On the Oceans of Eternity

Rating:
Summary: Enoyed all three!
Review: I'm just finishing the 3rd book, OtOoE. At times, they all were a bit hard to keep up with, but I spent many nights reading chapter after chapter, just to see what happens next. I'm hoping for a continuation in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Nantucket rules the world.
Review: While not as fine as the two preceding novels, Oceans is the end of one of the greatest alternative history series ever written. It is long, consists of a cast of thousands, the lesser ones easily lost in the mix, and can get a little tedious. But, if you're hooked on the series and the author, (I readily admit to both), it's necessary reading.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This is my first delve into alternative history and I must say it has left me wanting more. Maybe I was lucky in that it reverts to a preriod of history that I am interested in (the Bronze Age, more specifically around the time of the Trojan War) but I simply could not put the trilogy down. The characters are superbly out of their depth in this new world, adapting and shifting to realities. The characterisations of known historical figures is entirely plausible and the series comes across much bigger in depth and perception than it really is.
Perhaps people will say this is the finest example of its genre, I don't know. Suffice it to say, if Stirling doesn't continue this series it will be an immense shame.

Rating:
Summary: Mind the story
Review: Ever since I started reading SF (and alternate history) I have wondered why the genre is so often disregarded by "mainstream" literature. The IitSoT trilogy is a good example: a thrilling, well woven story, with (apparently) a lot of research into its writing. As I finished OtOoE, the last installment, I guess I finally found the answer. SF writers in general, and Stirling in particular, are great with the premises and plot, but are usually unable to provide depth to the characters. "On the Oceans of Eternity" ends nicely (although in a somewhat corny fashion) the adventures of the RON, but enthralling as he plot was - I kept wondering what would I've done were I in the characters shoes - the characters are doomed to early oblivion...
That doesn't mean there weren't great characters in the book (like Rapuasha, Kash and the Hollards), only that they were somewhat underdeveloped.
Overall, it is a great book, so forget the character depiction minor flaws and enjoy the story.

Rating:
Summary: Kept me turning the pages
Review: Precursor: Since I don't want to submit 3 separate reviews for the trilogy, this review will encompass all 3 novels. The trilogy reads like one big novel, anyway.

I beleive the premise and plot of the story has been outlined pretty thoroughly in previous customer, as well as editorial, reviews so I won't rehash it here. I'll simply give my opinion on certain points of story and characters that I liked and didn't like.

With regard to Marian Alston: I liked her character to a point, but Stirling made her out to be a 'superhero'. She should have been killed at least 3 times in the story and survived each time. She's an improbable hero that is at times hard to like, at other times very easy to root for. I think she was given way too much print in the 3rd book.
With regard to Swindapa: My favorite character in the 1st book, and for about half of the 2nd book. She's not given enough depth, and when she hooked up with Marian it kind of killed her character potential. Still, the very few times Stirling writes from her perspective are entertaining.
With regard to Walker: Very good villain at first, but noticeably peters out in the last book and a half. I guess he had to, so he could lose. I have every confidence that the Walker from the first book would have beaten the RON.
Those were the main 3 throughout the series. Other notables: Ian Arnstein, a totally unlikable college professor, who Stirling makes out to be some sort of CIA type by the 3rd book. Jared Cofflin, the chief(acting president) of the RON, who started out a main character but by book 3 he's invisible. Pete Girenas/Giernas, whose name changed spellings from book 2 to book 3(in my copies, at least), a totally likable fellow who didn't get enough time and was given a storyline that didn't tie into anything really(too bad). And my personal favorites, Kashtiliash, Kathryn, Kenneth, Raupasha, Isketerol and Odikweos(Odyssius): All of which were MUCH more fun to read about than Marian and Swindapa in the last 2 books. They just didn't get enough print.

As far as plot and the flow of the story, the 1st 2 books were great, the 3rd was choppy and fragmented. Also, in the 1st book they spent way too much time describing exactly, to the smallest detail, how any number of tools are made. Just tell me that one guy knows how to do it and how many he can make, I don't need a full lesson in how to do it myself. Stirling avoided that for the most part in books 2 and 3. I didn't see the ending coming, so to me it was satisfying.

As far as the various complaints I've read about the sex, violence and the underlying tone of "men bad, women good", I can see where a lot of that comes from. There is a lot of sex, both hetero and lesbo, and that doesn't bother me. There is a ton of violence, including several rape scenes, but I'm not squeamish, so that didn't bother me either. The feminism is very heavy handed here, and that did bother me a bit. Although there were 3 or 4 good, strong males introduced in book 2, they were sorely underused.

Stirling has set it up for more in this series. If he does do another trilogy, the main characters should be Kash, Kat, Ken, Raupasha, and Odikweos. Althea and McAndrews would make interesting villains I think as well. All in all a good series, if a little hard to follow at the end. Well worth checking out.

Rating:
Summary: A potboiler
Review: Well, if you have read some Stirlings, there are very few surprises here. The heroes always win on the whole, and I certainly agree with other reviewers who thought that the protagonists are a bit shallow and haven't been getting much better from the previous books onward. Some more shadows on their immaculate souls could have helped make them more believable.

I also found it hard to care about some subplots, but as I said, it's a potboiler. Good enough to read if you like the general stuff.

Rating:
Summary: Could Have been better but....
Review: After reading other reviews, it became apparent that we all read the same book. I skipped some of the slower parts looking for the same action of the first two books. If this book were about a 100 pages shorter it could improve the overall book. BUT....
I do like the charactors, the story line, the battle scenes and the great historical research. I'm a history teacher and this sometimes reads like a history book, but thats not always a bad thing. I hope some of more negitive reviews won't discourage a 4th book, just give some room for improvements. There are more good things about this series than bad.

Rating:
Summary: A great read.
Review: Excellent alternate history, fascinating setting. Some adult themes, probably deserves an "R" rating.

Rating:
Summary: Way Too Long
Review: I enjoyed the first two books in this series, but I was unable to finish this one, even after I started skimming about 150 pages into it. Very few writers can sustain a work of this length --- taken together, the three volumes run about 1,800 pages --- and the pacing wasn't lively enough to keep me interested.

The series has some compelling concepts, and even the battle scenes in the first two were vivid enough to keep me interested, in spite of the mostly two-dimensional characters, but after a while it got very tedious for me. Stephen Vincent Benet, a great American story writer, once said that "writing is the art of abbrevation." Unfortunately, Stirling doesn't get to the point too often, and the plot is weighed down with long, windy descriptive passages that don't advance the story.

Looks like most readers who liked the first two will enjoy this one as well, but it was too much for me.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed reviews
Review: As someone who is interested in military history and wargaming, I find the continuous fighting added a lot of excitement to the book. Especially since we have two roughly "balanced" groups fighting it out. I actually like the frequent manuevers on both side, as it resembles some war history with the red and blue arrows representing armies clashing across the map. However, I like many other reviewers do find the ending too neat. Sure, it rings true with the "victory through enlightenment" philosophy of the Islanders, but it is not truely exciting. After developing so many polar characters, I am surprised there is we don't have the various "legends" fight it out, while Leaton and Cuddy pumps out increasingly innovative war machines on both sides. However, there is a teaser at the end, and the story has not yet exhausted possiblities in Central/South Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, so the hope is there will be more this than the trilogy.