Meltdown

Rating:
Summary: SLOW THAW
Review: In reading fellow reviewers' thoughts on this novel, I thought mayb e I missed something along the way. Nevertheless, "Meltdown" is not the enthralling book "Sea Change" was, at least to me. "Meltdown" is overburdened with technological narrative. Powlik is obviously a brilliant man, and brings this expertise expertly into his novels. However, for the average Joe like me, I don't want such indepth explanation. It merely serves to distract me from the plot of the story and more importantly, the characters.
While Powlik has done well with his main characters (Carol, Brock, Sergei, and Junko), I can only call Charon and Krail derivatives of hundreds of other suspense/thriller novels. The inclusion of Victor is certainly ethnically powerful, but his involvement merely serves as "politically correct," instead of powerful characterization.
By the time the novel gets cooking, and that's not until the last third, it has merely limped along to get there. The romance between Carol and Brock is a pleasant surprise, considering all they went through in "Sea Change." However, Sergei's romance with Junko is manipulative and the resolution of such is rather "mean."
But, if you like a lot of technological background, you won't be disappointed, but I cannot recommend this book on a higher level.

Rating:
Summary: A let-down with a long half-life
Review: James Powlik's novel "Meltdown" showed promise as being a simulation of what could occur in the case of a serious radioactive waste spill. As well as the affect it would have on the environment, and what would be needed to clean it up. The "story" given to this is unfortunately rather dry, with shallow, forced characters that do little to improve it's readability.

Nearly all of the novel is spent in scientific explanation, which can be interesting if that's what you're looking for. Indeed, Dr. Powlik's knowledge of marine organisms is excellent, and the lengthy descriptions and conversations give ample information to understand what's going on. However, once that understanding is attained, the lack of a clear climax added to a fragmented conflict makes this book feel more like a re-enacted documentary than a novel.

The protagonists would be far more interesting if they had not been so heavily dressed-up. Several are described to us as beautiful, incredibly brilliant and almost super-human in their resourcefulness. A hero who has everything going for them is not nearly as exciting as someone ordinary who does something extraordinary. Relationships seem very forced, and since the majority of the book is spent in explaining the science behind the story, little space remains for character development.

The "villians" are chiefly non-human, being comprised of the radioactive isotopes and the ever-present Murphy's Law. This gives readers little to grasp onto as opposition. Even Scott Krail (the laughably ominous Naval officer in charge of keeping the waste depository a secret) and Matt Charon (a shallow saboteur character who appears at one point to muck up the plans) offer hardly anything for us to feel unsettled over. They're both re-used models: the military man who covers up everything seemingly just for the sake of covering it up, and the angst-ridden terrorist.

Something which I found odd was how the novel actually reads as though it were written during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The arms-race period belief that the Soviets had incredibly advanced military technology is alive and well in this story. I actually had to check the copyright date a few times while reading. The ficticious Russian "Scorpion" submarine which supposedly had weapons, sensors, powerplants, and noise-reduction technology far beyond that of the West makes no sense at all. It reminds me of the novel "Firefox" in which the Soviets supposedly create an airplane which can read thoughts and fly faster than Mach 4. Anyone who knows about Soviet submarine technology knows that "advanced" actually means "hastily assembled, and dangerously unreliable." The author makes an attempt to say that the "Scorpion" was a prototype and it's loss was so embarrassing that the Soviets abandoned the project completely. Why this prevented them from using this amazing technology anywhere else is a complete mystery. One of the characters even makes a reference to the Tom Clancy-created submarine "Red October" as if it were real, though it may have been used simply as a comparative term.

The resolution the protagonists exercise seems mind-bogglingly impossible to succeed, and when it does, it seems to do so only to avoid the depressing ending of a massive ecological disaster. There are aspects of the science which some of us will have to take Dr. Powlik's word for, but common sense seems to work against the bold plans our heroes create for cleaning up the spill. (Somehow filling up an underwater crevasse with boulders doesn't seem like it would make a watertight seal.)

Well-understood microbiological science doesn't make up for the book's poor characters, slow action and unconvincing plot. The mysterious treatment of real life events which are publicly well known gives little credit to the reader, especially for a book which is unlikely to be picked up by someone who isn't at least somewhat knowledgable of nuclear disasters and/or undersea science.

This tome needs a "Mildly Contaminated" label.

Rating:
Summary: Good sf
Review: The Arctic appears to be dying, as every living creature seems dead or on the brink of death. In Canada north of the Circle, the Leukemia ravishes the Inuit. The crew of the research vessel Phoenix is stunned when two members are found dying from radiation poisoning. The ocean-living creatures all contain toxic levels of radioactivity. Other signs show that something is wrong with the ecosystem surfaces.

Phoenix leader Dr. Carol Harmon reluctantly asks her former husband, Navy Lieutenant Commander Brock Garner for help. Though he is in the Antarctic region, Brock moves as fast as he can to answer Carol's mayday. Both conclude that illegal dumping has placed the planet at risk of a new ice age with radioactive contamination to ride along the moving frozen sea. However, neither one yet realizes how close to danger either one is to them from individuals with their own program.

As with the powerful SEA CHANGE, MELTDOWN is a non-stop environmental thriller that showcases the ability of James Powlik to tell an action-packed tale. The story line grips the reader although the detail technological explanations provide a mixed blessing to the audience. On the one hand, it gives credence and authenticity to the plot while educating readers. On the other hand it slows down the pace to more of an ice age creep at times because many fans will need to ease up on the reading pace to fully grasp the information. Regardless, readers who enjoy scientific backup in immense depth will relish this strong environmental thriller.

Harriet Klausner