Scan barcode
A review by pjonsson
Backyard Starship by J.N. Chaney, Terry Maggert
3.0
I have to say that I rather enjoyed this book. It is not great, it is not bad but it is fairly okay and the story is kind of cool. At least it is a type of story that I tend to like.
Van Tudor is a quite likable fellow. He is competent, a bit of a kick-ass person and adapts rather quickly to his new role as a Peacemaker. Yes that’s right. The “fellowship” into which he more or less gets drafted call themselves Peacemakers and not Peacekeepers.
I very much like his combat AS, Perry, as well. He is quite funny, has plenty of smartass comments and a good addition to Van Tudor’s entourage. Later in the book he picks up a female companion and although, at first, she starts of as being just another mission it quickly evolves into a more permanent “assignment”. Luckily the author doesn’t go overboard with romantic nonsense so they complement each other nicely when it comes to getting the job done and she is very kick-ass as well.
I was a bit miffed at the start that they kind of crippled this starship that he was given early in the book but I later found out that this is perfectly in line some of the elements of the story and how things develop so it was not as bad as I thought at first.
The story, although bringing some things to the table that makes it stand out as a bit original, is fairly simplistic. It develops quite quickly and Van Tudor goes from being a backwater planet primitive to being a Peacemaker galloping around the galaxy solving problems and making a name for himself in record time. The main characters are not really young teenagers but the story is still borderline young adult.
It is science fiction for the most part but it is rather light on science and some things, like this Peacemaker sword for example, are almost entering into the fantasy realm even though the author tries to keep it in the science fiction department.
Overall I found this book quite enjoyable. I liked the characters, there are some colorful characters, some good action and entertaining dialogue. It’s the lightness of the story and how Van Tudor just jumps from situation to situation with ludicrous ease that prevents me from giving the book a four star rating.
Van Tudor is a quite likable fellow. He is competent, a bit of a kick-ass person and adapts rather quickly to his new role as a Peacemaker. Yes that’s right. The “fellowship” into which he more or less gets drafted call themselves Peacemakers and not Peacekeepers.
I very much like his combat AS, Perry, as well. He is quite funny, has plenty of smartass comments and a good addition to Van Tudor’s entourage. Later in the book he picks up a female companion and although, at first, she starts of as being just another mission it quickly evolves into a more permanent “assignment”. Luckily the author doesn’t go overboard with romantic nonsense so they complement each other nicely when it comes to getting the job done and she is very kick-ass as well.
I was a bit miffed at the start that they kind of crippled this starship that he was given early in the book but I later found out that this is perfectly in line some of the elements of the story and how things develop so it was not as bad as I thought at first.
The story, although bringing some things to the table that makes it stand out as a bit original, is fairly simplistic. It develops quite quickly and Van Tudor goes from being a backwater planet primitive to being a Peacemaker galloping around the galaxy solving problems and making a name for himself in record time. The main characters are not really young teenagers but the story is still borderline young adult.
It is science fiction for the most part but it is rather light on science and some things, like this Peacemaker sword for example, are almost entering into the fantasy realm even though the author tries to keep it in the science fiction department.
Overall I found this book quite enjoyable. I liked the characters, there are some colorful characters, some good action and entertaining dialogue. It’s the lightness of the story and how Van Tudor just jumps from situation to situation with ludicrous ease that prevents me from giving the book a four star rating.