergus nothing goes as planned; the motorcycle he stole at 15 has been stolen from him, someone accuses him of being an art thief, and the ship yard is attacked and his friends are missing – and that is how Fergus finds himself deep under water on one of Saturn’s moon with an unwanted detective as a partner, surrounded by paranoid people, and a skittish cat.
Even though this story takes place in space (well, more accurately deep under the water of ice covered Enceladus) at its core it is a mystery involving kidnapping and covert operations/experiments. As Fergus unravels the aspects of the case, we are introduced to various characters, all who are interesting – even the villain whose motivations make sense in the world Ms. Palmer has created. While it is easy to figure out what was happening (the clues are there if you look for them) before the “reveal” and the plot is not complex, this is still a very enjoyable read – due in no small part to the writing style, storytelling, world building, and character development of Ms. Palmer. For me, this novel is less about the mystery and more about the value of coming to terms with your past, making peace with it, and creating your own family/home.
Finder Chronicles is listed as only having two volumes, I do home the author considers writing more as I enjoy the world she has created and want to read more about Fergus, his Shipmaker friends, and their adventures.
In this offering, we find Fergus Ferguson back in the Pluto Shipyards where his friends strongly encourage him to go back to earth to confront his past. And of course since Fergus (the aforementioned “finder”) being Fergus nothing goes as planned; the motorcycle he stole at 15 has been stolen from him, someone accuses him of being an art thief, and the ship yard is attacked and his friends are missing – and that is how Fergus finds himself deep under water on one of Saturn’s moon with an unwanted detective as a partner, surrounded by paranoid people, and a skittish cat.
Even though this story takes place in space (well, more accurately deep under the water of ice covered Enceladus) at its core it is a mystery involving kidnapping and covert operations/experiments. As Fergus unravels the aspects of the case, we are introduced to various characters, all who are interesting – even the villain whose motivations make sense in the world Ms. Palmer has created. While it is easy to figure out what was happening (the clues are there if you look for them) before the “reveal” and the plot is not complex, this is still a very enjoyable read – due in no small part to the writing style, storytelling, world building, and character development of Ms. Palmer. For me, this novel is less about the mystery and more about the value of coming to terms with your past, making peace with it, and creating your own family/home.
Finder Chronicles is listed as only having two volumes, I do home the author considers writing more as I enjoy the world she has created and want to read more about Fergus, his Shipmaker friends, and their adventures.