Book review: A Spaceship for the King by Jerry Pournelle

[kilroy]

Let me say first and foremost that I enjoyed this one. It's just trying to have a rip-snorting space adventure and it does so admirably. It ain't deep and it doesn't have to be.

The plot is basically this: a military man from a planet recently conquered by a space empire is sent to go steal the plans for a spaceship so that his planet can build one before the empire gets around to classifying their citizenship, thus proving that they can be real members of the empire as opposed to a subjugated colony. Which I have to admit is something I'd never seen before, so full marks there.

The story was originally serialized in Analog and it shows-- chapters often have fairly large gaps between them, and it seems like the author ran out of installments before he ran out of plot. The pacing is brisk with hardly a word wasted; this is one of the leanest books I've read in a while and I quite enjoyed the utter lack of unnecessary stage dressing.

The characters of course aren't really important in this kind of story, and aren't really developed much. Standard feminist rant applies: one female character who is very active, strong, and intelligent but who still ends up running the commissary instead of fighting and whose positive qualities are constantly remarked on because she's a girl.

All in all, I'd call this a Saturday afternoon book. Nothing deep or memorable, but certainly a good time.


Print date: 1973 (20s: 1, 60s: 1, 70s: 1, 80s: 1, 00s: 2)
Page count: 157 (2604 total)

Verdict: Worth reading once, but will recycle. (2/6 keepers)

Next book due: Artificial Things by Karen Joy Fowler, 3/22/10