Scan barcode
sparrow843's review
4.0
About half the stories were 5-star worthy, the other half were 3. I'd definitely recommend this book for the good half.
aerdna's review against another edition
3.0
The Peripatetic Coffin!! What could possibly live up to that name. I kept chanting it to myself while reading.
A pretty decent collection of stories. I didn't love it, but in terms of reactions, I think this falls more in the category "it's not you, it's me." Everything is a bit too bleak and boat-related to really be in my wheelhouse. Also, Rutherford's dialogue really bothered me, most especially in the opening story. It's meant to be set in Confederate times, in one of the first submarine attacks (cool premise!), but...they talk like cynical college kids from the 90s.
BUT. The creepiness level in the Broken Islands story was through the roof- I almost couldn't finish. The Santa Maria story about getting stuck in the ice was hard to forget, and set off all my claustrophobia alarm bells that I didn't even know I had. The last one was a nice little science fiction entry into the usual doomed boat narrative, with modern day resonations.
Maybe I just read it too quickly in my effort to avoid library fines- short stories are usually better taken in small bites.
A pretty decent collection of stories. I didn't love it, but in terms of reactions, I think this falls more in the category "it's not you, it's me." Everything is a bit too bleak and boat-related to really be in my wheelhouse. Also, Rutherford's dialogue really bothered me, most especially in the opening story. It's meant to be set in Confederate times, in one of the first submarine attacks (cool premise!), but...they talk like cynical college kids from the 90s.
BUT. The creepiness level in the Broken Islands story was through the roof- I almost couldn't finish. The Santa Maria story about getting stuck in the ice was hard to forget, and set off all my claustrophobia alarm bells that I didn't even know I had. The last one was a nice little science fiction entry into the usual doomed boat narrative, with modern day resonations.
Maybe I just read it too quickly in my effort to avoid library fines- short stories are usually better taken in small bites.
saparson's review
4.0
Very much enjoyed the story of the title. Created a strong sense of what it must have been like on the Hunley. Didn't spend a lot of time trying to recreate the period, but thoroughly evoked the manner of men who volunteered for the duty. The writer has an affection for characters in extreme environments - the first practical submarine in war, an ice-bound sailing vessel, and an interminable voyage in a futurist vessel on seas of sand. The writer does an excellent job of putting the reader into the group and giving him a sense of a community in dire straits.
More...