The Infinite Sea by Jeffrey A Carver

Rating: WARTY!

"As they sink to the bottom of an alien ocean, John and his company are rescued by mer-creatures called the Neri. But with threats closing in from above and below the surface, can the crew help the seafolk survive?" Of course Kirkclueless Reviews loved this, but - and correct me if I'm wrong - wasn't this pretty much the plot of the movie "The Abyss"?! Yawn.

The Reefs of Time by Jeffrey A Carver

Rating: WARTY!

Why is Jeffrey, a carver? Why isn't it Jeffrey, a writer? Just kidding. But look at this: "An ancient and corrupt AI is traveling through time and space, wreaking havoc." At least they didn't say 'wrecking havoc' - I have seen that in a novel. "Exiled from Earth, John Bandicut' - a bandicoot is a very cute but largely nocturnal marsupial, FYI - "and his alien crew" of blue meanies "race to stop the path of destruction…" Why? Why is it their concern? Because there are no robots! Even in an AI story!

Consistently, in these sci-fi bullshit stories, there are no robots. Even in this one with an AI, I'll bet there are no drones, no guided missiles, nothing to stop this destruction but a 'ragtag band of misfits' and it’s so often tediously described. Why? Of course this is "Part of a series." I used to like Greg Bear before I read that he hails this as "classic science fiction with engaging characters and richly imagined worlds!" I don't think he knows what he's talking about because I will bet there's no explanation as to why the aliens are blue. Humans ('white ones' are pink because the red blood (from iron pigments) in our veins shows through our translucent skin. People of color are largely not pink because they have various levels of melanin in their skin which protects them against the harsher effects of sunlight. So why are these aliens blue - or those green or the other ones red? Never is there an explanation for this. It’s hardly richly imagined, then is it?