Space travel, electromagnetic pulse interference with worldwide electrical systems, sabotage, political intrigue, woman President, genetic engineering, international confrontation AND cooperation, visitors from other places in the universe, time travel....

Need I go on?

I enjoyed this book.
( )

Technical errors and bad character development? Let me count the ways.
Rating : 1.5 stars. ( )

A good book especially the first half going to the moon--almost unputdownable. Then it briefly got preachy, which it really didn't need to do to maintain the storyline, and rushed to a conclusion. 3-1/2 stars, or more for the first half. This feels like the start of a series with these characters. I'd probably read a second book because its got some (wacky) history, action-adventure and a world-upending crisis and mystery to solve. ( )

Ocean of Storms centers on a mysterious EMP that briefly knocks out power across the earth. It's discovered that the pulse originated from a device buried beneath the surface of the moon. This spurs a space race between the United States and China to get to the source.

The story started out feeling very much like the movie Armageddon to me. Things got a little more interesting about midway through the story when we begin to learn about how the EMP source got on the moon and why the pulse was emitted. The speculative science fiction was too few and far between to carry a story that didn't have much else going on. The characters were not interesting or well developed. One character, in particular, Elias Zell, was completely comical. The premise of the story was very good but executed poorly. ( )

I am a fan of old-fashioned early and mid-twentieth century science fiction. In fact, I also love the science fiction that was generated in the nineteenth century as well; I believe this is called Steampunk today. While I was growing up, it was simply considered a classic genre of literature. The reason I hark back to that time era is because science didn't overwhelm the plot and the characterization of the protagonists and antagonists. Subplots and supporting characters were not overtaken by the glitz and glitter of modern technology. They were simply an element of good story telling.

I have since lost interest in the current run of sci fi trends. I rarely read any book of that genre. Technological glitz tends to become outdated too quickly for readers not to get distracted by what's considered old news. I empathize with authors of that genre trying to please all schools of thought. It's difficult to hold a reader's interest. Maintaining a good balance is key. Only once in a rare while does a book appear that manages to hold up to the ideals of literature with science at it's core. I believe Ocean of Storms has successfully crossed this invisible barrier.

In my opinion, Ocean of Storms is an instant classic. It has everything it needs to qualify it as an adventure: solid storytelling, development of suspense, a twist on a classic theme, drama with well developed characters, international intrigue, traitors, greed, mystery and more. It is a fast-paced complex tale that does not get so overly tangled that the reader gets lost in too many heads.

The story begins when an EM pulse knocks out communications over the entire planet, setting governments scrambling to gain control over panicking and perturbed citizens. When the source of the pulse was pinpointed to the moon, an immediate second space race ensues. Which country would arrive on the moon first? What the mission discovers in the deep cavern becomes an unexpected twist to a classic theme. For me, the conclusions are memorable. I would love to see a movie made based on this book.

If you are a fan of fast-paced adventure with a touch of drama and intrigue without the cruelty, darkness and gore often dogging the modern genre, I highly recommend this book to you. It even improves on multiple subsequent readings. That's something I don't find very often in any genre.

Warning: There is some language that seems inevitable; However, I am pleased that it doesn't contain the evil presence of venom and lack of value for human life we see often in current books. ( )