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Black Ocean #12
Stowaway to Heaven
If you can't beat 'em, hijack 'em.
Push a man hard enough and long enough and he's going to push back. Carl Ramsey finally has a plan to deal with transgalactic megacorp Harmony Bay. With the aid of a new ace up his sleeve, the Mobius crew finally have a heist that can put an end to the company's harassment. They're going to steal the ship responsible for Harmony Bay's black ops.
Of course, this is no pleasure cruiser they're planning to steal. Armed like a naval ship and with a complement of wizards all its own, the Harmony Bay ship Bradbury is no easy mark. This time, Carl might have picked a foe that's too much for his crew to handle.
Push a man hard enough and long enough and he's going to push back. Carl Ramsey finally has a plan to deal with transgalactic megacorp Harmony Bay. With the aid of a new ace up his sleeve, the Mobius crew finally have a heist that can put an end to the company's harassment. They're going to steal the ship responsible for Harmony Bay's black ops.
Of course, this is no pleasure cruiser they're planning to steal. Armed like a naval ship and with a complement of wizards all its own, the Harmony Bay ship Bradbury is no easy mark. This time, Carl might have picked a foe that's too much for his crew to handle.
149 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2016
20 people are currently reading
118 people want to read
About the author
J.S. Morin
193 books613 followersI am a creator of worlds and a destroyer of words. As a fantasy writer, my works range from traditional epics to futuristic fantasy with starships. I have worked as an unpaid Little League pitcher, a cashier, a student library aide, a factory grunt, a cubicle drone, and an engineer--there is some overlap in the last two.
Through it all, though, I was always a storyteller. Eventually I started writing books based on the stray stories in my head, and people kept telling me to write more of them. Now, that's all I do for a living.
I enjoy strategy, worldbuilding, and the fantasy author's privilege to make up words. I am a gamer, a joker, and a thinker of sideways thoughts. But I don't dance, can't sing, and my best artistic efforts fall short of your average notebook doodle. When you read my books, you are seeing me at my best.
My ultimate goal is to be both clever and right at the same time. I have it on good authority that I have yet to achieve it.
Through it all, though, I was always a storyteller. Eventually I started writing books based on the stray stories in my head, and people kept telling me to write more of them. Now, that's all I do for a living.
I enjoy strategy, worldbuilding, and the fantasy author's privilege to make up words. I am a gamer, a joker, and a thinker of sideways thoughts. But I don't dance, can't sing, and my best artistic efforts fall short of your average notebook doodle. When you read my books, you are seeing me at my best.
My ultimate goal is to be both clever and right at the same time. I have it on good authority that I have yet to achieve it.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 26, 2019
Yes! Yes! Yesss!
Finally, an installment where all the build-up has paid off. The longest in the series and definitely one of the better installments in the series. Finally picking up the much-needed momentum.
Not going to say too much on the story, but definitely one of my favourite of the Mobius crew!
4.12 / 5
Finally, an installment where all the build-up has paid off. The longest in the series and definitely one of the better installments in the series. Finally picking up the much-needed momentum.
Not going to say too much on the story, but definitely one of my favourite of the Mobius crew!
4.12 / 5
February 14, 2020
This is a high point after the last few stories, but that makes sense since it obviously finishes a story arc. Again, these stories are light, fun, and entertaining with no deeper qualities. Sometimes you've just gotta have popcorn. They really do keep that Firefly vibe while being completely their own universe and stories.
May 20, 2023
This was a good adventure, and felt like a return to form for the crew. Changes, but a solidly fun time.
March 9, 2018
On returning to the Odysseus, the crew of the Mobius find that Chuck has installed himself as the leader of the base, setting up security, establishing new routines, buying ships, and basically changing everything. One of these changes is that Chuck feels that Carl is no longer suitable for flying around the Galaxy as a Rogue, and needs to be at the base taking care of things, and in his enthusiasm to make sure this happens, he kind of enforces this, with armed guards, the grounding of the crew, the ship, and all sorts of other things that instantly make Chuck Ramsey enemy number 1.
Of course it takes about 2 seconds for Carl and the crew to be gone, and how they do it is hilarious.
What comes next is the revenge we have been waiting for, as the crew of the Mobius go after the Harmony Bays Bradbury, the cruiser that patrols the sector keeping things under control, making sure that experiments are run properly and planet hopping from one little colony to the next making sure each of their little projects is doing what it is meant to. It is also the ship that they have tangled with previously.
What unfolds is kind of like the Oceans 11, Black Ocean style, as they come up with a detailed plan, and then execute it step by step…
This is like a cross between a gangster movie, quick literally Oceans 11 at times, at others one of the older heist movies, and a Sci-Fi job. For fans of DS-9, this reminded me of the episode where the crew of the Station had to pull the Casino job inside the holo-suite to help out the Singer, it is that type of classic old style gangster hit, but with the crew of a well-known ship doing the inside jobs instead, adding a bit of a comical element to a somewhat tense and at times, highly intense story. Although this type of thing has been done hundreds of times before, Morin has put his own unique twist on it, and given it a really fantastic edge, making this a standout and certainly well worth the read as it is action-packed, fast paced and full of thrills, with an ending you will never see coming.
Of course it takes about 2 seconds for Carl and the crew to be gone, and how they do it is hilarious.
What comes next is the revenge we have been waiting for, as the crew of the Mobius go after the Harmony Bays Bradbury, the cruiser that patrols the sector keeping things under control, making sure that experiments are run properly and planet hopping from one little colony to the next making sure each of their little projects is doing what it is meant to. It is also the ship that they have tangled with previously.
What unfolds is kind of like the Oceans 11, Black Ocean style, as they come up with a detailed plan, and then execute it step by step…
This is like a cross between a gangster movie, quick literally Oceans 11 at times, at others one of the older heist movies, and a Sci-Fi job. For fans of DS-9, this reminded me of the episode where the crew of the Station had to pull the Casino job inside the holo-suite to help out the Singer, it is that type of classic old style gangster hit, but with the crew of a well-known ship doing the inside jobs instead, adding a bit of a comical element to a somewhat tense and at times, highly intense story. Although this type of thing has been done hundreds of times before, Morin has put his own unique twist on it, and given it a really fantastic edge, making this a standout and certainly well worth the read as it is action-packed, fast paced and full of thrills, with an ending you will never see coming.
January 10, 2019
Well our hero, or anti-hero does a full Robin Hood in this "episode" of the series. Without giving up any spoilers, we lose another long-time character. Black Ocean is becoming more like game of Thrones and less like Spinal Tap (where they only lose the drummer). The original crew have been reduced to only two people, Captain Carl and his mechanic. Apart from the adjustment I've had to make for the new crew, the action and adventure is still cranked to 11. I am sure I'll miss the series when I've completed it.
May 29, 2019
Some heavy hitting moments here. I liked the progress of characters. In a way I think the breaking off was pushing away from possibile pathways in story... But really I liked that we got back to Carl, crew, and plans. Additions are interesting.. But I do miss those that have moved on before this.. Mostly the Azrin.
Spoiler after this....
Mort's change didn't really affect me until Carl hears it.. That broke me... Well written for that character.
Spoiler after this....
Mort's change didn't really affect me until Carl hears it.. That broke me... Well written for that character.
October 24, 2023
Chuck Ramsey has positioned himself as de facto head of the Ramsay syndicate, effectively shunting Carl into a figurehead role. After his father tries to lock him down planetside, Carl and his core crew members escape and devise a plan to get back at Harmony Bay. The job? Steal the Bradbury.
This is one of the biggest heists the Mobius crew plans and there is a lot involved. Morin does a good job of setting it up and a good deal happens. I think the whole thing is well-constructed, and there are some major changes that occur before it's all said and done. I did feel a little bit like things were drifting a bit these past couple installments, but I suspect things are going to course correct a bit.
I still am a little bothered by how Mort is such a cold-blooded murderer sometimes. It just seems to clash a bit with his "loveable curmudgeon" persona that Morin seems to build. When Mort melts a relatively helpless security guard with fire just because they were in the way while we know for a fact that he could have just dropped them through the floor or somehow disable them in a less permanent way, it just comes off as callous and inhumane. Perhaps it's supposed to show Mort's misanthropic side, but it just feels unnecessary.
Otherwise, this was another fun one.
This is one of the biggest heists the Mobius crew plans and there is a lot involved. Morin does a good job of setting it up and a good deal happens. I think the whole thing is well-constructed, and there are some major changes that occur before it's all said and done. I did feel a little bit like things were drifting a bit these past couple installments, but I suspect things are going to course correct a bit.
I still am a little bothered by how Mort is such a cold-blooded murderer sometimes. It just seems to clash a bit with his "loveable curmudgeon" persona that Morin seems to build. When Mort melts a relatively helpless security guard with fire just because they were in the way while we know for a fact that he could have just dropped them through the floor or somehow disable them in a less permanent way, it just comes off as callous and inhumane. Perhaps it's supposed to show Mort's misanthropic side, but it just feels unnecessary.
Otherwise, this was another fun one.
July 1, 2020
Carl Ramsey thought that the discovery of the ODYSSEUS, lost and crashed on a moon in a remote star-system in the BLACK OCEAN was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Resources...Tech...Personnel...and the possibility of a never ending credit stream was everything that he could ever dream of. Unfortunately, Murphy's Law raises its ugly head in the form that was most unexpected...family!!! To be specific...DAD!!! And now, Carl is doing something that he should have done when he was younger...He's running away from home.
But...in this case...he's running towards something that is unimaginable but actually might be not be impossible...if it doesn't get the crew all killed.
Jeff Morin loves to slowly build his story arcs and deliver in a big way and over the past 3 books, Morin wove an ongoing set of problems and issues that led up to this point and gives the readers an explosion as expected.
This wraps up the Odysseus story arc in a big way and now the crew of the Mobius is off on new adventures in the BLACK OCEAN.
Resources...Tech...Personnel...and the possibility of a never ending credit stream was everything that he could ever dream of. Unfortunately, Murphy's Law raises its ugly head in the form that was most unexpected...family!!! To be specific...DAD!!! And now, Carl is doing something that he should have done when he was younger...He's running away from home.
But...in this case...he's running towards something that is unimaginable but actually might be not be impossible...if it doesn't get the crew all killed.
Jeff Morin loves to slowly build his story arcs and deliver in a big way and over the past 3 books, Morin wove an ongoing set of problems and issues that led up to this point and gives the readers an explosion as expected.
This wraps up the Odysseus story arc in a big way and now the crew of the Mobius is off on new adventures in the BLACK OCEAN.
February 23, 2019
One of the longer, and weaker, entries in the series. One constant problem in the Black Ocean series is a lack of compelling antagonists. There's been a halfhearted attempt to make the megacorporation Harmony Bay be the overarching Big Bad but it never really comes together and so in this volume where the crew of the Mobius attempt to steal one of Harmony Bay's flagships, the reader is left wondering "Why should I care?"
So it's essentially a heist story with disguises and infiltrations but it never really coalesces nor generates any real narrative drive or tension. While there's a "death" of a major character, it's short lived and neither the death nor the return are earned.
So it's essentially a heist story with disguises and infiltrations but it never really coalesces nor generates any real narrative drive or tension. While there's a "death" of a major character, it's short lived and neither the death nor the return are earned.
March 2, 2021
Carl Ramsey is not a happy man, his dreams of running his own crime syndicate are not progressing as hoped and his dad has grounded him from off world missions!! He promptly escapes and hatches a plan to steal a powerful ship and deal a blow to Harmony Bay. Return to form for the team, unexpected ending.
April 13, 2021
Lost focus a bunch while reading this one. Had to reread much. Suppose this would have been 5 stars save for that and of course the fact of confusion more significant in this edition of the series about who is who and who is significant and who was brought up as seemingly important just to fizzle out unceremoniously.
June 14, 2018
Doh! Bummer. you'll understand at the end.
June 27, 2018
This one seemed to get things back on track I enjoyed it much more than the last couple.
A funny scene and at least one change I can't stand...
A funny scene and at least one change I can't stand...
March 1, 2019
Much better than the previous ones. Stop reading all comments if you are spoiler sensitive. A large number of them contain an event spoiler for this book, though they don't mention any details.
September 13, 2019
No! No! Not Mort! He can’t be killed in such a pathetic way!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2019
read this in the omnibus version (audible)
January 20, 2024
Welp, that went somewhere unexpected. 2.75 stars.
April 2, 2024
This one really just did not grab me. I went through most of the audiobook without paying much attention and didn't feel like I missed much.
June 4, 2024
Well, this explains why the last book was so flat. It was building up to a doozy of a plot twist in this one. Things should really get interesting now.
June 8, 2025
Huge change in the overall story in this one. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here.
July 3, 2018
That was another good addition to The Black Ocean series. Sad about one death that happened.
October 24, 2025
Probably the best in the series, despite the ending I hate.
July 10, 2018
Another great story in which Esper gets her hands dirty and Carl learns that not all prizes are worth having. Also, kudos to the author for the title, you realise how brilliant it is only after you've read the story!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews