Starship: Pirate

This here's yet another winner from Mike Resnick. I loved the first book and this one is even better, and am eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series.

It's 1967 of the Galactic Era, nearly three thousand years from our times, and the human-created Republic is in the middle of a war against an alien federation of races. Captain Wilson Cole is a political scapegoat despite his dedicated military career, facing a court-martial when he's rescued by his ship's crew and they all flee to the lawless Interior Frontier. Fans of military science fiction and especially libraries with the prior introductory STARSHIP: MUTINY in the stacks will find plenty to like in this fast-paced saga. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Second in the Starship series (Starship: Mutiny was the first), this is a blasters blazing space opera filled with all kinds of moral dilemas -- for instance, how do you become a pirate but not hurt anyone who in your judgment doesn't deserve to be hurt. After all, Captain Wilson Cole is a save the universe type, not a true pirate out to get everything he can for himself. Enter beautiful but deadly Valkyrie, and the strange alien known as David Copperfield (will they still be reading that in 3,000 years), and of course there's the real pirate king. Is this book, like David Copperfield obviously will, going to be around as revered literature in 3,000 years - not likely. Is it a fun read for a cold evening or an airplane ride.

Three millennia in the future the Republic is at war with the Teroni Federation and the commander of the Teddy R is one of the Republic's most decorated officers. His actions saved five million people but he exceeded his orders and was awaiting a court martial when his crew broke him out of jail and escaped on the Teddy R to the inner frontier. Wilson Cole and his crew are going to become moral pirates only stealing from other pirates. On his first foray into piracy he steals a fortune in diamonds and jewelry but when he goes to fence it David Copperfield only offers him a pittance of what it is worth. He "sells them back to the insurance company" but when he tries to do the same stunt with the jewels he is recognized and his visage is broadcast to the Republic. On a frontier planet, he meets the pirate Val, a pirate whose ship was stolen by Hammerhead Shark. She wants it back and Cole makes a deal with her. If she teaches him the ins and outs of piracy, he will help her get her ship back. He finds her ship as it is being chased by three other ships by because Hammerhead Shark raided another pirate's headquarters, killing that pirate's minions, destroying his estate and merchandise. Cole has to figure out a way to deal with both pirates without destroying Val's ship or getting himself killed. There is so much action in this fabulous space opera that readers will find themselves caught on a roller coaster ride they can't leave. The hero is a decent and honorable man who got sold out by the Republic and he knows he can never return there. He feels for the men who left their families behind to join him in exile but he finds piracy morally repugnant yet he doesn't know what to do until Copperfield gives him an idea. Mike Resnick is a brilliant storyteller who never disappoints his fans. Harriet Klausner

The heroic adventures of Wilson Cole, Captain Extraordinaire continue in this novel, the second of the STARSHIP series. Wilson Cole, after kicking himself out of the Navy does what every Navy Man dreams of doing--he becomes a Pirate! The only catch is, he doesn't want to actually hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it, doesn't want to steal from anyone who shouldn't be stolen from, and the last thing he wants to do is injure any of his former Navy comrades by entering into a battle while Pirating. How does he solve this quandary? Read STARSHIP: PIRATE to find out. It you enjoy well plotted action novels with strong characters, this is the one for you!