Long Voyage Back

An okay read. Somewhat dated and not just because the political situation in the world has changed. I agree with the author in terms of war and especially nuclear war. As I grow older I have come to realize that war is an imbecilic thing and great pains should be made to avoid it. Rhinehart portrays a world that would be a horrible place indeed if the bomber and missiles ever fly. There is little in the way of hope and even the ending is just a thin ray of sunshine. However there are other aspec [...]

Cold War apocalypses are an acquired taste; one which I've lost. They seemed so bold, honest and edgy then, but so lame--even silly now. That is partly because they were so over the top with survivalist or social engineering, but mostly because it never happened. But it could have. From the end of World War Two (1945) and certainly after the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) until the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union dissolved, much of the world was gripped in a bilateral tug of war with threaten [...]

Oh dear. I really love The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, but this book is simply not very good. Incredibly pronounced gender stereotypes are so overdone that it's not in the least bit offensive, it's just really really funny when viewed post-feminist revolution. The plot is completely predictable. It's a real page turner though. Think of it as high octane pop music, in literary form.

Nuclear war is so last season.Or is it? I am one of those people who often ponders how the world will end. Different scenarios most often involve me being one of the last survivors and kind of the hero of the story. In Long Voyage Back I would have been long dead.Why?Coz it's all about boating and seamanship and it all depends on how well you'll do at sea.Me? Not at all well. No clue. Nada.Ergo = dead.Long Voyage Back is about a nuclear war which starts between Russia and The United States and a [...]

The story centres around a group of people trying to escape a nuclear war using a trimaran yacht. The owner of the boat, his hired crew and some family and friends spend the initial part of the book trying to get away from the East Coast of the US, but their journey takes them to a number of other locations in an attempt to escape the usual combination of radioactive fallout, other survivors and disease. Many of the typical elements of a post-apocalyptic adventure tale are present, and although [...]

Great story about people trying to survive a nuclear war and its aftermath. Originally released in 1983 when tensions between the US and Soviet Union were still high.I recently "discovered" this as a ebook, and read it for the first time.While some aspects of this book are dated, that in no way reduces the human element in this story, or the chillingly all too real consequences of such a war. Most of the story takes place aboard a trimaran ship, caught in Chesapeake bay when bombs start hitting [...]

I've read a ton of these old nuclear Armageddon sci-fi books and while this one wasn't as captivating as some of the others, it was still a decent read. Like some previous reviews pointed out, the gender roles were so exaggerated as to be almost distracting but had I read this 20 years ago they may not have taken so much of my attention. By the end of the book I was feeling much warmer toward the characters, enough to mourn the deaths of some of the characters. Also, the ending? Nicely done. In [...]

Overall a pretty good, realistic, and well detailed post apocalyptic story set in the 1980s during and after a nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Russia. The characters were well done and interesting to read about. The plot wasn't bad and I really didn't find anything too big that turned me off about it. Overall a good story. I enjoyed reading it.

I wanted to give this book three stars because the plot was good and it kept my attention enough to finish it. However, there are some things that really got my knickers in a twist. For one thing, although the book was copyrighted in the early 1980's, the author must have written it in the 50's because the female characters in his novel seemed to have stepped right out of "Leave It to Beaver". At first I was a bit insulted but then it just became comical to read. Secondly, what the hell happened [...]

Good bookGood book. Good book. G o o d b o o k. G o o d b o o k.

This novel reminded me of one of my favourite nuclear war books, On The Beach, in tone and style and the conversational exchanges between the hero and heroine.After a devastating nuclear exchange, the hero, Neil, and several other characters seek refuge from the unfolding disaster on a trimaran but it proves to be only the start of their struggle for survival. They must deal with nuclear fallout, disease, desperate and evil characters, and hunger. Yet, as often happens in real life, the strains [...]

I'm a big fan of apocalypse/post-apocalypse survival stories and for me, this one lands somewhere between riveting/hard-to-put-down and preposterous, even comical. If you haven't read a book like that, give it time you're bound to encounter something that simultaneously entertains you and makes you raise an eyebrow time and again. The writing is rife with the author's personal -- and dated -- feelings about conflict and most every social issue, and his hippie stylings color the development of ev [...]

Written in the '80s, this novel by Luke Rhinehart is still a nail-biter. I found myself looking and finding time to read it. I found the characters realistic enough to care about and even though the plot is a bit predictable (and why shouldn't it be, it IS apocalyptic, after all) Rhinehart still threw in some curves I wasn't expecting. It never ocurred to me before that refugees from America wouldn't be accepted or tolerated anywhere in the world. It's a terrifying trip with no hope of safety. W [...]

Mr. Rhinehart is a very good writer. I never lost interest in the story. "Long Voyage Back" only rated three stars instead of four because of the eye rolling racist and sexist stereotyping that was present through nearly the whole story. Not atypical for books of the time from white male authors, but this really detracted from my enjoyment of the story. A minor technical quibble--most people were unaware of the effect of EMP on electronics in the early 1980's, but many devices that would have be [...]

TL;DR: Read this book if you are interested in sailing and survival of a small unlikely group but if you are looking for a likely military story, look elsewhere. While the main starting point of the story is a nuclear exchange which rapidly turns into a global war, including all the trimmings like civil wars, starvation, south-versus-north wars of exclusion and all those horror scenarios often repeated in the 80ies, to me the real story was about a group of people forced to live on the sea, from [...]

Wow, just, wow. Easily one of the worst books I've ever read. Characters that are cardboard cut outs , with zero attempt at character development. The author spends most of his book describing the tedious minutiae of sailing a trimaran which had me googling words like "daggerboard" until I finally said f**k it I don't care. Actually I ended up saying this about the entire book. Don't waste your time.

I liked the book for a few reasons was closer to current times than some of the other books I have read recently. I read it at a fast pace. There are some memorable quotes in there about "running to stand still".The book raised some great questions without being pretentious or preaching to me.

For the sailors out there, check it outset in the seventies this nuke war story is still timely. Very realistic, good characters, good details, and movement. I think this is exactly how its going to be even now in this century. the war scenario is plausible and the stupid president and govt are absolutely on the money. no way you'll be unhappy with this book purchase.

Grim and unsparing in descriptions of disease, radiation sickness and starvation after a prolonged nuclear exchange between the Warsaw Pact and NATO in the early 1980's. Not an easy or fun read, but it remains an unsettling reminder of how close we came to the brink of mutual suicide in the waning days of the Cold War.

Although dated (as it is set at the height of the Cold War) it describes the survival of strangers cast together on the yacht the Vagabond. During the story the author's anti-nuclear message is clear as the strangers become family while militarism is replaced by pacifism.

Published in 1983, this was a great read still today.

I made it 220 pages in and then skimmed to the end. It dragged on and was ultimately anticlimactic.

Good entertaining post apocalypse novel, well worth reading.

what a story nailbiting to the end

An entertaining read. I found some of the political and philosophical posturing to be a bit trite. Well written action and description. I learned a lot of sailing terminology.

An engrossing story , well written with characters and places you can identify with and also prescient in 2016 world climate

I'm a big fan of apocalypse/post-apocalypse books. This was better than some I have read, and not as good as others.

This is a hair-raising tale of post-nuclear war in the 80's. Great read.

Something completely dfferent from what I normally read. Capivating and hard to interrupt once you get into it.Thought provoking novel about where "mutally ensured destruction" could lead.