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Greenwar
A group of extreme eco-terrorists calling themselves "Wild Justice" takes up a war against executive Emma Tooke's "green" company Gulfstream, which harvests clean energy and low-cost food from the sea.
380 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
149 people want to read
About the author
Steven Gould
30 books1,149 followersSteven Charles Gould is an American science fiction author. His novels tend to have protagonists fighting to rid government of corrupt antagonists. The struggle against corruption is the focus, rather than the technology.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 17, 2024
The first 200 pages were a struggle to get through, but the action really picked up in the second half of this book.
January 7, 2013
I feel bad for giving this such a low score, so let me explain. I love Steven Gould. I look forward to his book releases. I had read all of his novels except this one, and couldn't find it at local bookstores or the library. Let's say I had high hopes with all the effort I put into getting my hands on a copy. When I finally got it, I was disappointed. There were two times I picked it up, but then put it back down before the third chapter. It started SLOW. I finally read it through, telling myself it has to get better, and it did. I was really into the last 200+ pages, having a hard time putting it down.
If I could rate the book by sections, I would give the first 100 or so pages 0 stars and the rest of the book at least 4 stars - the average came to 3. If you are a Gould fan, but are finding this to be difficult to get into, I would recommend sticking with it - it gets very good (if you make it that long).
If I could rate the book by sections, I would give the first 100 or so pages 0 stars and the rest of the book at least 4 stars - the average came to 3. If you are a Gould fan, but are finding this to be difficult to get into, I would recommend sticking with it - it gets very good (if you make it that long).
February 5, 2017
You can tell Laura Mixon (aka M.J. Locke) wrote a good deal of this book (equally co-written as described in the preface) because of all of the emergency response procedures characters are familiar with and try to follow.
It was something I noticed when reading Up Against It, which I really enjoyed and led me to put a bunch of her other stuff on my Amazon wishlist.
This book reads a lot like something Dale Brown would write if he were interested in the environment rather than aerospace. Most of the action is centered in Florida, on the Gulfstream I multi-use ocean power plant and its plant designer/engineer/ops manager Emma.
This book was published in 1997, so it's around 20 years old now and occasionally it shows (as frequently happens with near-future stories). Mainly it's in the details of every day technology, while there are cellphones, they're not ubiquitous and there are no smart phones. Email is the crucial technology that lets one of the characters pass messages to another and a computer that is characterized as "ancient" isn't even a Pentium. For reference, my first computer in the fall of 1995 was a Pentium 100.
There's a couple of plot threads: a hurricane, an old boyfriend, a new environmental compliance manager, an environmental terrorism plot against a very environmentally friendly target, and the question of whether Gulfstream I can continue as a functioning business entity. Also a lot of diving.
I mentioned Dale Brown for a reason, this book is structured and reads very much like a techno thriller (probably why it says environmental thriller on the cover). There's a lot of description of everyday life aboard the rig, and processes and procedures that people have to go through (which I actually enjoyed!) a romantic sub-plot which I had a bit of a hard time with (because don't date people you're working with!), and the terrorism plot, which escalated sharply at a couple of different points.
All in all a solid book if not quite as enjoyable as Up Against It which I really loved.
It was something I noticed when reading Up Against It, which I really enjoyed and led me to put a bunch of her other stuff on my Amazon wishlist.
This book reads a lot like something Dale Brown would write if he were interested in the environment rather than aerospace. Most of the action is centered in Florida, on the Gulfstream I multi-use ocean power plant and its plant designer/engineer/ops manager Emma.
This book was published in 1997, so it's around 20 years old now and occasionally it shows (as frequently happens with near-future stories). Mainly it's in the details of every day technology, while there are cellphones, they're not ubiquitous and there are no smart phones. Email is the crucial technology that lets one of the characters pass messages to another and a computer that is characterized as "ancient" isn't even a Pentium. For reference, my first computer in the fall of 1995 was a Pentium 100.
There's a couple of plot threads: a hurricane, an old boyfriend, a new environmental compliance manager, an environmental terrorism plot against a very environmentally friendly target, and the question of whether Gulfstream I can continue as a functioning business entity. Also a lot of diving.
I mentioned Dale Brown for a reason, this book is structured and reads very much like a techno thriller (probably why it says environmental thriller on the cover). There's a lot of description of everyday life aboard the rig, and processes and procedures that people have to go through (which I actually enjoyed!) a romantic sub-plot which I had a bit of a hard time with (because don't date people you're working with!), and the terrorism plot, which escalated sharply at a couple of different points.
All in all a solid book if not quite as enjoyable as Up Against It which I really loved.
May 25, 2020
Fairly entertaining 20mins-into-the-future thriller - though the eco-terrorists were unconvincing.
April 7, 2015
Greenwar (1997) 588 pages by Steven Gould and Laura J. Mixon
Gulfstream I is an offshore research and commercial facility designed by Emma Tooke. Keith Hellmen is a top notch environmental scientist working for the EPA and going undercover for the FBI at Gulfstream. Gabriel Cervantes is an environmental activist. Fifteen years ago Emma and Gabe had a thing.
As the story begins a hurricane is about to hit Gulfstream. Emma rushes to the site and learns that a new environmental officer has been hired by the CEO. She takes an instant dislike to Keith for having been foisted upon her during the critical preparation time before the hurricane. That it short lived because Keith not only pitches in, he proves himself invaluable during the storm. Meanwhile Gabe and Wild Justice having just blown up a polluting paper mill in New Mexico is approached by a mysterious woman, Boadica, who wants to sink Gulfstream.
I read the first 150 pages six months ago and then got busy with other things (work, softball, watching TV shows and sports, etc.). I finally picked up reading it again last week and it went fast. It bogged down a little during the hurricane preparation scenes because trying to visualize Gulfstream took some extra thinking. Plus that was when all the character introductions were happening. Or maybe because a portion of the book followed Gabe and his group, I was doubly dreading Gulfstream being destroyed. Maybe that's just good writing adding suspense.
I think they did a really fantastic job building the relationship between Emma and Keith. Emma really wants to get her diving card, and it so happens that Keith can act as an instructor. You can feel the bond between the two growing as the book goes along. Definitely worth reading, but if you haven't read any Gould, I would go with Jumper, Wildside or Helm before Greenwar.
Gulfstream I is an offshore research and commercial facility designed by Emma Tooke. Keith Hellmen is a top notch environmental scientist working for the EPA and going undercover for the FBI at Gulfstream. Gabriel Cervantes is an environmental activist. Fifteen years ago Emma and Gabe had a thing.
As the story begins a hurricane is about to hit Gulfstream. Emma rushes to the site and learns that a new environmental officer has been hired by the CEO. She takes an instant dislike to Keith for having been foisted upon her during the critical preparation time before the hurricane. That it short lived because Keith not only pitches in, he proves himself invaluable during the storm. Meanwhile Gabe and Wild Justice having just blown up a polluting paper mill in New Mexico is approached by a mysterious woman, Boadica, who wants to sink Gulfstream.
I read the first 150 pages six months ago and then got busy with other things (work, softball, watching TV shows and sports, etc.). I finally picked up reading it again last week and it went fast. It bogged down a little during the hurricane preparation scenes because trying to visualize Gulfstream took some extra thinking. Plus that was when all the character introductions were happening. Or maybe because a portion of the book followed Gabe and his group, I was doubly dreading Gulfstream being destroyed. Maybe that's just good writing adding suspense.
I think they did a really fantastic job building the relationship between Emma and Keith. Emma really wants to get her diving card, and it so happens that Keith can act as an instructor. You can feel the bond between the two growing as the book goes along. Definitely worth reading, but if you haven't read any Gould, I would go with Jumper, Wildside or Helm before Greenwar.
August 12, 2012
I've been a fan of Gould's writing for years, but had somehow missed this one. I was excited to get it!
And- well, it was an entertaining enough read, but ultimately pretty simple. And the one BIG question it raised- who, exactly, was funding the eco-terrorists- was not answered. BAD!
The eco-terrorists were the least-well-drawn of the lot. We have 3 idealists (of whom 2 seem to at least as interested in making stuff go BOOM than in the ideals), and 1 staunch idealist (who nonetheless got suckered into one of the most blatant agent provocteur schemes i have ever read in my LIFE, and who in defiance of all reason thought HE was in charge when it was clearly the AP). None of them worked as people; they weren't even coherent. I'm leaving the AP out because she was intended to be obscure.
The "good guys" were mostly better-written, else it would have been pretty boring, despite the exciting plotting elements. The scuba-diving stuff was nifty and accurate as far as I could tell- though it's been 40 years since I tried it. The hints of the tech in the deep-sea station were great! It would be wonderful if we could buy lobster and shrimp raised so sustainably; Gulf Stream 1 did a pretty good job, as described, of creating its own ecosystem.
So there was a lot to like. For me, though, a book this long needed additional complexity in the plotline(s). More about who was funding the AP and the eco-terrorists- and more conflict between the assumedly good-hearted eco-terrorists and the AP- would have helped... as did the office politics on the part of the good guys.
I'm not sorry I read it; I just don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone unless it met a particular interest of theirs.
And- well, it was an entertaining enough read, but ultimately pretty simple. And the one BIG question it raised- who, exactly, was funding the eco-terrorists- was not answered. BAD!
The eco-terrorists were the least-well-drawn of the lot. We have 3 idealists (of whom 2 seem to at least as interested in making stuff go BOOM than in the ideals), and 1 staunch idealist (who nonetheless got suckered into one of the most blatant agent provocteur schemes i have ever read in my LIFE, and who in defiance of all reason thought HE was in charge when it was clearly the AP). None of them worked as people; they weren't even coherent. I'm leaving the AP out because she was intended to be obscure.
The "good guys" were mostly better-written, else it would have been pretty boring, despite the exciting plotting elements. The scuba-diving stuff was nifty and accurate as far as I could tell- though it's been 40 years since I tried it. The hints of the tech in the deep-sea station were great! It would be wonderful if we could buy lobster and shrimp raised so sustainably; Gulf Stream 1 did a pretty good job, as described, of creating its own ecosystem.
So there was a lot to like. For me, though, a book this long needed additional complexity in the plotline(s). More about who was funding the AP and the eco-terrorists- and more conflict between the assumedly good-hearted eco-terrorists and the AP- would have helped... as did the office politics on the part of the good guys.
I'm not sorry I read it; I just don't know that I'd recommend it to anyone unless it met a particular interest of theirs.
May 15, 2016
Thriller by author Steven Gould and co-author Laura J. Mixon.
Environmental thriller - Emma Tooke has devoted her life to Gulfstream, a company dedicated to harvesting clean energy from the sea. To keep her ocean project-station alive, she's risked her career fighting corporate treachery, and her life battling the fury of a killer hurricane. But suddenly Emma faces a threat greater than she's ever encountered--a band of extremist vigilantes calling themselves "Wild Justice," who consider Gulfstream evil for the hope it raises--that an American energy corporation can be a force for environmental reform. So Wild Justice has targeted Gulfstream, using an old flame of Emma's to get past her defenses, and the project's.
Environmental thriller - Emma Tooke has devoted her life to Gulfstream, a company dedicated to harvesting clean energy from the sea. To keep her ocean project-station alive, she's risked her career fighting corporate treachery, and her life battling the fury of a killer hurricane. But suddenly Emma faces a threat greater than she's ever encountered--a band of extremist vigilantes calling themselves "Wild Justice," who consider Gulfstream evil for the hope it raises--that an American energy corporation can be a force for environmental reform. So Wild Justice has targeted Gulfstream, using an old flame of Emma's to get past her defenses, and the project's.
July 15, 2016
I recognized the author from Jumper, a book I enjoyed, so when I saw this one at Half Price Books, I thought I'd be getting more science fiction.
Even though this is an environmental thriller, it was a fun read. I don't normally care much for thrillers but this one was good. The characters were well-fleshed out and their motivations were mostly apparent.
I was left with a couple of questions (Is Louis okay?) but when real life leaves you with questions. I wonder, too, how realistic the science is.
Even though this is an environmental thriller, it was a fun read. I don't normally care much for thrillers but this one was good. The characters were well-fleshed out and their motivations were mostly apparent.
I was left with a couple of questions (Is Louis okay?) but when real life leaves you with questions. I wonder, too, how realistic the science is.
August 29, 2007
Yay for light summer reading! a thriller about ecoterrorists, complete with a hurricane, explosions, scuba diving, and some sex. Not as knuckle-biting as some other author's work, but it did distract me on a long plane ride quite well!
I really like his book Wildside, though (a lot!!). But some of his other science fiction was kind of lame.
I really like his book Wildside, though (a lot!!). But some of his other science fiction was kind of lame.
September 3, 2007
An "eco-thriller" that was kinda fun, but seemed out of place - probably because of the pre-2001 terrorism theme. There were some good diving sequences, but the characters were never very interesting - too pretty and intelligent for me. Maybe I should reread the Monkey Wrench Gang... (August 19, 2004)
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews