Beside a Burning Sea
by John Shors
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Book Summary Information
Author: John ShorsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-02
ISBN: 0451224922
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: NAL Trade
Book Reviews of Beside a Burning Sea
Book Review: "Lost in Space" (with Haiku)
Summary: 1 Stars
I'm normally a sucker for literate historical fiction but did I ever get burned on this one.
Let's start with the premise. The USS Benevolence (AH-13) (I'm not sure the author realized it was a real ship) gets sunk somewhere in the Solomon Islands while independently steaming in a war zone (never happen), ostensibly because in addition to carrying evacuating wounded it is also carrying munitions (never happen) and nobody realized the ship has been sunk for over two weeks (never happen). There is a big long technical discussion on why none of those are remotely possible but the author didn't care so why bother. By the way, the real USS Benevolence wasn't delivered until late in the war, after the Guadalcanal Campaign was over, and did actually sink as a result of a peacetime collision off of San Fransisco in 1950.
OK, so why bother with the ahistorical deus ex machina? Because...it gets guys and dolls ashore on a desert island so the author can do a remake of the campy 1960's space melodrama "Lost in Space!" For those too young to remember that's the TV show where Zorro marries Lassie's Mom and heads off into space with the family (and one of the Von Trapp kids), crash lands on an uncharted planet where the evil staff scientist endangers their lives for 61 straight weeks only to be saved again and again by the plucky son and his robot sidekick. Lost in Space - The Complete First Season
Well.. even with no history roots and a second-hand plotting concept it could have still been saved with great writing, eh? Sorry, there are numerous hanging plot threads, melodramatic scenes, predictable flashbacks, ghosts! and stock 2D characters. The writing is stiff and wooden. It was painful to read. In all fairness, I did like the haiku but even that seemed to be tack-welded to the story as an afterthought.
There is a wonderful book out there about the men and women who served on the Navy's floating hospitals during the WWII Pacific Campaign but I guess it's still waiting to be written. Where is Herman Wouk when you need him? The Caine Mutiny: A Novel
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