The Last Ship

This mammoth book follows the story of the officers and crew aboard the US Navy Destroyer the `Nathan James' in their journey to find safe haven after nuclear war. With 152 men and 26 women aboard the challenges they face are narrated by the Captain of the ship.Brinkley has put together an epic story although it's difficult to say if the book is well written or not. The emotional turmoil of the captain is described at length with the most complex of language - I found myself reaching for the thesaurus on more than one occasion. Brinkley does go on and on.... and on about the seamen, their duty, the sea and the sky! While a very packed book, its slow going and a bit of a struggle at times.Despite this Brinkley has produced a piece of work that earns its place amongst the best apocalyptic novels written; a challenging read but rewarding at the same time. If you're a fan of this genre then this book should on your list!

The idea behind the book is sound but it bears no relation to the recent series except in token form.Sadly the narrative descends in to page after page of waffle and the book suffers as a result. Its really sad because it could have been a great book. I guess its a poor relation to "Down to a sunless sea" and " On the beach" which are infinitely better reads.

Bit difficult to read language-wise, but after a while you get used to all the obscure and not often heard expressions. Story is great, though noticeably different from the film.

If you have trouble getting off to sleep at any time, day or night, read this book. It is so mind numbingly boring! Why the author has to endlessly disect every thought and action of the main character, leaving you praying for the next sentence in a conversation, is beyond me. The plot is very thin but the book is very thick! One of the main events towards the end seems to be thrown in as a lead up to a sequel, with no real reason or believable explanation. I waded through until the bitter end but really wish I hadn't wasted the time or the money on what turned out to be a very disapointing read.

Massive fan of the TV series ,so was very excited to read the novel. I have to admit, the author knows his stuff but he does tend to waffle on. I mean, a lot. The majority of the book is mainly things and feelings being described, in great detail. In the end I jumped several section and forced my self to read until the end where it seems so much of the book was taken up with so much waffle, the final, exciting chapter seems rushed and squeezed into the last remaining pages.Very disappointed.

What a great book. Really disappointed there wasn't a follow-on.

A great book-- once you get into it. The introduction read like a cross between an academic paper on the nature of command and a philosophical discussion on the nature of the sea, but don't let that get you bogged down. A great book with vivid imagery that will stay with you.

I bought this book because I enjoyed the TV series. Unfortunately the two have almost nothing in common, the ship has the same name but the stories are totally different.So I carried on reading anyway, it's a hard slog with far too much waffle from the captain. I continued because I wanted to know the fate of the crew, it was almost like the author realised he had written too much already and he ends the book speedily and without much thought.On another note its a huge book with a tiny font and was not enjoyable to read on many levels!