The Trophy

The Helmsman #3

by Bill Baldwin

After the evil League of Dark Stars ends the war for galactic domination by suing for armistice, Helmsman Wilf Brim enters the great Mitchell Trophy Race, hoping to keep the Princess's love and to defeat the League in their ploy to win new allies for another war

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Fiction, Space

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am finding this series of space opera science fiction to be addictive. The war is over and the Emperor has been exiled. But is this to be reality or akin to the Peace of Amiens between Britsin and France in 1802

[Otis Campbell · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

You’d reckon that after saving the galaxy a time or two, the Empire would treat Wilf Brim like a king. But nosiree! The big war with the League of Dark Stars ends in a shaky, political armistice. With peace officially breaking out, the high-and-mighty brass decides they don't need a dirt-planet commoner clogging up their fancy officer roster anymore, so they go and kick Wilf right out of the Fleet! Suddenly, our ace pilot is stranded on the ground, drifting through miserable, dead-end civilian flying jobs just to keep beans on the table. But you can't keep a good country boy down for long. Some old buddies track him down and drag him into the crazy, high-society world of the Mitchell Trophy Race—the most dangerous, white-knuckle astroplane racing competition in the whole universe. It looks like a fun sport on the outside, but behind the scenes, the villainous Nergol Triannic and the League of Dark Stars are using the race as a massive political ploy to win over new alien allies for the next war. If Wilf doesn't strap into an experimental starship and win that golden trophy, his beloved Empire is gonna get served up on a silver platter to the bad guys! This book is slicker than a greased weasel and faster than a struck match. It’s a total change of pace from the first two military books, but it serves up a premium underdog comeback story that’ll keep your heart hammering. If you want to see our country boy redline a spaceship's engines until they scream, this one is an absolute humdinger.

[Steven Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was always my favorite book of the series. It is obviously modeled after the period of time between WWI and WWII when everyone could see another war coming but so many were in denial.

Some good description of aerial racing, but not much space combat in this book. A lot of character development as Wilf learns some hard lessons, and matures. Wilf also learns what a true friend is, as compared to the fair weather friends.

One of the saddest books too because Wilf writes off Margot as a drug-addicted loss from his life. Meets Anna and falls head over heels for her. The original paperback from the early '90s because of ham fisted editing, just dropped Anna from the book.

The expanded reprint from 2004 offers some explanation as to Anna's disappearance where this book details it exactly. I just cannot believe someone could have such bad luck with women.

I always thought Margot might have been modeled after Princess Diana, and several other tragic princesses who sacrificed everything and had the worse happen to them.

[Don Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent and Engaging Story

This 3rd novel in the helmsman series was truly a pleasure to read. Set in an uneasy period of peace, very reminiscent of the 1920s, with a touch of Napoleonic history thrown in, the book follows Wilf Brim as he goes through failures, triumphs, and challenges. Of course new loves occur as well. But the intrigue, the interaction between old enemy's and new villains, as well as the races themselves, is what really sets this book apart. It's hard to put it down. I highly recommend it.

[Lubos Elexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niektoré typy zbabelcov, politikov a riťolezcov sa nájdu v každej dobe, v každom vesmíre. Akurát nie vždy máme proti nim vhodnú obranu. Séria si neustále drží svoj level príčetnosti a pútavosti.

[Text Addict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheese, Gromit! CHEEEEESE!

[Vitaliy Hristyuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I quite like this book. But again, I also like greasy potatoes in a thick gravy. Point is... this could be a great movie. On par of a classic Star Wars trilogy, I think.