Tom Meredith

"The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.” - Winston Churchill

Silent hunters of the depth, spaceships of the ocean, but also a controversial, not-so-honourable way of waging the war at sea and a stage for human fortitude, drama, sometimes even suffering and death – submarines (or U-boats as they were known in the Second World War) owned a place in the genre fiction, primarily in hard-boiled military thrillers. 

My family has a long history of naval service. Submarines always fascinated me with their advanced technologies, stealth quality, and slender design.  

Writing Dive Beyond Eternity, I wanted to break away from the clichés and try to blur the line between the genres, showing that the submarines provide a versatile settings not only for the Cold War era- inspired thrillers and military fiction, but also for sci-fi and time travel.

First, an idea came to me: an undamaged World War II U-boat mysteriously appeared off the coast of Lincolnshire. In a way, U-4713/A is one of the main characters and a star of the story. She also keeps a deadly secret…

My second major goal was to introduce my female main character to a heavily male-populated genre. Zara Rose is a World War II naval historian who dedicated her research to submarines and underwater warfare, is sent to investigate U-4713/A. As the plot unfolds, Zara dives deeper into the mystery of the vessel and her secret weapon, able to split time from space. Moreover, she needs to join the crew that travel through time, too. 

What can be more exclusive than service aboard a submarine? Let alone the seventy-something-year-old German U-boat? 

In the last forty years, women fought their way to be allowed in service. In fact, the Royal Navy allowed the first women to serve aboard only in 2014. The Scandinavian countries pioneered equality in the underwater fleet, opening hatches for women in 1985 with the Norwegian Navy leading the charge.

Valentina Tereshkova, a Soviet cosmonaut and engineer, was the first woman in space. She flew a solo mission on Vostok 6 in 1963.

Bizarrely, the depth of the Universe was opened for women much earlier than the depths of the ocean on our planet. 

Even in fiction, when it comes to the silent service, women have also been hidden in references as side characters, somewhere behind the stage. Usually, a main character’s wife, girlfriend, mother, etc, they never had a leading role, a voice to speak for themselves, let alone, to drive the plot.

The thriller market seeks diversity, and yet it’s oversaturated with one-man-wrecking-crew a-la James Bond-kind of characters. 

It’s a mammoth task to introduce a female lead as a part of a crew without turning your plot into a daft Hollywood blockbuster, right?   

The sci-fi elements of the plot provided me with an opportunity to incorporate the female character into the crew without compromising on logic and plausibility. That’s why I love the genre so much. Its versatility gives authors lots of freedom and tools to express their ideas without falling short on common sense. 

I hope I’ve achieved my goals, but it’s up to readers to decide. You can order Dive Beyond Eternity here or here