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John Grimes: Far Traveller Couriers #6-8 included
Ride the Star Winds
The fourth omnibus edition of the classic science fiction of A. Bertram Chandler’s John Grimes books, with four full length novels and six interconnected short stories in this renowned SF saga. Pipe-smoking, action-loving spaceship commander Lieutenant John Grimes (think Captain Kirk with more of a navy, salty attitude) moves out of the Federation navy and finds his true calling adventuring along the spaceways of the galactic rim.
Number four in the collected adventures of the legendary John Grimes of the Galactic Rim series, including four
* The Anarch Lords : John Grimes’ short career as a somewhat benevolent space pirate is over, but he has sunk even lower, becoming a politician. He’s now the governor of a planet of anarchists, where term limits are unnecessary, what with all the assassinations taking place.
* The Last Amazon : Back on Sparta, the formerly all-male planet, Grimes is waiting for his own ship to arrive when he’s caught up in yet another revolution—and you can’t tell the good guys (or gals) without a program.
* The Wild Ones : Back on Earth was the last place that Grimes expected to be. Another thing he hadn’t expected was accusations of witchcraft being taken seriously.
* Catch the Star Winds : An experimental sailing ship of space was intended to exceed the speed of light. Then strange things happened involving time itself, and the crew wasn’t sure they would ever see home, or their home time, again.
Plus six interrelated short stories starring the indefatigable John Grimes, rounding out a large volume of space adventure with a dash of humor, and a likable hero who always gamely manages to muddle through. .
Number four in the collected adventures of the legendary John Grimes of the Galactic Rim series, including four
* The Anarch Lords : John Grimes’ short career as a somewhat benevolent space pirate is over, but he has sunk even lower, becoming a politician. He’s now the governor of a planet of anarchists, where term limits are unnecessary, what with all the assassinations taking place.
* The Last Amazon : Back on Sparta, the formerly all-male planet, Grimes is waiting for his own ship to arrive when he’s caught up in yet another revolution—and you can’t tell the good guys (or gals) without a program.
* The Wild Ones : Back on Earth was the last place that Grimes expected to be. Another thing he hadn’t expected was accusations of witchcraft being taken seriously.
* Catch the Star Winds : An experimental sailing ship of space was intended to exceed the speed of light. Then strange things happened involving time itself, and the crew wasn’t sure they would ever see home, or their home time, again.
Plus six interrelated short stories starring the indefatigable John Grimes, rounding out a large volume of space adventure with a dash of humor, and a likable hero who always gamely manages to muddle through. .
- GenresScience Fiction
880 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
A. Bertram Chandler
358 books53 followersArthur Bertram Chandler (28 March 1912–6 June 1984) was an Australian science fiction author. He also wrote under the pseudonyms George Whitley, George Whitely, Paul T. Sherman, Andrew Dunstan, and S.H.M.
He was born in Aldershot, England. He was a merchant marine officer, sailing the world in everything from tramp steamers to troopships. He emigrated to Australia in 1956 and became an Australian citizen. He commanded various ships in the Australian and New Zealand merchant navies, and was the last master of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne as the law required that it have an officer on board while it was laid up waiting to be towed to China to be broken up.
He was born in Aldershot, England. He was a merchant marine officer, sailing the world in everything from tramp steamers to troopships. He emigrated to Australia in 1956 and became an Australian citizen. He commanded various ships in the Australian and New Zealand merchant navies, and was the last master of the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne as the law required that it have an officer on board while it was laid up waiting to be towed to China to be broken up.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 8, 2019
Adding this is kind of cheating because this omnibus includes four of the John Grimes short novels I read earlier this year in the Science Fiction Book Club omnibus John Grimes: Reserve Commodore. This edition adds the novel The Anarch Lords about Grimes serving a governor of an Earth colony, plus it has a completely different set of shorter works: the novellas On the Account, The Dutchman, The Last Hunt, and Rim Change.
Three of the the novellas are about Grimes and his fleet of solar sails. Given my own interest in light sails of fact and fiction, these were a lot of fun. Rim Change was also a good story, but it seemed oddly placed in this volume. In the Grimes chronology it would come after The Rim Gods, and The Commodore at Sea. I was glad I had recently read those books before finding this novella.
Of the stories I recently read or re-read here, I love The Anarch Lords because it provides a real "fish out of water" story for Grimes as he finds himself having to solve a planet's problems without the help of a spaceship crew. I also really enjoyed On the Account where one of Grimes's fleet of light sails must contend with space pirates. It's also notable that this is perhaps the only Grimes volume I've seen where there's no question that the characters on the cover are characters from the book. Grimes books often get a generic rocket ship, sometimes an airship, and sometimes a tough looking guy with a gun accompanied by an attractive woman. While those images all fit the books, it was nice to see Grimes with Shirl, Darleen, and Seiko from The Wild Ones.
Three of the the novellas are about Grimes and his fleet of solar sails. Given my own interest in light sails of fact and fiction, these were a lot of fun. Rim Change was also a good story, but it seemed oddly placed in this volume. In the Grimes chronology it would come after The Rim Gods, and The Commodore at Sea. I was glad I had recently read those books before finding this novella.
Of the stories I recently read or re-read here, I love The Anarch Lords because it provides a real "fish out of water" story for Grimes as he finds himself having to solve a planet's problems without the help of a spaceship crew. I also really enjoyed On the Account where one of Grimes's fleet of light sails must contend with space pirates. It's also notable that this is perhaps the only Grimes volume I've seen where there's no question that the characters on the cover are characters from the book. Grimes books often get a generic rocket ship, sometimes an airship, and sometimes a tough looking guy with a gun accompanied by an attractive woman. While those images all fit the books, it was nice to see Grimes with Shirl, Darleen, and Seiko from The Wild Ones.
February 8, 2014
This book, "Ride The Star Winds", is the fourth omnibus in a series of books about John Grimes by A. Bertram Chandler. I have read many of the novels and short stories about John Grimes but many are hard to find and long out of print. With these collections I will finally be able to read them all. Each story is very entertaining and shows how Grimes develops in his career in the Federation Survey Service, the space fleet of the Federation, then as a Captain/owner of his own independent ship, a tramp trader. Finally the series will cover his career in the Rim Worlds. This book had three novels about John Grimes as a ship Captain/owner and it also has several short stories about his adventures in the Rim Worlds. This is classic Space Opera and very entertaining. It is not for children however. I would rate it as PG 13. A must read for fans of Grimes and A. Bertram Chandler. The next book is due out this spring 2014. I am looking forward to reading it also.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews