Paul Brennan

I received this book from the Early Reviewers group.
This was a historical fiction tale about the waning days of the American Civil War and a tragedy that took place when a Steamboat on the Mississippi carrying thousands of returning prisoners of war exploded off the shores by Memphis. It was a terrible tragedy. This is an adventure story told through the eyes of a young Dr. from Chicago traveling South to retrieve his sister so she can make it home in time to see their dying mother. Unfortunately, he gets caught up in the brutality of the war from both sides and has to make a perilous journey home, helping a s many as he can along the way. The story culminates in the voyage of the Sultana and the tragedy that occured.
This was an easy to read, adventurous story although not for everyone as it has some graphic content on the nature of war and it's inhumanity. Enjoyable, exciting read. My only comments would be on the few punctuation and grammatical errors that i noticed.… (més)

I received The Sultana Odyssey through the Librarything Early Readers program. Out of all the books I had requested, this was the one about which I was most excited. As a fan of American Civil War history, the side wheel steamer Sultana disaster has interested me for decades and I've read several non-fiction accounts of it.

I was, therefore, quite disappointed with this fictional telling of the disaster. The Prologue recounted a train disaster fifteen years prior to the Sultana explosion. If the rest of the novel had been written as well as the Prologue, this would be a different review. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The exposition phase lasts far longer than needed. In fact, the Sultana is not seen until page 186 of the 282 page novel. The voyage and explosion don't begin until page 220, leaving only 60 pages to tell the story that is the subject of the book.

Frankly, it was difficult to finish the book. I decided a decade age that life is too short to struggle and suffer through a book you aren't enjoying. If I had not felt obligated to write this review, I would have set it down. I feel the author was attempting to mimic the more formalized writing style of the mid-nineteenth century, but when it was translated into dialogue, it felt stilted. I've read many YA novels that were more complex and imparted more genuine humanity on their characters.

Another quibble is the editorial/printer decision to double space paragraphs. It was probably done to give the trade paperback a bit more heft. However, it made for some awkward sections. There was one page in the middle of the book that had single sentence paragraphs for three-quarters of the page. Because of the double spacing, it was distracting to read.

When I requested this book, I had hopes that it was akin to Dead Wake, by Erik Larson. I set my expectations too high. I feel for the author, Paul Brennan. He has written acclaimed non-fiction and was clearly passionate about this work. The Sultana Odyssey missed the mark.… (més)

My teenage daughter and I were both interested after reading the blurb of this book, so we are using it as the book I read to her before bedtime. That might not have been a great choice for a 14-year-old since there is language and violence that may keep her up at night but oh well. Live and learn.

While we enjoy the history in the book - rarely covered pieces of the Civil War experience - the writing is cumbersome. Many more words are used that don't affect the general outcome of either character creation or setting. I'm reading aloud and I often stumble over passages due to their construction. This is an annoyance for both of us and a good editor should have helped fix these issues.

The language being used in the book is also a detriment - the style if you will. Too fancy for a story with so many basic ideas being explained about place and time. That kind of language is better used for dialogue, not the entire text.

Those points aside, this book is worth the read just to familiarize yourself with a time of history that is often only seen from one or two views.

The idea of a Northerner going into the South and trying to get another Northerner back to where she belongs in Chicago shows you that it's going to get complicated. And it does.

The book's story paces fairly well but I would not call it an easy or enjoyable read due to the style/language choices. The sentences will frustrate you and it's a bit of a slog because of that.… (més)