I read this book for a book club; it is a very good book.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
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Geeking Science: Hydration and Sleep
Photo by mrjn Photography on Unsplash
It’s August and that means camping and/or convention time. Last minute travel before summer ends and school begins. Lingering sun and end-of-summer parties. Sleep schedules are destroyed. Long used to the heat of summer, people are sucking down water anymore – caffeinated sodas are now the go-to after months of long days pushing sleep later and later. Beer and wine consume watching the summer sunsets.
Hydration, sleep, and a healthy body go together. Hydration regulates body temperature (sweating), food processing (digestion), and poisons and spent body tissue removal (healing). Sleep is tied to healing as well and requires proper hydration to perform its functions.
Overnight, you will exhale about half a pound of water and process another half pound into urine as part of digestion and healing. Yes, you exhale significant amounts of water in a process called respiratory water loss (Wonderlearning.blog).
You know how you are to drink 2 liters or 64 ounces of water a day? (Well, consume that much liquid. Grapes, meats, gravies, and soups are part of the consumption.) That comes out to be about four pounds of water. One pound of that is exhaled. Sweat uses another pound, maybe more with high amounts of exercise. Urine is two pounds.
We aren’t just “bags of mostly water,” we are manufacturing and maintenance plants and our industry, like most plants, needs water for temperature regulation, processing, and cleaning.
For today’s Geeking Science, I am not just going to yell at you to stay hydrated so you don’t fall over during the day’s activities, but also so you get enough sleep.
Sleep is needed for the brain to work. Dream time is needed for processing information and is essential for learning and storytelling. You want to write your best, you need to try to sleep your best. Be sure you are drinking enough liquid during the day so that your body has the water it needs at night to clean the poisons, breath, and heal. Learning a new task, plan an extra hour of sleep a night. Pushing out the new story, until the basics are figured out maybe cut back on the caffeine and increase the sleep.
Get rid of things that interfere with you sleep function. Stop drinking caffeine at least 8 hours before bed (yes, caffeine impacts your sleep functions for 8 hours). Stop drinking alcohol at least three hours before bed. (Bryan) Turn off glowing blue screen an hour before bed. Instead of doing the dishes then your writing, do your writing then work on the dishes.
Hydrate well.
Sleep well.
Oh, one additional Geeking Science this I found researching this article, while being well-rested greatly impact your healing rate and pain receptors (Apria), when you are injured can also impact the healing rate. Skin wounds received at night heal much more slowly than during the day (Dengler). The speculation is the natural cycle of healing of SKIN DAMAGE is tied to daylight because people are more likely to be injured during the day so the body set up that part of the health system to focus during daytime hours. Take away for me is any surgery needed should be performed during the day if it is a planned, non-emergency surgery.
Bibliography
Apria. “Sleep and Wound Healing: Mechanisms, Evidence, and Clinical Implications.” (undated, but some of the article’s references are from 2025). https://www.apria.com/clinical-education-hub/sleep-and-wound-healing-mechanisms-evidence-and-clinical-implications last viewed 1/3/2026.
Bryan, Lucy. “Surprising Ways Hydration Affects Your Sleep.” Sleep Foundation (a mattress seller). 2025 July 16. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/nutrition/hydration-and-sleep last viewed 1/3/2026.
Dengler, Ron. “Daytime wounds heal more quickly than those suffered at night.” science.org. 2017 November 8. last viewed 1/3/2026.
WonderLearning.blog. “Breath Out Water?! The Surprising Amount You Exhale Every Day.” 2025 October 09. last viewed 1/3/2026.
Book Review (SERIES): The Deep Man Trilogy
The Deep Man Trilogy by Michael Mersault
Book 1: The Deep Man
Book 2: The Silent Hand
Book 3: The Presence Malign
Military science fiction space opera
Amazon Cover
BOOK BLURB ON BAEN for THE DEEP MAN
A relic of humanity’s violent past, this old weapon stands ready for the Emperor to wield.
The Galactic Imperium of the Myriad Worlds slumps into centuries of decadent peace enabled by a flood of advanced technology from the mysterious nonhuman “Shapers.” Among the great Families, only the once-mighty clan of Sinclair-Maru remembers the maxims of the warrior Emperor, Yung I, ready to defend the Imperium from any threat.
Stubbornly clinging to the Honor Code, Family prodigy Saef Sinclair-Maru finds himself in command of an outmoded, under-equipped frigate of the Imperial Fleet. With spies and assassins on every side, trusting only in his considerable skill and the bizarre competence of his companion, Inga, Saef must complete his mission, restore the greatness of his Family, and uncover the chilling plot meant to extinguish humanity’s light from the galaxy.
MY REVIEW for THE DEEP MAN
Full disclosure: Received at the 2024 ConGregate Baen Book Roadshow for free. No review required.
Vibes: Libertarian-style military sci-fi with swordfights, gunfights, spaceship battles, ground action, mechs, aliens, intelligent ships, Dune-like quotes – wonderful goodness. Some of Baen at its best.
The Reality: I know I said “Libertarian” and initially it does seem to be that superman-styled story which assumes everyone and anyone is capable of reaching the pinnacle of society and if they don’t, it is their own fault. Our hero, Saef, won the genetic lottery and is a child prodigy for what his Family values. And here is where that goes off the political embrace of perfection from individuals create a perfect society. The world-building is for military action with specialization; Saef does not and cannot act alone. He is not capable of everything. He depends on Inga, and a long list of shipmates, specialists from Ops to Micro-Engineering. He depends on his Family for financial and emotional support, and supports them as well. So while the vibe of Libertarian is strong, the end result, when you peel back the presentation falls short of the extreme. The world-building is about everyone is necessarily, whatever their specialty – cook to corporate, for society to survive.
Overall, I would give the book a 4.5 stars. The manuscript seems to fall just shy of the best of science fiction. I could use a bit more humor; one character was inserted for humor purposes but, at the moment, seems to have no other reason for being. Claude isn’t integral to the first story of the trilogy.
But even beyond that, something just doesn’t sit right. A vibe humming just a breath off tune. It took some time to figure out. Science Fiction, the ones I like the best, are about hope, a study of potential. The Deep Man skirts the edge. An amazing society allowing people to push themselves to nearly unimaginable levels through leveraging alien tech; but at the same time has devastating poverty. Every single success at the same time also has a painful cost.
With great power comes great responsibility.
That dancing on the edge between hope and despair, between power and payment, is extremely well-done. Maybe the best hugging of that razor-honed edge I’ve ever seen. I’m going to round up to a full five stars.
Amazon Cover
BOOK BLURB ON BAEN for THE SILENT HAND
HARD-HITTING MILITARY ACTION AND POLITICAL DRAMA FOR READERS OF DUNE AND DORSAI!
They said ten-year-old street urchin Inga was perfect for their purpose, taken from the squalor of Port City to the asteroid enclave, Hawksgaard, where she underwent the training and augmentation that transformed her. Maturing to full lethality even as war erupts among the Myriad Worlds, Inga is assigned to protect Family scion, Captain Saef Sinclair-Maru as he leads the fight against humanity’s merciless enemy.
The vessel: IMS Hightower
The mission: Rescue a trapped Legion force from the surface of Delta Three.
The crisis: Nothing is as it appears.
With Marines plummeting into surface combat, an orbital space battle raging, and assassins swarming within Hightower, the stakes could scarcely be greater, but in the midst of this tumult, treacherous revelations continue to unfold. A mysterious enemy emplacement, a vanished civilian population, the inexplicable powers suddenly unleashed: Each new facet of discovery creates a deadly path leading from Delta Three to the heart of the Imperium and the emperor himself. To seize any chance for victory—or even survival—Inga must accept the irrevocable course leading from the remnants of her own humanity to the fullness of the Silent Hand.
MY REVIEW for THE SILENT HAND
The Silent Hand, as book 2 in the Deep Man Trilogy, holds what is usually the “saggy middle” slot. It is anything but; stronger than the first, it resulted in a night of reading ignoring all the duties I had the next (week)day which needed a full sleep, after a day of ignoring the weekend tasks and chores, and finally arriving at the next day’s wake-up alarm with a book-hangover.
Worth it.
The worldbuilding, which was good in the first book, DELIVERS in the second. The interpersonal relationships established in the first book, amaze. The technology created for this military science fiction, makes this book.
If you love military science fiction, especially of the naval variety with some political intrigue to have some spice for the ship-to-ship battles and the ground-pounding marine action, this delivers.
I personally would love some slice-of-life humor, but that doesn’t seem to be in Mr. Mersault’s writing toolkit. But the stuff he does have in that box of tools, he has mastered.
Now off to sleep.
Amazon Cover
BOOK BLURB ON BAEN for THE PRESENCE MALIGN
In a desperate fight for humanity’s survival, Captain Saef Sinclair-Maru must lead the powerful private warship Salahdiin and an unlikely alliance against genocidal forces, balancing the demands of shareholders with the heart of a rebellion.
Piracy, War, and Humanity’s Last Stand
The heavy cruiser Salahdiin is the most powerful private warship in the history of the Myriad Worlds, and bears a Letter of Marque, the Imperial charter for legalized piracy. As the most successful fighting captain of the Imperial Fleet, Saef Sinclair-Maru is the ideal choice to command the privateer, but exchanging egotistical admirals for demanding shareholders carries its own unique challenges, particularly when the fate of humanity lies in the balance.
While war rages within the Imperium, few comprehend the inhuman instigators at the heart of the conflict or their genocidal ambitions, but Saef and his counterpart, Inga, draw a surprising coterie of allies to their campaign of desperate resistance, including spy master Winter Yung, former Molo Ranger Kyle Whiteside, and even Erik Sturmsohn, a Thorsworld war chieftain sworn to overthrow the emperor.
Together, in the face of approaching annihilation, they each must choose: Obedience to the edicts of their leaders, or loyalty to a deeper motivation that defines the very heart of humanity.
MY REVIEW for THE PRESENCE MALIGN
The Presence Malign finishes the Deep Man Trilogy with a satisfying bang. While the society of this series is very libertarian leaning, a favorite political-structure choice for military science fiction writers, the flows of this type of society are exploited by invading aliens – the cracks opening up a lethal weakness for the aliens to insert the killing blade. Can the “supermen” from previous books – the “Deep Man” Saef Sinclair-Maru, a paladin of a military leader; the “Silent Hand” Inga, a waif turned into a nanobot-enhanced killing tool; and the Imperial spy master Winter Yung survive with their lives, loves, and honor intact?
Loki, the crazed ship intelligence, is a favorite character for me, may he always get his fish.
The book has great pacing with multiple points-of-view, switching between space battles and the political maneuvers on the capital planet. Mr. Mersault has created an immersive world with layers of weight; from the Shaper technology and the horrors of the enemy, everything connects for a solid, believable world-base.
Other reviewers (quoted on the book cover) compare this series to Dune and Honor Harrington and they are not wrong, other than woeful fact this series is ONLY a trilogy. The ending didn’t pull together enough loose ends to satisfy me. I want more of this universe, and I hope Mr. Mersault revisits the Myriad Worlds of the Deep Man Trilogy.
Read the book in two days.
Flash: Hayden-Home Caverns
Carlsbad Cavern – 23317928 @ Alexey Stiop | Dreamstime.com
The cave system blew moist air in my face as it rushed past me as I entered the room, but the simple rotating door acted as an airlock, letting in only one small slice of outside air in per passthrough, protecting the fragile environment from the elevator airshaft and preventing dry desert air of the high plane nearly a thousand feet overhead from drying out our planet’s most precious resource. Bright lights illuminated the small manmade room carved out of stone, a few soda straws dripping from the limestone ceiling, working their way up to a stalagmite in about a hundred years. A Haydian Guide stood up from a small computer station as I walked his way, placing himself between me and the entrance to the underground pools.
I nod at him, not staring at the map of scars covering his face and arms. I had gotten better at that over the past week.
Dropping my small duffle bag on a bench along the wall, I sat down beside it to remove my shoes. They were good lonzo-leather. I just finished breaking them in last month. Running a finger along the butter soft side, I remember how long I saved to get them. Most of the things I’ve owned in my life have been near-plastics, created out of plant fibers. Hayden-Home dinosaur era developed the microbes to process plant and animal matter much earlier than the human homeworld, and the wonderful coal and oil that humans expected to find with a fully developed biosphere were not under this planet’s skin. All of carbon matter got processed back to nutrients instead of layered into sedimentary stone for resource drilling. Instead something very different developed and survived under Hayden-Home.
My socks followed the shoes, then shirt, pants, underwear were added to a neat pile on top of the small duffle, filled with a few items that represented me. My hopes, my dreams.
My life.
My parent recommended it. I don’t know if it will mean anything later, but right now, it is my tombstone asking, begging, that I won’t be forgotten.
I stood naked before the guide, the cold stone beneath my feet sending shivers up and down my back. A drop from one of the soda straws landed on my nose.
“Last chance to walk away,” he said.
I snorted. “Would you even let me?”
He dropped his eyes to the side. Likely my file was still open on his computer, sent down ahead of me with the final updates I had given before entering the elevator. I’m twelfth generation on the planet, nearly three hundred years of adjustments to this biosphere. My line has the best success rate, and Hayden-Home needed successes.
Last week, my number came up. Five days ago, my physical compatibility was confirmed. Two days ago, my mental compatibility was approved. Only one in twenty make it through the testing and a third still fail, even with all the modern assessments available.
The pretense of this being voluntary was just a pretense. He knew it. I knew it.
“Thought so.”
He placed his hand on the door sensor, stepping aside as a soft click filled the air and the lights in the small room dimmed to a low red. “They want you to go to the Carlson pools, just follow the signs. And good luck.”
I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, then stepped into the hollow mountain.
The Hayden-Home had no oil, but it did have plenty of limestone pressed from billions of sea creatures. The flat plains where humans first landed their colony ships above covered an ancient seabed, carved and hollowed out over millions of years into a cave system which stretched for hundreds of miles. Two teenage brothers chased this planet’s version of bats one night, sixteen years after landing, thinking themselves invincible as only a generation born on-world can. A world their parents spent a decade and a half doing their best to make safe…and never quite succeeding.
The Carlsons discovered the caves and showed their friends.
I followed the signs pointing to the Carlson cave, going past The Mourners, a pair of stalagmites soaring nearly twenty feet over my head, leaning toward each other, water slowly coursing down their sides as though they were covered in tears. Listed on a plaque before them was the first generation who died in the horrors of the caves.
There are not many on the list, just nine human names, though both of the Carlson boys were listed among them. Swimming in underground pools with no equipment, again, was something only teenagers would think sane.
Two among the friendship circle, Jones Silvers and my ancestor, Gorgie Santiago, lived to tell the tale. Kind-of.
I entered the Silvers Cave following my signs. Bubbly rocks looking like puff-blooms either side of the entrance disappear from my interest as I turn the curve around a massive fallen column and see the deep cavern lit with low red-lights turning the pools into pits of blood. A narrow bridge, covered in wet drips but no slime, hopped between the pools in a spiral further down. My bare feet gripped the shimmering glass-kind planks better than my leather shoes would have been able to. Still I held the handrail tight I was descended, walking on the slippery surface.
Carlson isn’t the lowest of the caves, that honors is the Lower Caves found a hundred years after first-fall, but it laid nearly another four hundred feet below where the elevator stopped. I walk a long time, passing wonders barely lit, the lights brightening as I approach and fading as I leave. I saw only two humans the entire time, clothed like guides, not like a naked sacrifice to Hayden-Home’s horrors.
Our greatest treasure and worse nightmare.
Did I consider turning around a dozen times? Or course. I may be dutiful, raised and indoctrinated in the needs of my world, but I am not without self-preservation.
I wouldn’t have made it past the mental tests if I didn’t value my own life.
Some of the pools in the Truist and the White caverns, where I could see something moving in the waters, had me frozen in place until I could get my feet to move again, but I never turned around even once. I hope whoever comes after will appreciate that.
An hour travel—maybe more, maybe less, hard to tell in the endless dark—ended the journey at chamber entrance where a guide sat in a small carved chair. His face blossomed red beyond just the red lights, the scars vivid and new, puffy and bruised, a testament of survival, if not success.
I wonder if I should take the survival as hope. Maybe this won’t work.
“Brother Mikeal Santiago, welcome.” The guide’s voice was raw, still recovering from the screaming was my guess.
“Thank you,” I said, not meaning it but what are you going to say, likely to the last person who made it this far. “What’s next?”
“This way. The Uncles would like you to try the butterfly pool first.”
I winced. Those that lived within the butterfly pool were among the oldest and largest, few chose humans at this point, and when they did, the risk was great to both ends of the merger. But the choice wasn’t unexpected; my biological father had entered the pool and walked out an Uncle.
Even under the low red lights, the butterfly pool shimmered in colors. Below long twisted things turned, like ancient earth tapeworms, waiting for a host.
There was never a chance to walk away, I reminded myself. Then sat on the bank of the pool and eased into the water.
(words 1,281; first published 8/17/2025)
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