Customer Reviews

Dead Water Zone

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book to be yet another highly enjoyable book by Kenneth Oppel. It is a quick read, but I found that this did not at all deter from my enjoyment of the book. I can recommend this book to anyone, especially fans of other books by Kenneth Oppel.

I'm 14 and I have to read for school you have to get a certin amount of points to gaduate. I hate reading but after I read this book I love reading. So I recomend you get this book or Journy to the center of the Earth

I bought this book because I loved and adored Oppel's novel Airborn. Unfortunately, this much earlier work is not nearly so well-written. The imagery was pretty darn nifty, and the premise was moderately intriguing, but unfortunately that's really all it had going for it. The characters were uniformly static and the plot was generic. Try something more recent of Oppel's.

This book is very different from anything else from Kenneth Oppel that I have yet read. It is a speculative fiction that reminds me of much of Robert A. Heinlien's works that I read years ago in High School, or Frank Herbert's non-Dune books. It is intriguing and sublimely written.

The story is about Paul, a young athlete, has gone in search of his brother, a genius who has gone missing in Watertown, a dilapidated floating second city of those who live outside regular society. Paul is looking for Sam and keeps feeling like he sees him or feels him but has yet to actually find him. Paul meets a young woman named Monica who helps him navigate this world he has never known. Can Paul find his brother and save him? Does Sam want to be saved? Or will the Dead Water Zone consume everyone who enters its area of influence? No one knows where the Dead Water comes from, only that those who drink it are changed. They seem to be stringer, faster, have better eye sight and they also seem to go crazy.

This book was an incredible read. With twists and turns you do not expect, and surprises around every corner, it has the flavor and feel of classic science fiction. It is a stunning story compressed into just under 200 pages. Like many classic science fiction stories this one deals with themes of evolution, ecology, politics, power and human survival. It reads like it could fit into Frank Herbert's The Eye's of Heisenberg, The Dosadi Experiment or The Green Brain. If it was written as homage to some of the masters of Science Fiction it achieves its effect in a spectacular way. Oppel draws you into a story that has layers you will not unravel until the very end. It is an excellent book by a great Canadian author.

Dead Water Zone is a short read, with a very original plot and contains unique characters. I personally love Oppel's work, but others work of his is much better, such as the Silverwing Trilogy. This book's plot is very bizarre, and I found it easy to follow it. But, I can see some of my friend [and other people] getting lost in it's uncannyness. If your a teen, and want a good short read, this is the book you want.