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OPEN DISTANCE
Within an intrepid world of high profile international rivalry, two men struggle for glory, survival, and their claim on a turbid past. As stakes escalate and conflict turns venomous, their destinies entwine in a lethal tangle of resentment, calamity, sacrifice ... and the unacceptable risk of regret.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2013
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 10, 2014
This is a book you won’t forget in a hurry. Jam packed full of action, thrills, drama, suspense, love, hate and hope. Open Distance’ is a book that captures you from the first page. The reader cannot help engaging with the protagonist and getting to know him straight away despite the fact that you don’t even know his name until a long way into the book.
He is narrating his life; baring his soul, exposing his thoughts and judging himself based on his life experience. It is my opinion that the most important element of any story is the characters, not the plot. The plot will follow where the characters lead, and my word do these characters lead. The raw and honest way in which the protagonist bares his soul made it incredibly easy to connect with him, and his emotional turmoil was not only compelling but also seemed to bring out the maternal instinct in me.
Within the first few lines I felt as though I’d know this guy all my life. What happened to him mattered enormously to me and although there were heart breaking moments, which reduced me to tears, I could no more turn away from this man than I could a best friend or family member in need. I suppose on many levels this is the kind of story we can all understand, because no matter how perfect our lives may appear we are always going to encounter tragedy and trauma. There are always going to be those relationships that are never going to be okay.
On the superficial level the story is about a fictional extreme sport invented by the protagonist called Aquagliding. In the telling of his story, the protagonist explains how the sport was born, how it evolved into an international sport with equipment manufacturers competing for the successful competitors for sponsorship deals. On a deeper and more emotional level the story is about the evolution of an international, highly competitive and dangerous sport, which I see as a metaphor for the development of the protagonist’s character as he grows up and matures into a father and a husband who loves his wife dearly. The risk to life and extreme danger presented by the sport of Aquagliding is a simile of the protagonist’s feelings for another major character who is estranged to him. Facing death, he records his life story into a voice recorder in a monologue analysing his behaviour and feelings for the other. He realizes that the resentment and hate he feels doesn't begin to tell the real or complete story.
This story carries a very valuable life lesson for the reader. A complex and important study of the human condition, and has taught me to consider any situation from the other person’s perspective. From that perspective you will find a completely different point of view that may change your judgement of a person or situation and may alter how you feel about things. Without giving too much away about the ending of the story, it is impossible to say what the protagonist felt at the end of the story, but as a reader who feels like they personally know all the characters in the story, I was heartbroken at least twice while reading the story and had a great deal of sympathy for a number of the main characters. Vorhis really brought the characters to life and he has done so with what can only be described as one of the most unique voices in literary fiction. A truly talented story teller and I look forward to his next book.
He is narrating his life; baring his soul, exposing his thoughts and judging himself based on his life experience. It is my opinion that the most important element of any story is the characters, not the plot. The plot will follow where the characters lead, and my word do these characters lead. The raw and honest way in which the protagonist bares his soul made it incredibly easy to connect with him, and his emotional turmoil was not only compelling but also seemed to bring out the maternal instinct in me.
Within the first few lines I felt as though I’d know this guy all my life. What happened to him mattered enormously to me and although there were heart breaking moments, which reduced me to tears, I could no more turn away from this man than I could a best friend or family member in need. I suppose on many levels this is the kind of story we can all understand, because no matter how perfect our lives may appear we are always going to encounter tragedy and trauma. There are always going to be those relationships that are never going to be okay.
On the superficial level the story is about a fictional extreme sport invented by the protagonist called Aquagliding. In the telling of his story, the protagonist explains how the sport was born, how it evolved into an international sport with equipment manufacturers competing for the successful competitors for sponsorship deals. On a deeper and more emotional level the story is about the evolution of an international, highly competitive and dangerous sport, which I see as a metaphor for the development of the protagonist’s character as he grows up and matures into a father and a husband who loves his wife dearly. The risk to life and extreme danger presented by the sport of Aquagliding is a simile of the protagonist’s feelings for another major character who is estranged to him. Facing death, he records his life story into a voice recorder in a monologue analysing his behaviour and feelings for the other. He realizes that the resentment and hate he feels doesn't begin to tell the real or complete story.
This story carries a very valuable life lesson for the reader. A complex and important study of the human condition, and has taught me to consider any situation from the other person’s perspective. From that perspective you will find a completely different point of view that may change your judgement of a person or situation and may alter how you feel about things. Without giving too much away about the ending of the story, it is impossible to say what the protagonist felt at the end of the story, but as a reader who feels like they personally know all the characters in the story, I was heartbroken at least twice while reading the story and had a great deal of sympathy for a number of the main characters. Vorhis really brought the characters to life and he has done so with what can only be described as one of the most unique voices in literary fiction. A truly talented story teller and I look forward to his next book.
May 11, 2013
Open Distance is a multilayered, highly original and fascinating book. On one level it is an excellent action/adventure story about the protagonist who invents the new competitive sport of “aqua-gliding.” This creatively imagined fictional sport with its physics, technology, equipment, tactics, competitors, fans and dangers is central to the plot and is developed and described in believable, but not overly lengthy, detail. The main characters, all of whom are seen through the protagonist’s first person point of view, their lives and relationships are the real drivers of the story line against the backdrop of the sport. There is plenty of action and adventure in this first level story. However, I believe the sport of aqua-gliding and the title “Open Distance” itself are metaphors for life, and on the subsurface level the book is deeply psychological, even philosophical. For me, the book is about life, love, ambition, loss and meaning. The protagonist’s first person voice is skillfully woven into a veritable meditation on these themes. The book is a work of literary fiction although it can be read as action/adventure genre fiction. Either way, it is an outstanding work and a great read.
March 20, 2014
OPEN DISTANCE is my newest fiction novel. It is a thriller by nature, although it does share the "relentlessly building tension" quality with my previous novel ARCHANGEL and other serious works I've created. I guess OPEN DISTANCE could be called a "suspense" novel in that sense, although Suspense usually pits protagonists against characters more inclined toward evil, whereas in OPEN DISTANCE the protagonist confronts the malevolence of nature and his own inherent flaws.
This book blends high adventure, a unique technological concept, and a very, very strong human/emotional theme into one narrative. My review team, men and women alike, really got into it. I very much love how it turned out; it is precisely what I wanted it to be. So of course I'm going to rate it highly...I wouldn't have let it write itself if I wasn't thrilled by the concept and story. :) I recommend that readers just let it draw them in, and that they struggle, side by side with the protagonist, to survive it.
This book blends high adventure, a unique technological concept, and a very, very strong human/emotional theme into one narrative. My review team, men and women alike, really got into it. I very much love how it turned out; it is precisely what I wanted it to be. So of course I'm going to rate it highly...I wouldn't have let it write itself if I wasn't thrilled by the concept and story. :) I recommend that readers just let it draw them in, and that they struggle, side by side with the protagonist, to survive it.
August 3, 2014
"Open Distance" is the second book I have read by Michael Vorhis (the first being the excellent "Archangel") and, if he continues to pen novels of this caliber, he can count on me to be a permanent fan.
As with "Archangel" the story is superbly written. The technical explanations of "Deep Flying", (the imaginary sport that is an integral part of the story), and the detailed descriptions of aqua gliding, put me in mind of the hard science-fiction of writers such as Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov - - both personal favorites of mine. The attention to detail brought the sport to life for me and helped suck me in to the world of the protagonist.
While the story is told first-person narrative, in a style that allows you into the deepest parts of the protagonist's psyche, it is done in such a way that we don't automatically assume that all will be well for our hero in the end, and this creates an undercurrent of tension as the story unfolds.
The protagonist, Nolan Farragut, is a wonderfully flawed hero. We discover that he is basically a good guy, who loves his wife and kids but, as the story unfolds, we can't help but wonder if the friction between him and antagonist Brian Lumfer is as completely cut-and-dried and justified as it seems to be.
The author creates some very emotionally intense passages during the course of the story which, I will admit, had me choking back more than a few tears.
All in all I found it an extremely satisfying read, more than worthy of a five-star rating.
As with "Archangel" the story is superbly written. The technical explanations of "Deep Flying", (the imaginary sport that is an integral part of the story), and the detailed descriptions of aqua gliding, put me in mind of the hard science-fiction of writers such as Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov - - both personal favorites of mine. The attention to detail brought the sport to life for me and helped suck me in to the world of the protagonist.
While the story is told first-person narrative, in a style that allows you into the deepest parts of the protagonist's psyche, it is done in such a way that we don't automatically assume that all will be well for our hero in the end, and this creates an undercurrent of tension as the story unfolds.
The protagonist, Nolan Farragut, is a wonderfully flawed hero. We discover that he is basically a good guy, who loves his wife and kids but, as the story unfolds, we can't help but wonder if the friction between him and antagonist Brian Lumfer is as completely cut-and-dried and justified as it seems to be.
The author creates some very emotionally intense passages during the course of the story which, I will admit, had me choking back more than a few tears.
All in all I found it an extremely satisfying read, more than worthy of a five-star rating.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews