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Dragon In The Sea

3.54 of 5 stars 3.54 · rating details · 612 ratings · 43 reviews

Twenty subtugs had been lost in the attempt to bring back oil from the undersea fields on the enemy's borders. A brilliant psychologist-electronics expert is planted in the crew of the subtug Ram to find out what is happening. And theory becomes terrifying reality when, miles deep under the ocean, the minds of the crew begin to crack...

Published August 1969 by New English Library (London) (first published 1956)

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Apr 27, 2013 Manuel Pirino rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, useyourimagination

I wish there was a 4 and half star rating on Goodreads. Most of the book I have read lately, I would have gladly given them 5 stars, but I am saving that for when my jaw truly drops and / or I cry rivers. Tha being said, The Dragon in the Sea (Under Pressure) is a damn good book. It is a new Frank Herbert, away from his familiar landscape, the Arrakis/Dune which is now a quite well known setting (starting with David Lynch's adaptation, and on with videogames, spinoffs and telefilms).

Herbert sho...more

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Mar 16, 2012 Smcleish rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Originally published on my blog here in October 1998.

Frank Herbert's first science fiction novel, set in about 2020 and written in 1956, today reads more like a contemporary thriller than science fiction, even though it is set in a somewhat different world to the real one. It is set during a length, drawn out nuclear war (it was written at a time when comparatively little was known and much less public about the effects of a nuclear attack). The West is running short of oil but cannot easily obt...more Originally published on my blog here in October 1998.

Frank Herbert's first science fiction novel, set in about 2020 and written in 1956, today reads more like a contemporary thriller than science fiction, even though it is set in a somewhat different world to the real one. It is set during a length, drawn out nuclear war (it was written at a time when comparatively little was known and much less public about the effects of a nuclear attack). The West is running short of oil but cannot easily obtain it while the East controls much of the world's oceans; this is a war in which air power is virtually non-existent because of the lack of fuel. The Western military have come up with a daring plan to obtain oil: sending nuclear powered submarines underwater all the way to Eastern oilfields on their continental shelf, towing oil tanks into the Arctic coastal waters and drilling there to remove cargoes of oil. Putting it baldly like this makes it easier to see the technical difficulties which are skated over - and skilfully hidden from the reader - in the longer explanations in the novel itself.

After some initial success, things have begun to go wrong, until there have been twenty missions in a row that have failed. This is partly because the Easterners have to some extent caught on to what is going on, and partly because of infiltration of submarine bases and crews by carefully hidden sleepers, not yet active spies and saboteurs.

The hitherto most successful crew has been in port for some time. In their last mission, they lost one of their four-man team, the electronics officer. Now they are to go to sea again, with a new electronics officer who is a trained psychologist from security. He is there to investigate what makes this crew successful and to ensure that none of the others are sleepers.

The tense atmosphere of the submarine, underwater and completely isolated because of the need to keep radio silence, is well-portrayed. The issue of the importance of religion to the men on the ship is handled with particular interest and sensitivity. The beginning and end of the book, which take place ashore, are rather less immediately convincing.(less)

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Dec 22, 2011 Ken T rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

I keep waiting for someone to make this book into a movie. This is a great war story with all the classic tropes and the added benefit of an alternate history and some fantastic characters.

Herbert is famous, of course, for his Dune series and rightly so. But in many ways Dragon is a better book than Dune. It is a story without any unnecessary pages or lines. The story works its way up gradually and then carries the reader along on an amazing adventure at flank speed.

The book follows the story...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2013

Herbert's first published novel, aka Under Pressure, aka 21st Century Sub is a psychological thriller about a crew of four (one of whom may be an enemy sleeper agent) aboard a submarine stealing oil from enemy underwater oil wells.

Though the science fiction aspects of the story are a bit dated (published in 1955, the sub is controlled manually with what would now be considered antiquated technology), the story is still exciting. I don't know if the psychology is outdated, but it was fascinating....more

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Mar 10, 2013 Enrique rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ten years before Frank Herbert launched himself into the SF stratosphere with Dune, he published his first novel, The Dragon In The Sea (1955), a debut good enough to garner him an International Fantasy Award. Despite the accolades, future publishers saw fit to rename and desecrate the title of the novel, calling it both Under Pressure and 21st Century Sub. The latter concocted title, much rarer in circulation than the former, has become a minor collectible among hardcore Herbert or SF enthusias...more

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Aug 30, 2009 Manny rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I just finished reviewing Peter Maas's The Terrible Hours, and thought of this book for the first time in years... another quite decent submarine story. It's not the best thing Herbert wrote, but compares very favorably with the later volumes in the Dune saga; I also preferred it to the (in my humble opinion) overrated Hunt for Red October. Worth a look if you like tales of the sea.

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May 17, 2012 Rob rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: random-comments-review

...Herbert's first novel shows a lot of elements that he would return to in his later work. It is not as complex or conceptually rich as Dune or The Dosadi Experiment but it is certainly a novel that is still well worth reading. It's fairly short but very intense and more action packed than many of his later novels. Quite a few later novels by Herbert don't hold up as well as The Dragon in the Sea does. If anything I like it even better after this reread. There are a few books by Herbert I would...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm a fan of Frank Herbert, although I do find some of his work overly psychoanalytical. I heard about this book initially as an "underwater pirates" idea, and finally got around to reading it over the past week. It was not what I expected at all.

SUMMARY
In a war-torn future, Britain has been destroyed by a Soviet Union that has rolled over most of Europe. The United States remains defiant, but is desperate for oil and resorts to underwater drilling operations. After every sub they send out is de...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Kelsey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a pretty decent read--I really enjoyed parts of it, and those parts made it worth the time spent. (It's a quick read.)

The story is set in a future America (past 2021, at least) that is in a prolonged war with Russia. (Now that I think about it, I'm not actually sure if Russia was spelled out, but it's obvious.) New submarine technology has developed, producing subtugs: submarines that sneak into enemy territory to drill for and steal their oil. That's where the war part comes in, but it...more This was a pretty decent read--I really enjoyed parts of it, and those parts made it worth the time spent. (It's a quick read.)

The story is set in a future America (past 2021, at least) that is in a prolonged war with Russia. (Now that I think about it, I'm not actually sure if Russia was spelled out, but it's obvious.) New submarine technology has developed, producing subtugs: submarines that sneak into enemy territory to drill for and steal their oil. That's where the war part comes in, but it really isn't the focus of the novel. I think the war backdrop is there to set a sense of paranoia and danger.

Each subtug is manned by four men, and the military has had trouble with these men going insane. The main character, John Ramsey (a psychologist), is assigned to a subtug to find out why. He's trained in a hurry to be an electronics officer, and is to replace the electronics officer who went mad aboard the Ram. He is briefed about his new crew-mates: Captain Sparrow, First Mate Bonnet and Engineering Officer Garcia. (Garcia is, by far, my favorite character.) His job is to monitor Captain Sparrow's sanity, and to keep an eye open for a spy among the three. The Russians have been gaining an upper hand, and the Americans (especially the submariners) need a morale boost. Therefore, Ramsey is charged with making sure that this mission succeeds and that its members pull through without cracking.

I'll start with what I thought were weaknesses.

1. It took 30 pages to hook me. Once it got to that point, I actually wanted to know what was going to happen. Until then, I was just reading because I have the time. The beginning consists largely of set up on land: Ramsey's called into a meeting, briefed on the situation and given his orders. He trains for weeks to get ready. His department head comes and talks to him a lot... Pretty boring. I don't think it's necessarily about the content, though. (I mean, half the movie Batman Begins is set-up for becoming Batman, and I wasn't bored by that.) I think what made it boring was that I just didn't care for Ramsey, the main character. I warmed up to him towards the end of the book, but how he was portrayed in the beginning just didn't interest me.

2. The last 5 pages. I think the story itself ended well (as far as how everything turned out), but the last five pages were so boring. Stuff on land again: Ramsey returning to his department head and having a chat. Gah! It could've gone out more powerfully... Somehow.

3. At times, the writing seemed very... simplistic? Choppy? Abrupt? Something along those lines. This surprised me, because I love his Dune series. (The reason I read this book was because I wanted to see how some of his stand-alone books compared to the Dune books. Now I want to re-read those and see what I think of the writing, rather than just the story. Which is awesome. )

Now, for the positives! Though I probably won't read this again, the positives did really outweigh the negatives, in my opinion.

1. The four crew members. I didn't like Ramsey so much, but once he was in close quarters with these three other guys in the subtug, things became much more interesting. The interactions between these four--dynamics, suspicions, jokes, etc.--kept me turning the pages. Ramsey was told that Garcia is suspected of being a spy, so there's that situation to keep an eye on. Then there's the fact that the three of them are unsure about Ramsey--is he a spy? Is he Security auditing them or something? They know that something's up because they can tell that he's not really an electronics officer, but they don't know what it is.

2. Themes! Pressure is definitely a theme--how much pressure the subtugs can take and how much pressure the men running them can take. You take these four guys--with all the interesting relations between them--and stick them together under the ocean and send them on a dangerous mission. It's a tense atmosphere. Then there's the sanity/insanity theme: one of my favorite passages is when Captain Sparrow tells Ramsey his definition of sanity. (It may sound boring, but I was interested!) There was an underlying current of psychology... not using any jargon, but just the idea that Ramsey is always analyzing the three he's with, as well as himself. (How he responds to pressure, among other things.) Religion was also a theme. Garcia was Catholic, Sparrow and Bonnet Protestant and Ramsey a psychologist. (No harm meant! I'm just joking! But it's clear that he interprets the others' religions in more "scientific" terms.) The role religion played in the story was interesting. It wasn't didactic at all.

3. How the story played out. I was scared of how it would turn out, and who would be the spy--I didn't want any of them to be the spy! Also, I was interested in seeing how he would deal with Garcia, since he's flagged as a possible spy from the beginning. The way I saw it, there was either two ways to go: either he was the spy (and he gave it away at the beginning and we wouldn't be surprised), or he was not the spy (and the statement at the beginning would seem like a cheap red-herring). I didn't think either option would be good for the story, but Herbert ended up picking one of them but circumventing the negative outcome I imagined. Good!

So, I enjoyed reading this book. I do recommend it if you're interested in psychology or the idea of four guys trapped with each other for over a week in a small space. I don't recommend it if you're looking for a gritty war story, a lot of intrigue or a lot of action.(less)

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Apr 21, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction, novels

Herbert, of course, is a science fiction writer famous for Dune and its sequels, an epic tale of an extreme environment where its people wear special suits to preserve and reclaim every bit of water. The oceans of our Earth are also extreme environments, one few science fiction authors have mined, despite it being about as forbidding and unknown a place for exploration as the moon. Before this, the only such novels I'd read in the genre were by Arthur C. Clarke, such as his novel Deep Range. The...more

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Aug 28, 2009 Stef rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, fiction, sf-and-f, thriller, spy, mystery, science-fiction

Everyone know Frank Herbert as the author of Dune but a lot of people don't know that he wrote a number of other excellent novels.

The Dragon in the Sea is a science-fiction submarine-battle psychological thriller. It was written in the 1950s and for the most part it stands the test of time. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the modern submarine-battle thrillers like Das Boot and The Hunt for Red October owe it a debt.

It's not just a battle story, it's also a compelling depiction of the ways m...more

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Oct 28, 2008 Nicolas rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: anticipation, bateaux, complot, enquête, initiation, pollution, religion, rayon-fantasy-et-sf

Tenaillés par un manque de pétrole, les USA envoient des sous-marins vider les puits de pétrole de nations ennemies en temps de guerre. Malheureusement, toutes les expéditions ont échoué. Ils envoient alors un psy avec leur équipage, afin de survivre à cette naissance sous-marine.

Cet ouvrage devrait à mon avis être lu par les fans comme un brouillon à Destination Vide. On y retrouve en effet les mêmes ingrédients : un équipage peu nombreux, un environnement stressant, la présence mêlée de la rel...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Didn't really mind the jargon, because it's not that important for the story to unfold. Although some traces of the former serialization are still present in the reworked book version, it doesn't grind the narrative. The culmination comes in dialogues and especially towards the end of the book when Ramsey confronts Garcia (or is it the other way ?) and the essence of the book surfaces. What's sanity and how do you define the role of the religion in the process of creating your own adaptive princ...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Alexander Sprague rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

don't really have any interest in submarines or straight military books, but I figured that Frank Herbert can't really lead you astray. Luckily I was right, this book is more about psychology and to a point religions impact on individuals then it is about submarines. It was a good little thriller book with a few turns that I just legitimately didn't expect, yet didn't seem ridiculous or out of place like they do in a lot of books.

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Feb 03, 2012 Mark Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Dune series by Frank Herbert represents some of my favorite books. I haven't read much of Herbert's work outside of that series and this book reaffirms that Herbert is one of my favorite authors. This novel digs deep into the lives of submariners and delves into the reasoning and psychology of what makes this type of person tick. It is set in the future, but it could have easily have been written with WW2 as the background. I highly recommend this book.

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Jun 15, 2011 Corwin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

None of the classic speculative fiction authors could covey a sense of tension or delve into the shadowy undercurents of the human psyche better than Frank Herbert, and this early work of his presages his more detailed and sophisticated and subtly nuanced electrified dark visions of the future that were exemplified and immortalized in the Dune saga. I can't help but wonder if part of the movie Das Boot was inspired by this book, as parallels can be drawn between the two stories.

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Jul 20, 2011 Mel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Not a suprise to see a book about being underwater when written during the desert expanse of Dune.

Full of paranoia, secrecy, a tiny bit of predictability and enough techno-babble to turn of some readers. Still, if you're into claustrophobic psychology, its a fairly decent read.

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Mar 18, 2013 Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an excellent book. I particularly enjoyed the character development. There was a sufficient amount of action, but not enough to make a good movie. The scenario was very plausible, and the author has captured the essence of government security and operational planning.

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Jan 08, 2012 Afsana rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found the dragon in the sea a hard read in so far as it had alot of sunbmarine and mariner jargon which went right over my head and the solutions to the problems is not something that i could get my head round but otherwise book was in itself ok

I liked what I understood but mainly finished it as part of a challenge

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Mar 12, 2012 Sarah Sammis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2005, released, pc

Last night I finished reading Dragon in the Sea by Frank Herbert (1956). Dragon in the Sea is quite a departure from Dune. It's more akin to The Santaroga Barrier (my favorite Herbert book) in Herbert starts with a few ordinary events and then turns them into psychological dramas. For this book, he goes one step further and leaves off the chapter divisions to create a literary claustrophobia to match the claustrophobic conditions of the submarine. Some of the psychobabble to explain the captain'...more

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Mar 19, 2008 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: sci-fi fans and people who've only read Herbert's Dune books

This book is a story of futuristic submariners. That the future doesn't seem to far out there in this narrative is probably because Herbert was writing it over forty years ago. Just like many of his other slightly in the future stories (White Plague is a perfect example) everything got a little technical but sounded totally plausible (for technical and near-impossible, see Destination Void).
The story advanced well, took interesting turns, and I didn't even know it was a book when I read the firs...more

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Mar 27, 2011 Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found the plot gripping...the original "classic" submarine story.

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Jul 28, 2011 Sam Dupont added it · review of another edition

Frank Herbert first novel... reading now

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Jan 11, 2011 Kerr Cuhulain rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-fiction

I read this years ago and really liked it.

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Jul 22, 2012 Matt added it · review of another edition

Shelves: default

Published later as 21st Century Sub

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Sep 27, 2009 Craig rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fun read from Herbert who takes us away from his usual desert (Dune) worlds to an underwater, futuristic sub-mariner murder mystery! It's the future, and submarines are used to steal precious oil supplies from foreign underwater storage facilities. On one such sub, a murder has occured and a psychologist is assigned to the boat to solve the mystery of who done it! The revelations at the novel's end force the reader to re-evaluate his/her entire reading of the characters and action! An interest...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Ted Brewster rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thrillers-mysteries

Must have picked this one up at a used-book sale. Don't bother.

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Jan 05, 2011 Bill Blocksom rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, fiction

This was pretty good. The story moves along. Very ambitious having science fiction, thriller and mystery elements, and succeeds though I am not sure everything adds up in the end.

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Dec 02, 2009 Ron rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this book when I was just a whippersnapper and read NOTHING but Sci-Fi.

I have found a few books I read over and over and this is one of the best. My copy is much the worse for wear.

A story about our country stealing oil from other countries via submarines towing huge 'bladders' of oil and what goes through the minds of men locked into submarines that may or may not complete their missions, whole of mind and body.

A must read.

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Jun 01, 2007 Ben rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone, really

Shelves: science-fictionisnotadirtywords

A well executed, perfectly paced and accomplished little novel.

The interaction between the characters is well observed, the plot is taught and punchy, and the reader is given a very strong sense and understanding of the microcosm of the sub-tug in which the body of the novel takes place.

I have never read another of Herbert's works, but would be interested in exploring more, as I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A compelling read.

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About Frank Herbert

Critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author.

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of...more

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God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #4)

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