David P. ForsythCritiques

A superb look from a different perspective

I have read all of Hugh Howey's series and all of the add on books written by different authors and I must say, this book is one of the best! As a Silo series fans I think about the different perspectives and I loved this one. What a great author.

Ever since reading the first book, Voyage of the Dead, I have anxiously been awaiting this second book in the series. It did NOT disappoint. Check that -- I WAS disappointed when I ran out of book to read. I was engrossed from start to finish. Once again, I was up into the wee hours of the morning to finish the book.

As with the first book, I was fascinated with the two main characters. Both Scott can Carl are the type of men I would hope I would be if such a situation as a Zombie Apocalypse were to arise. Not only are they ethical men, but they put a lot of thought behind their plans and actions.

I think David weaves an excellent balance between dialog, description, and action. And I enjoy the bantering that frequently occurs between the main characters.

Loved the book. I almost read it in one sitting, except that it was 4am and I had to go to bed. Now I've got to wait for the second book...

I'm generally not a fan of books where stories go back and forth between different characters and story lines, but I thought it worked very well in this book. Maybe because there were only two main characters, instead of the 6 or 7 some writers try to juggle in a book.

It was refreshing to have a zombie story about survivors in a position to have a rational and thought-out response to the zombie uprising, rather than one that has mostly irrational panic reactions and petty squabbling among the survivors.

I also enjoyed the humorous dialog injected here and there. Just the right mix.

Once again, I was up into the wee hours of the morning to finish the book, because I couldn't put it down.

Although I enjoyed it thoroughly, this book was much darker than the previous two and lacked a lot of the humor they had, which I missed. And the big baddie we want to hate here is a human being, although there is enough zombie action for all.

And a few more questions to keep the story going. So now I go back into wait mode for the next book. AGAIN! :)

Since I'm a big fan of the Sovereign Spirit Saga, I enjoyed these three shorter stories quite a bit.

Lukan, the prequel to it all, is the story of how the whole zombie infection started. It was my least favorite of the three stories.

Land's End is an outbreak/survival story at a Mexican cruise ship destination, involving characters that later show up in the saga. This was my favorite of the three, and I'd give it 5 stars.

Into the Breach is a longer story about an initial military response to the zombie breakout, also involving characters that show up later in the saga. This went a bit long for me (e.g. too many "stay frosty" comments), but still a lot of "fun". :)

It is hard to decide how to rate this book.

**Spoilers ahead**

Other than a few typos, the story was reasonably well written. The problems I had with the story were the many implausibility factors that really affected my suspension of disbelief. I have a really hard time believing that the people working on the yacht would just keep on working, just because they were "safe." The setup of the book had the protagonists so over- prepared, there were no real challenges or problems to solve. I found it hard to believe that government agencies would hand the control over to a private party, no matter how well prepared.

There were events that were never followed up on that left major holes in the plot. (To be fair, it is the first part of the series, so parts of the story may be followed up on in the second part to the series.)

I didn't feel that any of the characters were fully developed. Scott, the main character was horribly arrogant. The character of Carl was probably much more interesting, genuinely resourceful. The women characters in the book were nothing more than stereotypes, to the degree that they almost became jokes.

Because of the implausibility and the lack of any real problems, most of the book had no real tension to hold your interest.

For me, this book falls into the category of so-so zombie survivalist literature, the kind where more attention is paid to the details of the guns and equipment than are paid to the characters. There are a lot of good books like Day By Day Armageddon that do It much better.

Now. All of that being said, the book did have a certain excitement and momentum to it (at least as long as you don't think too much!). At the end of the book was an excerpt of the beginning of the next book in the series. When, I finished reading it, I very easily could have clicked through to buy the next installment. I still may. But if Flotilla of the Dead doesn't start following through with story lines, I won't give number three a chance....

It is hard to decide how to rate this book.

**Spoilers ahead**

Other than a few typos, the story was reasonably well written. The problems I had with the story were the many implausibility factors that really affected my suspension of disbelief. I have a really hard time believing that the people working on the yacht would just keep on working, just because they were "safe." The setup of the book had the protagonists so over- prepared, there were no real challenges or problems to solve. I found it hard to believe that government agencies would hand the control over to a private party, no matter how well prepared.

There were events that were never followed up on that left major holes in the plot. (To be fair, it is the first part of the series, so parts of the story may be followed up on in the second part to the series.)

I didn't feel that any of the characters were fully developed. Scott, the main character was horribly arrogant. The character of Carl was probably much more interesting, genuinely resourceful. The women characters in the book were nothing more than stereotypes, to the degree that they almost became jokes.

Because of the implausibility and the lack of any real problems, most of the book had no real tension to hold your interest.

For me, this book falls into the category of so-so zombie survivalist literature, the kind where more attention is paid to the details of the guns and equipment than are paid to the characters. There are a lot of good books like Day By Day Armageddon that do It much better.

Now. All of that being said, the book did have a certain excitement and momentum to it (at least as long as you don't think too much!). At the end of the book was an excerpt of the beginning of the next book in the series. When, I finished reading it, I very easily could have clicked through to buy the next installment. I still may. But if Flotilla of the Dead doesn't start following through with story lines, I won't give number three a chance....

Note: this is my review as I originally posted on Amazon. The reviewers I am referring to are from that site and not from Librarything.

I will start by saying that I was interested in reading this book firstly because I adore zombie fiction, secondly, I love to read a book that has a handful of one star, absolutely scathing, reviews to balance out the five-star love. What would drive a person to take the time out of their day to totally annihilate an authors work by declaring him an anti-liberal, Obama-hating, snob. I was intrigued and so I read.

The story is about Scott Allen, a lottery winner that spent some of his money on a mega-yacht that he outfitted with all sorts of neat toys. He is on the last leg of an around-the-world trip when a virus is let loose apon the world. Scott's ship, the Sovereign Spirit, is running up the coast of California, where they have some interesting interactions with military personnel, and eventually utilize their "toys" to rescue survivors and guide a flotilla of boats in seeking safety. Yes, this guy is rich...he won the lottery. His yacht is just returning from a year long expedition, so we can assume that the boat has food, the medical capabilities of taking care of any of his passengers in remote locations in the event of emergency. He has a wide assortment of toys, none of which did I find particularly strange if you have spent any time either watching prepper shows or shows about regular people who win mega lotteries and the crazy things they do with their money. This was totally different take on zompoc, instead of a character struggling to survive and spending all their time running from the zombies, these guys actually thrive and have the capabilities to help others. Not a common theme. And lets face it, its getting a lot harder to come up with a zombie story that hasn't been written to death. The only thing that really changes anymore is the names and places.

There was, what I would call an aside in the book where a character called Carl, really does struggle to survive and faces some serious obstacles which he overcomes in interesting ways. I really enjoyed the parts with Carl and I think the authors talent really shines during his Interludes in Hell. I would love a whole book dedicated to this character and his adventures.

Next, yes, this book was missing a strong female character. There were not many women in this book, period. The few that were, well, they were simply disappointing. But again, I did not take that personally because quite frankly, I know a lot of women that would be EXACTLY disappointing, if put in a survival situation. Go ahead and call me names....its true. Tell me you don't know women who would simply fall to pieces without their makeup bag or designer shoes.

Finally, a common complaint among the angry reviewers were the political views they felt were expressed in this book. I guess they feel that a book should be written with only Democrat or Liberal-type characters and everyone should be supporting their fictional president in the fictional story and never should they express any dismay with the current state of affairs in their fictional world. I am a Democrat. I happily voted for our current president and when I read a fiction book, I remember that it is actually a story..about people....who are not me...and may have different views as me....and hey...I am ok with that!

It took me a mere two days to read all three books of the Sovereign Spirit Saga. Once I picked them up, you couldn't tear me away! Let's get real, I bet this series makes each of you muse over what you would spend your hundreds of millions on should you ever hit the megabucks. The plot is straightforward. Scott, a family man, hits the lottery in a big way. You know boys and their toys. He purchases an old cruise liner and retrofits it to be the ultimate party boat. We're talking helicopters, planes, amphibious watercraft, a cache of weapons; the Sovereign Spirit has it all. On a pleasure cruise with his family and friends, the crew finds themselves in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

The Sovereign spirit is more a tale of survival than death and destruction, oh don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of death and destruction. However, it plays second fiddle to our characters battle to survive and thrive in a world gone dead. Each book can be read standalone, or in succession. Individually they tell a complete battle, together they show us the entire war.

I suspect the male gender will really enjoy reading about Scott and his taking charge of creating safe zones and leading the flotilla of boats that travel in the wake of the Sovereign Spirit. For me, I connected with Carl and his struggles, and perseverance. Carl had a depth of character that I didn't find in the other survivors. My only criticism would be that the female characters left me lacking. In this day and age, women just aren't that fragile and docile. I would have liked to see some girl power gracing the pages. I also had difficulty with the crew continuing to work. I just got back from a cruise, and I know the waitstaff, stewards, and other employees would have revolted. Personally, I would have given a big F-Off to my boss and demanded everyone clean their own rooms.

From what I hear, these 3 books are just the first installment, and there is more to come in the Sovereign Spirit Saga...The saga continues mwuhahaha.

Can we just talk about David Forsyth for a minute? This guy is awesome! He is keen to the fact that in order to keep a buzz going, you must remain relevant. I see him on nearly every blog or group I frequent. I respect that tenacity. That's a guy who's gonna make it. Writers, take note. If you don't sell yourself and put yourself out there, no one else will. Pay attention to this guy. He's got the goods!

Click here to read my entire review

It took me a mere two days to read all three books of the Sovereign Spirit Saga. Once I picked them up, you couldn't tear me away! Let's get real, I bet this series makes each of you muse over what you would spend your hundreds of millions on should you ever hit the megabucks. The plot is straightforward. Scott, a family man, hits the lottery in a big way. You know boys and their toys. He purchases an old cruise liner and retrofits it to be the ultimate party boat. We're talking helicopters, planes, amphibious watercraft, a cache of weapons; the Sovereign Spirit has it all. On a pleasure cruise with his family and friends, the crew finds themselves in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

The Sovereign spirit is more a tale of survival than death and destruction, oh don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of death and destruction. However, it plays second fiddle to our characters battle to survive and thrive in a world gone dead. Each book can be read standalone, or in succession. Individually they tell a complete battle, together they show us the entire war.

I suspect the male gender will really enjoy reading about Scott and his taking charge of creating safe zones and leading the flotilla of boats that travel in the wake of the Sovereign Spirit. For me, I connected with Carl and his struggles, and perseverance. Carl had a depth of character that I didn't find in the other survivors. My only criticism would be that the female characters left me lacking. In this day and age, women just aren't that fragile and docile. I would have liked to see some girl power gracing the pages. I also had difficulty with the crew continuing to work. I just got back from a cruise, and I know the waitstaff, stewards, and other employees would have revolted. Personally, I would have given a big F-Off to my boss and demanded everyone clean their own rooms.

From what I hear, these 3 books are just the first installment, and there is more to come in the Sovereign Spirit Saga...The saga continues mwuhahaha.

Can we just talk about David Forsyth for a minute? This guy is awesome! He is keen to the fact that in order to keep a buzz going, you must remain relevant. I see him on nearly every blog or group I frequent. I respect that tenacity. That's a guy who's gonna make it. Writers, take note. If you don't sell yourself and put yourself out there, no one else will. Pay attention to this guy. He's got the goods!

Click here to read my entire review

It took me a mere two days to read all three books of the Sovereign Spirit Saga. Once I picked them up, you couldn't tear me away! Let's get real, I bet this series makes each of you muse over what you would spend your hundreds of millions on should you ever hit the megabucks. The plot is straightforward. Scott, a family man, hits the lottery in a big way. You know boys and their toys. He purchases an old cruise liner and retrofits it to be the ultimate party boat. We're talking helicopters, planes, amphibious watercraft, a cache of weapons; the Sovereign Spirit has it all. On a pleasure cruise with his family and friends, the crew finds themselves in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.

The Sovereign spirit is more a tale of survival than death and destruction, oh don't get me wrong, there is still plenty of death and destruction. However, it plays second fiddle to our characters battle to survive and thrive in a world gone dead. Each book can be read standalone, or in succession. Individually they tell a complete battle, together they show us the entire war.

I suspect the male gender will really enjoy reading about Scott and his taking charge of creating safe zones and leading the flotilla of boats that travel in the wake of the Sovereign Spirit. For me, I connected with Carl and his struggles, and perseverance. Carl had a depth of character that I didn't find in the other survivors. My only criticism would be that the female characters left me lacking. In this day and age, women just aren't that fragile and docile. I would have liked to see some girl power gracing the pages. I also had difficulty with the crew continuing to work. I just got back from a cruise, and I know the waitstaff, stewards, and other employees would have revolted. Personally, I would have given a big F-Off to my boss and demanded everyone clean their own rooms.

From what I hear, these 3 books are just the first installment, and there is more to come in the Sovereign Spirit Saga...The saga continues mwuhahaha.

Can we just talk about David Forsyth for a minute? This guy is awesome! He is keen to the fact that in order to keep a buzz going, you must remain relevant. I see him on nearly every blog or group I frequent. I respect that tenacity. That's a guy who's gonna make it. Writers, take note. If you don't sell yourself and put yourself out there, no one else will. Pay attention to this guy. He's got the goods!

Click here to read my entire review