The Deluge Drivers

Very similiar to, but not quite as good as the first two books of this series. This is book is about global warming - long before Al Gore! The planet of Tran-ky-ky, frozen so long that the natives have fully adapted to sailing and skating on ice, it starting to melt. The human adventurers and their Tran friends have to find out why, and stop it. As usual with Foster's books, the characters and some amusing, but not silly situations stand out, along with his concise writing and fairly direct plot. If you are looking for multi-character, multi-plot epics, this is not it.

Stranded Ethan Fortune investigates global warming on the ice planet Tran-Ky-Ky, discovering that artificial, forced melting threatens to destroy the native Tran way of life. Fortune and crew sail the icerigger Slanderscree to stop the culprits behind this environmental catastrophe.

It looked as if Ethan Fortune was stuck on the icy world of Tran-ky-ky, never to enjoy the warm comforts of civilization again. But when the scientists at the outpost of Brass Monkey detected an odd atmospheric phenomenon, things began to heat up.Only the great icerigger Slanderscree could make the dangerous journey to the isolated southern continent, and only Ethan could convince the primitive Tran that the mysterious warm spot was worth the trip. Nothing could have prepared Ethan and his Tran and human companions for what they encountered as they sped southward, for its like had not been seen for thousands of years -- open water on the ice oceans of Tran-ky-ky!But the worst was yet to come. This was no natural phenomenon. Someone was show more systematically raising the temperature of the frozen planet. If Ethan and crew of Slanderscree couldn't stop the process, soon Tran-ky-ky would become a paradise for humans -- and a living hell for the Tran. show less

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Title: The Deluge Drivers

Series: Icerigger #3

Author: Alan Dean Foster

Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars

Genre: SFF

Pages: 320

Format: Kindle digital edition

Project Reread:

I am attempting to reread 10+ books in 2016 that I have rated highly in the past. I am not attempting to second guess or denigrate my younger self in any way but am wanting to compare how my tastes have changed and possibly matured. I am certainly much more widely read now [both in the show more good and bad quality sadly] than then.
I will hopefully be going into the reasons for any differences of opinions between then and now. If there is no difference of opinion, then it was a hellfire'd fine book!
Links may link to either Wordpress, Booklikes or Blogspot, depending on when the original review was.

Synopsis: Spoilers

Just as Ethan and Skua are getting ready to leave Tran-Ky-Ky, Ethan gets suckered into taking a job for his company as the Representative for the world, meaning that he has to stay on Tran-ky-ky.

At the same time, some egg heads on station find an anomaly in the weather, which upon investigation, shows that the whole of Tran-ky-ky is in danger. With the help of Ethan, Skua, Milliken, the Slanderscree and the eggheads, that danger is proven to be man made.

Mad scientists, renegade Tran, a melting world and the genocide of an entire species. Has Ethan stepped in it or what?

My Thoughts:

The weakest of the trilogy, unfortunately.

My Review from '05 pretty much nails the story line.

This just felt worn and old. While Icerigger excited me even upon my latest re-read, this didn't excite me at all. I certainly have no desire to ever re-read this again. The shallowness of the characters really shows up here.

In fact, this is exactly like the Magic Kingdom for Sale/Sold series by Brooks. First book is great, but since all the characters are cardboard, that flaw shows up in greater detail in each successive book. Problem is, to get deeper characters, you'd seriously up the page count and the plot couldn't handle that.

Now, that doesn't mean this was a bad book. It was just a generic SF book that was written for pure entertainment and absolutely nothing else. It fulfills that mission quite admirably. And back when it was written in the 80's that was all we as readers were looking for. The tome-meisters hadn't gotten on the scene yet and publishers wouldn't have published them anyway.

Good to finish up the storyline and that was about it. Read it and forget it. show less

mad scientist tries to warm up Trankyky 10,000 years faster than natural. Ethan and Friends must stop him. Ends up marrying Collette Du Kane. Happy ending all round.

A fabulous end to a compelling journey! Much more sfnal than the previous books,especially the finale.

Again, all the Tran-Ky-Ky books are wicked killer and I wish the ice-skating, bat-winged, totally wicked Tran were in more Commonwealth books.