HUNTERS OF THE DARK SEA

 

THIS LITTLE DELIGHT by Mel Odom  (ISBN 9780765304803) takes the reader back to the days of wooden sailing ships that plied the ocean's surface, hunting all kinds of Whale operatives so that their filter strips could be used in ladies' corsets and their oil squeezin's could be used to light lamps in Naked Ape households before the use of electricity became common.  Land operatives reading this book say it really captures the feel of riding the high seas and getting your buckle swashed as petty human drama leads to thefts, kidnappings, ships being sunk and INTRIGUE, MURDER, MAYHEM!  Basically, exactly what you get when featherless bipeds appear in ANY landscape.  

The difference in this story is that one of the whale operatives in this story is slightly UNUSUAL.  Far from just fleeing or politely dying, this one fights back in a way no sailor ever imagined before, using tools no whale ever apparently possessed before.  

The great flaw in this story is that it is told entirely from the Naked Ape viewpoint, with the finally victory of the Naked Ape hero as the only goal worth noticing.  Nobody even asks, really, about the whale, or at least nobody who asks gets any answers.  JUST AS WELL, because we don't want the landscum knowing too many of our secrets, NOW DO WE?

I think this one will be equally informative and enjoyable whether you are a 100% human nautical history buff, a human just starting to turn into a fish, a fish just starting to turn into a human, or 100% fish.  Great stuff.  THE TENSION NEVER LETS UP.