Escaping Amnthra, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Military SF; Diving Universe) Raina commands the Renegat by default, the Captain and senior crew all having abandoned it. She just needs to get the ship and what’s left of the crew home—if she can get either to obey her consistently. (16,205 words; Time: 54m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

This story is okay if you haven’t read other stories in the Diving Universe, but you’ll at least need to read “Rescue of the Renegat” to find out what happens next.

Joyride, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Moving story in a fascinating setting with lots of action

(Space Opera; Diving Universe) A Fleet training ship passes close to a “scrapheap” of abandoned ships, and Teenage Nadim, leads a group of his friends to “borrow” a scout ship and check it out. (18,409 words; Time: 1h:01m)

Recommended By: 👍RSR+2 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

Although this is set in the author’s “Diving Universe,” it shares no characters with the other stories, so you can enjoy this story without having read the rest of it, and you can read this one first without spoiling the rest of the series.

Lieutenant Tightass, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Exciting story with good characters

(Space Opera; Diving Universe) Coop is eager to make a difference in his first mission as a new lieutenant on a search-and-rescue ship, but the rest of the crew doesn’t seem to work very hard or care very much, and they definitely don’t appreciate his meddling. (12,872 words; Time: 42m)

Recommended By: SFRevu+1 GTognetti+1

Although this story is set in the author’s Diving Universe series, it’s a prequel to the others, so it has no dependencies on the rest, nor does it spoil any of the later stories. This makes it an excellent starting point for the series as a whole, as well as a great stand-alone read

Dix, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Average

(SF Adventure; Diving Universe) An accident in foldspace stranded the Ivoire 5,000 years in its own future, and Dix, the second-in-command, had more trouble adjusting than anyone else. Maybe even enough to make him a threat to everyone else. (19,426 words; Time: 1h:04m)

Although this is an episode in a much larger universe, this story stands alone well enough to be read in isolation.

The Rescue of the Renegat, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Find this issue

(SF Adventure; Diving Universe) A badly-damaged Fleet ship of long-obsolete design appears out of foldspace. There seem to be 200 people on board, but they’re not trying to communicate. Captain Dauber has to try to rescue them, even though it may be a trap. (22,034 words; Time: 1h:13m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

I’ve read the rest of the Diving Universe stories, but I’m pretty sure this one works just fine if you read it by itself

The Runabout, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Find this issue

(Space Opera; Diving Universe) The narrator leads a team salvaging long-lost technology from a graveyard of starships, whose stardrives still disrupt the surrounding space in dangerous ways. (44,874 words; Time: 2h:29m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Thrilling and Inventive

I have not read any of the earlier stories in the Diving Universe, but I still thought this one was great.