Very weird, on multiple levels (and where did they get enough water?). It makes me want to reread the other one about people surviving in a sunken ship - Poseidon Adventure. Pretty vivid character sketches, even the ones who appear for a chapter or less - the aliens no less than the humans. And a happy ending, also on multiple levels. Definitely worth reading, though I'm not sure I'll want to reread. ( )

Not your typical alien invasion story, this is a short but interesting read. I liked that White explored both human and alien viewpoints while developing characters in both story arcs. When it came to the human side of things, I had a rather tough time suspending disbelief. White did a decent job of creating a claustrophobic environment but I simply could not buy the premise. Though I found myself wishing for a different type of ending, I didn't mind the way things turned out. ( )

(Remember that a 2-star Goodreads rating means, "It was OK.")

At the heart of this book is a quite implausible premise: that group of humans could survive in the hold of sunken ship not merely for days, weeks, or years, but for six or seven generations! A reader certainly has to suspend disbelief. But as this premise--unlikely as it is--is critical to the story, the reader must simply go with the flow.

Still another element troubled me about the story from its early pages. A familiar trope about much science fiction that involves alien contact is that the aliens that are portrayed "aren't alien enough." That struck me about the aliens in The Watch Below from the moment they were introduced. They are aquatic beings, rather than "air-breathers," but emotionally, psychologically, and sociologically, they might as well be humans.

As it happens, however, this ends up being the point of the book, so it self-immunizes itself from that criticism.

So if you're willing to surrender to all the author's premises, the story kinda works.

But even allowing that, the ending is just too pat. A major military machine set in motion like this one is when a final confrontation takes place, is unlikely to be halted as easily as this one is. That's asking for too much disbelief to be suspended. ( )

This was a really odd story. If you are willing to suspend your belief (from a sky-hook) it is an interesting examination of how a group of people would develop a society in complete isolation and a difficult environment. ( )

A few themes appear in almost all of James White's science fiction: a doctor as a central character, aliens biologically and interestingly different in some significant way from us, one or more life-threatening technical puzzles to solve, and a successful effort by individuals to find peace where conflict seems certain. These themes dominate his popular Sector General stories and novels, and on the whole, his Sector General books are his best work. But in my opinion, his single best book, despite flaws, is The Watch Below, an early non-Sector General novel, in a very different venue, that still includes all of the themes mentioned.

The central conceit is way more audacious than any White did elsewhere, even the planet-sized creature of Major Operation, because this story is not set in a distant star system or in the future, but here on Earth, during World War II. It's an audacious idea for any author. A large ship is torpedoed by a U-boat, trapping half a dozen men and women (including a doctor). It sinks beneath the waves, but this is not The Poseidon Adventure. It's a generation ship story, 200 feet underwater. Unlike many generation ship stories, and related stories like Galouye's Dark Universe, White does not start generations later, with the descendants of the original survivors, living in a radically evolved culture. He paces the story carefully, advancing time by hours as immediate survival issues are addressed, then by days, then weeks, months, and eventually years and decades. In this, I was reminded of the gradually accelerating pace of time in Stapledon's Last and First Men. To make the generation story work, he has to posit many fortuitous circumstances, including tons of non-spoiling food, light bulbs and a manually cranked generator. But that's still more possible than faster-than-light starships or time travel, so there!

Those who've read his Sector General books may be surprised at how grim the book is. People are constantly cold and damp, food is always code, people die young and their bodies have to be left to rot in an adjacent room. This is a story of ingenuity and dogged persistence, and the characters are not with an occasional sense of humor, but there's no sugar coating of the situation.

The story of the sunken ship is what makes this book great. But The Watch Below has another generation ship story involving a fleet of aliens who live underwater, fleeing their dying planet for Earth. Things go wrong and instead of traveling mostly in hibernation, some must stay awake for the hundred years of flight, and again we have a tale of generations evolving over time. Surprisingly, the aliens are here are woefully under-described. In a Sector General novel, White would have delighted in detailing the anatomies of the aliens and their food creatures, and explaining how creatures living in water could possibly create and fly starships. None of that appears here at all. Worse, these two stories have to intersect, in a plot resolution that's inevitable and unbelievable. I do not understand why White felt he needed this second story.

But no matter. The alien tale is like annoying traffic noise while you're listening to great music. Tune it out and pay attention the main story. The Watch Below is highly recommended. ( )