Under Pressure (original title: The Dragon in the Sea) [Mass Market Paperback]

Frank Herbert (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (February 12, 1974)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345238354
• ISBN-13: 978-0345238351
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,231,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first sf story was published in 1952 but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication in Analog of Dune World and The Prophet of Dune that were amalgamated in the novel Dune in 1965.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars solid and captivating work, April 25, 2000

By 

"mirimoo" - See all my reviews

This review is from: UNDER PRESSURE (Mass Market Paperback)

Under pressure takes place in submarine with a small crew on a top-secret mission. Herebert does a fantastic job of creating interesting situations and relationships between the characters in a setting where many writers would flounder. The level of detail in the book is interesting and, as usual, Herbert brings up many thought provoking issues. If you enjoy books that are more than mere entertainment and actually make you think, this a great book to read. This fantastic book is in true Herbert style. I have heard some people say they find a Herbert and little slow and dry (I do not) at first but to those people I say get through the begining and his novels are ALWAYS worth it.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic that still lives, August 8, 2000

By 

David A. Farnham (Roanoke, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Under Pressure (Paperback)

This book, originally published in the 50s as "The Dragon in the Sea", was one of the first adult hard-sf books I ever read and my copy of the paperback original has almost disintegrated from repeated re-readings. This story of an undersea mission to a radioactivity-ravaged Europe and the subplot of a traitor in the crew is as readable and believable today as when it was first published. It should be read by every published or aspiring sf author as a textbook in how to write a story that doesn't date itself.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good..., April 9, 2011

By 

Aeronomer "Aeronomer" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Under Pressure (original title: The Dragon in the Sea) (Mass Market Paperback)

I recently decided to take on the task of reading all of Frank Herbert's work. This was his first full-fledged novel I believe. When I picked it up, I wasn't expecting much. It was written so long ago that I assumed the technology would be very outdated and would detract from whatever story was being told. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a very good read and the 'future' he envisions where the world has been plagued by war due to the scarcity of oil is made all the more interesting to me when I consider how long ago it was written. There are a couple of moments when he gets into a bunch of technical descriptions of certain events that are completely incomprehensible but these only last a few pages. There is also a blessed absence of the religious and mystical mumbo jumbo that ruins some of his later works. This book holds up well and is worth the brief time it takes to read it.