Undersea Quest: A very fine intro to a fun trilogy

Undersea Quest by Frederik Pohl & Jack Williamson

In 1947, Robert A. Heinlein, after almost a decade of producing high-quality science fictional short stories and novellas for adults, came out with his first novel, Rocket Ship Galileo. The book was geared to younger readers, and would prove to be just the beginning of a landmark series of 12 “Heinlein juveniles,” all published by the U.S. firm Scribner’s. Heinlein – who, in 1974, would be proclaimed the first Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America – would come out with at least one such book for younger readers every year until 1958. Other authors, it seemed, soon took note of the series’ success. Isaac Asimov (the 8^th Grand Master, named in 1986) came out with David Starr, Space Ranger in 1952, the first of six Lucky Starr novels for younger readers, and a series that also wrapped up in 1958. For his first novel, Robert Silverberg (the 21^st Grand Master, so named in 2004) chose to create the juvenile offering Revolt on Alpha C (1955). And not to be left out, it appears, good friends Jack Williamson (the 2^nd Grand Master, named in 1976) and Frederik Pohl (the 12^th Grand Master, so named in 1993), starting in 1954 and also wrapping up in ’58, came out with a sci-fi series of their own that was geared to younger readers; a series today known as THE UNDERSEA TRILOGY.

The three books in this tremendously fun trinity consist of Undersea Quest (1954), Undersea Fleet (1956) and Undersea City (1958). For the sake of convenience, I will be discussing each book separately here, starting, of course, with Undersea Quest. This book was originally released as a $2.50 Gnome Press hardback with cover art by the great Ed “Emsh” Emshwiller. Here in the U.S., Ballantine/Del Rey would come out with paperback reissues in 1971, ’77 and ’82; internationally, the novel would see editions in Italy (’55), Mexico (’66), the U.K. (’66 and ’70), Germany (’79) and even Slovenia (’86). The most current incarnation of the novel, I believe, was courtesy of the U.S. publisher Baen in ’92, which volume gathers all three novels in the series in one handy – and economical – 501-page paperback. This was the volume that I was fortunate enough to acquire somewhere along the way, and I am so glad that I did!

Undersea Quest is set in an undated future era, in which mankind has managed to colonize Earth’s oceans. Over a hundred domed cities comprise the realm of Marinia; cities that, thanks to the advent of the Edenite shield, can safely repose on the ocean floor, four miles beneath the surface. Created by Stewart Eden, the Edenite force shield is able to resist the titanic pressures of 20,000 feet of water by electromagnetically turning that pressure back upon itself! Sea-cars equipped with the shield can thus comfortably cruise along at previously unreachable depths, and workers with Edenite-protected suits can safely farm and mine the abundant oceanic resources formerly unattainable by man. Against this backdrop the reader is introduced to 10-year-old Jim Eden, an orphan, as well as the nephew of the great inventor. Jim serves as our narrator, and tells us his remarkable story over the course of all three books. At 16, Jim, thanks in large part to his uncle’s influence, follows his dream and is admitted into the U.S.S.A.: the United States Sub-Sea Academy, located in Bermuda. In this future era, apparently, this school is something akin to West Point, Annapolis, and Colorado Springs, and the Sub-Sea Fleet, for which the Academy is the preparation, is a multinational, noncommercial patrol force. Jim is given a hard time at the Academy by upperclassman Brand Sperry, the son of Hallam Sperry, who had cheated both Jim’s father and Uncle Stewart out of their patent rights somehow, and who currently serves as the mayor of the undersea city of Thetis. But Jim also becomes close friends with his roommate, Bob Eskow. The reader follows Jim’s first two grueling years at the Academy, until two tragedies befall him back to back. First, both he and Eskow are forced to resign from the Academy in disgrace, as a result of some mysteriously concocted, trumped-up charges. And then, and even worse, Jim learns that his Uncle Stewart has apparently been killed; lost while testing his new improvement of the Edenite shield in a sea-car thus equipped to explore the Eden Deep, 7½ miles down!

Devastated by his double loss, Jim decides to go to Thetis, on the floor of the South Pacific, in which city Stewart had also lived, and see to his late uncle’s affairs. Stewart had left his nephew, by will, ownership of 80% of the shares in a company called Marine Mines Ltd., which holds the lease on the Eden Deep and the uranium deposits that are imagined to reside there. And before Jim can even get to Thetis, unknown parties begin pressuring him to sell, he is tailed through the streets of San Francisco, and an attempt is made on his life. In Thetis, the threats and assassination attempts continue, and he is fortunately saved from one of those attempts by Gideon Park, “a tall, husky Negro” who had once been his Uncle Stewart’s right-hand man. Ultimately, the 18-year-old Jim and the much older Gideon will somehow combat the thugs and plotters arrayed against them, abscond with Stewart’s prototype of the improved Edenite sea-car, and make their way into the ultrahazardous abyss of the Eden Deep, 40,000 feet down, to rescue Jim’s uncle … if, that is, the genius inventor is still alive…

In every reference source that I have consulted, the three books that comprise this trilogy are referred to as “juvenile lit,” or what we today would call YA (young adult), but in truth, this trilogy, just like the Heinlein juveniles, has a very strong appeal for adults, as well; had Jim Eden been 10 years older here, perhaps these books wouldn’t be deemed targeted at the younger readers at all! The authors’ Book #1 doesn’t condescend to the teenage set one bit, and is unfailingly intelligent. And really, can any book that includes such words as “clinometer,” “magnetostriction” and “guyot” be deemed solely for kids? Undersea Quest boasts a wonderfully readable style, an increasingly suspenseful story line, cliff-hanger chapters that really keep one flipping those pages, and an impressive roster of hissable bad guys. And the book’s three leading characters are all hugely likeable: the brave and scrupulously loyal Jim, who remains well mannered even toward his enemies; the wise and ever-astute Gideon (a right-on portrayal of a black man in an era – the mid-1950s – not exactly known for its civil equality); and the gruff but kindly genius, Uncle Stewart.

Besides the Edenite shield, oceanic cities, and deep-sea operations, Pohl & Williamson also pepper their book with all kinds of futuristic touches. Thus, we see Jim traveling on a “pedestrian express belt” (a moving sidewalk) and hailing a helicab taxi. Lethine gas, which kills fairly quickly and leaves its victims stiff and bleached white, is spotlighted, as is the “brainpump,” which can record any person’s thoughts and memories on tape … unfortunately, with lethal effect. And the authors’ book also gives the reader convincing descriptions of the ocean depths of four miles, and at the awesome abyss of 7½ miles, as well.

Any number of exciting sequences are to be had here. Among them: Jim’s first underwater training, and the subsequent search for the missing Bob Eskow; that first assassination attempt, by lethine gas; the second attempt, as Jim is trussed up and tossed into the drainage tunnels of Thetis; the viewing of the brainpump tapes recorded from the saboteur who had wrecked Stewart’s ship in the Eden Deep, and subsequently escaped; Jim and Gideon’s fight with Brooks, an enormous, toadlike goon; the purloining of a sea-car by Jim and Gideon; the daring rescue attempt that Jim and Gideon conduct at the bottom of the Eden Deep; and finally, a subsurface sea-car battle that our heroes engage in with their enemies, as the two cars ram each other repeatedly.

This first installment of THE UNDERSEA TRILOGY leaves us wanting to know more about the operations of the Sub-Sea Fleet, as well as the underwater world and its mining and farming economy. It is an excellent introduction to the series, and I cannot imagine any reader of the book not wanting to continue on to Book #2. Need I even mention that this first installment could be adapted into a splendid Hollywood blockbuster today … given the proper, respectful treatment … and the requisite $200 million, of course.

I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t mention that this Book #1 does come with its fair share of problems. There are a few instances of faulty grammar, for one thing (“…the triple green lights that marked Crew Five’s whaleboat was only a few yards away”), and the usual mix-up regarding the words “turbidity” and “turgidity.” An instance of datedness occurs when Brooks tells Jim and Gideon “…if I can’t take care of two miserable specimens like you with my bare hands I’ll go back to Alcatraz and pound rocks to toughen up.” The problem here, of course, is that the Alcatraz Penitentiary closed in 1963. There are three “oopsie” moments to be had, as well. In the first, Jim remembers having heard Brooks’ name mentioned before, whereas he’d actually only heard the goon being called by his first name, Jack. In the second, that saboteur, Catroni, is shown on the brainpump tape destroying the forward section of Uncle Stewart’s ship; later, it is the aft section that is shown to have been wrecked! And third, Hallam Sperry is given as being the mayor of Thetis, but at one point it is mentioned that he’s the “mayor of Marinia.” And then there’s the matter of the book’s several unanswered questions. Why precisely did Bob Eskow pass out during his undersea training? Why were those uranium fuel cells being removed from the Academy training ship? If these were nefarious doings on the part of the book’s villains, as I suspect they were, the authors might have made this a bit clearer. Still, these minor quibbles aside, I more than eagerly turned to the trilogy’s Book #2, Undersea Fleet, for more of Jim Eden’s exploits, as I believe any reader would have. To quote the U.S.S.A.’s oft-quoted motto, “The tides don’t wait”!