Deepwater trilogy
Encyclopedia
The Deepwater trilogy is a series of science fiction
novel
s written by the author Ken Catran
for teenagers or young adults. The three books are respectively titled Deepwater Black, Deepwater Landing and Deepwater Angels. The books address a number of current issues like pollution
, racism
and politics
. The most evident theme throughout the series is that of survival, not for oneself only but for a bigger cause. Other notable themes and elements include beauty, color and light among darkness (love and comfort in a time of danger), responsibility at a young age, the importance of the youth in the continued existence of the human race, rebellion, and fear of the unknown.
What would you do if you woke up from that life and find yourself on a spaceship, hundreds of years into the future, millions of kilometres from Earth. No-one is there to look out for you except an intelligent navigations computer named COL, a handful of unusual-looking teenagers like yourself and a god-like entity named NUN who had raised and educated you but at some point removed its presence for an unknown reason.
Welcome to the life of the crew of the spaceship Deepwater, a group of blue, green, red and multicolored youngsters, who find themselves past all known star positions travelling to an unknown destination, facing many unknown dangers, including themselves...
This multicolored girl, whom no-one else can see, tells Robbie about things he doesn't understand, that he's needed on Deepwater. Before he can respond he's warped away from everything he's ever known, to discover that he is Reb, second in charge of a sky-scraper sized spaceship, the same person, yet different and told that his life on Earth is only a dream. He is now in charge of Deepwater along with Yoona, Bren, Gret, Lis and Zak, all of them descendants of colonists of the Solar System. Worn out from long shifts of duty in order to stay alive, these teenagers are fighting dangers like trites, amebs, solunks and mag-mets. Then there's also the 'Jel' a dangerous, seemingly live substance that lives deep in the ship's ventilation shafts. Robbie is now forced to live two lives, zooming back to Earth whenever the 'prexes' hit him, his Deepwater life becoming more and more real. To complicate things, distrust among the ship's crew slowly grows out of control and questions about their own identity are answered by only bigger riddles. Who are they really? Why are they alone in space? Where are they heading? What is hidden in the uncharted chambers of Deepwater? What is the mysterious, half-destroyed, dark ship that they encounter on their journey? Robbie has to answer Yoona's plea for help, but how can he when he doesn't even know who he is?
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s written by the author Ken Catran
Ken Catran
Ken Catran is a children's novelist and television screenwriter from New Zealand.Catran is the author of many teen novels, including Taken at the Flood, Voyage with Jason, Doomfire on Venus, Space Wolf, Jacko Moran:Sniper, Talking to Blue and its sequel Blue Murder...
for teenagers or young adults. The three books are respectively titled Deepwater Black, Deepwater Landing and Deepwater Angels. The books address a number of current issues like pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
. The most evident theme throughout the series is that of survival, not for oneself only but for a bigger cause. Other notable themes and elements include beauty, color and light among darkness (love and comfort in a time of danger), responsibility at a young age, the importance of the youth in the continued existence of the human race, rebellion, and fear of the unknown.
Background
How would you react if you were only thirteen or fourteen years old and one day you discovered your entire life that you had been living thus far is only a dream, or a pre-existing hallucination which is a memory from a person who had once been you? A person whom you had been cloned from, whose life you had been living until now.What would you do if you woke up from that life and find yourself on a spaceship, hundreds of years into the future, millions of kilometres from Earth. No-one is there to look out for you except an intelligent navigations computer named COL, a handful of unusual-looking teenagers like yourself and a god-like entity named NUN who had raised and educated you but at some point removed its presence for an unknown reason.
Welcome to the life of the crew of the spaceship Deepwater, a group of blue, green, red and multicolored youngsters, who find themselves past all known star positions travelling to an unknown destination, facing many unknown dangers, including themselves...
Deepwater Black
Robbie Mikkelson is an ordinary 13 year old who goes to school, plays hockey and occasionally dodges the school bullies. He lives with his mom and dad, older sister Sarah and younger brother David. He goes to school with kids like Denie Miles, Meatgrinder and Reeboks. Everything is relatively simple until Yoona, the girl in the gray track suit, appears in his life.This multicolored girl, whom no-one else can see, tells Robbie about things he doesn't understand, that he's needed on Deepwater. Before he can respond he's warped away from everything he's ever known, to discover that he is Reb, second in charge of a sky-scraper sized spaceship, the same person, yet different and told that his life on Earth is only a dream. He is now in charge of Deepwater along with Yoona, Bren, Gret, Lis and Zak, all of them descendants of colonists of the Solar System. Worn out from long shifts of duty in order to stay alive, these teenagers are fighting dangers like trites, amebs, solunks and mag-mets. Then there's also the 'Jel' a dangerous, seemingly live substance that lives deep in the ship's ventilation shafts. Robbie is now forced to live two lives, zooming back to Earth whenever the 'prexes' hit him, his Deepwater life becoming more and more real. To complicate things, distrust among the ship's crew slowly grows out of control and questions about their own identity are answered by only bigger riddles. Who are they really? Why are they alone in space? Where are they heading? What is hidden in the uncharted chambers of Deepwater? What is the mysterious, half-destroyed, dark ship that they encounter on their journey? Robbie has to answer Yoona's plea for help, but how can he when he doesn't even know who he is?