Starship

Mutiny

By: Mike Resnick

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Mike Resnick

The date is 1966 of the Galactic Era, almost three thousand years from now, and the Republic, created by the human race - but not yet dominated by it - finds itself in an all-out war.

They stand against the Teroni Federation, an alliance of races that resent Man's growing military and economic power. The main battles are taking place in the Spiral Arm and toward the Core. But far out on the Rim, the Theodore Roosevelt is one of three ships charged with protecting the Phoenix Cluster - a group of 73 inhabited worlds.

Old, battered, some of its weapon systems outmoded, the Teddy R. is a ship that would have been decommissioned years ago if weren't for the war. Its crew is composed of retreads, discipline cases, and a few raw recruits. But a new officer has been transferred to the Teddy R. His name is Wilson Cole, and he comes with a reputation for heroics and disobedience. Will the galaxy ever be the same?

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction by author Mike Resnick.

Engage! Hear the rest of the Starship series.©2005 by Mike Resnick (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Good Fun

Let me start with what this is not.
It is not Orson Scott Card, deep and emotional.
It is also not Asimov, overwhelming you with technical details. This is a good story about characters you come to like very quickly, and it never lets you get bored or distracted. It is light and engaging, and the hero is what he should be, a little smarter than everybody else. (a bit like James Bond) I could do without the narrators overused and distinct "said Cole",.. "said Foreyes",.. "said Cole",.. "said Fujiama",.. But this does disappear as the story continues.
I bought the second book before I had finished the first, because the characters are fun to travel with.

Well worth the credits.

Mike Resick’s go at military science fiction

The Starship collection of novels are Mike Resick’s go at military science fiction, it is along the lines of Honor Harrington.

This book did not blow me away, it held my attention, but I am a big fan of Mike Resnick and I felt a little let down by this book. It doesn’t have the sense of humor or suspense that I enjoy so much from him and I found much of the story to be obvious and uninspired.

But… there is a reason to read this book, so that you can move on to the second book in the series Starship: Pirate which a solid work of fiction and brings in a little more of Resnick’s sense of humor.

Honor Harrington done right

Great sci-fi military fiction, hope the rest of the series is this good. I was disappointed with the Honor Harrington series and this, like the Barryar books is similar, but better.

You can't keep a good man down

Semi space opera/military.
The lead character is a Wilson Cole, an officer in the Navy of the Republic. The backdrop is an interstellar war with Teronis (and fluid alliances with other parties in the outer rim of the galaxy).
It's not as gung-ho a say David Weber's "Prince Roger" series - but a good start.
Basically, its based around a very quick witted Cole, who has been given a bunch of misfits for a crew, a crap ship and is posted out of the way. Cole came about to this predicament because he was too good and did everything to ensure a successful mission (beyond the call of duty) - in doing so embarrassing his superiors.
We follow Cole, in his journey to transform the misfits in to a fighting force..

He's such a hero!

It's amazing how he knows so much more and performs so much better than every single person in the universe. Amazing.

He's like Superman, in space... jumping from one dilemma to the next and only he can save the ship/planet/people because he is faster and smarter and more skilled than anyone else. And the only reason he isn't King of the Universe is because those in power are too stupid to see how smart he is.

There are a lot of "aliens" with detailed descriptions, even though it seems like they were added in for no purpose other than to show that the author was creative enough to think of decent aliens.

Anyway... the story is fast paced and interesting. The narration is good. The sci-fi is good. Overall, it's average-good. I got it on sale and am ok with it, but it's way too smug a story to be worth full price. (I'd give it 2.5 stars if possible.)

Made me smile

Great book! Lessons in leadership with a sense of humor. Creative characters and excellent narration.

good but short of great

Mike Resnick is a solid author. He does an admirable job of developing plots and characterization. it is hard to find a more solid SF author.

Here I give you the chance to skip my review because I know sometimes finding out other people's annoyances tend to magnify the annoyance.

I have two quibbles with him. 1. He uses short question-answer exchanges between characters to the point of being annoying. 2. he tends to use "things everybody knows" as plot points as because it's satisfying for the reader to have their own biases reflected. For example everybody knows "military heros are victims of the top brass" or everybody knows "ALL media ruins everything".
Personally this rubs me the wrong way.

I am rather impressed.....

I originally passed over this title as dull sounding. Finally, after running very low on any interesting looking volumes, I decided to try it.And was I surprised! It's not very cerebral for sure, but it IS entertaining. Just what I like when I'm suffering from burnout - an escape. As I listened, the writing just started to sound better. The characters grew on me...well, except that Chief of Security...and by the end I found myself engrossed. The fence David Copperfield is a real hoot and an engaging character. He lives in his own world and is a great comic relief. The hero, Wilson Cole, is no James Kirk or even a Jean Luc Picard, but he is a rogue, a scoundrel, and totally believable. Overall, I really liked it. So much so, that I immediately bought the 2nd and 3rd volumes. AND I'm hoping for more!

To my surprise VERY GOOD!

This is a very cool well written book with great narration. It keeps you listening, the end makes you smile! Off to the next book!!

Starship: Nowhere

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I tried listening to it twice and bought the sequal. I can't say I really understood why I did that, I hoped for a good starship pirate story but didn't get it. It sounded so promising though.

What was most disappointing about Mike Resnick’s story?

Inconsistencies in the story, clearly unbelievable jumps in logic and a lack of focus on what actually was happening.

Which scene was your favorite?

No real favorite, it was all rather bland.

Was Starship worth the listening time?

After carefull consideration I can't recommend it.

Any additional comments?

I listen to many sci fi stories and while ofcourse you can't always understand the choices people make this universe seems made up especially to show just how great the main character is while his "deductions are half guess and half wrong half the time". That is fun when Jack Vance writes a story but not in a story that takes his character so serious.