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The Ocean Cycle #1,2,3
Ocean: The Ocean Cycle Omnibus
New York Times bestselling author Brian Herbert and his wife, Jan, have combined their talents to create an epic ecological fantasy novel.In 2024, Earth is consumed by a great War of Ocean Liberation. A military force of sea creatures attacks naval installations, shuts down shipping lanes and fishing operations, and destroys offshore oil-drilling rigs. Huge blue whales, sharks, dolphins, and even monstrous creatures thought to be extinct—all strike with ferocity and surprising strength.The marine armada is led by hybrid, transformed humans who call themselves Sea Warriors, ocean-rights zealots who can swim to the deepest regions of the sea and live off the bounty of the waters. Their commander, Kimo Pohaku, announces his startling the complete liberation of the seas from human control.Finally, the ocean is fighting back, but it might be too late. . . .An Ecological Thriller
458 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2013
8 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
Brian Herbert
175 books2,154 followersBrian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Patrick Herbert.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 9, 2014
I read the entire single volume edition, and waited throughout the entire thing for... something to happen.
I know Brian Herbert's an accomplished author, but this is just - tripe. I'm sure he got hubby-points for writing it and putting his wife's name on it as well, but it is just not a very good book at all. Which is more of a shame, to me, because the base premise of it - that human activity is doing horrible things to the ocean - I agree with, and think needs to be publicized more.
This book just isn't the way to do it.
The book can basically be summed up as "People currently do bad things to the water. A special native and few people get magically transformed and try to get them to stop. Everyone else is stubborn for a little bit, then change their mind." And while you could call that a spoiler, that's pretty much exactly how it went. Little to no drama, discussion or... much of anything. There are little possible side plots that could have been interesting, but definitely aren't given the depth of an ocean.. more like a weak trickle, barely noticed as you pass it.
I just can't recommend reading this to anybody, other than as an example of a disappointing book.
I know Brian Herbert's an accomplished author, but this is just - tripe. I'm sure he got hubby-points for writing it and putting his wife's name on it as well, but it is just not a very good book at all. Which is more of a shame, to me, because the base premise of it - that human activity is doing horrible things to the ocean - I agree with, and think needs to be publicized more.
This book just isn't the way to do it.
The book can basically be summed up as "People currently do bad things to the water. A special native and few people get magically transformed and try to get them to stop. Everyone else is stubborn for a little bit, then change their mind." And while you could call that a spoiler, that's pretty much exactly how it went. Little to no drama, discussion or... much of anything. There are little possible side plots that could have been interesting, but definitely aren't given the depth of an ocean.. more like a weak trickle, barely noticed as you pass it.
I just can't recommend reading this to anybody, other than as an example of a disappointing book.
June 22, 2015
I just got to the second chapter and, to be honest, this book is just so badly written it's funny. I'm sorry, but you have to be out of your mind to think this is worth publishing. I'm so glad I got this in a bundle and didn't actually pay for it conciously.
In conclusion, don't waste your time with this and, please, go read something else.
In conclusion, don't waste your time with this and, please, go read something else.
January 27, 2018
I seem to have developed a habit where I finish a book - whether I like it or not.
This book is full of bad science mashed up with hokey quasi-religious beliefs/stories/attitudes.
But wait - it is worse than that!
Relationships between characters fully develop within about 60 words. Strong human attitudes turn 180 degrees just as quickly. The dialog is horribly strained and unrealistic - the voice in my head as I read sounds like a computer generated robot voice to match the words.
If you like science in your science fiction - give this one a pass.
If you like real human feelings and relationships in your stories - give this one a pass.
If you have completely unrealistic ideas about how to save the world and believe in magic that transcends science (ex. humans that can communicate through water molecules anywhere on the planet) - well maybe you will like this book.
This book is full of bad science mashed up with hokey quasi-religious beliefs/stories/attitudes.
But wait - it is worse than that!
Relationships between characters fully develop within about 60 words. Strong human attitudes turn 180 degrees just as quickly. The dialog is horribly strained and unrealistic - the voice in my head as I read sounds like a computer generated robot voice to match the words.
If you like science in your science fiction - give this one a pass.
If you like real human feelings and relationships in your stories - give this one a pass.
If you have completely unrealistic ideas about how to save the world and believe in magic that transcends science (ex. humans that can communicate through water molecules anywhere on the planet) - well maybe you will like this book.
November 1, 2015
I hated almost every moment of this horrible book. The writing is bad. The science is bad. The plot is bad. Just everything about this was bad. I wanted to like a hippy dippy book about the ocean fighting back but it just makes no sense. I read all three books, they came in a humble bundle and I want that time back. Only stubbornness kept me reading until the horrid end. I have nothing nice to say about this book. Run away. Don't be stubborn like me, give in to your instincts, you will be better for it.
March 19, 2019
Oh dear. I should say firstly that since I gave up on this a third of the way in, my review below can only reflect that part. Maybe the whole thing picks up and turns into a classic of speculative fiction, brimming with intrigue and excitement, an avalanche of thought-provoking ideas. Then again, maybe it remains just a pile of toss. Whichever, it does at least mean I can't give away the ending!
I got this as part of a book bundle, and I was actually quite excited by the sound of it - the oceans rising up against humanity - maybe a bit like The Birds, but with the fear factor of Jaws due to the innate terror of such a chilling and unfathomable environment. What I got however was a ham-fisted ecological septic tank of a book, which, with all the subtlety of sledgehammer, takes every opportunity to hit you around the head with dire proclamations about the state of the seas. Honestly, nearly every character at some point takes some time out in the middle of a conversation to spout some Wikipedia-sounding fun sea facts. I'm leaping ahead of myself though...
The "plot": some half human, half fish Hawaiian bloke (apparently embryos have some gill-like features so it's entirely plausible), likes swimming down to the bottom of the sea, aided by his super-strong skeleton and similarly strong cells, to talk to the god of the ocean about phytoplanktons. He meets a young woman who luckily falls in love with him after their first date. Things get really serious on their second date - he tells her that he has gills, a swim bladder and eats worms, and faster than you can say "Captain Birdseye" they get it on right there on the beach. Whether foreplay involves licking tartare sauce off his soft roe sadly isn't revealed. Meanwhile, an autistic woman who is incredibly intelligent (aren't they all?) is getting messages about the sea also from the ocean god. Apparently she likes to watch sperm whales from the coast in Portsmouth, South England, which probably comes as a surprise to anyone who's ever been to Portsmouth. Anyway, she just hangs around a bit. Also involved are fishguy's mother, one of those wise old local woman types, and the woman's family who transparently represent capitalism and corruption and all those nasty things children. And that's it for the first third of the book. Oh no, nearly forgot, there are also some jellyfish which are choosing not to sting properly.
The "characters": well, there aren't any. The autistic woman has a good memory, fishman likes swimming, but that's as far as it goes. The author actually seems to equate characterisation with listing what the protagonists are wearing, hence all the head-to-toe clothing write-ups of every sodding person (hey, every one of my characters is fully formed!).
The key problem though is the writing. On this evidence Mr Herbert has no ability on this front whatsoever. The only enjoyment I got from the book were those moments where I laughed out loud at the sheer ineptness of the prose, but, to be fair, there were quite a few of those. It's ploddingly dull, one-speed, vacuous tripe. There's no subtlety, humour, mystery (in fact he seems determined to repeat plot points just in case you didn't get them the first time), no style, no excitement, no sense of place. His "tell not show" approach is painful and insulting.
Honestly, it is just awful.
I got this as part of a book bundle, and I was actually quite excited by the sound of it - the oceans rising up against humanity - maybe a bit like The Birds, but with the fear factor of Jaws due to the innate terror of such a chilling and unfathomable environment. What I got however was a ham-fisted ecological septic tank of a book, which, with all the subtlety of sledgehammer, takes every opportunity to hit you around the head with dire proclamations about the state of the seas. Honestly, nearly every character at some point takes some time out in the middle of a conversation to spout some Wikipedia-sounding fun sea facts. I'm leaping ahead of myself though...
The "plot": some half human, half fish Hawaiian bloke (apparently embryos have some gill-like features so it's entirely plausible), likes swimming down to the bottom of the sea, aided by his super-strong skeleton and similarly strong cells, to talk to the god of the ocean about phytoplanktons. He meets a young woman who luckily falls in love with him after their first date. Things get really serious on their second date - he tells her that he has gills, a swim bladder and eats worms, and faster than you can say "Captain Birdseye" they get it on right there on the beach. Whether foreplay involves licking tartare sauce off his soft roe sadly isn't revealed. Meanwhile, an autistic woman who is incredibly intelligent (aren't they all?) is getting messages about the sea also from the ocean god. Apparently she likes to watch sperm whales from the coast in Portsmouth, South England, which probably comes as a surprise to anyone who's ever been to Portsmouth. Anyway, she just hangs around a bit. Also involved are fishguy's mother, one of those wise old local woman types, and the woman's family who transparently represent capitalism and corruption and all those nasty things children. And that's it for the first third of the book. Oh no, nearly forgot, there are also some jellyfish which are choosing not to sting properly.
The "characters": well, there aren't any. The autistic woman has a good memory, fishman likes swimming, but that's as far as it goes. The author actually seems to equate characterisation with listing what the protagonists are wearing, hence all the head-to-toe clothing write-ups of every sodding person (hey, every one of my characters is fully formed!).
The key problem though is the writing. On this evidence Mr Herbert has no ability on this front whatsoever. The only enjoyment I got from the book were those moments where I laughed out loud at the sheer ineptness of the prose, but, to be fair, there were quite a few of those. It's ploddingly dull, one-speed, vacuous tripe. There's no subtlety, humour, mystery (in fact he seems determined to repeat plot points just in case you didn't get them the first time), no style, no excitement, no sense of place. His "tell not show" approach is painful and insulting.
Honestly, it is just awful.
May 13, 2016
I disliked it immensely although I thought the overall premise was unique and interesting. I liked the way Herbert created this idea of the Ocean existing as a large sentient organism with creatures, which under the right conditions, would work together for their own collective benefit and the overall benefit of the health and sustainability of the ocean. I disliked the story because the characters seemed weak, the dialogue felt too contrived, and even when he was presenting things from different character's perspectives it always felt like a narration rather than the voice of the characters. Multiple times I wanted to stop reading because of the writing, but I liked the concept and wanted to see where Herbert was taking it.
October 1, 2015
I found OCEAN to be original and fast paced, easy to read, probably in no small part to the extensive writing, publishing history of Mr. Herbert. But this book gives the sense that both Mr. Herbert and his wife have had
an opportunity to stretch and do something very different. Highly recommended and frankly, given how we are "trashing" the oceans presently, hopefully, people who read OCEAN will understand the dangers ahead if we don't do something fast about what we are doing to the Earth's oceans. May this book be the DUNE of our time.
an opportunity to stretch and do something very different. Highly recommended and frankly, given how we are "trashing" the oceans presently, hopefully, people who read OCEAN will understand the dangers ahead if we don't do something fast about what we are doing to the Earth's oceans. May this book be the DUNE of our time.
August 28, 2015
I failed to get beyond the first several chapters of this book. I kept feeling I was reading someone's notes for a novel, instead of the novel. Which is a real shame, as I think the Herberts have an amazing idea and premise, about which I would have loved to read.
April 24, 2021
Even though it was published years ago, Ocean is pertinent to today's environmental concerns. Brian and Jan Herbert weave an enthralling tale of hybrid humans led by Kimo Pohaku who take on the world to clean up our planet's oceans. Filled with tension and intrigue, Ocean explores the life of the sea's animals and their subsistence in water tainted by human negligence.
Kimo and the Sea Warriors fight for the ocean and the Herbert's develop the action in riveting fashion. Yes, it is fiction but not out of the realm of possibility. Must read for environmentalists. It is an eye-opener and hard to put down.
Kimo and the Sea Warriors fight for the ocean and the Herbert's develop the action in riveting fashion. Yes, it is fiction but not out of the realm of possibility. Must read for environmentalists. It is an eye-opener and hard to put down.
April 27, 2017
The ocean omnibus is a trilogy that mainly tells the story of Kimo Pohaku, a young Hawaiian man blessed by an ocean goddess with gills, increased durability for swimming underwater, a swim bladder(?), and other adaptations that allow him to live underwater indefinitely. Kimo is urged by the goddess Moanna to strike back against the humans that are polluting her waters, and proceeds to enact a guerrilla warfare campaign against humanity to liberate the ocean.
I read the full omnibus, all three novels, and I found a lot of things wrong with it. The premise sounds great, but the execution is so unmotivated and surprisingly unskilled that it's torture to get through.
The first problem is the pacing. Almost nothing happens in the first book and very little happens in the second. A good editor could cut down the entire first novel into 50 pages, and nothing would be missed. It gets a little better during the latter half of the trilogy, where the characters are setting up to fight against the human race, but I don't think people should have to wait that long for such a mediocre payoff.
The second problem is the writing. The whole book did not grab my attention. There was a disconnect between the author, the action, and the reader that left me bored throughout, no matter what was happening on the page. The authors also copied whole paragraphs and pasted them throughout the novel. Discussion about the state of the ocean and descriptions of the characters were reused over and over ad nauseum. It was like the Herberts found a Buzzfeed article "You'll Be Appalled At These 15 Ways That Humans Treat The Ocean!!" and decided to flesh it out into a series of novels. It immediately removed me from the story, and I started to skim whenever a frustratingly familiar passage came up.
The final problem is with the plot as a whole. There were so many strange elements that we're introduced, made to seem important, and then never seen again. For example, early on we meet Gwyneth, a young autistic savant woman who is stuck in a psychiatric care facility in England. The first novel shows her receiving a 'flow of information about the ocean' that she is assumed to be able to handle better than most humans because of her autistic condition. We hear over and over again (in the exact same wording) how she has all this mathematical information, and how important it is that she escapes and shares it with the world. In the second book she does manage to escape, and that knowledge is never used or shared for the rest of the trilogy. It makes the whole experience unsatisfying.
The most frustrating element of the plot was encountered when the "good" guys and "bad" guys acted completely against normal human morality. We are told that we should sympathize with the Ocean Warriors, that their cause is just and that they want to keep pollution out of the ocean. They plead their innocence throughout the entire book, while at the same time destroying property, enacting blockades of major seaports, holding cities ransom, and even willfully murdering all for the "greater good". Even discounting the rouge members of the organization, Kimo, Alicia, and Gwyneth move far away from peaceful protest and dive right into terrorist organization. Then, when governments try to (rightfully!) fight back, we are told that they are stubborn and corrupt. One particular paragraph informed us that the president of the United States was a "right-wing, corrupt politician", when all we saw was a man whose country was being attacked, and was quite reasonable about negotiations and sanctions, but was dealing with a fanatical eco-terrorist who seemed hell-bent on destroying the human race. By the end I sympathized with everyone but the main characters, and by the last page I was appalled that they seemed to have won the day without anyone calling them out on their despicable behavior. Not only that, but the conclusion of the novel found Kimo taking to the United Nations, proposing a "Declaration of Ocean Independence" the terms of which were so incredibly harsh (no motorized sea vessels whatsoever, no fishing whatsoever, no ocean mining or oil drilling whatsoever, permits to even walk on the beach or surf) that they were sure to kill millions of people. I can't imagine any of it being accepted without causing World War III.
The Ocean Omnibus is a trilogy that is supposed to sympathize reader with the plight of the ocean, which is a noble cause. We do have to change some things about how we treat our environment to keep the earth livable for the indefinite future. The Herberts failed in this task to such an extent that when the book ended I almost wanted to throw a few barrels of toxic waste into the ocean myself.
1/5, would not recommend.
I read the full omnibus, all three novels, and I found a lot of things wrong with it. The premise sounds great, but the execution is so unmotivated and surprisingly unskilled that it's torture to get through.
The first problem is the pacing. Almost nothing happens in the first book and very little happens in the second. A good editor could cut down the entire first novel into 50 pages, and nothing would be missed. It gets a little better during the latter half of the trilogy, where the characters are setting up to fight against the human race, but I don't think people should have to wait that long for such a mediocre payoff.
The second problem is the writing. The whole book did not grab my attention. There was a disconnect between the author, the action, and the reader that left me bored throughout, no matter what was happening on the page. The authors also copied whole paragraphs and pasted them throughout the novel. Discussion about the state of the ocean and descriptions of the characters were reused over and over ad nauseum. It was like the Herberts found a Buzzfeed article "You'll Be Appalled At These 15 Ways That Humans Treat The Ocean!!" and decided to flesh it out into a series of novels. It immediately removed me from the story, and I started to skim whenever a frustratingly familiar passage came up.
The final problem is with the plot as a whole. There were so many strange elements that we're introduced, made to seem important, and then never seen again. For example, early on we meet Gwyneth, a young autistic savant woman who is stuck in a psychiatric care facility in England. The first novel shows her receiving a 'flow of information about the ocean' that she is assumed to be able to handle better than most humans because of her autistic condition. We hear over and over again (in the exact same wording) how she has all this mathematical information, and how important it is that she escapes and shares it with the world. In the second book she does manage to escape, and that knowledge is never used or shared for the rest of the trilogy. It makes the whole experience unsatisfying.
The most frustrating element of the plot was encountered when the "good" guys and "bad" guys acted completely against normal human morality. We are told that we should sympathize with the Ocean Warriors, that their cause is just and that they want to keep pollution out of the ocean. They plead their innocence throughout the entire book, while at the same time destroying property, enacting blockades of major seaports, holding cities ransom, and even willfully murdering all for the "greater good". Even discounting the rouge members of the organization, Kimo, Alicia, and Gwyneth move far away from peaceful protest and dive right into terrorist organization. Then, when governments try to (rightfully!) fight back, we are told that they are stubborn and corrupt. One particular paragraph informed us that the president of the United States was a "right-wing, corrupt politician", when all we saw was a man whose country was being attacked, and was quite reasonable about negotiations and sanctions, but was dealing with a fanatical eco-terrorist who seemed hell-bent on destroying the human race. By the end I sympathized with everyone but the main characters, and by the last page I was appalled that they seemed to have won the day without anyone calling them out on their despicable behavior. Not only that, but the conclusion of the novel found Kimo taking to the United Nations, proposing a "Declaration of Ocean Independence" the terms of which were so incredibly harsh (no motorized sea vessels whatsoever, no fishing whatsoever, no ocean mining or oil drilling whatsoever, permits to even walk on the beach or surf) that they were sure to kill millions of people. I can't imagine any of it being accepted without causing World War III.
The Ocean Omnibus is a trilogy that is supposed to sympathize reader with the plight of the ocean, which is a noble cause. We do have to change some things about how we treat our environment to keep the earth livable for the indefinite future. The Herberts failed in this task to such an extent that when the book ended I almost wanted to throw a few barrels of toxic waste into the ocean myself.
1/5, would not recommend.
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October 2, 2015Loved it! It is an awesome fantasy that exposes mankind's on going, real life assassination of our world's ocean and it's sea life!
Richard Swift
Richard Swift
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews