Three Miles Down by Harry Turtledove

Published by Tor Books on July 26, 2022

Harry Turtledove often writes alternate histories. Three Miles Down might fit within that classification, or it might be taken as a previously unknown historical episode. The novel makes no dramatic changes in the world’s history, save for the discovery of alien life. If that discovery has an impact on the world, it isn’t explored. While the story involves first contact with aliens, most of the plot revolves around politics and the Cold War at the end of Nixon’s presidency and early in Ford’s.

Jerry Stieglitz is a grad student in oceanography. He’s writing a dissertation on the sounds made by whales. He also dabbles in writing science fiction. He’s about to get married but wonders if the downside of living with a woman is likely to be offset by the upside of regular sex. He also wonders how he will respond to the need for marital compromise, but that concern might be academic as his future wife seems intent on running the show.

Jerry is offered a good chunk of money to join a crew on a vessel engaged in undersea mining. He is required to keep the ship’s true mission secret, under penalty of death. He believes the vessel will be raising a Russian nuclear submarine from the ocean floor. While that was its mission at one point, the mission changed when the search for the sub discovered another vessel on the ocean floor. This one seems to be an alien spaceship.

Jerry is recruited because (1) he speaks some Russian, (2) he knows something about oceans, (3) he’s given some thought to how whales communicate (which might facilitate communication with aliens), and (4) he writes science fiction and therefore has greater insight into space aliens than the CIA agents and technicians who seem to be the mining ship’s primary crew. There are probably hundreds of people more qualified than Jerry to make first contact, but the reader needs to buy into the premise to enjoy the story.

After the spaceship is lifted, Jerry uses his knowledge of Lord of the Rings to gain entry. Jerry and a friend poke around for a while, object to the CIA’s attempt to chisel material from the hull, and are booted out of the project. The rest of the book follows Jerry as he tries to avoid assassination by the CIA. That was easier before surveillance cameras lurked on every corner.

Jerry’s references to Heinlein and other classic figures of science fiction are fun, as is the CIA’s decision to replace Jerry (who is something of a hippy and therefore unreliable in the CIA’s view) with Jerry Pournelle, a classic sf author whose politics were quite far to the right. Pournelle died a few years ago, so it’s impossible to know whether he would have been honored by his inclusion in the story. He seems to have had a big ego so I’m guessing he would be secretly pleased while finding something to gripe about.

A reader might question whether Jerry’s choices are smart, but Turtledove keeps the story moving. His prose is straightforward. While the narrative isn’t particularly suspenseful, it at least left me wondering what would happen next. The ending only resolves part of the story and might leave room for a sequel. Jerry is a likable guy, although he seems a bit flighty. His comments about his soon-to-be wife ring true for the early 1970s but might be seen as less than PC by current standards. I thought they were moderately entertaining, regardless. I had the same reaction to the book as a whole.

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We Install and Other Stories by Harry Turtledove

Published by Open Road Media on August 25, 2015

I have a mixed, but generally positive, reaction to this collection. Harry Turtledove is known for his alternative histories but this volume showcases his range as a science fiction writer. Readers expecting alternative histories might be disappointed, since none of those are represented here, although history does play a role in a couple of the stories.

Sort of the flip side of alternate history, “Drang von Osten” is a story of the future, told from a German soldier’s point of view as his army (combined with various Scandanavian forces) fights a campaign against Soviet Russians. If you’ve read any of the books that Turtledove has set in a time of war, this story is fairly typical in terms of content and style. The ending comes as something of a surprise, perhaps because it is jarringly out-of-the-blue.

In “Hoxbomb,” humans and an alien race who are grudgingly sharing a world find the need to conduct a joint criminal investigation. The aliens are truly alien, cleverly so. They are different from humans in most significant ways but with enough similarities to make productive interaction possible.

The longest and best story, “Down in the Bottomlands,” is a fun blend of the mystery and spy genres with modest elements of science fiction. A tour guide who shows tourists the sea bottom of a long-dry seabed finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy to reignite a war between the various political divisions on his world.

“Father of the Groom” is about a mad scientist who literally turns a bride into Bridezilla. “We Install” is about a salesman who installs solar systems (as opposed to solar power systems). Both stories are cute but trivial.

“Under St. Peter’s” explains the resurrection of Jesus in a clever way that people of a religious bent might find sacrilegious. I thought it was amusing. “It’s the End of the World as We Know It, and We Feel Fine” imagines domesticating humans in the way that Balyaev domesticated foxes. I liked the story but the style is a little too author-intrusive for my taste.

Turtledove’s attempt at something that isn’t science fiction, “Logan’s Law” (“the good ones are already taken”) is a bland story about a guy who is happy because he got laid …. duh. “Birdwitching” is about a witch who goes birding. Not my kind of story.

A few nonfiction pieces add to the page count, but not to the quality of the volume. In short, while the stories are uneven, the best of the bunch are quite good, and they make the collection worth reading.

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