Thomas Harlan's Reviews > Rising Tides

Interestingly, this book is better than the previous books in the series, though I still have a number of issues with the series as a whole:

1. Still no explanation of how the Grik civilization can feed itself, much maintain forward momentum.
2. The good guys are getting powerful a mite too quickly. These books also work way better when the good guys are behind the power curve and scrambling to just wring out survival (see Bill Forstchen's Lost Regiment series, particularly the 2nd and 3rd books).
3. Having some perspective on the Mexica myself, I found the Dominion a little flat... but with possibilities.
4. The cover art promised a much more interesting battle at the end than actually happened.
5. The Dominion "plan" to conquer New Britain was lacking in convincing detail. We needed to see what was happening from a Dominion character's point of view, to see that they did indeed have a real chance of capturing the island.

Again, the balance of tension between the opposing parties was not quite right. Too slanted to the Americans. Also, the effects of the Talaud eruption needed to be a bit more immediate. The best parts of the book were the struggles against nature and the very world itself.