Rating: 
Summary: Fun story - Very engaging
Review: Robert A. has been reincarnated! Blind Waves is in the vein of some of RAH's best- a male writer that can develop a female protagonist- and paints lifelike images of a world after a natural disaster. Waiting eagerly for the next book- they get better each time. I don't usually re-read too many books- but I'm keeping this one.
Rating:
Summary: Heinlein LIVES !
Review: Robert A. has been reincarnated! Blind Waves is in the vein of some of RAH's best- a male writer that can develop a female protagonist- and paints lifelike images of a world after a natural disaster. Waiting eagerly for the next book- they get better each time. I don't usually re-read too many books- but I'm keeping this one.
Rating:
Summary: Gould's 4th good but not his best
Review: Steven Gould turns to a more conventional plot with his fourth novel, Blind Waves. In the mid-21st century, the Antarctic iceshield has melted due to volcanic eruptions, raising the level of the oceans 30 meters. In this semi-inundated world, Patricia Beenan, wealthy daughter of a congresswoman, runs an undersea salvage and exploration firm out of the floating city of New Galveston.In the midst of a routine salvage operation for Amoco, Beenan finds the recent hulk of the Blind Lotus, complete with chained corpses in the hold and evidence that the US Immigration and Naturalization Service may have sunk it. While fleeing from an INS patrol ship, Beenan broadcasts her video record of the hulk and its contents. This brings Commander Thomas Becket of the INS Criminal Investigation Division onto the scene. Amidst a flurry of quotes from Shakespeare, a cat and mouse game ensues between the criminals and Beenan and Becket. Gould continues to write tautly, vividly conveying the characters and scenes to the reader with a firm command of the language. Blind Waves also shows his command of the genre idioms without descending into cliche as far too many SF authors do. However, the novel lacks the sheer degree of inventiveness displayed in his earlier work, particularly Jumper and Wildside. The book is also flawed by the romance between Beenan and Becket. While Gould states in his afterword that he intended to create a pairing similar to that of Dorothy Sayer's Lord and Lady Wimsey, the pace of the romance feels rushed and detracts from the strength of the plot. Had Gould shown the developing attraction engendered by close cooperation and a common threat to their lives, I would have been more satisfied. The relationship's growth might have formed an underpinning to a continuing series of novels in this setting. Gould remains one of the more interesting authors working in speculative fiction. Blind Waves is a well-written and plotted novel. I would enjoy a series that stems from this work. Whether or not that happens, I will continue to look forward to Gould's next novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Really Science Fiction
Review: This is a competently written, though hardly exceptional, mystery thriller. This is not really science fiction but rather uses an imagined global warming future as the setting for a conventional story/romance. This book has more in common with historical mystery novels than good science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Not Really Science Fiction
Review: This is a competently written, though hardly exceptional, mystery thriller. This is not really science fiction but rather uses an imagined global warming future as the setting for a conventional story/romance. This book has more in common with historical mystery novels than good science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: If You like Gould ...
Review: This is a good read, like most of S. Gould's books (excluding that atrocious collaberation "greenwar" or whatever). This is not his best, that title goes to "Jumper" or "Wild Side", but it is better than the average book. With likeable characters and an interesting story it is over before you even know. Gould's prose is like going down a slide; interesting at first, then exhilerating the closer you get to the end so you can't wait to start again.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Fun With a Bit of Romance Thrown In
Review: What to a boatload of dead illegal's, rouge Federalies, a beautiful submarine captain and a scarred internal investigator all have in common? How about one pretty tight and well written story. Good romance, yes. Interesting story, yes. Well rounded and understandable characters, sort of. The great American novel, no. Does this book have it's problems? Sure it does. If you don't know Spanish, I don't, you miss a bit of the repartee between the characters, irritating but not fatal. Lots of references and quotas from Shakespeare, interesting if you like the Old Bard, I do, somewhat irritating if you don't. The whirlwind romance of Patricia Beenan and Thomas Becket, strangers to marriage proposal in four days, is somewhat unbelievable, but what the heck, it is fun. In fact that pretty much sums up this book, unbelievable but fun. I enjoyed it. I liked the pace, I liked the romance and I even liked the intrigue and the story line. This was no career defining novel but it was one heck of a fun read, so pull up next to the fire or your chair on the beach and have a go at it, I don't think you will be disappointed. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good Fun With a Bit of Romance Thrown In
Review: What to a boatload of dead illegal's, rouge Federalies, a beautiful submarine captain and a scarred internal investigator all have in common? How about one pretty tight and well written story. Good romance, yes. Interesting story, yes. Well rounded and understandable characters, sort of. The great American novel, no. Does this book have it's problems? Sure it does. If you don't know Spanish, I don't, you miss a bit of the repartee between the characters, irritating but not fatal. Lots of references and quotas from Shakespeare, interesting if you like the Old Bard, I do, somewhat irritating if you don't. The whirlwind romance of Patricia Beenan and Thomas Becket, strangers to marriage proposal in four days, is somewhat unbelievable, but what the heck, it is fun. In fact that pretty much sums up this book, unbelievable but fun. I enjoyed it. I liked the pace, I liked the romance and I even liked the intrigue and the story line. This was no career defining novel but it was one heck of a fun read, so pull up next to the fire or your chair on the beach and have a go at it, I don't think you will be disappointed. Recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A Thrilling, Engrossing Read
Review: Wow! Steven Gould has written another thrilling novel! Set in a near future of flooded continents and floating cities, once the story starts to run it just does not stop. Social consciousness, ecology, romance, and an abiding love for the Bard are cleverly woven together with personal submarines, fast ships, and flying bullets. The characters are well thought-out, both in their descriptions and their interactions. As in Mr. Gould's previous novels, there's a unifying theme; in this case, underwater travel. And if the protagonists aren't diving in a submarine or swimming their way to and from danger, they're zipping back and forth in boats on the surface. Also as in *Jumper* and *Wildside*, a large government agency, in this case the INS, figures prominently in the plot. The scary thing is, I find this part of the scenario an all too plausible extrapolation of present-day events. Foodies, beware: there's a restaurant in this book that ought to be real, and I hope someday I find myself in it. Now that I've read this book, I'll just have to keep on rereading it, and *Jumper*, and *Wildside*... until the next Steven Gould novel comes out!
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