Reviews

Meg: Angel of Death: Survival by Steve Alten

arianna_w's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

andremay's review

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

roach's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

 
The pup's first sensation following its birth was pain. Daylight scorched its sensitive nocturnal eyes and it fled, instinctively following its older sibling into deeper waters. And as the pain subsided and it inhaled the ocean there was only the Now.

I'm not exactly sure why this short novella was published. It's set between the first and second novels of Steve Alten's monster shark series called Meg, two books that came out more than two decades earlier.
It's hard to find much about this spin-off gap-filler called Angel of Death: Survival, focusing on the surviving offspring of the original megalodon after it was captured at the end of the first book. Googling around, I saw old notes that there was something like a trilogy planned at some point of which this would have been the first part, but I genuinely can't tell if this is even still planned or if this project was completely abandoned by now.

Anyway, as it stands now, Alten's late short story continuing right off where the original book ended is a pretty lackluster little extra journey. While I was actually genuinely interested in reading about the management and establishing of the giant aquarium tourist attraction that's meant to hold this megalodon baby, the story didn't give enough substance to really hold my attention. Alten attempts to bring in new characters and adds more backstory to some already existing ones, but most of it feels like telling instead of showing in a way that it seems like a rushed waste of potential. At one point he introduces a new character by recapping their entire life over several pages and I just thought this was a terribly dull way to introduce a potentially interesting character. It felt more like reading the backstory notes an author might put to paper before writing a character into the actual story.
The action is also not as captivating as most of it focuses on some random surfers and divers, which doesn't make for much variety. At least one of the diving teams had an encounter with a goblin shark which is a rare thing in fiction and a very cool choice.
Alten also goes a bit too hard when it comes to the romance with this one. While romantic trouble was already a thing in the original novel, here the main character and his romantic interest from that previous book are in full bloom and it makes for a bunch of awkwardly sexual writing. Definitely not Alten's strong suit.

This wasn't terrible though and it had some decently interesting bits. I still really like when Alten writes from the point of view of the animals and the megalodon baby Angel makes for some interesting paragraphs in that regard.
But in the end, this odd bonus novella in the franchise fails to really add something very memorable to the series and doesn't really enrich the already existing elements. 

pelargonia's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

jnkay01's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

kyleh's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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