Review - Oceanus

Indie '25 - Lap Two

“She’s just a girl,” Derrien said, turning to him.

“I know, and that’s why none of this is fair.”

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My second lap of Indie '25 comes to close with Hanna Delaney’s enchanting Oceanus. Based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, this novel is a must for those who like their Bard’s tales injected with a healthy dose of science fiction. Mind the ion storms as we proceed.

Oceanus begins with the crew of the SS Demeter plummeting to the titular planet under somewhat murky circumstances in the wake of a huge ion storm. The planet itself is strange; an oceanic world with only a small spit of land that is home to inhabitants that are stranger still. Derrien Victor Smith, a disgraced exiled scientist, lives on Oceanus with his beautiful young daughter Thea; the pair leading the ensemble cast in a story with a lot of moving parts. We quickly find out that Derrien has bad blood with the crew of the Demeter; namely his brother Anthony, whose past betrayals landed Derrien and Thea on Oceanus to begin with. But there is drama between the residents of Oceanus as well; Derrien at odds with the surly Jet, who is convinced the former is a murdering bastard, while Jet is also smitten with Thea and would do anything to get her away from her father. Thea herself spends much of the novel waking up to her isolated and confusing reality on Oceanus after interacting with one of the outsiders, the mystery of herself the centerpiece to the novel itself. Surrounding the struggles between all parties is a mysterious influence of the R.E.Ls lurking in the shadows, causing hallucinations and blurring the lines between dreams and reality, whose reach goes beyond the planet’s surface and up to the Demeter itself, where a struggling cabin boy attempts to bring the stranded crew back to safety.

Phew. Like I said, lots of moving parts.

First off, I would just like to ask how the author had the audacity to include so many British spellings in this novel? So rude. (This is a joke.)

In all seriousness, I very much enjoyed this book. For such a brisk read Oceanus somehow packs in the feel of a slow burn into less than 200 pages— Which is no easy feat! There is a lot of build up as the events of the past unfold to explain why exactly Derrien and Thea are on Oceanus, as well as the role his brother and company played in his exile years before the onset of the novel. It’s quite neat, tidy, and engaging without muddling the plot by detracting from the simultaneous exploration of the present and the mysteries it holds. Well done on all fronts.

As a fan of Shakespearean retellings, this was also a winner. The shape of Oceanus is enough like The Tempest that it has the look and feel of a vintage work to it, but with the boon of fresh environs and modernized ideas. Classic themes of betrayal, forgiveness, and family overlay a fresh environ that doesn’t detract from its source material; the remote island becomes the remote planet, the shipwreck becomes jettisoned escape pods, the wizard becomes a scientist, and the spirit Ariel becomes the mysterious R.E.Ls mentioned throughout the story. The characters are all there (Derrien/Prospero, Anthony/Antonio, Thea/Miranda, Jet/Caliban, etc.) but serve as an homage to the source material instead of something derivative.

If I had to offer any criticism to this novel, it would be two simple points. The first being that while I enjoy an ensemble cast, the one in this book seemed too large for the length. I felt that some of the tertiary characters were lost in the background and might have been cut or combined to sure up the numbers a tad. The other criticism is based solely on nothing, but I would have loved to see more of Balthazar Swaine, the clueless, hallucinating, horny cabin boy trying desperately to bring everyone back to the SS Demeter. He was weirdly one of my favourites.

Overall, Oceanus is one I would recommend to any fans of classic science fiction, that even bordered on pulpy at times. It’s a great example of character-driven storytelling that doesn’t spend too much time bogging you down with the facts you don’t need, moving along at a slow burn pace that crawls up a fuse until it hits the rocket and blasts off, with all the tension that comes along with that sort of a read. This futuristic thriller packs twists and gut punches, so pick it up today!

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Another lap of Indie ‘25, and I’m already into lap three! Thank you for reading this review and stay tuned for the next one!

Have an indie book you want to throw into the pool for me to potentially read? Comment, message, or beam it directly into my brain (if you think you’ve got the brass!)

Thanks for stopping by The Word Dump!

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