Published by Warner Books, 1994.
paperback, $5.50, ISBN: 0-446-60096-2
391 pages.

Midshipman's Hope provides one of those gripping yarns where you read into the wee hours of the morning to find out what happens to the hero of the story, 17-year-old Nicholas Seafort. Tightly written, packed with action internal and external to the hero, and building a consistent human civilization of the 22nd century, this book hooks you from the first chapter and refuses to let you go.

The year is 2194, the UN is in charge of Earth, and the Navy uses N-wave projecting warp drives to limp around the universe. Far from being technological marvels, the ships seem so fragile, it is a wonder they can make the 17-month voyage to the nearest colony. Indeed, gasp, the officers plot coordinates by hand to doublecheck the computer every time the ship drops out of warp--a frequent occasion. On board, the Captain wields ultimate authority on glorified passenger and cargo runs, for no aliens had ever been spotted in the century of interstellar flight.

Feintuch weaves bits and pieces of Nelsonian naval practices throughout the story, such as written-in-stone regulations, rum rations, and "the barrel" where officers and sailors with too many demerits are caned (which sounds better than "flogged"). It is no wonder that the story takes on consistency--he is a former attourney with a lifelong history in the British Navy and things Napoleonic--and he dovetails them nicely.

As Seafort, a graduate of the Naval Academy, begins his first journey into space as a midshipman, his future seems secure and bright. The growth of this reluctant hero full of self-doubts is neither easy nor particularly warm. That you care what happens to him, especially while silently cursing him for some transgression, is a tribute to Feintuch's deft touch with a work-in-progress character.

In the end, it is as much the routine as the moments of sheer terror and wonder that propel Midshipman's Hope from just another military sci-fi book on the shelf to a revered place in the library.

Note: There are technically five books in the Hope series: Midshipman's Hope, Challenger's Hope, Prisoner's Hope, Fisherman's Hope, and Voices of Hope, but the last should not be considered part of the series, as it takes place almost entirely upon Earth with minimal involvement with the Navy.

Related Reviews:

Challenger's Hope
Voices of Hope

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