Surface Action

Seas of Venus #1

by David Drake

On Venus, where the survivors of Earth live in underwater cities, Johnnie Gordon dreams of joining the mercenary fleets and fighting battles on the surface of the planet's vast ocean

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

236 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've liked a lot of stuff that David Drake has written but I just couldn't get into this one. I ended up scanning it so consider that if you read my comments below. I might have missed some things in scanning.

This is collection of two linked novellas and a nonfiction report that Drake does about a trip he took to Belize. The novellas are "Surface Action" and "The Jungle." The idea behind the stories, of a partially terraformed Venus, which is the only human habitat left after the destruction of Earth, is a good one. Transported Earth plants and animals have grown wild on Venus and have taken giant and deadly forms. Everything grows fast and big and almost everything is dangerous.

This setting is highly promising. My main issue with the work, though, is that most of the conflict takes place "with" this setting, not with the setting as a backdrop. We are treated to many episodes of humans fighting off predatory plants and giant animals. A little of this went a long way for me. At one point a group of soldiers must blow up a giant tree, and they have to struggle against the large and vicious ants that protect the tree. This might have made a great short scene but here it went on far too long. In my opinion.

Drake also intersperses flashbacks with the current action. The flashbacks are clearly indicated by italics, but by the time I got to that section I was already scanning so the flashbacks didn't really make any sense to me and just seemed to impede the forward progress the story was making.

In closing, this might be just the book for you. It wasn't for me.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting how a prolific writer can write such excellent books and at the same time write such horrid books. Unfortunately this entry falls into the later category. A very thin plot with very little grist. This might even be labelled early juvenile at best. Characters are shallow. Action is simplistic and poorly executed. Cannot recommend.

[BrokenMnemonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel feels a little dated now, but at heart, it's a perfectly serviceable pulp military sci-fi novel.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Drake military sci-fi story, with gritty combat scenes, lots of technical details and the usual gut wrenching, deadly consequences of war.

[Mark Bates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hammer Slammers at sea.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good military-sf novel, the kind of thing that Drake is best-known for doing very well, and also is a good old-fashioned sf adventure. The author frequently uses some point of history or myth as a springboard for his novels, and in this one he used the kind of 1940's science fiction that was published in magazines like Planet Stories; the great old stuff that writers like Kuttner and Moore and Brackett and Bradbury wrote. It's one for the trufans!

[Jay Carper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This version of Venus would fit right in with Harry Harrison's Deathworld series. Although the backstory for the crazy state of the world is scientifically implausible (impossible: accelerated evolution of terran lifeforms and the destruction of Earth), it still makes for a great setting. The narrative is evenly split between massive naval battles and fights with gigantic bugs and carnivorous plants, but the real story is in the development of Johnnie and the revelation of Dan.

[bluetyson]

Surface Action by David Drake (2000)

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet book I read it in Hawaii next to the beach drinking the whole time.