End of Empires

Chronicles of Isambard Smith #5

by Toby Frost

Captain Isambard Smith and his crew are back for a fifth adventure fighting alien foe in the 25th-century British Space Empire The lemming men of Yullia are rushing headlong towards the cliffs of destiny, and they intend to take the British Space Empire with them. When moral fiber clashes with lemming spirit, only one thing is certain--surrender is no longer an option. In the back-streets of Ravnavar, greatest planet of the Space Empire, revolution stirs. Someone will have to go deep undercover, take on the robot underworld, and reveal what lies behind the mysterious Popular Front. Worst of all, Major Wainscott--commando and nudist--has gone renegade in the most dangerous jungle in the galaxy. Someone will have to travel upriver, terminate Wainscott's command, and make him put some trousers on. That someone is Isambard Smith. Once more, Smith and his crew must leap into action, civilize the galaxy, and force legions of angry rodents to stop their nonsense at once. Smith is destined to topple a mighty empire. The only question is--whose empire will it be?

Genres: Science Fiction, Humor, Steampunk

352 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2014

About the author

Toby Frost studied law and currently works as a legal journalist. Unable to become Great Britain's foremost space explorer, he wrote the Space Captain Smith series, a set of six comedies about intrepid galactic explorer Isambard Smith and his barely-competent crew.

Toby has also written short stories and the novel Straken for Black Library, set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

He has recently started a series of fantasy novels, the first two of which - Up To The Throne and Blood Under Water - are now available. He is currently working on the third in the series.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

War has reached a terrible stage. British Space Empire is under siege from almost all sides. Isambard Smith and his valiant companions undertook all types of dangerous missions to deal with the situation. But can they, and the Empire, triumph against such odds?
This novel— fifth part of the saga— has lots of very interesting stories converging into one. There were lots of action, presented with irony and wit. Lots of chuckles were induced by the text. But I found it to be a massive homage to all sorts of pop-culture concepts, all packed within the stories of the protagonists, as individuals. And the final, do-or-die type confrontation between the two empires, was simply awesome.
Highly recommended.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I have finally finished this book - I will be the first to say however that the time taken to read it is by no means a reflection of the book - I will admit that i struggled to get in to the storyline and it didnt quite have the same level of irreverence (to so many science fiction genres and famous stories) as the earlier books but it finds its way back and by the end of it - its back on its chaotic, disrespectful and totally hilarious tracks again.
No the reason why I struggled so much was that I was struggling with reading - I am not sure how many others get that way but from time to time i get to the point where i have no interest in even picking up a book let alone wanting to invest large portions of my time to reading - but like all things they too shall pass and i am not back in the pages on my chosen books and loving it.
And so back to the book - its been some time since the release of the previous book and I think that too has played a part on why i struggled to connect with the characters to start with but soon the usual chaos and word play kick in and then the fun really starts, I think for anyone planning on reading this book I sat hang on in there - it needs time to get to the right pace but once there it is note than able to hold its own. Lets hope we do not have to wait so long for the next one.

[Dex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book starts off as Apocalypse Now and arrives at something like the climatic Battle of Minas Tirith via Carry on up the Khyber. And all set in the 25th Century of the Great British Space Empire. Yep, it's a must read for the puns, geek culture references and sepia tinted Victoriana. Read in wonder at the cliff edge suspense that does involve lemmings.

And who would have thought Space Captain Smith had a penchant for Rhianna dressed up as the Bronte Sisters? Yep, all of them! In this volume, even the Hamster Gerald gets off the boat. And as we all know from Apocalypse Now. "Never get off the boat."

I read this book on my regular London tube commute and, damn me and damn the clear breach of tube etiquette, but parts made me smile out loud! I doubt any other passengers noticed though. And I am home in time for tea. Well coffee actually, but then I am a wild colonial boy....

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I am probably done with this series. It has been steadily slipping, but the humour has been good enough to be enjoyable. Here the plot was all over the place, the first part of the book being a pastiche of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, or perhaps the film Apocalypse Now, on which it was based. After that it goes all Raiders of the Lost Ark and turns into a bit of a damp squib. There are still some funny bits, but the novelty factor has worn off.

[T.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Smith strikes again

Cup of tea? Space Captain Smith has repeatedly entertained since the first one nearly ten years ago. This one isn't quite as bracingly funny as the original, but is a worthy addition to the series.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will the mayhem and puns never end? I hope not.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm kind of obsessed with this series.

End of Empires has a great balance of continuing the story (the Lemming Men plot) and some new character arcs relating to Suruk and Polly which I thoroughly enjoyed. It has the same type of humour as the previous books (with the British stuff going over my head but the sci-fi stuff making me laugh), so if you've read the others you'll likely enjoy this one.

These novels do have is a small universe trope- where the same characters pop up in every book. But, honestly, this isn’t a flaw. It’s fun to me when characters that we met before show up again, because we don't have to take that time to give them a backstory. Also, I love all these characters, like Morgar, Susan, and Dreckitt.

The story in this one follows two paths - it starts with a conspiracy mystery and leads into a bunch of battles against the Lemming Men. Both had adequate length, though I could have used a lot more time with Suruk’s training (though, honestly, I’d rather a book that was all Suruk). All in all, I laughed out loud quite a few times, re-read a few pages that were a lot of fun, and had a great time with this novel. It read it way too fast and now I’m sad.

There is a bit of passive writing and I found the first storyline in the book less interesting than the second (mainly because it felt a little too long for simply explaining the politics on the planet). Like the other books, the story is pretty much go go go and not a lot of downtime between the characters, which I tend to enjoy. Still, I’m so heavily invested in this series (and, honestly, it’s rare now that I progress in series at all), so there’s no way I wouldn’t love it. But maybe my book crush on Suruk is blinding me.

Below are spoilers, which is just a list of my favourite parts of this book:


- All the Predator aspects of Suruk. The relic stash which was very reminiscent of the one from Predator 2, the “Dutch” joke referencing Predator, and the blade gauntlet relic they find that Polly uses to eviscerate that Yull!
- I was kind of disappointed they didn't find the arm cannon at Grimdall’s stash, but that might have been too much
- Suruk’s Yoda/Karate Kid type training, including the cave from Empire Strikes Back with his worst fears, and his badass final stand against the Yull assassins
- Suruk’s jealousy of Morgar joining the lancers.
- Polly’s massacre of the Yull to save the ponies.
- The entire My Little Pony part was so funny, especially the reference to “friendship is magic” that made me laugh so hard
- The very random and short reference to The Shining
- The very random and short reference to the Weyland-Yutani corporation (from Alien) as the Leighton-Wakazashi corporation whose “only solution to any problem at all is to try to get a bunch of man-eating space monsters through quarantine.” I died.
- How Smith finds Rhianna wearing a hat to be “erotic”. Everything about their relationship is so amusing.
- The fact that one of the characters is writing a book called Tina, The Warrior Horse.

[Damian Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun ripping yarn

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning to the world of Space Captain Smith is always a pleasure. As with the previous books in this series, it's all very silly. It's also very funny and managed to have me laughing out loud far too often.

[Mike Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can you not like a book that has the British Empire in space fuelled by tea; a war dinosaur instead of an elephant with a castle on its back instead of a howdah, a spaceship that’s seen far better days captained by Smith - personification of the idiotic British colonial officer – and crewed by his dreadlocked hippy girlfriend, his best friend comrade in arms – who is essentially Predator – and a pony loving android pilot who only shows bravery in defence of her blue pony friends? This is a rip-roaring comedic romp that parodies more films than I’d care to count (most notably a wonderful caricature of Apocalypse Now).

Just because this is comedy don’t make the mistake of thinking it won’t be well written. It has a wonderfully comic plot and what is, for a relatively short book, a fairly large cast each of whom has their own character and distinctive voice. You really can’t help but like them all; even the psychotic lemming man antagonist.

I’ve enjoyed all of Frost’s wonderfully irreverent Space Captain Smith books but I think this one has nudged out in front of the others. Huge fun that had me chuckling throughout and occasionally laughing out loud.

[Rhoda Baxter · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for a sensible review - stop reading now and go have a cup of tea instead.

After a couple of slightly wobbly books, this one is getting back to form. The jokes are a little more subtle (but then they'd have to be by book 5, right?) - Some of them were brilliant and made me chuckle out loud. The whole business was Carveth and the E'qui was brilliant. Friendship is indeed Magic.

The Yull are a good enemy. Not as funny as Gertie, but much better than the Edenites. I also liked the dinosaurs and it's good to see Rhianna being useful.

A worthy addition to the canon. Certainly an entertaining read to accompany the tea and tiffin. Well done, that man.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable, blood soaked odyssey through the British Space Empire with Smith and his oddball crew as they continue the fight against the Yull and other miscreants. Carveth comes into her own in this novel, of course Rhianna, Suruk and Smith never fail to amuse.

Plus, the mad, usually, half dressed Major Wainscott and his team of commandos going crazy adds another enjoyable element. Well worth a read.

[Paul Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back to form, I think is a good summary. The last book (or even two) seemed to be running out of steam somewhat. This was a good story with some character changes (if not necessarily growth as such), rather than the predictable responses to the same old situations.

In short - I enjoyed it, and I'd recommend it even if you weren't impressed by #4.

[Philippe Hyndrikx · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the character of the archetypal stiff-upper-lip Englishman, good innocent fun, exactly what you need in these times
I also liked the references to Apocalypse Now , Jimi Hendrix' performance at Woodstock and maybe not so obvious, Suzanne Vega's Luka among quite a few other inside jokes. They made me chuckle at some unexpected moments

[Ronnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always for a Space Captain Smith novel, there were a fair number of chuckles, a few laugh out loud moments, and one truly horrible (but in a good way) pun.

What next for the brave *cough* crew of the John Pym?

[Mark Jardine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another quality volume, started a little slower than others in the series, but once it got going it rattled along at breakneck speed. Some genuine laugh out loud moments too. Looking forward to'pincers of death'

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another rip-roaring entry into this brilliant series. This gets better with every installment and I can't wait for the next book.

[Paul Tisserant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another class book from Mr Frost. Oliver Twist meets Apocalypse Now with dinosaurs thrown in for good measure. What's not to like!

[Martin Willoughby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isambard, Polly, Suruk and Rhianna are back, and they're fighting the Lemmings again. And this time Gerald, the ship's hamster makes an important contribution.

[Eloise · Rating 4 out of 5]

They may be getting a tad formulaic, but the gags still come on spades. Still heaps of panto-esqe fun that also moves the series onwards in plot and character development.