Mixed feelings

so before listening to this I also did all the Meg stories at the Lock and I have to admit the latter half-third of this book was difficult to get through. But I persevered. ... just!

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Very silly but enjoyable

4 stars is a bit generous but it's better than 3.

When I found out this is the guy who wrote the book ' The Meg' is based on i winced but gave it a go.

Even though it's not a massive book, this has material / concepts / storylines that could fill 2 or even 3 separate books but it's all jammed together. It's also unique with it being such a main character-driven narration. My main gripe with his style is the sheer amount of exposition done. Absolutely everything needs to be explained and this spoils the flow.

Know what you're getting with this, you don't need to use your brain for this, but it's still quite fun.

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started off ok

like other reviews I agree this book started out OK. but then it suddenly changed direction and the creatures became secondary. at first I thought I had fallen asleep and missed something so went back a few chapters to check. nope it wasn't me it was him! so for the first time I skipped through the chapters trying to find my way back to the story, which had sadly disappeared along with Nessie!!

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Not bad

I love Altens Meg serie and Lock book and this continue the story of Zack, it is well written and has a lot of action

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Don't expect just a creature feature.

Don't, as I did, go into this book expecting it to be just an outstanding 'creature feature' i.e Meg, The Loch, you'll be sorely disappointed. For the first 9 or so hours, that is exactly what this book is. It's really good.

During the remaining 3 hours it suddenly descends into this Trans Dimensional Travel, Aliens, Green Energy, New World Order, clap trap that had me so confused I thought I'd fallen alseep & missed some of the story! I went back over the chapters, but nope. I hadn't. Now listening to it on double speed to get through it. Having invested so much of my time already I didn't just want to quit.

If i'd read the reviews first I wouldn't have started it. And if it wasn't a free book I would have wanted my credit back. There is a definite place for sci-fi Alien books, but I personally don't enjoy reading them and definitely didn't expect one to suddenly pop up in the middle of a perfectly good creature feature. FYI the final 10 mins or so are really good.

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More monsters but gets a bit weird.

Steve Alten describes this as faction, part fiction, part science in his introduction, but that's pushing it somewhat. As in his other books there is a fair bit of science but it pushes it a long way. The first part of this story is much like what you would expect, exploring an unknown sea an it's unexpected denizens. About half way through though it gets a bit strange and the new direction didn't quite fit the settings and characters for me. It's good fun and it is worth listening through to the end, but it's not the same animal as his Meg books or the Loch.

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1 person found this helpful

not what you'd expect, and not in a good way.

I enjoy The Meg series and really loved The Loch. but after 6 hours of setting up what seemed sure to be another epic monster romp, this completely abandons what it's spent hours building and takes a curve ball into Back to the Future/The X Files territory and becomes absolute incoherent nonesense, and for no good reason.

I'm Scottish and didn't have a problem with the performance, I think that makes the narrator even funnier for me, I loved the way he done the accents in the Loch, it was hilarious, though you'd probably benefit from listening to this at 1.15 speed.
In all honesty though, unless you're fully invested in the series I'd give this a swerve.

If you are invested in the series, you'd be best to just listen to the first 6 hours, then switch off and imagine what might have happened from the abandoned threads that were laid down, only to be destroyed one way or another in a few sentences once the book plays it's real hand. Beloved characters are just nonchalantly killed off only to be casually Deus ex machina'd back into existence meaning there are absolutely no real stakes here. What should be the final confrontation just evaporates into a preachy moral lesson on the perils of not loving thy neighbor, climate change and the Illuminati. This really is all over the place.

If this X files nonesense carries on into the rest of the series or the Meg books I'll be abandoning ship like Alten abandoned the story he should've written here. I'd seen it in other reviews that his other sci fi efforts where incoherent psychedelic gibberish and those reviews are not wrong. Please stick to sea monsters mister Alten. If I want aliens and time travel, I'll get them from someone who can write them and doesn't chuck them in as a curve ball that ruins a good sea monster book.

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Good start poor finish.

What was an interesting but unrealistic story turned into farce with the introduction of multi time dimensions.

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Slightly disappointed

As a huge Steve Alten fan, I have been waiting ages for The Loch and Vostok to become available on audio format.

While Vostok isn't a bad book it's falls far short of The Loch, I can't really say for what reason without ruining the book for anyone else. Lest just say the big bad under water monsters don't get much of a look in. As a tie in to the Meg series it could have done that on a much bigger scale. I have to say I am disappointed, after The Loch which was superb.

Big hopes for the upcoming Meg Generations book

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3 people found this helpful

Excellent mix of superb storytelling.

Loved it... if you're into suspense, conspiracies, ancient aliens, theoretical physics and spirituality.. this book will be right up your street. P.J. Ochlan is also brilliant with all the different characters.

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