Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • High Octane Nightmare Fuel: Overlaps with Squick. Imagine being beaten around by a ten-foot whale penis and then having gallons of whale semen dumped on you.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: It starts off pretty well. The main character, a marine biologist named Nathan Quinn, sees the words "Bite Me" written on the tail of a whale and decides to investigate. Nathan works with a quirky and interesting supporting cast of fellow marine biologists. There is romantic tension between the introverted Jonas and the more extroverted new girl. There is a rivalry between the biologists and the evil corporation that are hinted to be doing something evil. And there is a nice environmentalism theme too. Then, halfway through the book, Nathan is kidnapped and spends the rest of the novel walking around a giant Cosmic Horror of sorts while the supporting cast sits on their hands and try to figure out where he is, and the environmentalism theme and initial mystery are ruined because they are tied to the Cosmic Horror, resulting in a Broken Aesop. What could have been an interesting mystery about whales is ruined halfway through.