Bookworm Speaks!- World of Water Review

Bookworm Speaks!

World of Water (Dev Harmer #1)

by James Lovegrove

Acquired: Barnes & Nobel Booksellers

Series: Dev Harmer Missions

Paperback: 464 pages

Publisher: Solaris (August 26, 2014)

Language: English

****

The Story: In this stellar sequel to World of Fire, Dev Harmer has landed in a new body on a new planet...

Dev Harmer, reluctant agent of Interstellar Security Solutions, has travelled to ocean world Robinson D, nicknamed Triton.

Here, settlements belonging to the Terran Diaspora have been coming under attack by members of the planet’s sub-aquatic indigenous race. ISS suspects the involvement of an agent provocateur working for humankind's galactic rivals, the artificial intelligence civilization known as Polis+.

As the violence escalates, Dev finds himself battling to restore order - but he has only seventy-two hours before his genetically engineered host form breaks down irreversibly. And all as an ancient god-beast rises from the depths to usher in an apocalypse…

The Review: After his adventures on Alighieri, Dev Harmer takes a complete 180 and ends up on completely different planet. While the water-world is a staple of science fiction, Triton was built well enough to seem fresh and engaging. As far as the book mentions: there are no landmasses on the planet 

Some say characters, not story is what makes or breaks a book. Others say characters are only as good as the story. Its probably something in the middle but nonetheless characters are just as important to any story. The characters we have here are superb. Perhaps they are not the most complicated of personas but this is not a complicated book. 

The most memorable characters are the squad of Marines that accompany Dev Harmer on his mission and all of them are women. That deserves a clap from the reader. The life of the soldier has long been the domain of menfolk and seeing women in that role is a step forward. Having the whole platoon be made of women is a even bigger step. 

If there is a problem with this arrangement, is that only too of them are really that memorable and Bookworm can only recall the name of one. That happens a lot when it comes to situations like this, every army has its faceless grunts. 

One of the funniest portions of the book is the big boned Marine who hits on the male waiter and male patrons of the cafe the squad visits midway through to book. An interesting turnaround, as it is normally men who do that in creative media. An interesting look on flirting and, lets face it, sexual harassment. 

While we are on that topic, it deserves mentioning the relationship between Dev and the leader of the Marines, Eydis Sigursdottir. First of all…making her Icelandic is rather creative, for one thing, that country’s strong nautical tradition. More than that though, the relationship between her and Dev is worthy of mention, in spite of not being the focus. Sigursdottir starts off being rather standoffish and dismissive of Dev. It’s clear Dev is attracted to her but when he talks to her, she accuses him of hitting on her. Sexism is a stubborn beast and even in the distant future the idea of female soldiers is still not universally accepted and Sigursdottir knows that. The other reason, for the defensiveness is the common resentfulness that arises when professional soldiers have to answer to civilians, even if the said civilian is a veteran turned interstellar agent. 

In the first book, Dev had a similar encounter with the Police Chief on Alighieri and in true detective story fashion, he ends up in bed with her. This does not happen with Dev and Sigursdottir and that is a good thing. They have earned each other’s respect but that does not need to be expressed with sex. Very progressive move on the author’s part. 

Most of this book swims but there are few parts that sink. 

There is one detail right of the bat that really bugs Bookworm. The planet is called Triton, which fits as Triton is a god of the sea. There’s just one problem: That name’s taken! It’s the name of Neptune’s largest moon. Its not that big a deal but it does stand out. 

Bookworm will not give it away here, but the at the very end there is a confrontation that is extremely cliched. Its one that more and more writers are becoming more aware off and trying to go in a different direction. It could be argued that this book is basically a B-Movie on another planet and thus the cliches are part of form but still, Bookworm found himself skimming this part as not only was it cliched, it was a bit predictable as well. 

Final Verdict: World of Water is a perfect sequel. A new body, a new planet, and a new adventure. Similar style but unique in its own way. This series is great! It may be a bit too uncomplicated for some readers but its a nice balm for those looking for some fun. 

Four Waves out of Five

Can’t Wait for World of Air!

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