D: Heavy Water
From Reboil
D, subtitled Heavy Water, is the second book of the Bomblight Series, following Polostan (2024).
Stats
- Prev: Polostan
- Publication date: 2026-10-13
- Author: Neal Stephenson
- LCCN: https://lccn.loc.gov/2026944231
- ISBN:
- 978-0-06283973-2 (print)
- 978-0-06-283975-6 (digital)
Details
People
- Aurora
- (b2p2s10) The real name of Katya, a member of the female machine gunner group that plays polo against Owen near Moscow. Asks Owen to help her leave the country. Owen agrees. (b2p2s11) Almost has sex with Owen who promises to write her.
- Beria
- (b2p2s12) First Secretary of Transcaucasian Communist Party traveling by train to Sochi to host Joseph Stalin. Questions Owen's travel plans.
- Einar
- (b2p0s0) An aged Norwegian welder.
- Elektron Fizmatov
- (b2p1s2) Scientist. Younger brother of Proton.
- Gus
- (b2p2s20) Introduces himself to Owen as Berzelius Gustav “Gus” Brandt.
- Irina
- (b2p2s11) Owenʼs liason for the state travel agency Intourist. Hesitantly facilitates his travel bookings south towards Turkey, across the Caucasus Mountains, and then along the Tigris past Baghdad towards the Persian Gulf.
- Katya
- See Aurora. (b2p2s10)
- Lek
- Nickname of Elektron Fizmatov.
- Owen
- (b2p1s1) A traveling journalist. (b2p1s2) Witnesses the launch of a high altitude balloon near Moscow. (b2p2s6) ordered by Rupert to find the Earl of Suffolk in Australia.
- Proton Fizmatov
- (b2p1s2) Is one of three aeronauts who man a high altitude balloon gondola to measure cosmic rays. (b2p1s4) Remains of their wolf-eaten corpse is found by Owen and other horseriders.
- Stalin
- (b2p2s12) Rides a train in the same passenger carriage as Owen. Flies away at an unscheduled stop at a military base.
- Swede, the
- See Gus.
Places
- Australia
- (b2p2s6) Where the Earl of Suffolk may be.
- Ophir, Mines of
- (b2p2s20) Destination of Gus. Where his order of alchemists is located. Presumably Ophir, New South Wales.
- Sydney
- (b2p3s23) Owen arrives here in search of the 20th Earl of Suffolk.
Things
- balloon
- (p1s2) A scientific vessel launched from near Moscow to measure cosmic rays from high altitude. (p1s4) crashes east of Moscow. All 3 aeronauts perish, including Proton.
Narrative
With the exception of the Prologue, the point of view is that of Owen. Sections were not numbered in the original text.
Part 1
| § | Description | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| p0s0 | Prologue. POV: Einar, an aged and experienced Norwegian welder at his welding shop in Norway. Einar receives a commission to fabricate metal water containers for a taciturn Frenchman, a curious Swede, and a man and a woman who do not speak his language. Einar is asked to create and weld with his own welding rods made from scratch to avoid Cadmium and Boron impurities. The Swede explains they need to carry 167 L of heavy water weighing 185 kg. | Dinar, _, _, Aurora, Owen |
| p1s1 | POV Owen. Owen's background as an inheritor of modest wealth needing to supplant his income with work as a traveling journalist. Motivation to one-up a rival justifying his decision to travel to Moscow. | Owen |
| p1s2 | POV: Owen watching an Academician cut glass in an aerodrome hangar in Kuntsevo, 50km West of Moscow. Owen calls himself Neutron to the scientists he has recently met named Proton and Elektron. Owen contemplates the difficult task of pleasing British readership and absurdities of Soviet culture. Owen anticipated a balloon launch. Owen observed the balloon fabric and gondola being examined. Despite supervision under Colonel Epaulets, Owen climbs into the gondola to assist Proton. Owen and a NYT reporter are shown a cloud chamber; scientists will measure cosmic rays above Earth's atmosphere from the balloon gondola. The balloon launches. Owen catches a ride with Elektron in the convoy to retrieve the gondola where it lands. Owen's map curiosity causes a detour to view a model of the improbable Palace of the Soviets. Owen scans the construction site of the ambitious palace, noting significant geotechnical challenges. | Owen, Proton, Elektron, Ivan, Svetlana |
| p1s3 | POV: Owen, East of Moscow. Owen chats with Elektron, aware that Epaulets does not approve of free communication. | Owen |
| p1s4 | POV: Owen, ~400 km east of Moscow. Owen wakes and is given a horse by Zhukov to ride and rifle to bear as the Conveyance leaves roads and enters a forest. Owen sees Colonel Epaulets riding incorrectly. Owen rides ahead, enjoying the sight and sounds. Owen spots streams of people in the distance carrying away items from something. Owen finds local peasants hurriedly carrying away looted rubberized cotton. Owen witnesses his first murder as other cavalry riders sabre and shoot a fleeing peasant. Owen and other riders search for the missing gondola. A reconnaissance plane indicates a direction. Owen finds the gondola remains that resemble a crushed can of tomato paste. Owen shoots a wolf carrying away Proton's white-clothed arm. | Owen, Epaulets, Zhukov |
Part 2
| § | Description | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| p2s5 | POV: Owen on Moscow following the balloon crash. Owen is kept fed and fucked by State officials and women. Other journalists envy Owen's financial independence and the resulting frankness he is able to indulge in to report intelligently about conditions in the Soviet Union. | Owen |
| p2s6 | POV: Owen. Owen notices Epaulets is replaced by a Serov. Serov passes Owen a telegram from Owen's editor, Rupert, ordering him to travel to Australia to find the Earl of Suffolk. | Owen, Serov |
| p2s7 | Owen meets with the late Proton's mother and Elektron. The mother requests food. | Owen, Elektron |
| p2s8 | Owen attends the stage funeral of Proton. | Owen, Elektron. |
| p2s9 | POV: Owen several days after the funeral. Owen plays polo with men under Voroshilov and Zhukov. The Cossacks are less skilled than Voroshilov's strategists. | Owen. |
| p2s10 | Owen plays polo with a group of female machine gunners. Women flirt with Owen. Owen meets a redhead calling herself Katya. Owen and Katya fiercely compete. Owen is attracted to Katya. Katya reveals she was sent by the OGPU to seduce him; she says her name is Aurora. Aurora asks he keep calling her Katya and pretend he is in love with her. Owen agrees but tells her he is being sent to Australia. Aurora asks him to send her letters so that the OGPU may send her to him. Owen agrees. | Owen, Aurora |
| p2s11 | Owen arranges with difficulty transport south along the Tigris; the woman receiving his transport request over telephone is confused and leaks that she knows his final destination is Australia. Owen insists, using his traveling journalist excuse. Owen dines and drinks with the machine gunner women. Owen takes Aurora to his room for sex. Owen sees the OGPU had dyed her hair red to suit his tastes. Owens erection grows soft. Knowing that they are under audio surveillance, Owen and Aurora stage an act pretending to part ways while scheming using written notes. Owen genuinely asks Aurora to come with him to Australia. Aurora refuses verbally but thanks him non-verbally. | Owen, Aurora |
| p2s12 | Owen takes a train south. He is confronted by First Secretary of Transcaucasian Communist Party, Lavrentiy Beria, who, through a translator, questions Owen's travel plans, hinting the NKVD (previously OGPU) knows about Owen's father's grave near Iraq. Owen is disconcerted. Owen noticed one of his fellow passengers is Joseph Stalin who has the train make an unscheduled stop at a military base and is promptly flown off, surprising even Beria. They watch as Stalin boards a plane and flies away. | Owen, Beria, Stalin |
| p2s13 | POV: Owen the next day in Trebizond. Owen travels from Trebizond thriugh eastern Turkey to northern Mesopotamia, arriving in spring. Owen travels with a caravan of tobacconists across the flood plains near the Tigris. Oh and descends down one morning to shave at the riverbank. Owen finds looted corpses. | Owen |
| p2s14 | POV: Owen in Nusaybin. Owen parts ways with the tobacconists. Owen reviews books indirectly mentioning his father's death from Rupert, his editor. Owen travels in a hired Rolls-Royce up the hills between the Tigris and Euphrates. Owen rides with an Egyptian and a Swede. Owen shares that he is traveling towards Istabulat. They discuss some literature such as “Sheppey” and “Appointment in Samarra”. | Owen, an egyptian, a swede |
| p2s15 | Owen asks to be let off early before. Samara. Owen books a hotel nearby. Owen examines maps and explores the local area finding ancient ruins to locate where his father has died and where he was buried. | Owen |
| p2s16 | Owen in Istabulat. Owen hires a guide who in turn summons an entourage to company Owen to as he visits the battlefield where his father died. A history of the Battle of Istabulat (1917-04). By mid-afternoon Owen finds the dimples where his father's grave has been, with the help of an old one-eyed cripple. Owen composes a letter to his mother filled with embellishments and inaccuracies but does include a real poppy from the local area. | Owen |
| p2s17 | POV Owen at a train station. Owen sees the Egyptian and the Sweden are now accompanied by a Jew. The one-eyed cripple appears and produces the signet ring of the Earl of Suffolk who had been killed at the Battle of Istabulat. Owen pays 100 British pounds via a special bank note, mediated by the Jew. | Owen, the egyptian, the swede, the jew |
| p2s18 | Owen Egyptian the sweet and the Jew bore the train and ride in the same carriage. Owen gives the 100 lb banknotes to the Swede who pockets it. They are generally dismissive of Owen. They ride the train to Baghdad. | Ibid |
| p2s19 | Owen on a boat traveling from Baghdad to Bombay. Owen departs Baghdad writing letters to acquaintances apologizing for his departure without meeting them. Owen takes a boat to Bombay. Owen writes to Katya careful not to use her Aurora name. Owen repeats his desire to meet up with Katya again. | Owen |
| p2s20 | Owen on the Orpheus, a steamer bound for Australia. Owen speaks with Gus the Swede. Gus describes himself as an alchemist hunter of new elements. Gus is traveling to the Mines of Ophir. | Owen, Gus |
| p2s21 | Owen on the Orpheus. Owen reviews the background of Charles Henry George Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl of Berkshire. Howard was rejected by school and military and apparently had an interest in arson. | Owen |
| p2s22 | POV: Owen on the Orpheus. Owen spits the white sails of a clipper gaining on the steamer. Owen speculates with a crew member that it may be the Mount Stewart?. Owen imagines parallel narrative in which he and Aurora make the journey through istanbula Baghdad. In order to distract himself from thinking about conversations with an imaginary girlfriend, Owen joins others for dinner. Commentary on personalities of people from Australian culture. Despite dropping hints, Owen finds no clues to Suffolk's whereabouts. | Owen |
Part 3
| § | Description | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| p3s23 | POV: Owen in Sydney in 1934-04. | |
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Part 7
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| p8s120 | Epilogue. |
History
- 2026-10-13: Published.
- 2026-10-14: Neal Stephenson promoted the book at Powell's Books in Beaverton, OR.[1]
See also
External links
References
- ↑ “Neal Stephenson - TICKETED EVENT”. (2026). powells.com. Accessed 2026-10-15. “Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing; 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd. Beaverton, OR 97005; Wednesday, October 14th 2026, 7:00 PM.”
Footnotes
Comments
