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Series: Castle Federation, book 1
Author: Glynn Stewart
Genre: Science Fiction, Military Fiction
Publisher: Faolan's Pen Publishing, Inc.
Date: June 14, 2015
Length: 343 pages
This book was free through my Kindle Unlimited subscription
THE FLEET'S OLD LADY - OUT FOR ONE LAST DANCE
Avalon was the flagship of the Castle Federation in the last war, now twenty years past. The first of the deep space carriers, no other warship in the fleet holds as many honors or has recorded as many kills.
No other warship in the fleet is as old.
Accepting the inevitable, the Federation Space Navy has decided to refit her and send her on a tour of the frontier, showing the flag to their allies and enemies as a reminder of her glory – and then decommission her for good.
But Avalon has been a backwater posting for ten years – and has problems a mere refit can’t fix. The systems along her planned tour have been seeing pirates for the first time in decades, and there are rumblings of Commonwealth scouting ships all along the border.
It may be Avalon’s final tour – but it looks to be anything but quiet!
Description from Goodreads
This is a self published book and it does have some issues that a copy editor could have caught, but it is generally a good space opera. With A LOT of characters. Like, a lot, but the book follows three: Our hero Kyle Roberts; Michelle Williams a talented pilot who was assaulted and betrayed; and Michael Stanford, a natural leader who had his career abruptly sidelined when he and two admirals' daughters 'borrowed' a shuttle.
What I liked
The way Stewart uses TIME to build tension during battles: This is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of this book. It's the thing I tell my husband about when I'm trying to get him to read it. The space fighters move quickly (like seconds) but because of the distances involved a pilot might see a missile heading for him and he knows he has 15 minutes until impact. But it will take 17 minutes to maneuver out of the missile's path. So the flight crew is trying to run away all the while knowing that they can't escape - basically watching their death come at them for 15 minutes. I just think it's such a cool and creative way to build tension during battles. (Or maybe I'm just morbid.)
Diversity: Humanity has colonized the stars and new cultures and religions have developed over the centuries. Characters from major to background are a diverse mix of ethnicities and sexual orientation. I like that the military women are strong and capable but also human.
The hero is far from perfect, and he knows it: Kyle Roberts is an excellent pilot who isn't afraid to take risks, but he's smart about it. He enjoys being in the military and is loyal to his people. When he was 17 years old he ran away from home when he found out his girlfriend was pregnant. He has always sent her the maximum amount of child support and has helped pay her way through several degrees. But he's never seen his son. Kyle feels a lot of guilt over his cowardly behavior, but the guilt has snowballed and he's afraid and ashamed to return home. So he's not always likable, but he doesn't try to downplay his responsibility in the situation. (Note: In this world it's almost unheard of for birth control technology to fail, so it would have been a shock to all involved.)
Handling of Michelle's rape: There was no flipping of a switch or injecting nanites to make everything better for her. Advanced technology does help victims handle their rape at a faster pace then reality, but the story stresses Michelle's continuing need for psychological support. I liked that Stewart wrote her as a kick butt pilot who fought to survive and find her way to a new normal.
Character Fatigue: This is a real problem that many book worms suffer from. A story is stuffed with characters and their names, and you can't keep track of who they are or what they did, and when they're mentioned who have to go back and figure out who they are because they've been mentioned by name so they must be important but you've FORGOTTEN THEM! Stewart's book is so packed with people that my brain turned off in self defense. They do illustrate how large the Avalon is, the size of Kyle's command, and the diversity of the world, but it seems excessive. Eventually you stop keeping track of everyone and just say, "I don't care anymore, just kill them off."
Kill all the people!: Stewart has no problem killing off his supporting, minor, and background characters.(But he tends to name his victims, which sent me haring off trying to figure who these people were if I'd forgotten them.) When dealing with battles on a galactic scale, there will be a high death tole. You don't want to have accidents in space because there will be a high death tole. People dying is to be expected, but I eventually became numb to the death toll. Numbers kept getting bigger and I was just, "Meh."
Feels more like an Omnibus than a cohesive story: There is an overarching plot, but the whole book felt like two or three novellas published together. In fact, I might have liked this more as a series of novellas because the whole book had this feel of "end of first story line, start of next story line". Does that make sense?
What I'm on the fence about
World Building: Stewart has a nice mix of 'showing' and 'explaining' when it comes to the cultures, governments, and military aspects of Space Carrier Avalon. However, the science side at times can feel slow and tedious. Now, this could just be me as a reader. I know I personally don't like a lot of details about cars, boats, computers, etc. I would never be able to survive a Tom Clancy book, as it is I skim through the more detailed descriptions of cars and guns in the Alex Rider series. The technical detail just doesn't interest me as a reader and my attention starts to wander. But this didn't stop me from understanding and enjoying the story.Character Fatigue: This is a real problem that many book worms suffer from. A story is stuffed with characters and their names, and you can't keep track of who they are or what they did, and when they're mentioned who have to go back and figure out who they are because they've been mentioned by name so they must be important but you've FORGOTTEN THEM! Stewart's book is so packed with people that my brain turned off in self defense. They do illustrate how large the Avalon is, the size of Kyle's command, and the diversity of the world, but it seems excessive. Eventually you stop keeping track of everyone and just say, "I don't care anymore, just kill them off."
Kill all the people!: Stewart has no problem killing off his supporting, minor, and background characters.(But he tends to name his victims, which sent me haring off trying to figure who these people were if I'd forgotten them.) When dealing with battles on a galactic scale, there will be a high death tole. You don't want to have accidents in space because there will be a high death tole. People dying is to be expected, but I eventually became numb to the death toll. Numbers kept getting bigger and I was just, "Meh."
Feels more like an Omnibus than a cohesive story: There is an overarching plot, but the whole book felt like two or three novellas published together. In fact, I might have liked this more as a series of novellas because the whole book had this feel of "end of first story line, start of next story line". Does that make sense?
What didn't work for me
Repetitive word use: Using the same word or phrase in a paragraph or page always sticks and bothers me. It's a pet peeve of mine because it's also one of my personal weaknesses and I've trained myself to look for it in my own writing. I've had to correct this review a few times to avoid it, but I probably missed something. This was a common occurrence in this book, to the point that I started counting them when I ran across it. It bugs me, but it doesn't ruin the story.
Military culture frequently dips into the corny zone: The military is an interesting mix of its own culture, customs, and camaraderie. Stewart tried to reflect that in Space Carrier Avalon, but some times it just didn't work. Maybe it was all of the exclamation points. He was going for intensity but it read as being over the top and I would roll my eyes.
Military culture frequently dips into the corny zone: The military is an interesting mix of its own culture, customs, and camaraderie. Stewart tried to reflect that in Space Carrier Avalon, but some times it just didn't work. Maybe it was all of the exclamation points. He was going for intensity but it read as being over the top and I would roll my eyes.
Rating: 3.0
This is a nice action-y soap opera of a sci-fi story. It can be overdramatic at times but I found it to be a fun read and I've enjoyed books 2 and 3. This is a great one to pick up from the library or try though Kindle Unlimited before buying.
Have you read Space Carrier Avalon or any of Stewarts other books? Lots of technical detail bores me as a reader, but I have lots of students who love it. Is there a story element that typically doesn't work for you as a reader?
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