Review of Ark of the Apocalypse
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Anna Bookowski
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Review of Ark of the Apocalypse
[Following is a volunteer review of "Ark of the Apocalypse" by Tobin Marks.]
Ark of the Apocalypse by Tobin Marks is an epic science-fiction novel. There are plenty of characters, but there are two families whose members play the most significant roles. The Yanbeyeva family is the one with a unique gift, which they call the Path. It grows stronger with each generation. The Mizushima family is the one that develops new technology which can change the future of space travel and soon can be the only chance for humanity to rescue.
Even though the story begins in 1936 and leads through the Second World War, it goes far into the future. In the series of short chapters, the author applies a broad perspective and takes us on travel around the world. In the beginning, the narration rotates mostly between Russia, Japan, and the USA, but soon we follow the happenings on the Earth orbit and a colony planet, Aqueous. It is the time when Earth is dying, when human ignorance and greed led to a global climate catastrophe, and when people are left with no other option than to leave the mother planet if they want to survive. The brightest minds of our kind will have to work together to find a way to escape. Fighting against time, they start to build Magellan II, a spaceship that will take a chosen group of colonists to their new home in space.
The first part of the book felt like watching the news, and it was so real that it was disturbing. Marks’ descriptions of climate change and political games played by heads of the countries were too realistic. I kept on thinking that this is exactly what happens right now. When the Water Wars started, the book felt visionary. When I read that the Third World War lasted less than twenty hours, I thought it was alarmingly possible. And when finally all the countries wiped themselves out of the Earth’s surface, I felt that we got what we deserved.
The story was written in easy language. Even the parts that were very political or discussing war tactics were comprehensible. Thanks to the short chapters and quick switches from one location to another, the action was moving forward fast and smoothly. I had an impression that the book was focused more on the plot than the characters. The story itself felt more important than the people in it. Because we followed a few generations—it would be a challenging task to fully develop all the characters. Therefore, it was difficult to grow any strong feelings towards any of them. But I wouldn’t say it was a weakness of the book because it did let me focus on the importance of the events.
Besides important issues like war and climate change, another significant aspect drew my attention: sexual equality in the story. At some point, I realized that for plenty of characters that would be male in traditional ways of thinking, the author chose females instead, and the results were very satisfying. I liked that women were equally important in the fields of politics, science, and the military. It’s also worth mentioning that the Yenbeyeva family was based on matriarchy, and it was the female bloodline that played the most meaningful role in the story.
The one detail that I found a bit cheap was the element of visions. Knowing the future seemed to be a convenient solution that helped achieve goals and justify all the unethical acts. Whatever was revealed by the Path was meant to happen, and everyone just allowed it. In many situations, this solution seemed too easy for me, and I kept thinking about what would be if they would not have seen it before.
Ark of the Apocalypse is the first book in the series, and it is a good one. I’ve spotted some punctuation issues and a few typos, but otherwise, the book was well-edited, and these tiny errors didn’t have an impact on the quality of reading. However, there were more than ten errors, and because of my objections described above (I don’t like when authors choose easy solutions), I’d like to rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. There was no erotic content in the book, and profane language was used only when justified. There were gore scenes that might be improper for sensitive readers. I can recommend the book to fans of epic science-fiction and space travel, but essentially it should be well-received by most adults.
******
Ark of the Apocalypse
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Ark of the Apocalypse by Tobin Marks is an epic science-fiction novel. There are plenty of characters, but there are two families whose members play the most significant roles. The Yanbeyeva family is the one with a unique gift, which they call the Path. It grows stronger with each generation. The Mizushima family is the one that develops new technology which can change the future of space travel and soon can be the only chance for humanity to rescue.
Even though the story begins in 1936 and leads through the Second World War, it goes far into the future. In the series of short chapters, the author applies a broad perspective and takes us on travel around the world. In the beginning, the narration rotates mostly between Russia, Japan, and the USA, but soon we follow the happenings on the Earth orbit and a colony planet, Aqueous. It is the time when Earth is dying, when human ignorance and greed led to a global climate catastrophe, and when people are left with no other option than to leave the mother planet if they want to survive. The brightest minds of our kind will have to work together to find a way to escape. Fighting against time, they start to build Magellan II, a spaceship that will take a chosen group of colonists to their new home in space.
The first part of the book felt like watching the news, and it was so real that it was disturbing. Marks’ descriptions of climate change and political games played by heads of the countries were too realistic. I kept on thinking that this is exactly what happens right now. When the Water Wars started, the book felt visionary. When I read that the Third World War lasted less than twenty hours, I thought it was alarmingly possible. And when finally all the countries wiped themselves out of the Earth’s surface, I felt that we got what we deserved.
The story was written in easy language. Even the parts that were very political or discussing war tactics were comprehensible. Thanks to the short chapters and quick switches from one location to another, the action was moving forward fast and smoothly. I had an impression that the book was focused more on the plot than the characters. The story itself felt more important than the people in it. Because we followed a few generations—it would be a challenging task to fully develop all the characters. Therefore, it was difficult to grow any strong feelings towards any of them. But I wouldn’t say it was a weakness of the book because it did let me focus on the importance of the events.
Besides important issues like war and climate change, another significant aspect drew my attention: sexual equality in the story. At some point, I realized that for plenty of characters that would be male in traditional ways of thinking, the author chose females instead, and the results were very satisfying. I liked that women were equally important in the fields of politics, science, and the military. It’s also worth mentioning that the Yenbeyeva family was based on matriarchy, and it was the female bloodline that played the most meaningful role in the story.
The one detail that I found a bit cheap was the element of visions. Knowing the future seemed to be a convenient solution that helped achieve goals and justify all the unethical acts. Whatever was revealed by the Path was meant to happen, and everyone just allowed it. In many situations, this solution seemed too easy for me, and I kept thinking about what would be if they would not have seen it before.
Ark of the Apocalypse is the first book in the series, and it is a good one. I’ve spotted some punctuation issues and a few typos, but otherwise, the book was well-edited, and these tiny errors didn’t have an impact on the quality of reading. However, there were more than ten errors, and because of my objections described above (I don’t like when authors choose easy solutions), I’d like to rate the book 3 out of 4 stars. There was no erotic content in the book, and profane language was used only when justified. There were gore scenes that might be improper for sensitive readers. I can recommend the book to fans of epic science-fiction and space travel, but essentially it should be well-received by most adults.
******
Ark of the Apocalypse
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Just Die by E Alan Fleischauer
