Oceanspace

Rating:
Summary: underwater suspense
Review: I loved this book. The author ties together a few storylines that he prefectively describes in detail into one huge climax. For example, you feel like you were in the sub as it descended towards the lab underwater. The episode where the whaling ship is dismantled by a computer virus was hilarious. The only problem with the story had to be the build-up of the mysterious creature and the quick departure from the author. But, you like the way the main characters are handled especially the journalist.

Rating:
Summary: Could have been good - but it wasn't
Review: I was hoping for great things on this one - I'd enjoyed Clarke County Space and Lunar Descent so was hoping for something just as good in a watery setting.

At the start you jump right into some action with no messing about followed but some nice hard science, but after that it all goes downhill. When you get to parts of a book and just cringe (the unsucessful seduction scene) you know it's not going well.

When I finished it I just wondered what happened to the the 'greatest discovery of all' mentioned on the back cover - in fact, what happened to the entire ending?

My advice : read Orson Scott Card novel 'The Abyss' (based on the screenplay of the film) instead. Similar hard SF stuff, but much, much better characterisation and a rewarding ending well worth the wait.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging yet far from great.
Review: Just finishing Allen Steele's book Oceanspace, and while it does manage to keep the reader interested with well researched informatation regarding crush depths, and breathing mixtures, and undersea research platforms. It was not a book that i would consider reading a second time. The story is good, and the reader indoctrinated into the world of undersea mining, and experimental naval subs, (um that seemed a little unlikely, but anyway) The book's characters are easy to visualize, but lack the depth to make them really interesting. The teenager in the story is yes one big stereotype, but then so is the reporter who not only snoops around the station freely, and manages to gain acess to a high security sub bay with no problem, but also tries to seduce the story's hero in a clumsy attempt. Oh yeah there is a sea monster in the book but only for about 10 collective pages so don't blink. Had Steele put more time, and effort into the story and the characters. i feel that he could have given the reader a much better, and more in depth story then this little "puddle-jumper" read. Too bad it seemed to have a lot of potential, but then that is just my opinion.

Rating:
Summary: OceanSpace: Reviewed by Quantum Muse, on the web.
Review: OceanSpace by Allen Steele takes place in the mysterious environment of the deep sea. The crushing ocean depths are as challenging an environment as the moon or deep space. Allen, in the tradition of hard science fiction, gets the details right. But never mind that. Textbooks get the details right. Allen knows how to tell a story, and that's what matters. There is something special about a story that can quote Buckaroo Banzai, recite Tennyson in a helium enhanced Donald Duck voice, and create a new verse to the Drunken Sailor sea chantey. Oh yeah, there's even a sea monster. . . if the photos and sonar readings can be trusted. Allen's characters are intelligent and resourceful people, with enough flaws to make them human. The plot has some surprises but never cheats the reader. The story takes place over seven hectic days, but few readers will take more than a sitting or two to finish it.

Rating:
Summary: A quick entertaining read
Review: Oceanspace shows signficant promise from it's jacket blurb, through the intro, until the cast is assembled on the underwater research facility, the Tethys.

Then, the last three hundred pages are wasted on boring and uni-dimensional characters, a pointless story, and a cliched sea-serpent. While I applaud the technical detail which gives the atmosphere a sense of authenticity, I comdemn everything else. Steele never decides if this book will be a creature-feature, action-thriller, or character drama. He attempts to please all and (of course, the cliches abound even outside the story) pleases no one.

This was my first Steele book. It will definitely be my last. Believe me, if Amazon would allow a zero-star rating, this book would earn that mark.

Rating:
Summary: For an underwater adventure, this is all wet
Review: Ouch! I'm a HUGE fan of underwater stories. Doesn't matter what the general plot is, be it monster or character, I'll go to it like a...well...like a fish to water. So when I first caught sight of Allen Steele's "Oceanspace" needless to say I was very excited.

What a bad move that was.

You'd think someone of Mr. Steele's reputation (the dust jacket AND the imprinted cover proudly exclaim he's won TWO Hugo awards) would proof read the manuscript before allowing it to be published. There are so many typos (missing words, words out of order, etc.) that the book was barely readable to begin with. People make mistakes. I could forgive this if the story was so unbelievably good it held my attention completely. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here.

In Oceanspace (which is Mr. Steele's way of comparing the underwater world to what's outside our atmosphere; not the most original of metaphors) the general writing feels like it went through the typewriter once, with hardly a glance down, and then was sent off to a publisher to fulfill a contract. Characters are referred to by both first and last names repeatedly, which is good because they are so non-distinct this is the only way to tell them apart.

Once we get past the names, the characters become such stock stereotypes I find it hard to believe this writer has ever been published before, much less won awards (Wait, no, if he has won awards, then the people at he publishing houses must thing we'll buy anything and they don't have to worry about quality). We have the couple on the verge of a break-up; the temptress bitch who has her own agenda, the plucky teenager who comes through at the end, and the older, wiser teacher who, no matter what, must impart a final lesson. The only reason we know anything about these people is we are told what to think about them. Their actions are NEVER defined by any motivation other than Mr. Steele needing them to act a certain way to drive the plot forward.

Speaking of the plot...where was it? There were several stories going on, but none of them carried any emotional weight. The sea monster storyline (which started the book off with some great moments) was dropped as quickly as the Serpent disappeared into the briny deep. The high tech espionage bit was never explained enough to let the reader know what was at stake. The reporter who was there to do an in-depth piece on the habitat and it's people but instead went looking for a cover-up was the most blatant plot device of all. And as for Andie, the 17 year old who just happened to be visiting her aunt and uncle when everything went down...why were her parents fighting? The book was set in the year 2011, presumably so the technology to make an underwater research center would be realistically present. And yet, everything else seems to have stood still. Our favorite teen listens to music she wouldn't listen to as a 17 year old today. The submarine operators (who are at a premium for space) still elect to carry CDs (in their jewel cases no less) rather than opt for MP3 or its futuristic equivalent.

The one nice thing Mr. Steele does, however, is name a couple of glorified extras (who come in near the end of the book) after Jack Williamson and Fred Pohl, who wrote a trio of underwater stories in the 50s. At least he's tipping his hat in the right direction.

Ultimately, though, the book just doesn't work. While some of the technical detail is nice, there's not enough of it (and it's not accurate enough) to make it okay to jettison the characters and plot. If you're reading this looking for a good underwater adventure...don't hold your breath.

Rating:
Summary: very disappointing
Review: The book is not very original. The human characters are déjà vus, the `scary' sea monster poorly developed, the plot slowed down by detailed technical descriptions that may interest only an engineer, and the dialogues loaded with vulgarity. I was very disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for a great undersea adventure? Look elsewhere!
Review: This book comes on strong at the start, promising lots of great stuff: Sea monsters, mystery, espionage. Too bad the author is unable to deliver on any of these promises.

The sea monster makes a couple of brief appearances. Don't get too attached to it. You'll never learn anything else about it. I suppose this is where the mystery comes in? The supposedly high-tech espionage plot could have been penned by any 10-year-old who's seen "Jurassic Park."

The characters are the worst sort of 1-dimensional beings. Stereotypes and cliches abound. What motivates them? Who knows? (Another reviewer suggested they might be bi-polar. That's as good an explanation as any.) I have a feeling that the author has some issues with marriage and women in general, given his depiction of both. Not one main character is remotely likeable. I have to admit that by the last 1/3 of this book, I honestly didn't care which characters lived or died.

The plot is tissue-thin, and in many places wildly implausible. (Should we be worried about taking an untrained teenager to an deepwater habitat? She'll be fine. Should we take her aboard a nuclear sub to investigate a new sea vent? She's got a camcorder, let's take her along.) Maybe this would have made a good short story. There's just not enough here for a novel.

The best part about it is that the reading (which I estimate to be at about the 6th grade level) goes very quickly. You'll be well into the book before you realize that nothing is happening. The author does try to do a wrapup/debriefing scene at the end. This is really just a pointless re-hash of the last couple of chapters. We already know everything the author is planning to tell us. I suspect this is merely a device to get the characters back up to sea level so the "moster" can make its final cameo.

One last point: This author desperately needs a new copyreader. There are several laughable grammatical errors throughout the book. Many sentences have words missing or reversed. Yeah, word processors are great, but maybe you should re-read after you cut-and-paste? Very distracting.

Overall, a complete disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Engineering-Fi, Not Sci-Fi
Review: This book was journalistic fiction, not unlike Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD. The author had to list 30 sources for the material on seabed mineral mining and on the hydrothermal black smoker theory for the origin of earthly life. I suppose the elusive sea serpent could qualify as fantasy, but that's stretching the genre termed Sci-Fi.

That is not to say that the story was not a thriller, strung together with all the craft of a Stephen KIng. But when one wants this type of space soap opera there is plenty on TV. What the story lacks is a speculative framework that places its characters outside the normal, work a day milieu-in one word, imagination.

Rating:
Summary: Engineering-Fi, Not Sci-Fi
Review: This book was journalistic fiction, not unlike Truman Capote's IN COLD BLOOD. The author had to list 30 sources for the material on seabed mineral mining and on the hydrothermal black smoker theory for the origin of earthly life. I suppose the elusive sea serpent could qualify as fantasy, but that's stretching the genre termed Sci-Fi.

That is not to say that the story was not a thriller, strung together with all the craft of a Stephen KIng. But when one wants this type of space soap opera there is plenty on TV. What the story lacks is a speculative framework that places its characters outside the normal, work a day milieu-in one word, imagination.