Blood Ocean

The Afterblight Chronicles #11

by Weston Ochse

Survivors of the Cull, a Plague that wiped out people without the blood type O-neg, struggle in the floating Sargasso City jigsawed together with ships, submarines, barges and oil tankers off the coast of what was once known as California. Separated by demarcations of turf, ethnicity and fear, it’s not so much living as existing. High above it all swing the Pali Boys: descendants of Hawaiian warriors, they desire to lift themselves and the spirits of the residents below by performing an increasingly impossible series of extreme stunts, designed to test their manhood, and demonstrate the vibrancy humanity once had.

But as a conspiracy of murder unfolds and blood attacks increase, Kavika a single under-sized Pali Boy must strive to overcome his lowly status and the condemnation of his peers in order to save them all from an enemy living within.

Genres: Science Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Dystopia, Fiction, Apocalyptic

360 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2012

About the author

The American Library Association calls Weston Ochse “one of the major horror authors of the 21 st Century.” He has been praised by USA Today, The Atlantic, The New York Post, The Financial Times of London, Publishers Weekly, Peter Straub, Joe Lansdale, Jon Maberry, Kevin J. Anderson, David Gerrold, William C. Dietz, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden, and many more of the world’s best-selling authors. His work has won the Bram Stoker Award, been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and won multiple New Mexico Arizona Book Awards.

A writer of nearly thirty books in multiple genres, his military supernatural series SEAL Team 666 has been optioned to be a movie starring Dwayne Johnson and his military sci fi trilogy, which starts with Grunt Life, has been praised for its PTSD-positive depiction of soldiers at peace and at war.

Weston has also published literary fiction, poetry, comics, and non-fiction articles.
His shorter work has appeared in DC Comics, IDW Comics, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Cemetery Dance, and peered literary journals. His franchise work includes the X-Files, Predator, Aliens, Hellboy, Clive Barker’s Midian, and V-Wars. Weston holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and teaches at Southern New Hampshire University. He lives in Arizona with his wife, and fellow author, Yvonne Navarro and their Great Danes.

Reviews

[Gavin Gates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever writing, instantly engrossed from the intro onwards, using a well described and interesting back drop Osche has made a brilliant work come together, the afterblight chronicles are a bit notorious for their high quality as it is and if you have read any of the others then this won’t disappoint, if you have not, no worries, each is a stand alone in it’s own right. Osche has in this instalment has brought to life some very noteworthy characters and delivered a brief but well described history without it being lacking in information or overbearing at any part.
The use of segregation as the backbone, social positioning and racial oppression are ever present but never forced into the forefront and overbearing enough to take away from the tale told or make you feel like somebodys opinion is being rammed down your throat. This is somewhere between a race related coming of age/ post apocalyptic sci fi/ horror story that is very much recommended for a fan of any of those genres. With this and many others Abaddon Books is really beginning to cement it’s place as a company essential to my reading list.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a slow start for me, but once I really gave it a chance I enjoyed it. It's a great premise for a story--survivors of some unknown plague "The Cull" living on a city of floating ships tethered together that mimics the world before with each race fighting for control over their territory. there are dues to be paid, rules and rituals to be followed, and mysterious happenings. Someone is behind the blood rapes of the less fortunate. Why are they sampling these people blood? Why are some of those people then monkey backed (surgically attached to a monkey)? A rag tag group of folks from different ships aim to find out and put a stop to it. This book made my dystopian world loving heart very happy!

[Mr Greig Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good post apocalypse fiction

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although some parts were a little confusing overall a good quick read.

[Grw · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Afterblight Chronicles are a series of mostly unrelated books, largely by different authors all of which are set in a world where the majority of the population - all those who don't have 'O' blood - have died.

This is the final book although there are technically two more, but both of those are compilations of previous titles and it's also probably the most different.

As the title suggests, the setting for this particular dystopian society is at sea, in a huge flotilla of ships all bound together, in which various nationalities live side by side, in some sort of harmony. Of course, all is not well.

Tucked away on some of the more run down parts lives Kavika who is desperate to become on of the Pali Boys, who swing through the rigging of the various ships like an old Tarzan movie. However, that turns out not to be his destiny as it is he who uncovers the secrets of several of the other nationalities, one of which will change the entire world as he knows it.

Now I don't want to give away what the main secret is, other than to say that it was mentioned in some of the other books, including the trilogy written by Scott K. Andrews but here it is given much more depth.

That isn't all that is going on, as a lot of thought has clearly been put into both the society and the geography, of the floating world that will suck you in, making this one of the more thoughtful of the series, which makes it the perfect choice to end the run on.

Having said that though, this book whilst tying up many of the questions raised, is clearly setting up a sequel that has yet to happen which is a bit of a shame.

[Normalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in the shared universe of the post-apocalyptic, plague-ridden world of the Afterblight stories, this story tells of an enclave of ships tied together with Russians, Japanese, Koreans, Hawaiians and Americans living together in an uneasy balance. The Hawaiians are the main characters here with Kavika being one of the Pali boys who rule the skies and travel through the maze of rigging connecting most of the ships together. When one of his friends is murdered, he starts a city-spanning revolt to find the culprit and bring him to justice. The world reminds me of a more fully-fleshed out Waterworld with the characters of a fantasy-ridden Lord of the Flies. Dystopian novels have a dark feel to them and this is no different – bleak and hopeless are the lives of most of the people, hoping to be ignored and left to their miniscule corner of the deck or hold. Terrors beyond belief await those unlucky enough to be noticed, they can be blood-raped or monkey-backed and the consequences are brutal; but Kavika and his friends have a plan and woe unto whomever gets in their way. The diverse secondary characters are a huge help to the plot and their knowledge and abilities are critical to the resolution. The shared-world concept brings depth, breadth and history to what in lesser hands would be an ordinary story but here is an adventure that brings new meaning to coming-of-age.

[Megalion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been on a big dystopian reading bender lately. This is the 4th novel I've read in the Afterblight universe. First 3 being the trilogy: School's Out Forever.

I was drawn to this one as the setting is a city of ships tethered together on the ocean. A kind of Waterworld. It did not disappoint.

It almost doesn't seem connected to the universe of The Cull but it does tie back eventually. I'm surprised I didn't see the "twist" til it was revealed because it would be more obvious to me having read the other books. That's how removed it felt. Which isn't a bad thing. Just a thing.

I'm really fascinated with the overall project orchestrated by the publisher where they invited authors to write stories in the The Cull aftermath which led to a couple of trilogies and one offs (like this one) yet the originating author only wrote the one!

Since the Chronicles are 4 for 4 for me in terms of enjoyment, I will definitely keep reading. Hope the other authors are up to par of the two I've read so far.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The strength and courage of one can excite and ignite great changes.

Blood Ocean is an awesome story of one young man's battle to take care of the ones he loves while shedding light on lies, deceit, and injustice of the weak and less fortunate.

In bringing together the different groups to make a stand, this young man proves himself a leader. But after all he has been through he can no longer stay still, always looking toward the horizon.

His journey has just begun.

[Barb Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blood Ocean is a story set in a dark time for humanity. The world has changed as we know it and yet many of the characteristics remain the same. This is the story of a young man’s need to live up to his father’s reputation and right the wrongs that he sees around him. The story captured me from the beginning.

[Alexander S........... · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book just touch me in so many ways...
I love to read about future...
but this book is a best book
I read so far for 2012 year...
good well written character
I feel I'm inside his head... and I like it..
show bleak future but good young leader in the making...
it not easy to read book
but I like it...
and highly recommend it as 2012 must read books...