Stranded: A Novel

This is an untidy story more in the paranormal fantasy realm than adventure. I think I was expecting more of the latter than the former. There is suspense and some action but there’s also a lot of repetition that should have been edited out that made the story longer than necessary. The plot is unique and held my interest though the telling wasn't as crisp as it could have been. The narration was fine.

Nothing about this book is boring. I've never read anything by MacLeod before, so I was pleased to be grabbed by the throat on page one and pulled through the storms and ice and horror of the novel by a master of pacing. The deckhands and roughnecks of STRANDED are quick to jump to conclusions or violence, but the same force that stretches the suspension of disbelief never once takes your attention for granted with long, tedious passages of forty different ways to say it's cold. MacLeod knows you get it. He doesn't have to prove it over and over. Things are tough in this story, and they can always get worse.

I've read that it's being compared to John Carpenter's THE THING, but beyond the setting and a few of the ancillary characters the two stories are altogether different beasts. I feel the comparison lessons the world MacLeod created in this book. Not every twist worked for me, but that doesn't mean I won't be lining up to get his next book as soon as I hear about it.

Loved the characters, not a perfect book, but it will hold your interest. The ending needs re-work; it is incomplete and we are left with so many questions that should be answered after spending 11 hours with these characters.

I took a chance on this book and was greatly rewarded for it. The author does a really great job of making you care about the protagonist. I found myself wanting to slap around some of his fellow crew members for him. Not too many books can cause me to become emotionally invested in them. Great job of writing and story telling.

It took awhile for the story to get going. When it finally did, I thought this turning out to be a great story. I was disappointed that it never really went anywhere after the big reveal. The captain and first mate characters weren't believable to the point of distraction. Having said all that, I found the setting to be engaging. The premise of the story was fresh and compelling albeit under utilized. It kept my interest until the end.

A brutally cold tale about a supply ship running into an earth shattering storm that sends the crew into a very claustrophobic and violent episode of the Twilight Zone. There is a lot of action and suspense. I felt like I had some questions about the plot right after I finished it but the more I thought about it I grew to appreciate the unknowns more. I would recommend this book to PKD fans as well. Parts of it reminded me of some of his work like Time Out Of Joint.

If you like high action and intense end of the world type stuff then you will like Stranded. This is my first Macleod book and I intend to read more. I see he has a book coming out with ChiZine. Any author that puts out a book with ChiZine will likely be read by me at some point. Also, I did listen to the audiobook through some of Stranded and it was well read by the narrator named PJ Ochlan. You can't go wrong in any form.

Good story. Good characters. Badly needed an editor. for length, repetitiveness and internal consistency. Also plot resolution incomplete.

This is so well written, it's refreshing. Don't know anything about the author, but he's good. The narration is wonderful. Touching in parts, very scary in others. Human nature at its best and worst. Left me with some plot questions but that didn't seem to matter in the end. Wonderful look at the many facets of each life and the mystery of our existence. Going to go see if MacLeod has anything else out there.