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Thermals
When Interpol Inspector Anselm Gunnar is tasked with tracking down one of the world's most wanted he expected the job to be a straightforward liaison assignment with the local Police. At the Australian Solar Power facility that Tower City is built around, however, the inspector is about to learn that the man everyone thinks is hiding from the law is actually doing anything but.
Thermals is a fast paced near future terrorism thriller that will keep you flipping the pages as fast as your reader, and your eyes, will allow. From the start it builds to a rising crescendo that will leave you breathless and cheering.
Thermals is a fast paced near future terrorism thriller that will keep you flipping the pages as fast as your reader, and your eyes, will allow. From the start it builds to a rising crescendo that will leave you breathless and cheering.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2011
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231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 14, 2012
I'm conflicted about this book. Writers use words to convey situations, actions, emotions. Words are their tools. When those tools are applied amateurishly, improperly, they can detract from the story they're being used to tell. This book was a bit like going to see "West Side Story" only to find out the theater is run down, the seats are uncomfortable, the floor is sticky, the orchestra is horribly out of tune, and the singers are all off key. You sense there's something good lurking under there trying to come out, but the presentation is doing an excellent job of masking it.
I've been intrigued by the idea of the solar tower since first hearing of it about ten years ago. I've done a fair bit of reading about the technology and have tried to follow the few actual projects that have been attempted. I'm not all that much into the whole "green" thing, but the simplicity of the solar tower, at least of the concept if not the implementation, appeals to me. This interest predisposes me toward having a favorable opinion of any work dealing with the topic. Sadly for this book, it also made me knowledgeable about the fundamentals of such a project.
It has long been my feeling that even books of fiction need to adhere to a basic set of rules about the world they're describing. The laws of physics must be followed, or there must be at least a passing reference to technology that allows behavior that would violate those rules as the reader is likely to understand them. I'm okay with faster than light travel as long as there's some reference to a technology that goes beyond Einstein's understanding of the universe. A book should be consistent in the application of the rules as it defines them.
It is this that first raised my internal alarms in regards to "Thermals". In the opening paragraphs the main character is said to be flying around the solar tower at 5,000 feet and he looks up to the top of the tower 25,000 feet above him. These numbers are actually spelled out in the book -- "five thousand" -- so there can be no mistake about the accidental insertion of an extra zero. My mind can't help but run the numbers with this kind of thing. A 30,000 foot tower? The tallest solar tower I've ever heard proposed was 2,000 meters tall. This one's almost 10,000 meters? No, it's not. It is subsequently and repeatedly described as being one kilometer -- 1,000 meters -- tall. Not a huge mistake, though one that was completely avoidable by simply sticking with the measurement system with which the author was comfortable. There's no need to switch back and forth between Imperial and metric. This error put me on alert for further such mistakes. And, unfortunately, it turns out there are many.
At various points in the book the author appears to have lost track of the dimensions of the place he's describing. The canopied area surrounding the tower is repeatedly described as being 25,000 acres. This is in the ballpark for a real solar tower. But he also mentions that the distance from the tower to the outer edge of the canopy is one kilometer. 25,000 acres of canopied area would suggest a canopy radius of about three kilometers, which, again, is in the ballpark for a real solar tower.
The one kilometer thing comes into play when one of the antagonists, standing guard at the top of the tower, mentally laments that his rifle is useless because any potential target near the edge of the canopy would be out of range. He also speculates about the effect of the updraft coming off the canopy on any bullet he might fire. All of this is rendered rather ironic by the bullet that enters his brain right after that thought leaves it. While this shot from the edge of the 1km-radius canopy would be possible for a skilled marksman with the appropriate weapon, I’m pretty sure there’s no weapon available today that could make that shot from the more realistic edge of the canopy 3.2km away. Certainly not when the 1,000 meter gain in altitude is considered.
The canopy dimensions come into play in another part of the book as well. The town is said to be built surrounding the tower complex, in a ring about half a kilometer wide. The canopy is described as having a 500 meter buffer zone surrounding it. Assuming the likely more accurate 3km radius for the canopy, this puts the inner portion of the town 3.5km from the tower and the outer portion 4km from the tower. This becomes relevant when a local police officer is described as driving an electric vehicle at 400km/h through town. It's not that I doubt the 400km/h part, though driving that speed when there is even the remotest possibility of there being a pedestrian anywhere nearby is truly homicidal, it's that the speed and the road involved simply don't mix. Assuming the road goes around the outside of the town, it would be a circle with a 4km radius. Basic geometry says this makes the road about 25km long. At 400km/h it would take under four minutes to complete the circle. This doesn't remotely jibe with the descriptions in the book.
Another logical error that plays significantly in the story involves a newlywed Interpol agent on her honeymoon in the town with the solar tower. In the course of the story the bad guys begin to suspect there is an international police agent in town. They compare hotel registers against a previously acquired list of police agents. They find one match and mistakenly assume the husband is the Interpol agent. See the problem? They are newlyweds. For the female agent's married name to show up on the bad guys' list, she would have had to change her name at work prior to the bad guys grabbing the list. Most women wouldn't bother with the name change notification until after returning from their honeymoon and certainly wouldn't have done so before getting married. It's possible they got married a while ago and put off taking the honeymoon, but this is sufficiently unusual to at least warrant a mention in the book to explain the apparent logic error.
Enough about the off key singing and out of tune orchestra. On to the sticky floors and uncomfortable seats. This book clearly was not proofread by anyone proficient in the English language. The typos, spelling errors, improper use of possessives, use of wrong words and overuse of words are legion. Some form of the word "pour" occurs over a dozen times in the book (thank you Kindle search feature), at least half of the uses being incorrect. Unless spilling coffee, one does not pour over a document, one pores over a document. In certain sections of the book the typos and improper grammar got so bad it became difficult to read.
Moving away from the technical writing aspects, the author in many places tries for descriptions of places and actions that simply come off wrong. I had the vague sense of a Douglas Adams-esque approach where something is described in terms of what it's not -- the feather floated on the light breeze just like a brick doesn't -- only without any hint of humor. That doesn’t quite capture the flavor of it. It was more along the lines of describing something in terms that simply don’t apply to the object in question. I didn't make note of specific examples, but many times I found myself saying, "Huh?"
The author also appears to have a great interest in weapons and projectile calibers, and foists this upon the reader at every opportunity. Maybe some people enjoy reading this kind of thing, but I find it tiresome to be reminded of the diameter of the projectile, to two decimal places, every time somebody pulls a trigger. It feels as though the author is trying to impress the reader with his vast knowledge of weaponry rather than trying to tell a story. It might be acceptable if the type of weapon employed is critical to the story, but even then the full details of the gun should only be mentioned on its introduction, not every time it's used. The way it’s done in the book quickly becomes tedious.
A couple times there were rather long descriptive passages dropped right in the middle of action sequences. The descriptions may well have been necessary to the story, but the placement was wrong. Again, I didn’t make notes on this but I do recall thinking more than once, “Enough with the exposition already; let’s get on with the action.” It’s like having a protagonist chasing a bad guy through streets and alleys, exchanging occasional gunshots. Eventually the bad guy jumps into a car and starts to drive away.. The hero knocks the window out of a nearby car, gets in and hotwires the ignition. Then the author launches into a long description of the fine woodwork on the dashboard of the car before continuing with the story of the chase. The dashboard of the car may well play into the story, making it necessary to give a description, but it shouldn’t come in the middle of an action sequence.
In some ways all my quibbles with this book are made all the worse because there is a good book buried under that rubble trying to work its way out, just like the recognized excellence of "West Side Story" trying to overcome the bad singing, out of tune music, and uncomfortable environment. A good proofreading along with correction of the logic gaps could gain this book two, maybe three, stars in my rating. Even in the near-abysmal state in which it is, the author managed to infuse a lot of good plot ideas and excellent action, making it worth slogging through the grammatical nightmare.
I've been intrigued by the idea of the solar tower since first hearing of it about ten years ago. I've done a fair bit of reading about the technology and have tried to follow the few actual projects that have been attempted. I'm not all that much into the whole "green" thing, but the simplicity of the solar tower, at least of the concept if not the implementation, appeals to me. This interest predisposes me toward having a favorable opinion of any work dealing with the topic. Sadly for this book, it also made me knowledgeable about the fundamentals of such a project.
It has long been my feeling that even books of fiction need to adhere to a basic set of rules about the world they're describing. The laws of physics must be followed, or there must be at least a passing reference to technology that allows behavior that would violate those rules as the reader is likely to understand them. I'm okay with faster than light travel as long as there's some reference to a technology that goes beyond Einstein's understanding of the universe. A book should be consistent in the application of the rules as it defines them.
It is this that first raised my internal alarms in regards to "Thermals". In the opening paragraphs the main character is said to be flying around the solar tower at 5,000 feet and he looks up to the top of the tower 25,000 feet above him. These numbers are actually spelled out in the book -- "five thousand" -- so there can be no mistake about the accidental insertion of an extra zero. My mind can't help but run the numbers with this kind of thing. A 30,000 foot tower? The tallest solar tower I've ever heard proposed was 2,000 meters tall. This one's almost 10,000 meters? No, it's not. It is subsequently and repeatedly described as being one kilometer -- 1,000 meters -- tall. Not a huge mistake, though one that was completely avoidable by simply sticking with the measurement system with which the author was comfortable. There's no need to switch back and forth between Imperial and metric. This error put me on alert for further such mistakes. And, unfortunately, it turns out there are many.
At various points in the book the author appears to have lost track of the dimensions of the place he's describing. The canopied area surrounding the tower is repeatedly described as being 25,000 acres. This is in the ballpark for a real solar tower. But he also mentions that the distance from the tower to the outer edge of the canopy is one kilometer. 25,000 acres of canopied area would suggest a canopy radius of about three kilometers, which, again, is in the ballpark for a real solar tower.
The one kilometer thing comes into play when one of the antagonists, standing guard at the top of the tower, mentally laments that his rifle is useless because any potential target near the edge of the canopy would be out of range. He also speculates about the effect of the updraft coming off the canopy on any bullet he might fire. All of this is rendered rather ironic by the bullet that enters his brain right after that thought leaves it. While this shot from the edge of the 1km-radius canopy would be possible for a skilled marksman with the appropriate weapon, I’m pretty sure there’s no weapon available today that could make that shot from the more realistic edge of the canopy 3.2km away. Certainly not when the 1,000 meter gain in altitude is considered.
The canopy dimensions come into play in another part of the book as well. The town is said to be built surrounding the tower complex, in a ring about half a kilometer wide. The canopy is described as having a 500 meter buffer zone surrounding it. Assuming the likely more accurate 3km radius for the canopy, this puts the inner portion of the town 3.5km from the tower and the outer portion 4km from the tower. This becomes relevant when a local police officer is described as driving an electric vehicle at 400km/h through town. It's not that I doubt the 400km/h part, though driving that speed when there is even the remotest possibility of there being a pedestrian anywhere nearby is truly homicidal, it's that the speed and the road involved simply don't mix. Assuming the road goes around the outside of the town, it would be a circle with a 4km radius. Basic geometry says this makes the road about 25km long. At 400km/h it would take under four minutes to complete the circle. This doesn't remotely jibe with the descriptions in the book.
Another logical error that plays significantly in the story involves a newlywed Interpol agent on her honeymoon in the town with the solar tower. In the course of the story the bad guys begin to suspect there is an international police agent in town. They compare hotel registers against a previously acquired list of police agents. They find one match and mistakenly assume the husband is the Interpol agent. See the problem? They are newlyweds. For the female agent's married name to show up on the bad guys' list, she would have had to change her name at work prior to the bad guys grabbing the list. Most women wouldn't bother with the name change notification until after returning from their honeymoon and certainly wouldn't have done so before getting married. It's possible they got married a while ago and put off taking the honeymoon, but this is sufficiently unusual to at least warrant a mention in the book to explain the apparent logic error.
Enough about the off key singing and out of tune orchestra. On to the sticky floors and uncomfortable seats. This book clearly was not proofread by anyone proficient in the English language. The typos, spelling errors, improper use of possessives, use of wrong words and overuse of words are legion. Some form of the word "pour" occurs over a dozen times in the book (thank you Kindle search feature), at least half of the uses being incorrect. Unless spilling coffee, one does not pour over a document, one pores over a document. In certain sections of the book the typos and improper grammar got so bad it became difficult to read.
Moving away from the technical writing aspects, the author in many places tries for descriptions of places and actions that simply come off wrong. I had the vague sense of a Douglas Adams-esque approach where something is described in terms of what it's not -- the feather floated on the light breeze just like a brick doesn't -- only without any hint of humor. That doesn’t quite capture the flavor of it. It was more along the lines of describing something in terms that simply don’t apply to the object in question. I didn't make note of specific examples, but many times I found myself saying, "Huh?"
The author also appears to have a great interest in weapons and projectile calibers, and foists this upon the reader at every opportunity. Maybe some people enjoy reading this kind of thing, but I find it tiresome to be reminded of the diameter of the projectile, to two decimal places, every time somebody pulls a trigger. It feels as though the author is trying to impress the reader with his vast knowledge of weaponry rather than trying to tell a story. It might be acceptable if the type of weapon employed is critical to the story, but even then the full details of the gun should only be mentioned on its introduction, not every time it's used. The way it’s done in the book quickly becomes tedious.
A couple times there were rather long descriptive passages dropped right in the middle of action sequences. The descriptions may well have been necessary to the story, but the placement was wrong. Again, I didn’t make notes on this but I do recall thinking more than once, “Enough with the exposition already; let’s get on with the action.” It’s like having a protagonist chasing a bad guy through streets and alleys, exchanging occasional gunshots. Eventually the bad guy jumps into a car and starts to drive away.. The hero knocks the window out of a nearby car, gets in and hotwires the ignition. Then the author launches into a long description of the fine woodwork on the dashboard of the car before continuing with the story of the chase. The dashboard of the car may well play into the story, making it necessary to give a description, but it shouldn’t come in the middle of an action sequence.
In some ways all my quibbles with this book are made all the worse because there is a good book buried under that rubble trying to work its way out, just like the recognized excellence of "West Side Story" trying to overcome the bad singing, out of tune music, and uncomfortable environment. A good proofreading along with correction of the logic gaps could gain this book two, maybe three, stars in my rating. Even in the near-abysmal state in which it is, the author managed to infuse a lot of good plot ideas and excellent action, making it worth slogging through the grammatical nightmare.
April 26, 2011
Good quick read. Introduces characters that I hope will be in further books as this seems to set up a new world to be a part of. And the technology that is in the book I would like to see in use as using a greenhouse (a really big one) to generate power seems like a novel idea.
June 27, 2021
A techno-thriller that starts well and descends into sub-Boys Own tripe. You start by thinking, 'Hmm, interesting idea. Wonder if that would work?' and then find yourself yawning through passages about people getting their 7.62mm WankFodderCannon ready and long turgid situation setups. It became the reading equivalent of wading through treacle. Unusually for me, abandoned before the end when I found myself rooting for the terrorists just to get it over with.
Riddled with typos and editing errors. Needs a good editor to pare it down. Two stars as there is the core of a good story there.
Riddled with typos and editing errors. Needs a good editor to pare it down. Two stars as there is the core of a good story there.
May 3, 2018
Reads like it should be playing on the big screen as a summer blockbuster.
September 28, 2018
Good story, but atrocious editing
Likeable characters, plot that keeps you interested... But too many editing mistakes\ omissions. Not really used to that from this author.
Likeable characters, plot that keeps you interested... But too many editing mistakes\ omissions. Not really used to that from this author.
February 24, 2020
Thermals
Thermals by Evan Currie a good book and a great read ,also a great storyline can't wait to get around to the next book
Thermals by Evan Currie a good book and a great read ,also a great storyline can't wait to get around to the next book
May 4, 2011
Both the villains and the heroes are well written and intelligent, lending Amir and Anselm believibility. The science behind the power generation, and detailed descriptions make the Tower an intriguing and edgy backdrop to this story of bio-terrorism. The story builds logically from the methodical actions of one agent to a frantic skirmish involving a large number of characters both good and evil.
The science, whether military or engineering build upon alot of cutting edge current trends and took then to logical conclusions.
The book was a fun, well written read that I will recommend to friends.
The science, whether military or engineering build upon alot of cutting edge current trends and took then to logical conclusions.
The book was a fun, well written read that I will recommend to friends.
April 27, 2011
Very good read. Well done characterizations and a fast paced story line. I've read some of the authors other works and he has become one of my favorite writers. This book could use a small amount of polishing, but I understand the author wrote it rather quickly and it was one of his earlier works. I have seen the progression of his writing style and I eagerly look forward to his next book.
April 22, 2012
This was an amazing read. I have followed this author for years, as he wrote fanfic. His grasp over universe building is immaculate, the characters are nicely fleshed out and the action a mile a minute. There are some glaring grammatical errors... But nothing too bad. For this price and the quality of writing, it's easily forgiven.
February 6, 2014
Thermals is an action novel set around a bio-terrorist plot in the serene world of a green city. Currie sets an interesting stage for the events that unfold - Tower City is clean, quiet, quirky, and in the middle of nowhere. The characters are simple but endearing and the plot has some interesting turns.
The novel was simply a fun read.
The novel was simply a fun read.
April 27, 2011
This is a terrific original work by an author who's fan fiction I've been reading for years. It's a near future techno-thriller on par with the works of Tom Clancy. I look forward to future books in this series!
April 27, 2011
Not my usual genera but have been reading stories by Evan for a while now and he is a very good author. This is an interesting book with good character that one can relate to and it is a an interesting story that keeps you captivated and it is hard to put down once you have started to read it.
March 18, 2013
Still reading it and it's a bit strange not reading something fanfic based of this Author, but so far I like what I read. Only minus I found so far is that it is not available as a printed version. Personally I'm no friend at all of ebooks.
April 28, 2011
A superb techno-thriller from one of my favorite authors. Very reminiscent of David Weber or John Ringo in the military dialogue and descriptions. Even though I believe this is the author's first published work, I've enjoyed his unpublished internet fiction for years. A great read.
April 28, 2011
A good first professional work, Evan has been written a well done take on Australia and it's people interacting in a very stressful situation. The Science behind the plot points is well researched, and while there is some bend in the interests of the setting, most of the rest is quite hard.
September 19, 2011
I guess I would classify this as an exciting near-future techno thriller. Start with a known nuclear terrorist, add a kilometer high solar tower in Australia, shake thoroughly, and enjoy trying to figure out what the two possibly have to do with one another.
May 1, 2011
Great fast paced quick read. Interesting plot and characters. I can't wait to see how Anselm Gunnar is developed in future novels.
Currently reading
April 26, 2011
October 20, 2018
Still reading, have not yet finished. Quite good, I am enjoying it.
April 27, 2011
Excellent action adventure, waiting for more adventures with Anselm.
May 1, 2011
very good. good action, characters, and tech.
May 2, 2011
Fast paced, exciting, definitely a good read. Wished for a bit more character development. Highly recommended in spite of that.
May 3, 2011
Great story. Kept me reading for hours, a feat in and of itself. Definitely want more from this author.
August 25, 2012
not my normal read but worth a look
October 3, 2015
Really fun and really fast to read, this one. I would love to read more about our hero Gunnar!
December 5, 2015
I loved the story line, I just wish there'd been some more editing done before the Kindle edition was published. There were typos all over the place...
July 13, 2019
Maybe it's me but I could not get into this book. Couldn't get past the first couple chapters.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews