Starship: Mutiny

I loved this book. It's not typical military sci fi, which is what attracted me to it. The main character is witty and shrewed, obviously very intelligent. The author pays more attention to good characterization, dialog, and plans than the actual action, but personally that's exactly what I wanted. It's a light read, the kind you can pick up no matter the mood. I'm off to read the next one!

The story here is the story of a non-conformist who uses his intellect to achieve his ends despite the closed-mindedness of his superiors; the setting simply happens to be a spaceship on the fringes of a war. It is not, nor has it ever been, military science fiction, despite the setting. Space opera, yes, as it's an adventure tale set in the far future. Military SF, no, because although it does use the backdrop of a war and the events of the war to move the story forward, the story is NOT about the war itself, but about one man's disenchantment with his military superiors, his government, and his 'trial by media'. Granted, it's rather different from Resnick's other works, but this only tells me that the author is willing to try new things and write in new areas. I personally do not like writers who get stuck in a rut and write the same story over and over and over and over and over again ad nauseum until boredom do us part, and Resnick is an author who is willing to make the leap. Starship: Mutiny is the first in a projected five-book series. I fully expect to see changes in the crew of the Teddy Roosevelt, and in their mission and status over the run of the five books. And since Mutiny is the first in a five-book series, how can one know how the story is going to turn out in the end? There are still four volumes to go. And I am looking forward to all of them.

Fans of military space opera will relish another new Mike Resnick title packed with action and adventure; this revolving around a starship's fight in a galactic war, where its crew is made up of novices and new recruits. A captain's willingness to follow the wrong orders leads Cole to take command of the ship and win a major battle; but despite his success his mutiny cannot be condoned and he is brought to trial on a 'done deal' arrangement. Politics and military might clash - as do personalities - in Starship: Mutiny.

Like most of Mike Resnick's books, this one is an effortless read. I read it cover to cover in one sitting, without putting it down once. His fiction is so accessible, it's easy to make the mistake of thinking it lacks substance, but there's always more to it than first appears. Beneath its highly readable and fast-moving action story, Starship:Mutiny has a suprisingly deep and insightful examination of the media and the dangers of authoritarianism. Highly recommended.

Mike Resnick is an author who often writes against the grain. In 'Starship: Mutiny' he goes against the grain of military SF by choosing the classic rag-tag spacship full of misfits, and refusing to make them self-sacrificing heroes in the mold of 'The Dirty Dozen.' Instead he attempts to treat them in the logical fashion that an interstellar military bureaucracy would require for its continued existence. At the same time, Resnick bridges his realistic fiction with his myth-making. Wilson Cole starts out as an overly practical officer trying to navigate a literal military machine. His practical use and abuse of the news-media naturally leads to his achieving mythic proportions. While the story arrives at the expected conclusion foreshadowed by its title, there are surprises along the way. The last 50 pages were impossible to put down, and the ending makes me look forward to the next 4 books in the series. For readers who follow the 'Birthright Universe' the stories promise to bridge the eras between The Republic and The Democracy. In this sense the series is meta-fiction, not about a spaceship and its crew, but about the weight of government and the cost of freedom. What could be more important?