Water world

TrekBBS user makcalhoun has posted an interview with Christopher L. Bennett which was apparently conducted for the German star Trek website, TrekZone.

Bennett talks about his life, influences and interests, and also gives some details on his next Titan novel, Over a Torrent Sea:

"It's another story exploring exotic alien life forms and environments, but on a different scale from Orion's Hounds. It's mostly set on a type of planet that was only theorized four years ago: an “ocean planet,” a world that's mostly water and ice by volume. No continents, no islands, just an endless ocean that might as well be bottomless too, since at around 90 kilometers down, the pressure becomes so crushingly huge that the water itself is forced into ice even though it's boiling hot. It's a planet full of exotic and unusual life forms that shouldn't even exist there. And it's grounded in cutting-edge planetary science.

Naturally, since it's an ocean world, the story focuses heavily on Aili Lavena, Titan's water-breathing navigator. She's even on the cover of the book, in an impressive painting by Cliff Nielsen. This is the first time we've really had a chance to get to know her, and she won't have many secrets left by the end. Heck, the cover alone leaves practically nothing to the imagination."

"Since Titan's adventures take place far beyond the Federation, there was very little overlap between OaTS and the other post-Destiny books. Mainly what I dealt with was the personal toll of the trilogy's events, how Titan's personnel deal with tragedy and move forward with their lives. Still, Dave, Keith DeCandido, Bill Leisner, Kirsten Beyer, and I have been staying in touch and sharing our manuscripts with each other to make sure all our books fit together. Marco is overseeing it all on his end, but he doesn't micromanage."