The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story

by Mark Helprin

Mark Helprin, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Winter’s Tale and A Soldier of the Great War, presents a fast-paced, beautifully written novel about the majesty of the sea; a life dedicated to duty, honor, and country; and the gift of falling in love.

 

A Navy captain near the end of a decorated career, Stephen Rensselaer is disciplined, intelligent, and determined to always do what’s right. In defending the development of a new variant of warship, he makes an enemy of the president of the United States, who assigns him to command the doomed line’s only prototype––Athena, Patrol Coastal 15––with the intent to humiliate a man who should have been an admiral.

 

Rather than resign, Rensselaer takes the new assignment in stride, and while supervising Athena’s fitting out in New Orleans, encounters a brilliant lawyer, Katy Farrar, with whom he falls in last-chance love. Soon thereafter, he is deployed on a mission that subjects his integrity, morality, and skill to the ultimate test, and ensures that Athena will live forever in the annals of the Navy.

 

As in the Odyssey, Katy is the force that keeps him alive and the beacon that lights the way home through seven battles, mutiny, and court martial. In classic literary form, an enthralling new novel that extolls the virtues of living by the laws of conscience, decency, and sacrifice, The Oceans and the Stars is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, War, Literary Fiction, Historical, Novels, Audiobook

507 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2023

About the author

Mark Helprin belongs to no literary school, movement, tendency, or trend. As many have observed and as Time Magazine has phrased it, “He lights his own way.” His three collections of short stories (A Dove of the East and Other Stories, Ellis Island and Other Stories, and The Pacific and Other Stories), six novels (Refiner's Fire, Winter's Tale, A Soldier of the Great War, Memoir From Antproof Case, Freddy and Fredericka and, In Sunlight and In Shadow), and three children's books (Swan Lake, A City in Winter, and The Veil of Snows, all illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg), speak eloquently for themselves and are remarkable throughout for the sustained beauty and power of their language.

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sailor take note
Of the bright and the deep
And the vast embrace
Of the oceans and the stars.

And so begins the beautiful novel by Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars, purported to be a sea story, a war story, and a love story. It was all that and more with the wonderful writing and lyrical prose that Helprin is noted for as he evokes a time and a place so authentically that one is there. A Navy captain near the end of his career has been assigned to the Pentagon, and in that capacity, he is called upon to defend a politically doomed variant of the Navy's smallest ship. However, in so doing he outrages the president of the United States who strikes out at him. This is a vindictive president, and as such, he assigns Captain Stephen Rensselaer to the prototype Athena after canceling the program and denying Rensselaer his promotion to Admiral. Assuming command of the Athena is meant to be humiliating but rather than resign, he attends to the ship's fitting in New Orleans. It is here that he meets a beautiful lawyer, Katy Farrar. Each with a failed marriage behind them, they look to their relationship as a last chance at love. It is Katy's love that guides him through wars in the Middle East including the Persian Gulf. In a story that could be likened to that of Ulysses, it is the force of Katy that keeps him alive and guides his way home through Athena's seven battles. This beautiful book, The Oceans and the Stars, is a true masterpiece by Mark Helprin.

"You'll leave part of yourselves behind, and as the coast recedes and the ship powers ahead without cease in every kind of sea, you'll exit the present and enter that timeless realm which binds together all men at war from every age. Though it's neither glorious nor always terrible, in it you'll be awake to life. What you feel, what you apprehend, the visions that will appear, the fusing of past and present, the transformation of your soul into that of the universal soldier--whom you will come to know, for you are he, and he is you--will mystify and remain for the rest of your life."

"Coming into theater, everyone aboard could feel what was ahead. It heightened their senses and their thoughts, so that they saw things anew. When properly sung, the Navy Hymn rolls like those great and powerful waves, high and deep, that are yet smooth enough not to break at the crest. To those whose lives are on the sea its music conjures images of the oceans. Now, with the world sharpened as if in a fine and magical lens, for some of Athena's crew the smooth and rolling swells conjured in their hearts and minds the sound of the song itself."

"In heartbreak and in memory I am fixed upon the ocean, always the ocean, to which everything flows as it returns in rivers and rainfall and through quiet coastal marshes where waves dance in the reeds."

.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only thing left, the only worthwhile thing at all, the beginning and all the way to the end, was to love, and to do right.

The Ocean and the Stars by Mark Helprin
I picked up this book three times before it clicked, and then I couldn’t stop reading. It was a thrilling story of the sea and a saga of war, informed by enduring love and the mystical connection to the endless generations of those before who gave their lives to their country. It is a treatise on living a righteous life, aware that each of us is but a small blip in eternity, and it is a manifesto on authority higher than that encompassed in any human personage or institution.

The detail and specifics made me doubt it was fiction, while the characters are portrayed with such humanity and love, their suffering or death was heartbreaking.

Scenes will be hard to read, the violence inflicted appalling. Our hero understands that he must decide: obey orders, knowing that civilians will be cruelly massacred, or disregard human authority and do anything he can to rescue them.

This is an amazing book that combines thrill and horror and eschatology, a story that entertains and makes one aware of the big pictures and big questions of life.

I loved it.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feels as if Helprin took a standard Tom Clancy (ugh) novel and added elements from The Odyssey The protagonist is Stephen, as in a character in Ulysses, and the heroine's birth name is Penelope, though she calls herself Kay.The ship is the Athena, the goddess who was Odysseus's patron.

Upon this foundation Helprin creates a new story which is at times funny, scary, exciting, and in one key section, horrifying to the point that it nauseated me, and I had to go past some of it. Suffice to say, if you are ever planning on traveling on a cruise ship, this part will bother you.

Like my favorite Helprin book, Winter's Tale this has a character with deep roots in the Hudson Valley, and the prose is reminiscent of that book, though the "magical realism" of that book isn't a part of this one. It is a book with lots of militaria, lots of details about ships and sailing (in fact Helprin knows that some of his audience will want all the details--he himself suggests that some may want to skip over the section concerning the building of the Athena.) But it is the people who make this story matter as Captain Stephen Rensselear takes us on this epic journey. A highly rewarding book. I'm not sure if I will re-read this again, let alone repeat read it the way I do Winter's Tale. But I am glad to have read it.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read 3 of Helprin's books in the past and loved all of them. One was the funniest satire I have ever read in my life. Another was about a conversation between two men, one young and one old as they walk together on an unplanned 50 mile journey. The last was a book that if I had known beforehand what it was about I would have avoided it like the plague as it was completely surrealistic and almost unfathomable but the images created by the author's writing kept me enchanted and reading. I hadn't heard or seen anything about Helprin in quite some time but on a recent trip to B&N attempting replenish my TBR shelf I saw Helprin's name on this book on the New Releases shelf. Solely on the basis of Helprin being the author I bought the book knowing nothing about it. WOW! I finished it last night and it's unlike anything of Helprin's that I have read before. Of course that was to be expected since Helprin does not fit into any pigeonhole of writing genre. None of the books of his that I have read resemble any of the other books he has written. Helprin is an author of rare talent and imagination but even knowing that this book wasn't to be expected.

The book's dust jacket promises a novel with a sea story, a war story, and a love story and the book delivers all of that in heaping portions and I loved every bit of it. However, I do have a few minor issues that I don't understand because I don't consider Helprin to be a careless or sloppy author. The story involves a U.S. Navy captain that has a less than successful exchange with the president during a meeting about scrapping a particular type of naval ship. The story takes place in the run up to a presidential election and the author could have opted to allow the story to take place during some indeterminate future date. Unfortunately, Helprin creates specific background dates that clearly establish the story occurring during 2019-2020. This would place it during Trump's administration and the fictional president described by the author sure sounds like DJT even though he is given another name, is probably a Democrat, and is at the end of his second term so his VP is running in the upcoming election. Why? Why did Helprin do this? I have no answer as yet and may never know. I wonder if there is some reason or a message that I have yet to see but I will think about it.

My next beef is the length of the book, 493 pages of text. All of the Helprin books I have read are long but this one should have been shorter because what we have been given is more in the vein of a commercial thriller albeit an excellent thriller. The romance involved in the story is not something that a reader would not expect to find in a thriller but it does add a dimension to the character of the captain/hero that is appreciated by this reader/fan. Maybe the romance could have been left out but there were more battles than needed so cutting or shortening one or more of those could have been done. I also had to chuckle when I started to see the resemblances between this story and the old Western movies I used to watch as a kid involving the U.S. Cavalry vs the Indians or Native Americans today. My criticisms are minor and subjective but they are based on my appreciation of this particular author. I am concerned that this latest book is an indication of an abandonment of his more creative side in order to become more commercial and profitable. I hope not but if that is possibly true it didn't prevent Helprin's talent from being expressed as he truly does know how to paint incredible scenes with his words.

If you would like a quick synopsis of the plot of the book I will use my comparison of the action to that of the old Westerns I mentioned above. Imagine a dedicated officer offending his superior and being exiled to a new and inadequately manned unit and ordered to find and neutralize an experienced hostile force that is many times larger and better equipped than you are. Further, because of current world circumstances you cannot expect to be reinforced or aided in any meaningful way, you are on your own. You accept the orders in expectation of doing what you can and you do but in your isolated assignment you are confronted with unforeseen problems and dangers far beyond the capacities your small unit. Decisions are made that will have horrendous consequences if made incorrectly. It's a great book. Enjoy.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Snow falling upon water makes a sound so close to silence that no heart exists it cannot calm.”

Stephen Rensselaer, captain, US Navy has been assigned to the US Ship Athena, a small, one-of-a-kind war ship. Rensselaer, 52, on his way to admiral before a meeting with the President where he spoke a little too honestly, landed the Athena as his next and final tour of duty instead of getting that deserved advance in rank. There are not enough adjectives to describe this naval officer. He is intelligent, devoted, stable, honest, decisive, and beyond question patriotic. I have a huge readerly crush on this upstanding man.

Right before the Athena deploys Stephen meets a woman, Katy Farrar, on the streetcar. They gradually begin to speak to one another and by the time he ships out they have found the love of a lifetime. So as the Athena sails Rensselaer prepares his sailors and SEALS for every possible contingency. They exercise, they fire weapons, they clean and assemble weapons, they become a unit working smoothly together. Scattered throughout the hours and days at sea are lessons delivered from Rensselaer’s experience. He is a man who is one among his men.

“If I’m the king in the play and you’re soldiers, you know damn well that in real life I’m not a king and you’re not my subjects. Necessity puts us on this stage and in the end only courage and efficiency gives us real rank. Offstage, we’re Americans, equals, which is why when onstage we must play our parts ceremoniously—so as to be able to effect the division and not forget that it doesn’t extend to life in general.”

As the story progresses and the Athena engages in a flurry of battles my heart pounded for the safety of the vessel along with Rensselaer and his men. If you love adventure tales set at sea, this is a beautifully written story that had me enthralled from the first page. My hope through the entire reading was for each and every one of these men to fight bravely and safely return to the loves they left behind. A massive 5-⭐️ read for me.

Thank you to @overlookpress and
@abramsbooks for the #advancereaderscopy.

[Carol Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have run in the other direction when I heard this aimed to be a "Tom Clancy" novel. The Navy machismo grated on my sanity, but now I know Helprin isn't a go-to author for fleshed-out female characters. For Christmas, this is going to find its way into my father-in-law's stocking, he'll have more fun with it than I did.

[Tom Mathews · Rating 2 out of 5]

For starters, I'm an absolute sucker for stories about men who go down to the sea in ships. Whether it's history or fiction, I've read every book on the subject that I could get my hands on. That said, it is with a heavy heart that I have come to the conclusion that this book was a big disappointment. The story itself was fine. It's about a small ship involved in a war with Iran that also has a run-in with ISIS pirates. If the author had limited his writing to that story, I'd have given it at least 4 stars.

Unfortunately, that isn't what he did. The author clearly is of the opinion that all Democrats and people under fifty are idiots and let these opinions bleed onto almost every page of the book. The story begins with the protagonist, distinguished Navy Captain Stephen Rensselaer offering his honest opinions to a president who is clearly more stupid than any actual president has ever been (if that is even possible), and ends up with his career in ruins, assigned to a ship much smaller than his rank would ordinarily entitle him to. Despite carrying out his mission in an exemplary manner, this president orders that he be charged with a long list of serious charges, including mutiny and desertion in wartime. Even now, when we have seen a former president threaten the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with execution if he gets reelected, I found this whole chain of events to be extremely improbable.

What offends me almost as much as the inanity of this scenario is the fact that nobody other than the main character appeared to know anything of history, literature, or culture. No Marine I have ever served with would not know about the Battle of Khe Sanh, but in this book, they didn't. When Captain Rensselaer called one of his crewmen Horatio, no one recognized that he was quoting Hamlet and they all thought he was getting senile. This attitude was reinforced when he played Mozart on the ship's address system. In short, Helprin's attitude towards most Americans was such that I was surprised that he didn't have Rensselaer shouting for them to get off his lawn.

I find this sad because Helprin has written several other books which are highly regarded and, had I not been so disappointed with this on, I would have liked to have read them. I find that very unlikely now.

[Mai H.]

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and The Overlook Press

[Squire · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Graceful and stylish tale of Captain Stephen Rennselear--disparaged by the President, denied advancement, and given a command beneath his rank--who is awaiting the verdict in his court-martial.

Given a structure that loosely mirrors that of The Odyssey, Helprin delivers a muscular, beautifully written account of events leading up to the trial. The sea and land battles are as brutal as they are lovely. The memories of his fiancé that Stephen uses to keep himself going are refined and sumptuous. At trial, his lawyer speaks in Homeric metre and is as immpressive as the events recounted.

"Stephen" recalls Joyce's Stephen Dedalus. His lady at home is even named Penelope (though she doesn't like the name and uses her middle name); she is even relentlessly pursued by suitors in her law firm. The tale is divided into scenes of action much like The Odyssey.

I'm docking this book 1/2 star because on page 60, Helprin goes into a section on various systems of the Athena--which is fine, except that he states that for those who don't want to read this section, the story continues on page 70. That unnecessarily disrupts the narrative flow and seems lazy. He could have found a way to incorporate that into the story or put it into an appendix. There are also 3 errors in quotation marks usage, which would have been flagged on a simple editor check (I checked) and a missing article that may not have.

There is military and nautical jargon that could cause some readers trouble, but
The Ocean and the Stars, as a war, sea, and love story, is a shining example of what great literature can be in the 21st century.

[John Becker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a verry good story and beautifully written, though some chapters I thought were a bit wordy. An exciting war story vividly described in seven separate battles at sea and land, while the U.S.A. is at war with Iran in the Persian Gulf. This is a sea story, a war story and a love story.

As to the sea story and the war story:
The hero of the story is the brave, decorated and successful Captain Rensselaer, trained SEAL and aid to the Secretary of the Navy. In line for promotion to Rear Admiral until he encounters Pentagon politics and the U. S. President (who is a clear jerk). His career now stunted. Now assigned to a small ship usually commanded by a Lieutenant Commander not a Captain which appears to be a suicide mission to the Persian Gulf. Displaying self-initiative, discipline and much bravery, he and his loyal crew beat the enemy in every encounter and heroically saves the lives of civilians captured by Somalia pirates. Due to conflicting orders from the Pentagon the hero is now facing court marshal. This exciting and fast paced story concludes with a fascinating, edge of your seat court marshal.

As to the love story:
For me, not overly done but interesting. The captain's newfound love is his guiding light and strength during his deployment and trial.
Highly recommended reading. Could not put the book down.

[Beck Henreckson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think if there were no women in this novel I might have given it 4 stars. It was an engaging and compelling war story. I did, alas, find Helprin extremely heavy handed putting his personal political, religious and social convictions into the story and making condescending jabs at anyone who might disagree with him. Has Helprin been radicalized by the times or am I just more aware of it now?

But his characterization of women absolutely drove me INSANE. this man simply does not see his female characters as complete human beings. None of these women are real. He is just drawing from his own idealistic fantasies — which I unfortunately find to be sexist, demeaning, and insulting — to create what he no doubt WISHES women were.

The first word to describe EVERY SINGLE WOMAN is related to her attractiveness (and they are all stunningly, jawdroppingly attractive but don't know it and don't try at all and talk about how they can't gain any weight no matter how much they eat and every man who sees them falls in love within 3 seconds. Helprin LOVES to have his men fall in love in 3 seconds. his view of romantic love is horrific). I had expressed annoyance at this several times throughout the book, and it KEPT HAPPENING. A nurse shows up for half a page, and he introduces her as, "An attractive nurse—somehow all nurses are pretty—told him..." How the HELL is her appearance relevant to anything??

It is telling that the word he uses over and over again is "attractive" — it inherently is related to WHO she attracts, rather than being something she contains within herself. That sums up how he views women, at least as apparent in his writing. Every woman is written for the gaze of the men who see her, and every woman fulfills that fantasy and is happy to exist solely in such a role.

Also, not all women are ravishingly beautiful and guess what, those who are not are JUST as worthy to be written about.

So. 2.5. I used to say this was one of my all time favorite authors, but I can't forgive him for this any longer. Sorry, Mark. You can write beautiful stories but you get bogged down by pushing your own agenda (whether I agree with it at times or not) and don't see women as human beings, soooo. I'm hopeful that he has devolved over time and I'll still be able to go back and appreciate his older books I've loved.

[MM Suarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Like a lion that watches from a cane break or from the dark as you sleep, the sea strikes when it wishes."

Simply put this is just a beautiful novel, I have always been drawn to stories about the sea and the sea is where most of the action happens in this epic tale. I really appreciate a good love story and there's is a lovely one here, but this is mostly a war story, so if that's not something you enjoy reading then you may not love it as much as I did.

[Christopher Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been awhile since I've read any Helprin and I'm an idiot for doing so. Elegant, beautiful writing. Great story here.

[Pasfendis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Kind of like Blackhawk Down meets A Few Good Men, except written by an erudite literary genius. I’m usually not one for war stories but the depictions of modern naval battles and warfare were vivid and intense, with just the right amount of technical detail to educate the reader without getting bogged down. The courtroom drama was equally excellent, told by someone clearly familiar with the legal system and martial law. And the love story was vintage Mark Helprin. The protagonist, like nearly all protagonists in Helprin’s stories, is highly principled and adheres to a strict moral code. I never feel quite adequate measured up to one of Helprin’s main characters (as I lazily sip a glass of wine and nibble on cheese with book in hand), but I certainly enjoy reading about them. And if none of this appeals to you, consider reading this book just for the beautiful writing.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I ended up kind of hate reading this. I’ve been a fan of Helprin’s work for over three decades. The way he writes romance has been developing in an ever more overwrought way, but here it devolves into drivel mixed with a paternalistic misogyny that grates the reader. The military action reads, for the most part, like naval fanfic. Only the last 50 pages, comprising courtroom scenes, seemed to be up to the author’s standard. I am not surprised that I have yet to see a review of this in any of the major outlets despite the author’s long history. It is sad to see something so beneath his proven talents.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ethereal title and haunting cover art beckon readers. It’s an epic tale. I’d give it six stars if I could. The greatest war novel of this new century. It is to the 9/11 era what The Winds of War, Once an Eagle, and The Caine Mutiny were to World War II. Evocative writing that captures going to sea and fighting a war. Nonstop action. And it’s a love story too. It should be in Plebe English at Annapolis or covered in ethics classes at the service academies. It perfectly captures the ethos of those who serve.

[Rhonda Bierma · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. Got half way through but decided not to go on. I read soldier of the great war years ago and liked it. There was suspense and good descriptive writing, but I guess this patriotic naval war story is not for me. Protagonist seemed very old fashioned for his age and time not to mention sexist.

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting, gorgeously written, sorry it's over.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ocean and The Stars

I love this book. Although a novel, in many places it reads like non-fiction. It depicts a fallen from grace US Navy Captain, Stephen Rensselaer, with a previously stellar service record, who has been assigned far below his pay grade to command a small coastal patrol vessel, the USS Athena, with orders to the waters of the Indian Ocean off Africa. The US is at war with Iran. The first part of the book deals with the construction and fitting out of the boat, and definitely reads like non-fiction, thanks to Helprin’s experience in the British Merchant Navy as a very young man and subsequent military service in the Iraeli Army and Air Force. In fact, much of the novel reads like a realistic non-fiction portrayal of life aboard a naval vessel, the crew’s mental and shipboard preparations for battle, the battle itself, and the consequences of the officers’ decisions at every step of the way.

But woven throughout, you will find the most beautiful prose you’ve ever read, with many memorable passages. The dialogs between and among the naval officers and crew are so well-crafted; they portray realistically the thought processes for every plan they make and every emotion they feel. The characters are fully fleshed out. The plot, once underway, keeps you engaged and guessing at what will happen next. The tension and suspense in certain scenes is palpable. And have I mentioned that there’s a love story? The book reads like an epic, and indeed the author himself admits to having been inspired by Homer’s Odyssey. This is a book, like Helprin’s Paris in the Present Tense, that I will reread at some point.

Although 512 pages in length, I read The Ocean and the Stars (and listened to the audio) in 4 days. After the initial, not-so-interesting-to-me-personally descriptions of the USS Athena’s construction, armament, and other military capabilities, I could hardly put the book down, or stop listening to the audio. The narrator, Traber Burns, was excellent, I thought, in conveying the scenes, dialogs, tensions and aftermath of battle. He was able to differentiate the various voices well enough for a good, sometimes great, listening experience. I recommend this book and audio to anyone who loves beautiful, well-crafted prose, depicting patriots aboard a naval vessel and the consequences of their decisions in a time of war. And a love story.

[Melody · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 30%. I really wanted to like this. I can see what Helprin was trying to do with a Homer-esque epic and parallels to Odysseus (it’s hard not to see with how on-the-nose the references are; did you really need to name the woman who stays home Penelope?), but seriously, can I get a man to write a female character that isn’t sexist and one-dimensional?

Homer’s women may have been seductive and sexualized, but they had depth and complexity. Penelope wasn’t just a beautiful woman pining for her husband; she was cunning and brave and tough. Circe may have been a beguiling witch, but she was also lonely and scarred and powerful. Instead, we get this description of Helprin’s Penelope who for some reason goes by Katy: “Yes, she could be as severe, precise, and as demanding as the once-archetypal spinster librarian. Given her command of the facts, it was difficult to cross her, and her natural authority could be off-putting. And yet she was capable, for example, of languidly positioning her svelte frame, half sitting on a table or a desk, feet on the floor while she leaned back slightly, as—entirely relaxed, but seductively alert—she surveyed the room with a magnetic, feminine mastery much like that of a leopard splayed upon a limb. You could not take your eyes off her, and you didn’t want to.”

Really? Her authority and intelligence is off-putting, but she can lean against something seductively and now you like her? I have never once surveyed a room with “feminine mastery,” whatever that is.

Our hero then falls for a woman he meets because she is young and beautiful (apparently it’s “difficult not to be if you are a young woman of twenty” - this guy is old enough to retire from the Navy, by the way), has a “charming, outgoing yet shy femininity” and because she wears a “rakish” hat. Excuse me?

The one good thing I’ll say about the book is that it has a beautiful opening line: “Snow falling upon water makes a sound so close to silence that no heart exists it cannot calm.” If only he could describe women with such consideration.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Oceans and the Stars" by Mark Helprin is nothing short of a grand epic that takes readers on a sweeping journey of war, love, and the boundless sea. Helprin's storytelling prowess shines as he weaves a narrative filled with three-dimensional characters and intricate plotlines that captivate from start to finish.
At the heart of the story is Stephen Rensselaer, a Navy captain and former Seal who dares to stand against a fictional US president, setting the stage for a tale of courage and conscience. Helprin's attention to detail is evident in his vivid descriptions of weaponry, tactics, and the inner workings of naval life, making it a treat for military aficionados. Yet, amidst the strategic maneuvers and conflicts, the novel is imbued with profound sentiments about loyalty, military ethics, and the depth of human relationships, elevating its characters to larger-than-life status.
While it may take some time to fully immerse oneself in this epic, the journey is progressively engaging and exceptionally well-written. Helprin's storytelling prowess shines as he balances the warmth of loving relationships with the harsh realities of torture and crimes against humanity. The moral dilemmas faced by the hero add layers of depth and complexity to the narrative, leaving readers with a profound sense of humanity's capacity for both cruelty and compassion.
This is not a book for the faint of heart, as it explores the darkest aspects of humanity, juxtaposed with moments of unwavering bravery and sacrifice. Helprin's ability to blend the brutal and the tender in his storytelling is nothing short of masterful. This epic journey is one that lingers in the reader's mind long after the final page, leaving a lasting impression.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Overlook Press for the ARC and the opportunity to provide my honest review.

[Elena Henreckson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankly, I was not invested until about 200 pages in, and then I finished the book very quickly. I was not invested in the romance really at all, and it wasn't until the hijacking storyline that I really got into the story. The real heroes were Martin and Petra - what ever happened to them? This wasn't as profound or beautiful as some of his other works, but I did cry at the end and write down some particularly stirring quotes.

[Alexis Branson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a hard time believing this was a work of fiction. The people and the events felt so tangible; as if I read about them through news headlines. The writing was so lyrical and beautiful it didn’t even feel like I was reading but rather living the very scenes being read. At face value this isn’t a story I’d usually choose for myself but I am so glad I took a step out of my comfort zone.

[Jessica Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

2025 started off with a five star read! This saga was a beautiful homage to the Navy, the ideals of America, and the people who fight for our freedom. I was on the edge of my seat at times, as characters I had fallen in love with risked their lives to save others. Helprin weaves an epic drama that kept going until the last page.

[Matt Redmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years ago I wrote the following after finishing Winter’s Tale…

“I am at a loss as to what devices Helprin has at his disposal to write as he does. I've really no idea. It's as if he has real muses...actual muses whispering in his ears sentences and constructions of phrases heretofore never-before-imagined and now joined together in harmony with all that is really real and known and altogether unknown. This is the writing form of magic. Or better, miracle.”

The Oceans and the Stars is no different.

This is the third time I’ve gotten mad at Helprin while reading one of his books.

I’m coming to terms with the fact that this is a requirement of such a magisterial author without peer.

And he is without peer. Unless you count Shakespeare, Dante, Homer, and Dostoyevsky his peers.

His sentences are like songs, paragraphs symphonies.

“On the sea, small beauties are exaggerated. An albatross riding on air pressure born of collapsing wave crests, skimming the surface over and over for a catch. Or when somewhere between the ship and horizon a white flash appears – the silver of a leaping fish or the crash of a diving shearwater, much as when in the Hudson Highlands, late in spring, white splashes of dogwood spark across distant landscapes of new green.”

I hate war stories. And I hate sea stories.

But I love this story…even the parts I hated.

[Denise Sanchez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book to be a slow read since I don’t have a military background. I had to look up a lot of the acronyms and other Navy jargon. Also, there was this weird exchange where the main character explains that America isn’t racist anymore because there are black people on his crew, which was very cringey and out of place in this otherwise well-written book.

Another thing I didn’t like was how the main character was essentially a perfect human being and a genius. He could talk about literally any subject and be right in his argument. He was a math whiz, knew all about classic literature, classical music, opera, and of course, history.

All the women characters were one-dimensional and all descriptions were about how attractive they were. Not one ugly lady or one real personality in the whole book.

I received a copy of this book through a publisher giveaway.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing in the Oceans and the Stars is wonderful. However, what kept me from rating this 5* was the excessive nautical, weapon and military terminology. I am sure that will appeal to many but it was distracting to me. It's an intelligently told tale and it's one I would consider reading again. Helprin's descriptive narrative is breathtaking, the relationship between Rensselaer and Katy is evocative yet tender without any lurid descriptions that would reduce their story to pulp romance.
The war scenes took my breath away and had me on the edge of my seat. Trigger alerts should forewarn squeamish readers.
All in all, a book I will recommend to others and one that will stick with me a long time.

[Connor · Rating 1 out of 5]

First (and hopefully last) DNF of 2025. The concept of this story is really great - older captain takes control of a ship below his station due to ruffling the feathers of the higher ups - but is written like some overly verbose boomer male fantasy fan fiction that I just can’t take any more. I gave up after 120 pages that could have just as easily been written in half the length and lost none of the meaning. I’ve not read Helprin before and, while his writing is clearly that of an educated person with a strong grasp on language, I won’t be reading him again.

Also, dude learn how to write a female character. Maybe talk to a woman sometime and you won’t just comment on her looks and have her only defining characteristic be how hot she is.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all his books, I am left a little numb at end, a wonderful exhaustion coupled with a bleak sense of loss at having no more tale to travel, when the prospect of picking up another book seems like blasphemous treachery.

This book is a contemporary swashbuckling story of high adventure, riding on waves of big themes: decency, justice, duty, suffused with old-world courage and heroism. It’s fast, theatrical writing buoyed with a preternatural command of language, cresting with action so real and compelling you feel it around you, then mellowing to soft swelling lines of artful description. Read it slowly, savor it, like the roll of the ocean.

[Tony Baird · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very odd book. It’s as if Jane Austen or Charles Dickens tried to write a Tom Clancy novel. Everyone, including the young marine SEALs, talks like they are from the Elizabethan era, or quoting Shakespeare. Yet there are terrorist rapings and beheadings described in the same language. While the author has a great poetic mastery of English, it just seemed off, and often was way overkill. Let the events speak for themselves.

Also, while the action was riveting, it was kind of boring to see no character arc. The story was about a perfect Navy officer who survived because of his perfectness - no learning or changing in him.