“Hell Divers II: Ghosts” by Nicholas Sansbury Smith – Lying for the Greater Good

 

Short Summary

Nicholas Sansbury Smith has crafted a truly unique and compelling world when he published the first book in The Hell Divers series, and in the second one, titled Hell Divers II: Ghosts, takes us ten years after the events of the first book. We're following a new group of young divers serving aboard a massive 260-year-old ship, and while on a mission to Earth they discover a terrible truth their captain has hidden from them.

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Continues the Dive

No matter what cataclysms might come and lay claim to our planet, humanity will always grasp at even the slightest chance of survival in the most extreme conditions. In Nicholas Sansbury Smith's The Hell Divers series, we're introduced to a mankind (or what's left of it) forced to live in the skies due to the planet having become extremely hostile, and in the second book, titled Hell Divers II: Ghosts, a revelation promises to create a rift aboard one of the oldest ships still in service.

In case you're wondering whether or not you need to have read the first book in order to understand this one, let me assure, it's not necessary. While you would be missing out on a good amount of world-building (not to mention a worthy story in and of itself), Nicholas Sansbury Smith ensures we're properly informed on all the necessary topics.

The story takes place ten years after the events of the previous book, following a completely new group of characters serving aboard The Hive, a massive airship over 260 years old. It's in dire need of constant maintenance, fuel and spare parts, giving its young Hell Divers little time to rest or think about anything their new Captain Leon Jordan has to say.

The Captain happens to know a secret, one which was passed on to him by his predecessor before she died. He keeps it as close to his chest as possible, firmly believing the revelation would cause a rift from which humanity will never recover. He's prepared to do anything to keep his secret, including sending his own men to certain death... more specifically, the Hell Divers.

He sends the Divers on a seemingly impossible mission, one which has them facing off against fauna and flora turned lethal, mutants and carnivorous plants aplenty. However, they discover the secret which he has been intently hiding from them all this time, and against all possible odds they try and make it back to the Hive and share the truth with everyone else... but will it help save humanity, or spiral it down towards greater doom?

Straight Into the Fire in Hell Divers II: Ghosts

If you're familiar with the previous book in the series, then you're already familiar with the kind of approach this series takes to the science-fiction genre, preferring to focus more on the latter than the former. Indeed, as far as the “science” aspect of the novel goes, Nicholas Sansbury Smith takes more of a surface approach, rarely taking the time to explore the phenomena of his setting through the scope of knowledge.

Just like in the previous book, there are moments which will likely ask that you suspend your disbelief, at least if you're a fan of hard sci-fi and consider yourself knowledgeable in terms of popular science. There are a few contradictions, such as the development of mutants and the way in which radiation tends to work, but all in all, it's not the point of the story, and it is something one can easily come accept, especially if they're forewarned.

More than anything, I'd say Hell Divers II: Ghosts is about the action, the adventure of exploring a completely metamorphosed Earth, barely-recognizable and with plenty of secrets in store for us. The author put his imagination to excellent use when he crafted the monsters and carnivorous plants, their descriptions always lending a real weight to their presence.

For the most part, the pace is rather quick as we witness our group of Divers frantically racing against the clock, improbably overcoming one seemingly impossible situation after the next one in their fight for not only themselves, but for the survival of mankind... or at least, they believe as much.

The sense of danger is quite real and omnipresent, seldom leaving us with a moment to feel comfortable or certain of the ultimate fate awaiting our characters. They certainly don't feel like they're wearing any kind of plot armour, making the stakes about as high as they can be, at least for those who are stuck in a literal Hell on Earth.

The Complexity of Ruling

Hell Divers II: Ghosts certainly has plenty of adrenaline-pumping action sequences to spare, but at the same time, Nicholas Sansbury Smith manages to include a number of more profound elements in his story without sacrificing the pace, chief among them being the all-consuming dilemma faced by Captain Leon Jordan.

Ruling over people is no small task, especially when those people are the final remnants of humanity and stuck living aboard failing airships in a climate of impending doom and total hopelessness. We're made to understand this on many occasions as the author demonstrates the types of decisions the man is forced to make, constantly balancing his actions and only concerned with reaching a specific end: ensuring humanity's survival.

While outwardly he does seem like a more or less generic villain, especially when we first make his acquaintance, as we learn more and more about him, his motivations, ambitions, and guiding sense of morality, we start to simply see him as a man thrust into an impossible situation, one he can't shoot and slash his way out of.

The dynamics inside the Hive (the massive airship they're all living and serving on) are also given a fair bit of attention, and it's quite interesting to see how such an extreme society might be structured, the morals and laws those people would live by, and the types of relationships they'd form with each other. While there remains room for deeper exploration, I'd say we get more than enough to think about in one book.

There is one final aspect which, in my opinion, spiced the story up considerably and made it more exciting than the previous one: the uncertainty of the Hell Divers quest. The revelations they come across are legitimately interesting from both a world-building and plot-driving viewpoints, but the ultimate consequences of their potential triumph are uncertain at best, and as the reader, I was often unsure of who really was in the right, all intentions aside.

The Final Verdict

Hell Divers II: Ghosts is an excellent work of dystopian science-fiction, exceeding its predecessor in terms of world-building, character development, surprising revelations, and frantic action, colouring the whole plot with an ambiguity which rarely allows the reader to be certain of any outcome.

If you've enjoyed the first chapter in the series, or are looking for an original post-apocalyptic sci-fi action thriller and for some reason have decided to skip the first book, then I believe this novel will be the perfect fit for you.

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Nicholas Sansbury Smith Personal site Nicholas Sansbury Smith is an American author of science-fiction and fantasy novels and former worker for the Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management branch in disaster mitigation. He has written a few bestselling series so far, including The Hell Divers and The Extinction Cycle, with prominent works such as Extinction Horizon, Hell Divers and Trackers.