The Rising Flight Engineer

Rising is the first novel in the Flight Engineer series. Commander Peter Raeder was an ace fighter pilot, but lost his right hand in a Mollie ambush. Now he is a young flight engineer assigned to the Fast Carrier Invincible. The Mission of Life Lived in Ecclesia sect -- the Mollies -- have rebelled against the Commonwealth. Since this religious group is rather abrasive and intolerant, none would deny them autonomy if antihydrogen was available anywhere else. If the Mollies become independent, however, the Commonwealth will suffer a tremendous economic setback. Moreover, the Mollies have allied with the Fibians, alien sentients, which has generated xenophobic fears in the Commonwealth population. War soon followed. In this novel, Raeder has been released from therapy and received his orders. After a shuttle ride to Lunabase, he boards the freighter Africa for transport to Ontario Base. Enroute, Africa's convoy is attacked by raiders and Raeder thwarts the assault by crossing over to a raider ship in his spacesuit and breaking its sensors with a hammer. In his spare time, he wins most of the crew's available money playing Dynamics. On the Invincible, Raeder is responsible for keeping 36 Speed fighters and seven stealth fighters operating. He controls everything on the hanger deck except operations. His second-in-command is Lieutenant Cynthia Robbins, an excellent technician but short on people skills. As he learns during his interview with the Captain, Raeder also has the unofficial responsibility for discovering the saboteur who killed his predecessor. Raeder is an innovative, experienced and pragmatic officer. His methods are often outside the box, but produce good results. In other words, he is the kind of engineer, and officer, that combat commanders love to have in their units, but that desk jockeys despise and fear. This novel draws upon Doohan's experience as a engineer, artillery commander, and flying officer in the Canadian Army during World War II. It may even have been influenced by his years playing Scotty, chief engineer on the Enterprise under Captain Kirk. Recommended for Stirling and "Scotty" fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of mavericks thumbing their noses at authority while getting the job done. -Arthur W. Jordin

Rising is the first novel in the Flight Engineer series. Commander Peter Raeder was an ace fighter pilot, but lost his right hand in a Mollie ambush. Now he is a young flight engineer assigned to the Fast Carrier Invincible.The Mission of Life Lived in Ecclesia sect, the Mollies, have rebelled against the Commonwealth. Since this religious group is rather abrasive and intolerant, none would deny them autonomy if antihydrogen was available anywhere else. If the Mollies become independent, however, the Commonwealth will suffer a tremendous economic setback. Moreover, the Mollies have allied with the Fibians, alien sentients, which has generated xenophobic fears in the Commonwealth population. War soon followed.In this novel, Raeder has been released from therapy and received his orders. After a shuttle ride to Lunabase, he boards the freighter Africa for transport to Ontario Base. Enroute, Africa's convoy is attacked by raiders and Raeder thwarts the assault by crossing over to a raider ship in his spacesuit and breaking its sensors with a hammer. In his spare time, he wins most of the crew's available money playing Dynamics.On the Invincible, Raeder is responsible for keeping 36 Speed fighters and seven stealth fighters operating. He controls everything on the hanger deck except operations. His second-in-command is Lieutenant Cynthia Robbins, an excellent technician but short on people skills. As he learns during his interview with the Captain, Raeder also has the unofficial responsibility for discovering the saboteur who killed his predecessor.Raeder is an innovative, experienced and pragmatic officer. His methods are often outside the box, but produce good results. In other words, he is the kind of engineer, and officer, that combat commanders love to have in their units, but that desk jockeys despise and fear.This novel draws upon Doohan's experience as a engineer, artillery commander, and flying officer in the Canadian Army during World War II. It may even have been influenced by his years playing Scotty, chief engineer on the Enterprise under Captain Kirk.Recommended for Stirling and "Scotty" fans and anyone else who enjoys tales of mavericks thumbing their noses at authority while getting the job done.

Good SF from an actor is not what I expected. I picked up the book in an airport just for old times' sake, and was more than pleasantly surprised. The technology is believable, the situations and conflicts well-described, the flow from scene to scene is smooth, scene changes don't leave you teetering and feeling dissatisfied, and the character development is quite good. While Shatner's Tek novels clearly show the influence of his mentor (Ron Goulart), Doohan has outdone him in establishing a unique 'voice.' Stirling's expertise at depicting elements of conflict meshes indistinguishably. If you're an SF reader, and/or a Trekkie, this book is outstanding and well worth it. It stands well alone, so you needn't get the next in the series to achieve a sense of closure.

James Doohan breaks onto the literary side of sci-fi with this explosive and engaging novel. With a plot brimming with subversion, suspicion, action and edge-of-your-seat suspense, this book will keep you reading rabidly. Doohan shows great understanding of the human psyche as he weaves a tale of betrayl and war in deep space with humans fighting with a faction of fanatically religious humans and their alien allies. A far cry from the unified and relatively peaceful Star Trek universe, the flight engineer series throws humanity into a war which they are on the wrong side of and makes the reader realise just how tenuous humanity's control on the universe could be. Anyone who enjoyed playing the Wing Commander series of video games will slip right into this series. Anyone who enjoyed the original Star Trek will also be able to easily immerse themselves in "Scotty's" debut on the literary scene. Be warned, once you pick this book up you will not want to put it down and you will be salivating for the next installment in this series.

I loved this book but must admit that I got lost in the techno babble. The characters are well thought out -- people we would like to meet. I hated to read the end because I felt like friends had moved away. I also agree that the end was a bit sudden and a little too pat. All the same, I can hardly wait for book 2.