Wonderful Post-ZA Story

If you could sum up To Sail a Darkling Sea in three words, what would they be?

This is extremely difficult for me as there is so much in this book that cannot fit in only three words. If forced, however, I would go for alliteration:

Fun, Fighting, Family (or even without the commas)

What other book might you compare To Sail a Darkling Sea to and why?

As with the first book in this series, To Sail a Darkling Sea is my only experience with Zombie Apocalypse books. Characters remind me of other memorable characters from many of John Ringo's other series, but the books are unlike anything I've read before.

Which scene was your favorite?

I think my favorite scene in this book was when Faith is explaining to her commanding officers why she went dress shopping in the middle of an operation. Most of her superiors are male, so they have to contact the very top brass, who is female for both a more experienced and female opinion. Yves St Laurent dresses are, after all, masterpieces. Even men will appreciate the interaction between these two females in a male-dominated chain of command.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book had many more laughing moments than the first of this series. The awards ceremony and the Pass in Review, however, both evoked tears.

Any additional comments?

WARNING for Military listeners: Morris spells out acronyms rather than pronouncing them. If you hate with people spell R-O-W-P-U, this is not the listen for you.

However, Morris IS an excellent voice actor and his performance, especially with the many accented characters in this book, is AMAZING!

7 people found this helpful

Good series so far!

My only issue, being former military and having worked in aviation, is the narrator doesn't know military lingo. Often referred to helicopters as "hellos" instead of "he-lows" is something that triggers my ocd. Otherwise, a great series so far. I'm already heading into the next...

3 people found this helpful

Mind candy for the ZAMMIE age.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. This book (and this series) is excellent, shut your mind off and just enjoy the ride fun. The primary characters are a 13 year old Marine lieutenant and her 15 year old Navy ensign sister. Yes. It's ridiculous. However, it's a zombie apocalypse, so deal with it. :)

Who was your favorite character and why?

Faith Marie Smith. A 13 year old zombie annhilator par-excellance. She's just flat out fun to read.

What does Tristan Morris bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Character accents. I enjoyed Tristan Morris' ability to do some reasonable accents. I have no idea how ACCURATE they are, but they did make a differentiation between characters

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, indeed.

Any additional comments?

Minor quibbles. I personally think that Tristan had too MUCH of an accent for Captain Steve Smith, who is an Australian who's lived for years in the USA and was noted as not having much of an accent.

Also, there were some odd pauses during some sections. Not enough to detract from enjoying the story, but noticeable.

All an all, an excellent rendition. The series is less than a year old, and I've read them multiple times. Its nice to be able to listen to them as well.

3 people found this helpful

Made a mistake

I got the first book and could not finish it due to the story (once again a 13 year old girl teaching battle harden Marines how to fight) and the just over the top coincidences. And I wish the author would learn how to have a conversation without he said, he said, he said. If you're not into some resemblance of what is real and probabilities, and can over look the writing then this is for you. I got the book because the whole plot of making a stand on the ocean seemed like a good twist. That said, I could not get through the first and could not get through this one.

1 person found this helpful

Unrealistic

It seems silly to expect a lot of realism in a post-apocalyptic zombie story, but I still find it hard to suspend my disbelief on a 13 year old girl becoming a Marine Corps icon who gets promoted to lieutenant and thinks getting shot with one .45 ACP from a handgun is equivalent to five 5.56 rounds. I had to stop listening every time someone said "Barbie gun."

1 person found this helpful

imaginative but flawed

John Ringo can sure spin a story and develop characters. He is clearly an intelligent writer. However, there are none too subtle strains of racism, sexism and antisemitism in his work. He is also rabidly political, all of which baffled me.

1 person found this helpful

Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Barbie Guns

If you could sum up To Sail a Darkling Sea in three words, what would they be?

LULz 5.56mm Sux

Would you recommend To Sail a Darkling Sea to your friends? Why or why not?

Depends on the friend.

Which character – as performed by Tristan Morris – was your favorite?

Whichever one said "barbie guns" the least.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The authors endless fanboying of the 7.62x39mm cartridge. It moved me to never purchase a firearm in that caliber.

Any additional comments?

For the love of god, 5.56x45 is a perfectly acceptable, and a 1000 meter shot with 7.62x39? Are you kidding me? The rounds are dropping nearly 100 feet from the point of aim. Holy crap. Obligatory: barbie gun, barbie gun, 5.56 sux, barbie bullets, one shot kills, barbie guns,

1 person found this helpful

No plot development, no emotional expression, very heavy on technical military functions

I do value the capacity for John Ringo to explain he interworkings of a rather hodgepodge group of individuals transforming what is a misguided flotilla of strangers into a well oiled military centric machine.

But the way the story trudges on from success to success with little plot development, this felt like more of a filler than anything..

Also many of the female roles seem cookie cutter.. every woman feels portrayed as attractive sexpots who know how to handle themselves in almost every single scenario even at an exceptionally young age of 13-15.. Guys regularly remark about how attractive these girls are and how they can't believe they're so young, and we even get a "super model"-esque Olga who is just another cookie cutter attractive badass that can do everything.

I enjoyed the first book, this second was a bit lame, the writing as far as explanatory value on HOW things can get done in a zombie apocalypse is worth at least something.. but story wise.. entertainment wise.. it's very lackluster..

1 person found this helpful

Going to avoid narrator

The story, for end-of-world-in-horrible-plague, is fun, in implausible way. Teenage girls rock battle, sailing and tactics against zombie apocalypse. Down side - the narrator ruined the book. I bought the ebook just because I could not take the disconnect between plot, action/performance. The earlier review lauding the narrator's performance had to be written by agent, BFF, or relative. The accents are just OFF. His emotion range is flat. There is little character to character "voice". The characters occasionally sing - narrator speaks these portions in flat tone, killing the plot effect. His voice, in a crash-bang-kill to survive plot is boarding on effeminate. I have made a note/filter to avoid any book performed by this narrator. I checked and this same performer does the rest of this series. Author/contract/publisher demand? Terrible choice.

1 person found this helpful

Disappointing Sequel

I was really excited to listen to the second book, after finishing and really enjoying the first. It was to my shock and disappointment that I realized quickly that this book was just missing the flow of the first. The story is really choppy, all over the place, and it just feels like it doesn't move at all.

There was a constant stream of new characters introduced that seemed unimportant and there were already a ton I couldn't remember because the author just constantly hops around aimlessly.

Not sure if I'd continue the story.

1 person found this helpful