Salvage Trouble: Mission 1 (Black Ocean)

As a Firefly fan, I was tempted into reading this because of an online comparison I ran across. Also I was intrigued by the statement that scientists had given up on gravity and left it as the domain of wizards. I was very curious to see how this would all hang together.

I wasn't disappointed. The first book, which I got free, was so entertaining that I bought the collection of the first four. The only complaint I have is that they are so short; I can whiz through one in two or three hours.

I would also include a small warning for other Firefly aficionados: try to resist the urge to expect the captain and crew to act just like our beloved Serenity family. They do fine just on their own.

Totally surprised me. Often when you get a book for free they are hoping for something positive to come of it to sell more of their work.

Not only did this book meet my expectations as good fun sci-fi with a dash of fantasy, but I felt obliged to share with a number of my friends. I enjoy a bit of tabletop gaming. And I have to admit to a bit of poaching for a game I'm planning.

The characters are well written. And so far each book has taken a crew member and expanded on them. Each one has a unique voice. They play with a few tropes and archetypes but a light hearted take on them makes it more palatable and relatable.

Highly recommend this to any and all curious parties!

A PILOT'S PILOT: MISSION ONE BLACK OCEAN, now there is a title for a very short, 139 pages, book but hey it is to be a series. J.S. Morin puts us on board the Mobius, the ship of Captain Carl Ramsey, a ship and crew that salvage out in deep space. Not a bad little story revolving around two refugees picked up for a salvage job and those that want to find them. It was an ok read for me, a little too black and white. Some one said, "like a soap opera." Maybe so. Way to guessable. Morin can write, but needs detail and depth.
NOTE: The author gave me a free copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I initially downloaded this book because it was described as being firefly meets star trek , so i was also apprehensive of the book being a hot mess of colliding ideas. I was wrong. The crew was not a thinly veiled rip off of firefly but a fully formed, developed and entertaining group. Some of the characters, such as Carl, were well thought out and developed while others, such as Mriy, had vast potential but were not quit there yet. That said this is just book one and it's expected that characters will develop more. Although there were no world destroying twists and all or nothing plots there was a strong story that flowed fast and easy, a pleasure to read in all. I'm pleasantly looking forward to reading more in the series and more from the author in general.

Captain Carl is a pretty close clone of Captain Mal. Crew is similar in many ways albeit with aliens. Well written, good plot. Didn't see any resemblance to Han Solo even though he was a fighter pilot. He didn't give me that "fighter pilot vibe". Firefly fans should love this.

J S Morin has entertained me with his epic fantasy. Now it looks like he'll be doing the same with science fiction! This is a departure from my usual giant tomes; I do love those long books! But there's something about this format that has me intrigued so I'm giving it a shot!

Black Ocean promises to be an interesting mix of fantasy and science fiction. Space travel is accompanied by wizardry and the science of the future is presented in a manner that makes you wonder: could this actually happen sometime in the future?

The only downside I can see to this episodic presentation is that I'm not a patient person when it comes to reading. I hope these keep coming fast and furious! Mission 1 is a winner! Give it a try!

Quite a good little tale! Carl and the merry batch of misfits made for an excellent story. Loved the addition of magic to a space opera tale, as it gave a reason for how gravity works in a space ship. Maybe not the most believable reason, but at least it wasn't hand waved away like so many other stories.
Will be buying the rest of these, once I thin out some of my backlog.

So, I decided to get this book through the authors website after I read something saying; "Star Wars meets Firefly". At first I thought to myself, "Ok, some balls saying that it is a mix of 2 out of 3 of my favorite Sci-fi stories ever." Well, in the beginning, I was a little annoyed (not necessarily in a bad way) simply because it seemed to reflect Firefly a little too much. Well, after reading a while I realized while it does have Firefly elements, it definitely is it's own story; and that story is absolutely captivating. The only reason I give it 4 stars is because of a few errors I found in the book (I am working on my English degree); they didn't take away from the story, just kind of stuck out to me.
I say read the book; it may not be for everyone, but it is very enjoyable. I hope J.S. Morin keeps up the great story, as I just purchased book number 2.

You really cannot go wrong with this series.
A crew of misfits, an eclectic group of aliens and humans, but likeable rogues nonetheless. Always amusing to see what mess they've dropped themselves into and watch them wriggle their way out of it.
Great characters, more great battles, twists, humour and intrigue.
A series well worth following.

The story was very enjoyable and really well written. The characters were entertaining and I enjoyed their interactions although sometimes it felt a little too cliche but never enough to take away from the story.
There were a couple of typos that I noticed but nothing terrible and I really enjoyed the pacing. A couple of things that I felt could have been explained more were the interactions between magic and technology (and how magic was rediscovered) and some of the races were hard to conceptualize at first.

I find Salvage Trouble to be an interesting mixture of ideas, with a touch of humour, but ultimately short and cliche.
The mixture of Astral (Magic) and Physical(?) tech was interesting, and not something I have come across often. I feel like it was well executed, but light on detail, One example of this is that we heard briefly about obsidian hardening, but it was never laid out what this was meant to achieve.

All in all it felt like this was a short proof of concept and not world building prose, maybe for a first book that is ok, but I hope to see more depth and detail in the next books.

I did receive a free copy of this ebook.

I love this whole series and strongly advise if you enjoy space operas, liked Firefly, enjoyed Mike Brooks' Keiko series, or have seen and enjoyed any sci-fi that included a spaceship to pick this up. Seriously. If I'm wrong you can return it within 3-4 days, but you should give it a try.

A quick read, a fun story. The blurb compares itself to Firefly. Yeah, pretty close. I did feel that Capt. Ramsey steps over the line of legality a little more than capt. Mal.

The use of magic was a nice touch, although it seemed that the wizard was a little too powerful. He was used almost as a deus ex machina in the story. But this is only book one of the series, so there's plenty of time to have stories where the magic doesn't quite work like it should....

Overall, I liked it. I will most likely buy the complete set at some point, to find out how the crew fares.

Thus book helped me rediscover my love of reading. It has that firefly feel without it being a copy. There are so many different elements to this book that I could not stop reading it. Its the first book i have read in a long time and I instantly got mission 2 upon completion. I highly reccomend this to anyone and this is something I should thank Facebook's adds for. Read it you want be disappointed! !!

This was an enjoyable romp through the space ways on a rogue trader. I loved how the author mixed magic and technology together - while making it clear they don't get along with each other. Great introduction to a fun, quick reading series.

Short introduction to the universe of Black Ocean, and the people of the ship that are its main characters. A few spelling and grammar errors interspersed throughout do not detract terribly from the enjoyment of the story which seems solid. The writing is fair for an new entry to the craft, and I expect polish will come with experience.

An interesting piece that sets the stage for (hopefully) a brilliant epic. As someone who still watches firefly weekly (seriously, why haven't they done more?), this book is a great start to a similar, but pleasantly different, story. Add to the same misfit crew some techno-magic mix and a powerful yet cranky wizard, and you've got a recipe for something great. I received a copy free from Morin's website, and it lead me directly to buying the Mission Pack 1 (missions 1-4).

If you took Gandalph, rewrapped him as Feist's Magnus and dropped him in the middle of Firefly without the Reavers you'd pretty much cover it Saying that, its a good short read if you're wanting to escape a train or bus ride or waiting at the doctors it Will take you somewhere else. I haven't read the rest of the books in the series yet, but I feel the ex-Marine female is a bit too soft. I wonder if the Author were to watch the tv series Darkmatter what impact it would have on the Black Ocean?

It read like a comfortable mix of Firefly, Farscape, & Outlaw Star. Interesting universe, blending sci-fi & magic with ease. Clever character development, as well. Definitely worth the read.

This is described as a combination of firefly and star wars. It definitely feels like firefly in a lot of ways, though I would say that plus LotR or WH40K more than Star Wars.

Saying that I did very much enjoy it, it has a cool sci fi setting with fantasy elements and is well written.

I don't usually read books that mix science fiction and fantasy, but after starting this one, I couldn't put it down until I was done. I found the mixture of science and wizardry to be fascinating. I think I just found a new author to read.

This book makes me mad. I downloaded it because it sounded interesting and I got it for a free trial, and now I have to buy the rest! It has the wit and charm of Firefly, without being a carbon copy. J.S. Morin created a wonderful universe here with an great story. Easy to read but hard to put down.

Obvious nods must be made to Firefly here - but that's not a bad thing! A short book (read it in one sitting) but a fast, fun read with some interesting characters and lots of scope to grow the universe. im looking forward to picking up the rest of the series.

Really enjoyed reading this book--Morin's writing style brings the environments and the characters to life. It's a light, fast read, and well worth the time. Would highly recommend to anyone who is looking for epic space adventures in the style of Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, etc.

Really enjoyed the book, the characters were fun, the mix of sci-fi and fantasy worked really well, and it was easy to read. It felt a little too episodic, but overall I really enjoyed the book and look forward to future installments.

I really enjoyed this book. I saw parallels between this and Firefly, books by Anna Mcaffery too. The Tower and Hive series and also a RPG that I helped to test for a friend. It is a fast and fun read and I look forward to reading the rest in the series as well.

Thoroughly enjoyed this blend of fantasy and sci-fi. Morin provides readers with intriguing characters and a setting that feels new yet comfortably familiar. I'll definitely read the following books.