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A review by gelsey
Ship's Boy by Phil Geusz
4.0
I have to say, this first book is not the best written of the series, but it caught hold of me hard enough to make me purchase the next book in the series. The story reminds me in many ways of a combination of Nathan Lowell's Age of the Golden Clipper stories and David Weber's Honor Harrington books, somehow.
David Birkenhead is a plucky sort of hero, young and still learning, and I found myself quickly rooting for him despite the almost impossible odds he faces.
I had several issues with the book, of course, and a few with the series--mostly such questions of world building, some of which are answered down the road and some of which I think the author should have been prompted to expound upon. In fact, I would have loved to have gotten my hands on this before it was published, just because these questions take hold of me; it's not in a bad way, though, for it drove me to read more, explore more, and enjoy the series as a whole.
I would recommend this book with some reservations to almost all sci-fi fans, with the caveat of remember this is a new writer (at least, I think so). But truly, I really, really liked this book, and I enjoyed it very much, for whatever that is worth.
David Birkenhead is a plucky sort of hero, young and still learning, and I found myself quickly rooting for him despite the almost impossible odds he faces.
I had several issues with the book, of course, and a few with the series--mostly such questions of world building, some of which are answered down the road and some of which I think the author should have been prompted to expound upon. In fact, I would have loved to have gotten my hands on this before it was published, just because these questions take hold of me; it's not in a bad way, though, for it drove me to read more, explore more, and enjoy the series as a whole.
I would recommend this book with some reservations to almost all sci-fi fans, with the caveat of remember this is a new writer (at least, I think so). But truly, I really, really liked this book, and I enjoyed it very much, for whatever that is worth.