To Sail a Darkling Sea

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!

5 of 5 people found this review 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...

2 of 2 people found this review 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.

2 of 2 people found this review 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 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good story. Narrator needs educating.

Good series. My only complaint is that the narrator needs to learn to pronounce nautical terms before he narrates a nautical book. For example...
The forecastle is pronounced fok-sel.
The coxswain is pronounced cox-in.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

great

Would you consider the audio edition of To Sail a Darkling Sea to be better than the print version?

again was a great read. is what i have come to expect from john ringo

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Ringo is just ALL OVER THE MAP!

I know Mr Ringo Slightly.. Met several times, Long Talks with groups of other people "Pool-side", etc... What he's not a DETAILED EXPERT about already, if the new subject crosses his path and catches his attention, He'll SOON BE an EXPERT on the Subject!

I know MANY people that know "a little about EVERYTHING".. Some of them know "Just enough to CONVINCE YOU that THEY ARE an expert", but when you start questioning their Math, or taking what they know about the subject to a higher level, you soon realize that they "Just learned enough about it to APPEAR to be an expert".. That Ain't Ringo!

I know Ringo has EXPERIENCED A LOT in his life thus far... We've crossed much of the same ground from Fort Bragg to Europe, the Caribbean, etc... If you think Ringo is "BRILLIANT", you don't REALLY know the HALF OF IT! And he's one of those rare people who just CAN NOT learn enough, FAST ENOUGH, to keep him happy. He's realized that it's "Impossible to FILL UP your brain", but he's CONSTANTLY TRYING!

You'd also expect an author who writes as fast as Ringo to fall into a rut of "Serial-like FAST Produced Pulp Books", but I believe Ringo would consider THAT to be an unpardonable SIN! He CONSTANTLY takes each new Book or Series in TOTALLY NEW directions! He seems to OFTEN be writing SEVERAL, RADICALLY DIFFERENT, books AT THE SAME TIME! He's also got a GIFT for Sniffing the Wind to see "What's popular among people right now", and then GIVING THAT TO THEM, from HIS UNIQUE Angle, Which makes his books enjoyable LONG after "Whatever Fad" has faded. (Heck, I'm wishing Audible would produce his old "Counsel Wars" Series, and that's one of his VERY old series.. Needs a better ending, but maybe they could talk John into "Touching up the Series a bit" before turning it into an Audible Series... THAT would be AWESOME!!!)

"Zombies are Popular Right Now".. But RINGO'S Angle on Zombies, twisted to fit with his love of writing "Military Sci-Fi", is "SOMETHING DIFFERENT ENTIRELY!"...

Even Better, he uses his past experiences to make characters "Real". Just when you think you're in the WORST spot POSSIBLE, Someone cracks a joke, and the tension eases and you get your mind back into the game... Ringo somehow allows you to experience that even if you've never "Been there yourself". I spend a lot of time with the "Pause Icon" until I can make myself quit laughing and pay attention again.

I TRY not to let my "Likes or Dislikes of an Author 'Personally'" affect how I rate their Books... I LIKE Ringo Personally, but if he signed this series of books "John Smith", I'd have STILL LOVED IT and given it 5 stars!!

If I feel a book starting to make me uncomfortable, or begin bashing my own Sacred Cows... I need to stop and reexamine why those cows are so sacred to me... I usually find it was something I was "Taught" when MUCH younger, and never bothered to "Re-Think As An Adult".. Ringo causes me to re-think a LOT of things at times. Sometimes I may not agree with him, but he CLEARLY came to HIS Opinions after MUCH thought and deliberation... I respect THAT HIGHLY! I can't say enough about the Man, OR (most of) his Books.

If you want to REALLY FEEL what it's like out there at "The Sharp End", Or in other parts of the World where "Life is Cheap", Ringo can take you there in TECHNICOLOR!... It's NOT all 'Sweetness and Tea and Dumplings'... it's often shocking, Physically AND MENTALLY Uncomfortable, RAW, and all-around unpleasant.. and at the same time, it can be mixed with GREAT Times and FUN! It's just how things REALLY ARE in some places, during some experiences... If you want to FEEL rather than just "read/listen", Ringo does that for you like the Master he is.

Already Pre-Ordered Book 4! BRING IT ON!

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

More like an annotated history than a novel

What did you love best about To Sail a Darkling Sea?

The character of Faith Smith (Shewolf). She was funny and capable, not that she was a comic, but that her uncensored remarks and reactions were the high point of the story.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Eh.

What about Tristan Morris’s performance did you like?

Good job with voices and pacing. I enjoyed the narration.

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

Frustration. Characters were brought in, like Rusty, then mostly ignored. There was no one main character. The story didn't feature a challenging obstacle, other than the overall hopelessness of a few people trying to save themselves and the world. That's less of a problem in the book than it would seem. Each challenge was taken in stride. There was no fighting to a climax. Success piled on success. Problems were presented as no more than routine matters. Without a main character, a main character arc couldn't show up.

Any additional comments?

This seemed more like a series of snapshots than a dramatic narrative.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Retaking the World

I didn't go to sleep until 5 AM. Very compelling! Read or listen to the books by Max Brooks for a mother great read. 1,000 % better the movie.

Even better second time through

I only have word foe this series. Awesome. Ringo at his best, and great voice narration.