Starship

December 1, 2005
When new first officer Wilson Cole reports for duty to the starship Theodore Roosevelt on the outer fringes of a galactic war, he brings with him rumors of his tendency to exceed his orders -and promptly gives the crew an example. After disobeying his commander's orders and following his own instincts to achieve a major victory, he finds himself the object of a court-martial for insubordination. Instead of facing an almost certain guilty verdict, he and his loyal followers take the Theodore Roosevelt and declare themselves independent from the military, regardless of the consequences. Prolific sf author Resnick (Kirinyaga; A Hunger in the Soul) launches a new series of military sf adventure with a solid introductory tale of one man's faith in himself and the loyalty of his comrades. A good choice for large sf collections.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 6, 2006
One of the characters in this sequel to Starship: Mutiny
(2005) asks, "Whatever happened to heroes who didn't think everything through, but just walked in with weapons blazing?" The answer is "They're buried in graveyards all across the galaxy." This sums up nicely Hugo-winner Resnick's approach to military SF, which isn't so much about fighting and hardware as it is about strategy and leadership. Having busted their commander, Wilson Cole, out of the brig for disobeying orders that would have cost millions of lives, the crew of the starship Theodore Roosevelt
find themselves on the run from their own fleet. The plan? Hoist the Jolly Roger! Since Captain Cole is a moral man, he must figure out a way to practice piracy without actually harming anyone—at least, anyone who doesn't have it coming. As he and the Teddy R.
stumble their way through Piracy for Dummies
, they make new enemies and find new allies that make the difference between real pirates and military professionals all the more apparent. Readers craving intelligent, character-driven SF need look no further.