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The Good Captain
Set in the near future—during a time of plummeting fish stocks, toxic algae blooms and jellyfish swarms—The Good Captain follows a group of radical environmentalists committed to a mission of extreme civil disobedience against the powers threatening to destroy the last of the world’s marine life.
Led by the wild Rena—born and raised by the ocean—the characterful crew engages in a high seas drama that contains all the thrill of a cat-and-mouse seafaring classic, while at the same time offering a timely warning for the political classes that their negligence will not go unpunished.
Evoking a disturbing vision of what the world might soon become—random, dangerous, surprising and sometimes even miraculous—The Good Captain is a gripping, confronting and truly unique novel.
‘If you care about the ocean, about extinction, about deforestation you’ll find yourself immersed in this novel. With originality and wit, Sean Rabin asks “how far is too far?” when you’re fighting to save the planet.’ JANE RAWSON, Author of The History of Dreams and From the Wreck
Led by the wild Rena—born and raised by the ocean—the characterful crew engages in a high seas drama that contains all the thrill of a cat-and-mouse seafaring classic, while at the same time offering a timely warning for the political classes that their negligence will not go unpunished.
Evoking a disturbing vision of what the world might soon become—random, dangerous, surprising and sometimes even miraculous—The Good Captain is a gripping, confronting and truly unique novel.
‘If you care about the ocean, about extinction, about deforestation you’ll find yourself immersed in this novel. With originality and wit, Sean Rabin asks “how far is too far?” when you’re fighting to save the planet.’ JANE RAWSON, Author of The History of Dreams and From the Wreck
- GenresAustralia
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2022
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Sean Rabin
4 books12 followersBorn in Hobart, Tasmania, Sean Rabin has worked as a cook, script reader, copy-editor, freelance journalist and librarian. He has lived in Ireland, Italy, London and New York, and now resides in Sydney, Australia.
His short stories have been published locally (Best Australian Stories 2012 and Wet Ink) and in the United States (Permafrost, Eleven Eleven, Eyeshot, Toad Suck Review and The Worcester Review).
His short stories have been published locally (Best Australian Stories 2012 and Wet Ink) and in the United States (Permafrost, Eleven Eleven, Eyeshot, Toad Suck Review and The Worcester Review).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 21, 2022
The world presented in The Good Captain is such a miserable one. While most scenes are in open seas, it is implied that the rest of the world isn't in such a good condition either and yet, still... there aren't enough people caring for the world.
The novel opens with a secret mission on land gone wrong; a lot of blood, a fast getaway, and a mysterious cargo. Then we meet all the crew of the ship. Each with their own love for the ocean and willingness to sacrifice all to protect her. There were natural threats and some of human variety but this crew's belief in their purpose helped them overcome all obstacles. The mysterious cargo was an interesting one though I had my doubts as to the purpose it was revealed for still the twist at the end was a bit of a eye-roll for me; there just didn't seem to be much of a muchness.
While I can appreciate the importance of the book's message, I didn't particularly love it. With so many characters and unknown factors, I just found it a little bit of a mess. I didn't find it too hard to follow except for a certain character but I found the story didn't quite flow as smooth as I'd like. Well, maybe it's a reflective of the ocean they are travelling on? There are others who truly enjoyed this read and while it's not quite for me, you might enjoy it more than I did.
My thanks to Transit Lounge Publishing for this paperback copy of book in exchange of my honest thoughts
The novel opens with a secret mission on land gone wrong; a lot of blood, a fast getaway, and a mysterious cargo. Then we meet all the crew of the ship. Each with their own love for the ocean and willingness to sacrifice all to protect her. There were natural threats and some of human variety but this crew's belief in their purpose helped them overcome all obstacles. The mysterious cargo was an interesting one though I had my doubts as to the purpose it was revealed for still the twist at the end was a bit of a eye-roll for me; there just didn't seem to be much of a muchness.
While I can appreciate the importance of the book's message, I didn't particularly love it. With so many characters and unknown factors, I just found it a little bit of a mess. I didn't find it too hard to follow except for a certain character but I found the story didn't quite flow as smooth as I'd like. Well, maybe it's a reflective of the ocean they are travelling on? There are others who truly enjoyed this read and while it's not quite for me, you might enjoy it more than I did.
My thanks to Transit Lounge Publishing for this paperback copy of book in exchange of my honest thoughts
November 18, 2022
Greta Thunberg's wet dream.
November 3, 2022
What a scorcher! A depressing (realistic?) near future world of depleted oceans is the backdrop to a both human and kind of thriller story. A fantastic second outing from Sean Rabin. Highly recommend!
August 22, 2022
Whoa. Awful and wonderful. Surprising and inevitable. What a read.
April 1, 2022
Rollicking good read, fast paced, didn't want to put it down. The environmental catastrophe was so convincingly drawn and sobering. Read this book.
March 14, 2022
The Good Captain is author Sean Rabin's second novel, after Wood Green which was shortlisted for The 2017 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and 2016 The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction, and was longlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. While my memory of the plot is now a little hazy, what I remember vividly from Wood Green is the misty landscape of the Tasmanian bush. Rabin has used that skill in depicting setting to great effect in his new novel which is set entirely at sea. But it's not a sea that any of us might recognise, not yet anyway.
Set some time in the future (one of the characters is born in 2044), The Good Captain is a dystopia involving a rogue ship that destroys fishing trawlers and commits other acts of civil disobedience. But whether this is a valiant attempt to save the last remnants of marine life, or merely an act of revenge against those responsible for overfishing, marine plastic pollution and overconsumption, is something for book groups to discuss.
Likewise up for discussion is the book's title: what is a good captain? The novel contests the prevailing orthodoxy that organisations do best when they have shared goals, a cohesive team and an empathetic leader. The crew of Mama is far from cohesive, there are too many competing ambitions and griefs for that. As for Rena, the captain, she has multiple names representing multiple identities that formed after she was rescued from the fishing boat from which her parents vanished. These multiple identities representing a girlhood of loss, abuse and exploitation, resurface throughout the book as she repudiates relationships of any kind. Her thoughts reveal that she sometimes forgets that her crew cares as much as she does. But when military aircraft have tracked them down and fire missiles at them, Bill thinks she is a monster:
When Rena is exhilarated by changes in the ocean and her connection with it, she exults in the danger and pays no mind at all to the risks for the others onboard. (One of whom is the kidnapped former Prime Minister of Australia.)
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/03/14/t...
Set some time in the future (one of the characters is born in 2044), The Good Captain is a dystopia involving a rogue ship that destroys fishing trawlers and commits other acts of civil disobedience. But whether this is a valiant attempt to save the last remnants of marine life, or merely an act of revenge against those responsible for overfishing, marine plastic pollution and overconsumption, is something for book groups to discuss.
Likewise up for discussion is the book's title: what is a good captain? The novel contests the prevailing orthodoxy that organisations do best when they have shared goals, a cohesive team and an empathetic leader. The crew of Mama is far from cohesive, there are too many competing ambitions and griefs for that. As for Rena, the captain, she has multiple names representing multiple identities that formed after she was rescued from the fishing boat from which her parents vanished. These multiple identities representing a girlhood of loss, abuse and exploitation, resurface throughout the book as she repudiates relationships of any kind. Her thoughts reveal that she sometimes forgets that her crew cares as much as she does. But when military aircraft have tracked them down and fire missiles at them, Bill thinks she is a monster:
Bill froze with fear. Her mouth hung open, She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. Her eyelids refused to blink. She watched Rena climb into the captain's char and was shocked by her apparent calm. She seemed like a monster — more cold and deadly than Bill could ever have thought possible. (p.267)
When Rena is exhilarated by changes in the ocean and her connection with it, she exults in the danger and pays no mind at all to the risks for the others onboard. (One of whom is the kidnapped former Prime Minister of Australia.)
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2022/03/14/t...
November 8, 2023
A great story, well told. A dystopian future that is well imagined and crafted (and believable). A former Prime Minister who seems an amalgam of our last few coalition PMs combined. My main gripe is that there were too many characters and back-stories to keep track of, so the main arc of the ship was lost on occasion.
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January 24, 2023This wasn’t for me
February 15, 2023
This book had such promise but it was almost unreadable.
Nothing expanded enough and it was like the author didn't take time. I loved the cover design.
Nothing expanded enough and it was like the author didn't take time. I loved the cover design.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews