27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Can't even finish it, February 20, 2011
This book reads like a cheesy Saturday night SyFy movie. If you are looking for substance, intelligence, and above all credibility of action/reaction in a disaster scenario, you will not find it in this fiction novel. There are three major issues in this book. Together they kill the plot.
First, the author overly relies on delayed revelation, to the point that it becomes laughable, because it is so contrived and unrealistic. Characters consistently refuse to describe what they experienced, and when they do so it is cryptic and downright irritating. I'm ok with leaving some to the reader's imagination, but this overly artificial.
Second, characters and their backgrounds are completely inconsistent with their abilities and their decision-making process. An air force officer would never have the means to purchase a large yacht and fully customize it for survival.
Third, one of the basic tenets of disaster plots is a solid treatment of associated hardships and the ingenious survival techniques developed by the survivors. The survivor's camp in the mall is completely incoherent.
Overall, I am sorely disappointed. I actually read the reviews prior to purchasing, but apparently not very many readers share my views. I'm trying to finish the book to get my $2.99 worth. I'm halfway through, but I keep putting it down because it is so mind-numbingly idiotic.
One more thing... it's anchors "aweigh", not anchors "away". You don't throw your anchor away, you lift it up out of the water, lifting the weight, hence aweigh... And you don't drop anchor in the marina when you are tied up at the dock!!! Why would you do that???? This just one of many examples that shows how little the author knows of what he's writing about.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good for a First Novel, May 8, 2010
This review is from: The Sleep of the Gods (Kindle Edition)
As a first novel, I found 'The Sleep of the Gods' by James Sperl to be (hopefully) a precursor of great things to come. While there are some inconsistencies in the storyline, and the book is in need of a good editor, all in all I was very impressed. He definately thought up some end-of-the-world causes that no other writer has yet imagined. His grasp of science seems very good, and while his character developement could use a bit of fleshing out, his characters did seem real to me, which is most of the battle right there. Also the fact that he offered this book quickly on Kindle and for an extremely reasonable $2.99 made me quite happy. I am a post-apocalyptic book expert, and I've read almost everything the genre has to offer. This new addition was a happy suprise, and I can't wait to see what Mr. Sperl comes up with next.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It'll do - there are far worse, and far better, books out there, February 10, 2011
This review is from: The Sleep of the Gods (Kindle Edition)
From its incongruous title to its overwrought use of suspense to its slinky-like compression and expansion of time as the plot advances, this book is oddball in so many aspects.
First, the title. Relationship to the actual contents of the book: Zero. Of course, the author may have his reasons for endowing the book with "The Sleep of the Gods" - but in this case, the post-apocalyptic premise and storyline have as much to do with the title as, oh, say, a pack of double-A batteries.
Plot? Well, yes, there are holes aplenty. A virus/bio/alien something infects humans and animals, creating a new class that requires UV radiation (mainly from sunlight) to survive...and they're supposedly dumb as rocks...but THOUSANDS of them manage to survive over multiple nights by finding and rigging battery-powered lights that happen to emit a few feeble UV rays. All on night one of the disaster. Wait, what?
As mentioned by others, one of the heroes of the story is offstage for most of the book - an Air Force officer who is able to provide all sorts of Bill Gates-style accouterments for his family (but not an actual rescue or anything). I can buy this a bit easier than others; the author did note that he was a kind of black-ops guy, and for all we know, his Air Force rank may have been cover for some blacker-than-NSA uber-clearance Platinum-Amex expense-account REAL job.
Some plot holes I can forgive; others I can't. And the author makes three glaring errors that keep this book from being spectacular. First, he doesn't get the darn thing proofed. You don't get an injury to your calve, doofus; you get an injury to your calf.
Second, the author kills off a major and highly developed, sympathetic character at the end. Not that you couldn't see it coming from 20 chapters away.
And third, the author exceeds his allocation of "her eyes welled with tears" and similar hackneyed expressions by a factor of 10.
Get. A. Decent. Editor.
As this is an indie book and it cost $2.99, I would still recommend it to friends who are into PA fiction and want to explore a unique perspective on the faux-zombie genre. What I would like even more is if a major publishing house picked up the book, cleaned it up, modified some of the subplots a bit and set things up for a rollicking sequel. (The elements for a great sequel are there. Really. Buried in the author's ham-handed prose, but there nonetheless.)
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
