Customer Reviews

Tempest Down

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

 

 

As a reader of techno-thrillers, I expect a bit of "willing suspension of disbelief" in order to appreciate the work of a writer who wants to push the technology envelope. But unless I'm traveling to a galaxy far far away, I don't expect to have to abandon the laws of physics. For Tempest Down, it's not just that Jeff Rovin didn't bother to do a little home work (although it's clear that he didn't), it's that he either doesn't understand or chooses to ignore some very basic truths and so undermines his entire premise. This story focuses on the rescue of submariners whose vessels are trapped on the ocean bottom off the Antarctic coast pinned under a submarine ice fall. Unless there have been big changes since the last time I checked, ice floats. While to my mind this is one of the more egregious flaws, it is not by any means the only one. For example, Rovin's understanding of the effects of pressure (kind of important in underwater stories) is barely rudamentary and there are many narrative faults as a result. His primary plot device, the super-cavitation drive, seems to be tool that would would make his super secret submarine about as stealthly (important to a submarine) as a fire engine driven through a daycare center. But now I'm just being mean.

Tempest Down is not a bad read if you don't ask more of your entertainment than some intrigue and a little excitement. If you like story that is well thought out and tightly woven, you won't like this.

Other reviewers have pointed out the glaring errors in physics and submarine operations in this book, so I won't repeat them. For me the problems started on the front cover of the paperback with "Beneath the Arctic Ice a battle for survival is being waged". Sounds good---except that the story takes place in the ANTARCTIC! I haven't figured out whether this was a conscious error on the part of the publisher---who realized that subs really DID go under arctic ice on a regular basis) or a dumb oversight by a designer who hadn't bothered to read the book.

The other thing that bothered me was either the lack of simple geographic knowledge or inability to do simple math. The story has a converted small oil tanker sailing from Kings Bay, Georgia to the Weddell Sea (30.8N to 70S)---a round trip of at least 12000 nautical miles if you ignore inconvenient land masses and a stopover in the Falklands---in just 14 days. That mandates a speed of advance of at least 36 Knots! If you can get converted oil tankers to sail at that speed, why bother with supercavitating submarines!

If you've ever served in the military, you'll also be amused by the laughable confusion over the military ranks of some of the characters. The author seems not to realize that a captain's rank in the Navy is two steps above a major in the Air Force. However, the captain (position) of a research submersible might have the rank of Lieutenant---which is the same as a captain in the air force.

These are not difficult facts to research, and you'd think a reputable publisher would have editors with enough technical background to correct these flaws early in the publishing process.

If you have no knowledge of geography, physics, or the military, you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, go find a maritime thriller a little closer to reality---like something by Clive Cussler (or even better, David Poyer).

I bought this book only because it listed the author, Jeff Rovin, as the writer of Tom Clancy's Op-Center. That series isn't bad. Based upon Mr. Rovin's solo results however, Tom Clancy must do a lot of rewriting on the Op-Center books before they are released. Having spent 22 years in the US Navy associated with submarines, from World War II diesel boats to the latest nukes, I feel I am pretty knowledgeable on submarines. I have never seen a book on submarines that had so many technical errors. Now I realize that sometimes the author must take liberties with reality to advance the story line, but Mr. Rovin makes technical errors that are ludicrous and could have easily been made more realistic without hurting the story at all. Example: the ventilation fans quit running and the oxygen supply drops dramatically! Power is transferred from one boat to the other, underwater, via torpedo signal wires. A research submarine is able to ascertain the wattage of energy being dumped into the water, this from a boat that only a very limited amount of power left.

It is obvious that not only does Mr. Rovin know almost nothing about submarines, but also he isn't willing to work with someone who does, to make the book more believable. I read completely the book to see if it got any better. It didn't.

After trudging painfully through the first half of this book, I simply could not take it anymore. I threw it into the trash last night after finishing Chapter 12.

The plot is ridiculous. The characters have no depth. The author has no grasp of technology or physics. I truly believe the author set out to make this story as implausible as possible. He succeeded...

Pick up a Joe Buff book if you want to read a real submarine adventure story.

What a complete travesty of words.

An almost implausible storyline, characters who can't seem to do anything without causing huge problems, and a plot so insipid that it would get an F-minus in any creative writing course in the world.

I won't go into the technical inaccuracies, other reviewers have done that, and done it well. In fact, all I will note is that I spent four and one half years in the air force, and yet I seem to know more about naval operations than Mr. Rovin.

One jarring thing that kept leaping out is Rovin's insistence on using full rank titles, all the time. This is done only when the person being addressed is in deep trouble for something. Constantly calling someone "rear admiral" is a sure way to get a stern talking to.

This had all the makings of a good, maybe even a great story. Unfortunately, those makings were left to rot.

Tom Clancy should sue just for having his name on the same book cover as Rovin's.

I feel like I was robbed.

Agree with many of the earlier reviews. This book was ruined by the glaring errors. The author has obvously never spent much time under water or he would know some basic truths:

Ice floats.

air bubbles rise.

Air bubbles have the same pressure as the water around them.

Decompression sickness is a function of many variables, including depth, time at depth, body fat content, physical activity, temperature, etc., but one thing is for sure, you will NOT be symptomatic in any way after only thirty seconds at six atmospheres. Embolized, maybe, but not bent.

Errors like this put this in the realm of fantasy, and pretty much detracted from the entire story. Give this one a pass. I probably won't waste my time on future work by this author.

One of the things that a Technothriller should have is some accuracy. This is where Tom Clancy shines above most authors. Tempest Down starts out with the hero being rescued by an air force flying dental squadron. The USAF has come up with some lame ideas, but a flying dental squadron is not one of them. When I got to the reference about vietcong prisoners being fed to piranhas (I guess they flew them in from the Amazon), I gave up. The premise of the book sounded interesting, I just couldn't get past the flying dentists

BETTER THAN OP-CENTER(BY TOM AND JEFF ROVIN) SERIES.
I LIKE IT.