Christopher Mari

I am a fan of old-fashioned early and mid-twentieth century science fiction. In fact, I also love the science fiction that was generated in the nineteenth century as well; I believe this is called Steampunk today. While I was growing up, it was simply considered a classic genre of literature. The reason I hark back to that time era is because science didn't overwhelm the plot and the characterization of the protagonists and antagonists. Subplots and supporting characters were not overtaken show more by the glitz and glitter of modern technology. They were simply an element of good story telling.

I have since lost interest in the current run of sci fi trends. I rarely read any book of that genre. Technological glitz tends to become outdated too quickly for readers not to get distracted by what's considered old news. I empathize with authors of that genre trying to please all schools of thought. It's difficult to hold a reader's interest. Maintaining a good balance is key. Only once in a rare while does a book appear that manages to hold up to the ideals of literature with science at it's core. I believe Ocean of Storms has successfully crossed this invisible barrier.

In my opinion, Ocean of Storms is an instant classic. It has everything it needs to qualify it as an adventure: solid storytelling, development of suspense, a twist on a classic theme, drama with well developed characters, international intrigue, traitors, greed, mystery and more. It is a fast-paced complex tale that does not get so overly tangled that the reader gets lost in too many heads.

The story begins when an EM pulse knocks out communications over the entire planet, setting governments scrambling to gain control over panicking and perturbed citizens. When the source of the pulse was pinpointed to the moon, an immediate second space race ensues. Which country would arrive on the moon first? What the mission discovers in the deep cavern becomes an unexpected twist to a classic theme. For me, the conclusions are memorable. I would love to see a movie made based on this book.

If you are a fan of fast-paced adventure with a touch of drama and intrigue without the cruelty, darkness and gore often dogging the modern genre, I highly recommend this book to you. It even improves on multiple subsequent readings. That's something I don't find very often in any genre.

Warning: There is some language that seems inevitable; However, I am pleased that it doesn't contain the evil presence of venom and lack of value for human life we see often in current books. show less

I do not normally write negative reviews, since there really is nothing to be gained by this. Ocean of Storms, however, requires comment, mostly because of its build-up as a Kindle monthly give-away.I write successful hard science fiction, and so know what it takes to blend believable science with a good story. The first element is to do the research so that improbable technical details do not jump out to spoil the technical backdrop of the tale. In Ocean of Storms this happened all too show more often. For example, the Moon has no “dark side.” This comment demonstrates either a deeply flawed understanding of celestial dynamics or some exceedingly sloppy editing. Another example: The Earth’s gravitational field extends outward indefinitely. Certainly, anywhere within the Earth-Moon system, the Earth’s gravity is an important factor. Repeatedly, the authors talk about leaving the influence of the Earth’s gravity. This is just plain silly, and seriously affects the science backdrop of the story.

Here are some more random observations. Nobody with even the slightest training in radio communications would say “Over and out.” The Chinese are said to have brought back tons of film from their Lunar orbital venture – modern space photography is entirely digital, and would have been transmitted to Earth. In our world, there are several private space ventures with a growing ability to launch into LEO. Would NASA not have taken advantage of this expertise? Could NASA really have put together a completely new, functional launch system in only six months? Is it realistic that the Lunar astronauts could somehow have cobbled together a worm-hole transmitter in just a few hours, even with access to the advanced technology of the spaceship? How did the EMP break windows? Actually, it is obvious that the authors have no genuine understanding of EMP. In particular, recovery from a planet-wide EMP event would take years, not hours, since the entire electrical infrastructure would be destroyed – circuits would be fried, chips and ICs would be useless, motor and generator windings would be melted, everything that uses electricity in any way would be useless. This would require starting from the bottom, pulling wire without using electricity and casting generator and motor parts without using electricity, in order to build primitive generators and motors, in order to set up primitive manufacturing facilities, in order to begin a slow and painful climb back to early twentieth century manufacturing. Think about it – nothing that depends on generators or motors would work; water, sewer, food distribution, waste processing, everything that underpins our civilization would not work. (Granted, engineers might be able to salvage generator and motor cores and wire that was not connected to any circuit, and thus short-circuit the recovery process by a year or so.) This is the substance of a novel unto itself, but these authors pass it off with a cavalier lack of understanding about the real effects.

The characters are cartoonish, without depth or genuine personality. Their conversation seems to be plugged in wherever the authors thought it might be time for someone to say something. There is no real understanding that technology progresses rapidly. It took just 66 years to go from the Wright Brothers to Neil Armstrong, yet the future spacecraft employs technology that does not differ very much from present technology. Sure, there is a nod to “gee-whiz” gadgets, but nothing substantive. Do you really believe that a group of astronauts from today would be able to understand anything from 700 years in the future? Could Wilbur Wright have figured out and employed the electronics in an Apollo capsule in a few hours? And this was only 66 years, not 700.

And yet, for all this, Ocean of Storms is still a good tale. That it is poorly thought out and sloppily executed does not detract from the inherent story concept. I give it 3.5 stars for concept, and 2 stars for execution and sloppy science, resulting in 2.5-stars, rounded up to 3-Stars. show less

A good book especially the first half going to the moon--almost unputdownable. Then it briefly got preachy, which it really didn't need to do to maintain the storyline, and rushed to a conclusion. 3-1/2 stars, or more for the first half. This feels like the start of a series with these characters. I'd probably read a second book because its got some (wacky) history, action-adventure and a world-upending crisis and mystery to solve.

2017 Reading Challenge: 12/52 Read a book with a contemporary setting

Indiana Jones meets Independence Day, with maybe a dash of Prometheus.

There was just so much that happened, crammed into a really small amount of pages....Fascinating premise and thought provoking at times but it all is just so ridiculous because of the pacing. No time for anything to develop. And the science REALLY suffers for it.