Published by Popular Library, 1991,
paperback, $4.95 ISBN 0-446-36139-9
313 pages
Bill Baldwin's fourth novel in the Helmsman series continues the larger-than-life adventures of the universe's greatest Helmsman, Wilf Brim. Gadzooks, this pure hero overcomes all obstacles as he rockets through the galaxy to maintain the freedom of all sentient beings...and if he gets a bit of adoration from heroically-proportioned females on the side, well, all the better.
In this episode, er, novel, Wilf resigns his hard-won commission to join a mercenary group akin to the WWII Flying Tigers to protect the vulnerable Fluvanna systems from the evil League. You see, Fluvanna is just about the only source of dilithium crystals, I mean, celecoid quartz drive crystal seeds, for Wilf's beloved Empire. And Wilf Brim, hero helmsman, is just the right fellow to talk techy with the ex-Fluvannian helmsman turned #1 Ambassador, who will bring him to an audience with Mustafa IX Eyren the Magnificent, Fluvanna's benevolent dictator.
But hey, nothing like saving the Nabob's #1 concubine from a shootout to sweeten the plot, er, pot. And when there are space battles to fight, well, Wilf is ready, able, and willing to lead the Imperial Volunteer Group against countless hordes of League starships.
How pure is pure? Well, the Fluvannian ambassador, Beyazh, puts it like this...
Whew! What a promotion. As you might guess, Baldwin maintains the space opera style throughout. If the characters are somewhat one-dimensional, well, the bad guys are bad, the good guys are good, and there aren't too many in between. The plot is the key to this series, and the prose correctly gets out of the way for the plot.
Will Wilf come back? Will the League be foiled yet again? Will Wilf get the girl?
C'mon, what do you think?
Baldwin actually slips plotwise just a bit. Love of Wilf's life in the last novel, sexy walking Anna, is nowhere to be seen or heard in this one. Not even one love e-mail, although you'd probably expect a KA'PPA message (a sort of "hail on all channels" style broadcast). Ah, fickle fellow.
But hey, there's a galaxy full of beauties with lines as shapely as the new starship Brim commands in the showdown with the League. This is hero stuff, here. And it's great hero stuff for space opera fans.
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Beyazh looked down at the long, curled tips of his boots. For the first time since Brim had met the man, he seemed to be at a loss for words. "I hope you come back, Wilf Brim," he said finally. "Your bravery makes you a most valuable man--not just to Fluvanna or your beloved Empire, but to the whole of Civilization." (p.266)
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