In the year 2131, some people are now living in large underwater cities. They are free from the surface world’s rapidly deteriorating climate, overpopulation, rebellion, and dictatorships—but not its violent powers. In Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel, the fledgling marine union Oceania might be crushed from above, if it isn’t torn apart from within.
Most of the great upper world countries want to maintain a tight yoke on the water world, hungry for their mining resources and advanced technology. Massive warships from the world’s top terrestrial nations—China, Russia, and others—are assembling on the surface.
Truman McClusky, mayor of Trieste City off the Florida coast, declares the formation of Oceania to bring the 14 underwater cities together. Defense is their top priority. But within minutes of the announcement, a massive power blackout strikes Trieste. Is it an accident or an opening salvo?
A war with the upper world is only one of McClusky’s problems, as subtler enemies circle him in the water.
His chief of security, Cliff Sim, undertook a top-secret mission to a mysterious stretch of Oceania, and is murdered in a brutal fight. His murderer may be one of the world’s most ruthless killers, known as Steel Shiv—but why? Answering the questions of Cliff’s death might take dredging up the true nature of his mission.
Speculation about the murder turns to Ivan Arkady Ventinov, the captain of a Russian dreadnaught, one of the largest undersea subs in existence. He has vowed to reap vengeance on McClusky at any cost for the destruction of his former vessel.
Closer to home, three representatives from other undersea cities join McClusky in his upcoming fight with the land-based powers. But with Cliff’s death, and the dawning realization that information from inside Trieste is being leaked to the city’s enemies, McClusky suspects that one of the three city representatives is a spy. They could even be the Steel Shiv himself.
The tension builds when Cliff’s mission is uncovered—he was searching for a substance called “graphene.” As a coating for the exterior of undersea vessels, this super-substance could allow them to brave further into the ocean’s depths than ever before.
Warring nations, rogue international forces, would-be assassins; McClusky must battle with all of these forces at once.
Fast paced and fully imagined, Timothy S. Johnston’s tale of underwater cities illustrates political dynamics only a few small steps from our own. But it’s also a personal story of trust, friendship and betrayal. A Blanket of Steel marries its science fiction setting and human conflicts to create a complex and rapidly changing world.
A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston won Grand Prize in the 2024 CIBA Global Thriller Awards.
In Timothy S. Johnston’s The Shadow of War, gripping personal, ecological, and political battles rage undersea for autonomy and power against the powerful surface nations. But even the ocean depths churn with betrayal, conflicting loyalties, and the ruthless ambitions of humanity.