Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Starfish | 1999 | Peter Watts | Buy |
| 2 | Maelstrom | 2001 | Peter Watts | Buy |
| 3 | Behemoth: B-Max | 2004 | Peter Watts | Buy |
| 4 | Behemoth: Seppuku | 2004 | Peter Watts | Buy |
The Rifters trilogy is Peter Watts’s first published fiction. Starfish (1999) is set at a geothermal power station on the Juan de Fuca Rift, three kilometers below the Pacific Ocean. The crew members — called rifters — have been surgically modified for deep-sea work. They have artificial gills, their eyes have been replaced, and they were selected for the job in part because their psychological profiles make them suited to isolation and pressure. Lenie Clarke is one of these rifters, and the series follows her across all four volumes.
The scope expands with each book. Maelstrom (2001) moves the action to the surface and into the digital world, dealing with information contagion and ecological collapse. Behemoth was written as a single novel but split into two volumes for publication: B-Max and Seppuku, both released in 2004. The final installment deals with the aftermath of the events set in motion in the first two books, on a global scale.
Watts holds a Ph.D. in marine biology, and the deep-ocean setting is rendered with the kind of detail that comes from someone who has studied the real ecosystems down there. The science in the Rifters books — from the biology of extremophiles to the engineering of the power stations — is grounded in actual research.