China Sea [Paperback]

David Poyer (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (2000)
• ASIN: B000OTLMKY
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars China Sea, February 2, 2000

By 

"don4sail" - See all my reviews

This review is from: China Sea (Tales of the Modern Navy) (Hardcover)

David Poyer is a master story teller and in China Sea he continues his saga of Dan Lenson in much the same fashion as C.S. Forester with his Hornblower series and Patrick O'Brian and his Jack Aubrey works but with a modern twist. His storm scene descriptions are real and to this sailor who has sailed through several typhoons in small naval vessels as well as his own small sailboat, the power of the sea comes crashing through. For ten years my wife and sailed the waters of the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and the western Pacific. The attacks by pirates are real, we having been through two ourselves and have had friends and acquaintences injured and killed, their possessions stolen, boats stripped or sunk. Poyer describes the village life in the Philippines as it is today on the some 1700 inhabited islands of that archepelago, islands so remote the people draw their water from wells or are forced to get it by banca from a larger island; where electricity is unknown or is supplied by a small generator. The tension of a small, nearly mutinous crew and the doubts and uncertainties of Dan Lenson learning command leadership is brilliantly laid out. I can't wait for Poyer's next story of the greening of LCDR Dan Lenson.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars David Poyer Deserves More!, July 27, 2000

By 

J. Melko (Miamisburg, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: China Sea (Tales of the Modern Navy) (Hardcover)

I become rather annoyed when the professional reviewers emphasize the accuracy of David Poyer's Navy expertise and descriptions. As someone who knows next to nothing about the Navy or seamanship or whatever, Poyer has nevertheless caught my attention as a masterful writer, a challenging thinker, and an insightful explorer of leadership within the context of human nature.

Poyer has always been an artistically admirable writer. If you've already read China Sea, return to Prologue 3 on page 11. As horrible as what it describes is, Poyer's prose is gorgeous, reminiscent of what made me pay special attention to him in another of his novels, As the Wolf Loves Winter. Poyer proves even in this small passage that he can consistently hit the artistic mark that Thomas Harris set in Silence of the Lambs.

Poyer's series hero, Dan Lenson, has evolved from a relatively innocent follower to a seasoned, wise, yet renegade leader. He struggles always to be faithful to his own commanders, yet his sense of loyalty and commitment brings him face to face, again and again, with the vagaries of human frailty. He is the adherent to the black-and-white code of Navy tradition that forever proves inadequate to contain the ambitions and passions of human leaders. And yet even as Lenson suffers professionally, he prevails in his belief that there is absolute truth somewhere out there.

The only character I can think of in another modern novel series who has been as exquisitely treated as Poyer's Dan Lenson is in the Lawrence Block series, Matt Scudder. Lenson's experiences and the effect they have on the ongoing development of his character are razor-sharp in every novel. Lenson feels like an old friend from whom I've heard many intimate thoughts, and he seems to be as complex and alive as any person I've ever known.

So many of Poyer's professional reviews focus on the realism of the Navy experience he describes, but what I am fascinated by is the realism of the human heart in the reality of leadership and command that Poyer portrays with such excellence.

Keep it up, David! I figure I'm going to retire right along with Lenson!

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fantastic Poyer read!, February 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: China Sea (Tales of the Modern Navy) (Hardcover)

I was swept away into the adventure of the China Sea, living vicariously every exciting moment in Poyer's latest (and great) book. I'll never live such adventure so I'm terribly grateful to Poyer for allowing me to participate, if only on the printed page.

I did notice that the book's flap copy did a disservice to Poyer when they referred to his "star-crossed" career. I'm sure they meant it as a compliment (like "star-studded") but star-crossed actually means "destined to an unhappy fate, sure to end up in misfortune." Check out the dictionary when you write flap copy, publisher! Because David Poyer is definitely star studded and his books are going to be around for a long, long time.