Welcome to my tour stop for Pelagia, Between The Stars and The Abyss by Steve Holloway. I love this amazing cover and if I wasn’t so behind due to the holidays, I would have snatched this up for review.

Now, let’s have a few words from Steve Holloway about the cover.

What does the cover of Pelagia tell you about the story inside?

This novel takes place fifty years from now, within the drama of a group of families who are establishing a community on the open seas. The community live and travel within vessels similar to the one pictured on the cover.

What the cover hints at, by the lights streaming out the underwater windows, is that this boat is home for a family. However, the picture does not tell you any fascinating details about this Yemeni household, the Battutas. Suliman the father, who leads this seafaring clan and is a man of strong faith. Gideon, his eldest son, is a budding engineer and pilot. Sophia, his young daughter, is autistic and designs marine robotics.

The Battuta family are part of a nomadic community who travel the South Pacific herding schools of tuna. You can spot some sealife in the waters surrounding their boat. You can also see hints of the seamount deep in the water, above which members of the community develop sea farms.

This picture cannot tell you more about the Battutas — that they are Yemeni, descendants of Bedouin tribes who herded camels and goats across the expanse of the Arabian deserts. In this novel, the Battutas have traded their beloved deserts for the vast seas, and their livestock for schools of tuna.

As Captain Sul puts in, “There is a deep joy sleeping beneath the stars and above the abyss. We find peace, held in our suspension between two vast and measureless realms.”

This vessel, home of the Battuta family, has an innovative design. Most of the craft sits underwater, like a submarine, with only a small part above water containing a deck and the control bridge. This design allows it to be stable and comfortable as the craft travels through rough seas and storms. The cover design is a peaceful image, hinting that, despite much turmoil and danger within this techno-thriller, this roving community provide a safe sanctuary for many. A place of love and healing.

After commissioning my book, my publisher, Lion Fiction, sent me possible cover designs. However, I felt they did not quite fit the story. As I was sharing these designs with my family, my son asked if he could suggest his own. He came up with several stunning covers. Another, depicting a seamount settlement is to the left.

The publisher was enthusiastic about the designs and chose the seacraft for the final cover.

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. I am always interested in who makes the final decision and how much input the author has in the final project. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Pelagia – Between the Stars and the Abyss by Steve Holloway

GENRE: Science Fiction

BLURB

Former special forces agent turned particle physicist Ben Holden is on the run.

The New Caliphate will stop at nothing to get their hands on his wife’s scientific research, which is believed to hold the key to unleashing chaos in the West and advancing their cause.

But in reality it’s Ben’s biometrics that have the potential to unlock the information they so desperately need. Within the oceanic world of Pelagia, in the year 2066, Ben finds sanctuary among the sea settlers of the South Pacific Pelagic Territory, but his respite is short-lived.

EXCERPT

Sophia’s Egg

9-year-old Sophia stepped across a short bridge onto her Egg. The walkway retracted as she moved to the centre of the vessel. A small brass sign on the floor was engraved: “To Sophia on her 9th birthday. With all our love, Gideon and Baba.” A clear dome now rose from one side of the vessel and encircled her small figure, sealing as it closed on the other side. The Egg began to glow softly.

“Go,” she said quietly. Mooring cables released. The Egg dropped below and behind the Ossë into the heart of the sea. A wave of phosphorescence sparkled against the windows.

Sophia said quietly, “Squid, Nemo.”

“Yes, Ameera, a shoal of giant squid is feeding eighty metres below us.”

The Egg now descended, deeper into the blackness. The glittering phosphorescent became less frequent. It was now almost absolute darkness outside, but at the edge of vision Sophia could discern darting shadows.

“Red light,” Sophia said. The orb’s faint glow clicked on again, giving shape to the giant shadows. Giant squid, Architeuthis sp. Sophia watched, entranced at the rushing activity around the vessel.

Putting her hands on the sapphire glass, Sophia peered closely at a passing four-metre long squid. It slowed, caught by, then returning her gaze.

In an instant the squid turned to reach for her. Its tentacles struck against the dome.

Sophia didn’t flinch. The large squid, a modern-day kraken that weighed much more than the child, hovered for a moment. It sent exploratory tentacles to touch the shield gently, then withdrew. The squid floated next to the glass contemplating this mystery. Sophia and the creature stared eye to eye – one alien to another. Amberjack-like guardian bots emerged from the darkness. The squid flicked a tentacle at one of the robots, hoping for dinner, and was rewarded by an electric jolt. It flashed away, leaving a cloud of ink in its wake.

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Steve Holloway grew up on the beach cities of Los Angeles and has always loved the sea. This passion led him to gain a degree in Aquatic Biology from the University of California Santa Barbara; a background which opened many opportunities for him in researching, developing, and engaging with mariculture activities around the world.

Steve and his wife have lived and travelled in many countries over their forty years of marriage, successfully raising three kids in exotic locations in the process. They have always engaged with the people and cultures they live among.

Currently Steve lives in England and consults for a Christian charity in areas of research, leadership development, adapting to new cultures, social enterprises, and mariculture projects. Currently he is consulting for a Indo-Pacific mariculture project – a social enterprise – growing sea cucumbers, a delicacy for the Chinese market.

Steve has always loved books and writing. The story of Pelagia reflects three of his passions: science, the sea and the narratives of faith. The background, in his words:

“I have for many years believed that settling the open sea was within our grasp, and even more accessible than space as our ‘next frontier’. So through the last ten years or so I have been thinking just how this might happen, what would be needed, where people would settle, what kind of livelihoods they might have on the open sea, beyond the EEZs of terrestrial countries. My son Adam told me about what would become a key component of Pelagia, Biorock or seacrete, because of his experiments with it. Many discussions with other scientists, engineers and others helped to begin to fill in the gaps and the concept of the Pelagic Territories, similar to the unincorporated territories of the early US, and what geopolitical contexts they would find themselves in.”

Steve finds any excuse to get into the ocean: sailing, diving, swimming, or just poking around tide pools.

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