Rating: 
Summary: Very Satisfying! And No Impalements!
Review: Stirling did a bang-up job with this trilogy. From first to last, he kept everybody consistent even while they changed over the 11 year span. He kept a modicum of control over sprawling material. There are still too many threads to catch at once (it's the whole bronze age world!), but he limits what he narrates, and hews close to an exciting story-line.If you don't like political maneuver, and the continuation of diplomacy by other means, you may not care for this book. I had a great time. Stirling seems to know his stuff, and carries his story along at a good, solid pace. Not too much hurry, not too much detail. It has been evident from the first book that Stirling had a definite plan for these books, and he's stuck to it. I felt in the first book that he padded it a little, and even more in the second book. I realize now that this was actually set-up, and I apologize in retrospect. This book, even though over 500 pages of small type, was really satisfying. Without giving the plot away, which tends to annoy me, I will say this: there is a beautifully done distinction between people who are doing the best they can and the truly evil. There are good character sketches; Stirling understands (evidently) that you don't have to detail every little mole a character who isn't a main viewpoint has. While he left lots of room for sequels, Stirling ended the trilogy well. The bad guys get their come-uppance. The good guys get their rewards. This is expected, but it's done well. What's more, though he mentions crucifixions (yuck!), Stirling doesn't go into much detail about it, and he restrained his intellectual brutality to a bearable level. This has been a consistent problem for me with Stirling. I am happy to see it kept under strict control. There are few typos or grammatical errors. Stirling appears to have done more than a first pass with a spell-checker. Lots of fun. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: A fragmented excuse for a novel
Review: A must have book if you have read the other two - but... The previous format of jumping from one area to another has been used to the extreme in this novel. This could be justified if it was necessary to tie all the parts together for a grand finish that depends on timing between the various groups but this never occurs. Instead you get 32 chapters with 3-4 jumps in each - forcing (this reader at least) to either constantly refer to the chapter headings (not always helpful - who is currently in Damacus etc?), or lose the impact of the first few paragraphs until you are sure of where you are. I can't help thinking this would have worked much better as a main story vs Walker's forces, along with two attached short stories, one with Alston and Swindapa vs Isketerol and the other with the Rangers out West. Additionally, the whole Egyptian thing was originally a short story that has been weakly attached to the book.
Rating:
Summary: Good story but little drama
Review: As always with Stirling's stories he constructs a believable alternate world using accurate depictions of "real history." This third novel of the series follow the same path as earlier stories but fails to build up to much of a dramatic climax. What happens to William Walker, his friends, and his empire may be realistic in terms of history but hardly makes for an exciting drama. Hopefully things will progress to a more exciting climax in the next series set in this alternate universe. On a different note I liked the recreation of the Battle of Rorke's Drift in Zululand in this novel, although I'm not sure how much of it had to do with the actual history versus the movie version of the same battle. Good job nevertheless in integrating the history with the fiction.
Rating: 
Summary: well worth the wait
Review: I eagerly waited three months to receive the book from the pre-publication purchase date until arrival. Well worth the wait. Once again I was transported to a world that in my mind's eye I could see, smell, taste and feel. My adrenelin rushed during some scenes and I was surprised to realize how my heart was pounding and my muscles trembled when I discovered I was really in my bed reading. The visuals are real and it is as if the characters live. This book is one to keep and reread. Mr. Stirling, please accept my humble thanks for writing as you do and for allowing me to enter such a world.
Rating: 
Summary: It was fun while it lasted.
Review: "Island in the Sea of Time" and "Against the Tide of Years" had set up a heck of a situation, and Stirling had to resolve it - somehow - here in "Oceans". I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of the series; enough so that I bought this latest one on the day it came out. [I felt like someone sleeping out for Dead tickets. An interesting experience.] The resolution is a bit of a disappointment. I don't want to give you any spoilers - not when the book was only released 5 days ago. So I'll have to make an analogy: Anyone who reads Stephen King books has probably encountered what you could call the "Stephen King" ending. This type of ending occurs when SK has built up an impossibly powerful and secure villain or situation, but still feels the need to have good triumph, so he contrives something ridiculous to serve as his resolution. For example, in "The Stand", the "Hand of God" comes down and destroys the villain [if that was all it took, why is the rest of the book there?], or in "Needful Things" people make shadow puppets that destroy the villain. You know - cheapo endings. By analogy, this is the way the series ends. You read it, you perceive it, and you say to yourself, "You have GOT to be kidding me." Other than that, there is plenty of entertainment value in the book, as in the first two. History, historical geography, military science, naval science, engineering history, botany, political science - Stirling doesn't think there is a university department out there he can't turn into a plot point. He pulls it off well. And there is, pleasantly, less overt political content to this installment of the series - if you discount the cheesy resolution. ...Read the book for pure entertainment value - just skip Chapter 30.
Rating:
Summary: Completes the masterpiece
Review: For over 10 years, I've been enjoying the work of Steve Stirling. I've come to expect fascinating characterization, rich descriptive writing, exacting historical and technical research; I'm invariably both emotionally moved and intellectually stimulated by his writing. OCEANS completes the "Nantucket Trilogy" which began with ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME and continued with AGAINST THE TIDE OF YEARS. These books integrate and present in a refreshing and highly accessible way many of the issues, concepts and values evident in previous Stirling works: the juxtaposition of tolerance and strength, the power of culture, the morality of technology, the nature of "adventure." This book completes all the fascinating threads begun in its two predecessors, with a crescendo of growing tension and action on three (and more) fronts. From Bronze-Age commando raids to great sieges and battles to the marvelous sense of wonder of smart, strong people, ancient and modern, facing a new world, this book has everything a reader could ask for-- and like the best works in the genre, has an ending which is totally satisfying and triumphant yet raises fascinating possibilities for future exploration. I finished it, then went back to ISLAND to begin enjoying the trilogy all over again!
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but immensely entertaining.
Review: First of all, this one probably won't make a lot of sense to people who missed the first two books. Second, almost all of the story threads are tied up neatly, with the balance of power in the Bronze Age seriously out of whack. I love that the Event is never explained. However, this is a flawed book. The transition from scene to scene--leaping halfway across the world, at times--could have used at least a row of asterisks between settings. Some characters vanish for too long (IMO) and villains from the first two books are removed almost as an afterthought. The parts that are good are *so* good that it's worth reading even with the flaws, and so are the first two in the Nantucket Trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: The Nantucket Trilogy comes to a wonderful conclusion!
Review: Well, at long, long last it's out and I can quit gnawing my fingernails. _On the Oceans of Eternity_ lived up to its predecessors in the "Nantucket Trilogy" and tied up the main plotlines, with room for sequels and other books in this continuity. A few things got resolved more quickly than I would have preferred, there was one plotline in particular that I could have done without, and there were some rather obvious homages to a famous war movie, but this book, like the other books in the Trilogy, was an extremely interesting, enjoyable read. I can recommend it highly to anybody, along with its mates, although I'd advise reading all three books in order so you know who is who.
Rating:
Summary: On the Oceans of Eternity
Review: I have been waiting for this book since Jan of '99 when I finished the 2nd book in this series, "Against the Tide of Years", and have to say I was NOT disappointed. The entire series has been excellent, though it seems as if Mr. Stirling intends at least one more book rather than the three orginally planned. The "Republic of Nantucket" (the island of Nantucket mysteriously thrown back to 1200 B.C.)still has to deal with renagade Coast Guard officer William Walker and his followers, now scattered over a large part of southern Europe, nothern Africa and what we call today the Middle East...Stirling leaves a few loose ends remaining to be tied up (a reason I think at least one more book is coming)and the confrontation with Walker is anti-climatic, (Walker himself is almost a secondary character in this book)One criticism though, one of the battle scenes in "Oceans" is lifted almost word for word from the movie "Zulu" with no acknowlegement of the fact and I would have preferred that a writer of Mr. Stirlings stature would have at least given a nod of the head to it...an excellent book all around despite that... BUT (imagine the "Jaws theme playing in the background) Isketrol still rules in Tartessos,McAndrews is still loose in Africa, and Walker's daugther Althea is riding north with her fathers followers swearing revenge and that she will not make the same mistakes and she will not "strike too soon"....
Rating:
Summary: Stirling does it again
Review: Steve Stirling has done it again. On the Ocean of Eternity is every bit as good as it's two predecessors.The editing of this volume is much better then that of Against the Tide of Years. William Walker finally gets what he deserves. There are enough battles to satisfy the military SF fan and enough detail to satisfy the history lovers. The ending is just a little rushed, but other than that a great book.
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