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Star Wolf #2
Voyage of the Star Wolf
The first work in David Gerrold's Star Wolf trilogy, this tale pits the human members of the Star Wolf space vessel against the superhuman Morthan crew. Captain Jonathan Korie, hampered by the loss of most of the human fleet to the Morthans and a nearly disabled ship of his own, faces the Morthan threat driven by the need for survival and the desire for revenge. A classic of military science fiction, the Star Wolf trilogy combines rapid action with powerful studies of military character.
292 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
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March 19, 2024
No one who has ever stood naked before the jeweled night will ever be free of its terror and its power.
Another little gem that is easy to miss. Not sure why, but this didn’t seem to make much of a dent when it hit, despite the author being somewhat known (at least in Star Trek circles, apparently). Or maybe that’s the rub. This seems to be edgier stuff.
He swept his beam back and forth, around and across the tiny cabin. A cold chill crept up his spine and shuddered out through his limbs.
Something horrible had happened here -
The book has a rather dark and grimy feel running through it. Pretty nasty bad guys too, the Morthan Solidarity: a race of genetically enhanced post-humans who resort to exocannibalism. They reminded me a bit of a combination of the Pak Protectors and the Kzinti of Larry Niven's Known Space books (wonder if that was an influence?). Like the Pak, the Morthan are almost impossible to outfight or outthink on a one-to-one basis.
What did it take to survive among the stars?
The novel has a fantastic first third, featuring a desperate attempt to escape from a catastrophic enemy ambush and sneak a spaceship out from under the noses of the enemy (so to speak). This sequence is tense, claustrophobic and just really well depicted.
There is a bit of a lull in the middle, where new characters are introduced and the story stalls a bit, but it sets the second half of the novel up. Arguably, The Voyage of The Star Wolf reads like two novellas, connected by the middle bit, but that’s just my two cents.
The shuttle bay looked dry and brittle. The blood on the floor had turned to powder. Some of it had blown away. Some of it hung in the air, giving the chamber a dusty red quality and a vague, unsettling, salty odor.
The novel picks up fantastically again in the final third or so, with some very atmospheric sequences and ship boarding action. It even edges into horror territory. In the end, it is a surprisingly tense affair with some good military leanings. Not sure why this isn’t better known.
Another little gem that is easy to miss. Not sure why, but this didn’t seem to make much of a dent when it hit, despite the author being somewhat known (at least in Star Trek circles, apparently). Or maybe that’s the rub. This seems to be edgier stuff.
He swept his beam back and forth, around and across the tiny cabin. A cold chill crept up his spine and shuddered out through his limbs.
Something horrible had happened here -
The book has a rather dark and grimy feel running through it. Pretty nasty bad guys too, the Morthan Solidarity: a race of genetically enhanced post-humans who resort to exocannibalism. They reminded me a bit of a combination of the Pak Protectors and the Kzinti of Larry Niven's Known Space books (wonder if that was an influence?). Like the Pak, the Morthan are almost impossible to outfight or outthink on a one-to-one basis.
What did it take to survive among the stars?
The novel has a fantastic first third, featuring a desperate attempt to escape from a catastrophic enemy ambush and sneak a spaceship out from under the noses of the enemy (so to speak). This sequence is tense, claustrophobic and just really well depicted.
There is a bit of a lull in the middle, where new characters are introduced and the story stalls a bit, but it sets the second half of the novel up. Arguably, The Voyage of The Star Wolf reads like two novellas, connected by the middle bit, but that’s just my two cents.
The shuttle bay looked dry and brittle. The blood on the floor had turned to powder. Some of it had blown away. Some of it hung in the air, giving the chamber a dusty red quality and a vague, unsettling, salty odor.
The novel picks up fantastically again in the final third or so, with some very atmospheric sequences and ship boarding action. It even edges into horror territory. In the end, it is a surprisingly tense affair with some good military leanings. Not sure why this isn’t better known.
February 26, 2015
We all have books that haunt us, right? Those books that, for one reason or another, float at the edge of our consciousness, that appear in our peripheral vision but don’t quite seem to register on a regular basis but once in awhile make an appearance, reminding us that they are still there and we have yet to read them?
Voyage of the Star Wolf has been one of those books, and in a moment I will explain why. But first:
The Silk Road Convoy has existed for a long time, having built itself up to be the most profitable and most safe caravan in space. Its success makes it a tempting target for piracy, and thus the thousand-ship convoy exists to protect the lives and the goods of those companies and individuals who conduct trade between the stars.
The Morthan Solidarity would like nothing more than to strike a fatal blow to the Alliance, and the Silk Road Convoy is the ideal place to do just that. The LS-1187 is a destroyer-class Alliance ship that has yet to earn a proper name because both ship and crew are untested in battle. That will change soon after joining the Silk Road Convoy, but the name that they earn–Jonah–will set them on a dangerous quest for vengeance.
David Gerrold, famous for penning the script for one of Star Trek‘s most well-known episodes, “The Trouble With Tribbles”, brings a visual media sensibility to his writing, making Voyage of the Star Wolf a novel with a compelling pace. While not perfect in execution, Voyage of the Star Wolf was hard to put down and I found myself purposefully scheduling time during a busy week to read “just a few more pages”.
I am pleased that Voyage of the Star Wolf continued to haunt me over the past twenty-five years, it was well worth reading and I intend to seek out its prequel and sequel siblings.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Voyage of the Star Wolf was published in 1990. At that time I had been married two years, was nearing the end of my college degree, and I had a part-time job at a mall-based Waldenbooks in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I loved that job, and the best part of it was shelving books, particularly in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. One of my clear memories is of shelving Voyage of the Star Wolf when it was first released.
It was the cover.
A quarter century later, I cannot recall making the connection that this was a John Harris cover. I know from the timing that I would have been aware of his covers for the first two Ender novels by Orson Scott Card, but I am not sure I was paying attention to the name of cover artists as much as I was their work. I just know that the image of the damaged LS-1187, floating in this massive docking bay, compelled me to pick up the book over and over again. This is where recollection, and the haunting, comes in.
In my memory I did borrow a copy of this novel from the store (one of the many reasons I loved that job). I remember beginning it and discovering early on a chapter where the enemy leader had some sadistic tendencies, graphically depicted, that bothered me enough that I stopped reading then and there. But the book has haunted me all these years. I never consciously thought about Voyage of the Star Wolf unless I was in a used bookstore, and then I would inevitably see the book’s spine and would pull it out to gaze longingly at the John Harris cover. And for a day or two that image would float around in my head, whispering words of temptation.
Last week I was once again reminded of Voyage of the Star Wolf when I found a copy of the book at Half-Price books that was in remarkably good condition. This time I decided to go ahead and bring it home. I figured I would give it a try, fully expecting that I would come to a point where I did not want to read any further.
You know what? This is not the book I was thinking of! There is no scene in Voyage of the Star Wolf that comes anywhere close to my recollection, and now I’m left with the pleasurable experience of having read a good science fiction tale in the vein of shows like Star Trek and the Battlestar Galactica reboot but also with the knowledge that I have no idea what book I read that offended my young sensibilities that deeply. So the haunting continues…
Memory is a fickle mistress.
My apologies for that long aside. Voyage of the Star Wolf is a cracking good read. Jonathan Thomas Korie is the XO of the LS-1187 and while the ship has a full crew, including a living A.I. (artificial intellligence), Korie’s is the focal point of the story. Early on in the story, the captain of the LS-1187 makes a fatal mistake, leaving Korie to rally the crew so that the LS-1187 can limp home defeated. Upon arrival Korie does not get the welcome he expected, and news of the wide-spread Morthan attack leaves him with a thirst for vengeance and no clear way to slake that thirst.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the LS-1187 has to be put back into service, but not in Korie’s command. Korie is forced to once again take on the role of Executive Officer, this time taking orders from one of the Alliance’s most notorious commanders.
The enemies in Gerrold’s universe are the Morthans, a name that arose from media description of those humans who opted to augment themselves with genetic and technological advances. As this practice continued, the augmented humans evolved to be so different than humanity that they became their own culture and began to see humans as a lesser race to be conquered and made extinct. Readers only get to meet a few individual Morthans, but those that are showcased clearly demonstrate that they are a formidable enemy.
Voyage of the Star Wolf is interesting to read in light of the knowledge that David Gerrold has extensive experience writing for television. Chapters are short, allowing the focus to shift to various crew members and to different parts of the ship. Jon Korie, and to a lesser degree the ship A.I., Harlie, are the only characters that are presented with any complexity. While Gerrold gives a handful of other characters distinct personalities and purpose, we only see the inner dialogue and deeper emotions of Korie and Harlie. And that is okay. There is enough dramatic build up, peppered with moments of humor and camaraderie, that keep the story moving forward at a compelling pace, particularly after the slower paced opening chapters in which the LS-1187 makes its way back to the starbase after its initial near-destruction.
Readers of science fiction often complain of the dreaded info-dump: those paragraphs, or pages, where the old adage to “show, don’t tell” appears to be chucked out the window in favor of a long, science-y, explanation. David Gerrold uses the info-dump in a way I don’t recall experiencing in any of my previous science fiction reading: he has three opening one and half page info-dumps focusing on a specific aspect of the future he has created. This unconventional approach does work, though I find it an inefficient way to engage readers in a story.
There is also an element of time constraint to parts of the story. We have all experienced television episodes, or even films, where the story feels as if it is being pushed forward, or wrapped up, simply because a time limit is in place. Voyage of the Star Wolf takes its time in the beginning chapters, allowing readers the chance to get to know Jon Korie and to experience the frustration and impotence he feels at being so swiftly and easily defeated in battle. When the LS-1187 finally does arrive back at an Alliance Starbase, the story leaps forward in television-episode fashion for a period before settling down again to a pace that more closely mirrors the opening, allowing the tension to build for a dramatic conclusion.
Given that experience in the middle of the book, I was expecting the ending to feel rushed, and as the pages turned and the end was in sight, I was sure those expectations would be confirmed. Thus I was surprised that, for the most part, I was wrong. David Gerrold is a talented writer, and while years of reading and watching science fiction gave me an idea of how things would play out in the end, he managed to surprise me both with the way in which he wrapped up Voyage of the Star Wolf, and also how he managed to weave in some unexpected emotional moments between characters.
Voyage of the Star Wolf is not perfect, and my slightly lower rating reflects my desire to not mislead you into thinking it is. But I loved the story. For most of my life I have been attracted to series like Star Trek, and the story that plays out in Voyage of the Star Wolf would make for an excellent full season or two in a space-based science fiction television series. Objectively I can see its flaws. Subjectively it makes me happy and I am glad I finally got around to reading it.
In researching David Gerrold to write this post, I was reminded that he was the author of the semi-autobiographical short work, “The Martian Child”, that was adapted into a film starring John Cusak. David Gerrold also had a big influence in my childhood viewing–he was the creator of the Sleestaks, the alien race in the television series, Land of the Lost. Though they are ridiculously funny when viewed today, I remember being deliciously terrified of them when I was a kid. Land of the Lost was a regular part of my and my brother’s Saturday morning cartoon viewing.
If you are interested in the kind of crew-centric science fiction story ala Star Trek, Voyage of the Star Wolf is worth adding to your reading list. While not flawlessly executed, it does take that basic framework and add some interesting world-building elements while proposing an intriguing, if frightening, vision of post-humanity. It was a fun read.
Voyage of the Star Wolf has been one of those books, and in a moment I will explain why. But first:
The Silk Road Convoy has existed for a long time, having built itself up to be the most profitable and most safe caravan in space. Its success makes it a tempting target for piracy, and thus the thousand-ship convoy exists to protect the lives and the goods of those companies and individuals who conduct trade between the stars.
The Morthan Solidarity would like nothing more than to strike a fatal blow to the Alliance, and the Silk Road Convoy is the ideal place to do just that. The LS-1187 is a destroyer-class Alliance ship that has yet to earn a proper name because both ship and crew are untested in battle. That will change soon after joining the Silk Road Convoy, but the name that they earn–Jonah–will set them on a dangerous quest for vengeance.
David Gerrold, famous for penning the script for one of Star Trek‘s most well-known episodes, “The Trouble With Tribbles”, brings a visual media sensibility to his writing, making Voyage of the Star Wolf a novel with a compelling pace. While not perfect in execution, Voyage of the Star Wolf was hard to put down and I found myself purposefully scheduling time during a busy week to read “just a few more pages”.
I am pleased that Voyage of the Star Wolf continued to haunt me over the past twenty-five years, it was well worth reading and I intend to seek out its prequel and sequel siblings.
My Rating: 7.5/10
Voyage of the Star Wolf was published in 1990. At that time I had been married two years, was nearing the end of my college degree, and I had a part-time job at a mall-based Waldenbooks in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I loved that job, and the best part of it was shelving books, particularly in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. One of my clear memories is of shelving Voyage of the Star Wolf when it was first released.
It was the cover.
A quarter century later, I cannot recall making the connection that this was a John Harris cover. I know from the timing that I would have been aware of his covers for the first two Ender novels by Orson Scott Card, but I am not sure I was paying attention to the name of cover artists as much as I was their work. I just know that the image of the damaged LS-1187, floating in this massive docking bay, compelled me to pick up the book over and over again. This is where recollection, and the haunting, comes in.
In my memory I did borrow a copy of this novel from the store (one of the many reasons I loved that job). I remember beginning it and discovering early on a chapter where the enemy leader had some sadistic tendencies, graphically depicted, that bothered me enough that I stopped reading then and there. But the book has haunted me all these years. I never consciously thought about Voyage of the Star Wolf unless I was in a used bookstore, and then I would inevitably see the book’s spine and would pull it out to gaze longingly at the John Harris cover. And for a day or two that image would float around in my head, whispering words of temptation.
Last week I was once again reminded of Voyage of the Star Wolf when I found a copy of the book at Half-Price books that was in remarkably good condition. This time I decided to go ahead and bring it home. I figured I would give it a try, fully expecting that I would come to a point where I did not want to read any further.
You know what? This is not the book I was thinking of! There is no scene in Voyage of the Star Wolf that comes anywhere close to my recollection, and now I’m left with the pleasurable experience of having read a good science fiction tale in the vein of shows like Star Trek and the Battlestar Galactica reboot but also with the knowledge that I have no idea what book I read that offended my young sensibilities that deeply. So the haunting continues…
Memory is a fickle mistress.
My apologies for that long aside. Voyage of the Star Wolf is a cracking good read. Jonathan Thomas Korie is the XO of the LS-1187 and while the ship has a full crew, including a living A.I. (artificial intellligence), Korie’s is the focal point of the story. Early on in the story, the captain of the LS-1187 makes a fatal mistake, leaving Korie to rally the crew so that the LS-1187 can limp home defeated. Upon arrival Korie does not get the welcome he expected, and news of the wide-spread Morthan attack leaves him with a thirst for vengeance and no clear way to slake that thirst.
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on how you look at it, the LS-1187 has to be put back into service, but not in Korie’s command. Korie is forced to once again take on the role of Executive Officer, this time taking orders from one of the Alliance’s most notorious commanders.
The enemies in Gerrold’s universe are the Morthans, a name that arose from media description of those humans who opted to augment themselves with genetic and technological advances. As this practice continued, the augmented humans evolved to be so different than humanity that they became their own culture and began to see humans as a lesser race to be conquered and made extinct. Readers only get to meet a few individual Morthans, but those that are showcased clearly demonstrate that they are a formidable enemy.
Voyage of the Star Wolf is interesting to read in light of the knowledge that David Gerrold has extensive experience writing for television. Chapters are short, allowing the focus to shift to various crew members and to different parts of the ship. Jon Korie, and to a lesser degree the ship A.I., Harlie, are the only characters that are presented with any complexity. While Gerrold gives a handful of other characters distinct personalities and purpose, we only see the inner dialogue and deeper emotions of Korie and Harlie. And that is okay. There is enough dramatic build up, peppered with moments of humor and camaraderie, that keep the story moving forward at a compelling pace, particularly after the slower paced opening chapters in which the LS-1187 makes its way back to the starbase after its initial near-destruction.
Readers of science fiction often complain of the dreaded info-dump: those paragraphs, or pages, where the old adage to “show, don’t tell” appears to be chucked out the window in favor of a long, science-y, explanation. David Gerrold uses the info-dump in a way I don’t recall experiencing in any of my previous science fiction reading: he has three opening one and half page info-dumps focusing on a specific aspect of the future he has created. This unconventional approach does work, though I find it an inefficient way to engage readers in a story.
There is also an element of time constraint to parts of the story. We have all experienced television episodes, or even films, where the story feels as if it is being pushed forward, or wrapped up, simply because a time limit is in place. Voyage of the Star Wolf takes its time in the beginning chapters, allowing readers the chance to get to know Jon Korie and to experience the frustration and impotence he feels at being so swiftly and easily defeated in battle. When the LS-1187 finally does arrive back at an Alliance Starbase, the story leaps forward in television-episode fashion for a period before settling down again to a pace that more closely mirrors the opening, allowing the tension to build for a dramatic conclusion.
Given that experience in the middle of the book, I was expecting the ending to feel rushed, and as the pages turned and the end was in sight, I was sure those expectations would be confirmed. Thus I was surprised that, for the most part, I was wrong. David Gerrold is a talented writer, and while years of reading and watching science fiction gave me an idea of how things would play out in the end, he managed to surprise me both with the way in which he wrapped up Voyage of the Star Wolf, and also how he managed to weave in some unexpected emotional moments between characters.
Voyage of the Star Wolf is not perfect, and my slightly lower rating reflects my desire to not mislead you into thinking it is. But I loved the story. For most of my life I have been attracted to series like Star Trek, and the story that plays out in Voyage of the Star Wolf would make for an excellent full season or two in a space-based science fiction television series. Objectively I can see its flaws. Subjectively it makes me happy and I am glad I finally got around to reading it.
In researching David Gerrold to write this post, I was reminded that he was the author of the semi-autobiographical short work, “The Martian Child”, that was adapted into a film starring John Cusak. David Gerrold also had a big influence in my childhood viewing–he was the creator of the Sleestaks, the alien race in the television series, Land of the Lost. Though they are ridiculously funny when viewed today, I remember being deliciously terrified of them when I was a kid. Land of the Lost was a regular part of my and my brother’s Saturday morning cartoon viewing.
If you are interested in the kind of crew-centric science fiction story ala Star Trek, Voyage of the Star Wolf is worth adding to your reading list. While not flawlessly executed, it does take that basic framework and add some interesting world-building elements while proposing an intriguing, if frightening, vision of post-humanity. It was a fun read.
October 11, 2018
Very nice military SiFi. with a nice Military "feel" to it. Nice spaceship combat and ops as well. Very recommended
March 30, 2012
I started this, then realized there was a prequel plus another related book, but I finally got back to it. Like Star Hunt (the prequel), Gerrold continues with his idea that spaceship battles would be more like submarine warfare than the fighter jets we're used to seeing. It's a great, very vivid and tense concept, and I liked it a lot.
Where Star Hunt focused on the psychological state of the crew, Voyage of the Star Wolf uses that as a basic premise and then packs a lot more story and action around that. Gerrold created a complex, fun setting here, and I'm very excited to see the 2nd book in this series sitting on my bookshelf. :)
The only criticism I can make about this book is that the characters really aren't very well developed, and seem a little cliche at times. Not horrible for me, but if you just can't enjoy a book without wonderful characters than you may not be a fan. But I know I sure am.
Where Star Hunt focused on the psychological state of the crew, Voyage of the Star Wolf uses that as a basic premise and then packs a lot more story and action around that. Gerrold created a complex, fun setting here, and I'm very excited to see the 2nd book in this series sitting on my bookshelf. :)
The only criticism I can make about this book is that the characters really aren't very well developed, and seem a little cliche at times. Not horrible for me, but if you just can't enjoy a book without wonderful characters than you may not be a fan. But I know I sure am.
December 28, 2021
Gerrold’s second book in the Yesterday’s Children / Star Hunt universe features a similarly disreputable ship and an even more grim scenario, and for reasons unknown brings back First Officer Korie (with scant regard for continuity). The story itself is darkly compelling.
December 8, 2015
OK enough to finish, but nothing special.
November 18, 2023
I bought a signed copy of The Voyage of the Star Wolf by David Gerrold so long ago that the autograph has faded, though I'm not overly concerned. I was buying cheap signed copies of books on eBay, usually made out to other people. It was a short phase.
A few years after that, I absently picked the book up and read the first couple of pages while stuck in a room, possibly with a new kitten if I remember correctly, and I was intrigued.
I was not captivated enough to keep reading it there, and it would be years before I picked the book up again.
I had a completely different impression of the book's topic. I thought it would focus on the trade route the book starts with, but I discovered that it is a military science fiction story. A fact any cursory glance at a synopsis would have illustrated!
The story does an excellent job of capturing the submarine/spaceship battle, though the focus is more on this than on natural character development, even though they go on quite the story arc.
I also struggled to understand what was happening as the story progressed in jumps forward, and then aliens- but not aliens- appeared among the crew (modified humans with a hive mind). However, it added flavour to the story once I caught up, and I felt more established in the universe from there on, so I'm not complaining.
There's a consistent approach to space travel that serves the underwater submarine-style combat. At no point did my suspension of disbelief falter.
I found the references to prayer and magic somewhat jolting and unnecessary, though this is maybe about submariner superstitions and horseplay. It's not a world I'm incredibly familiar with.
The story concerns leadership, how it can go awry, and how to regain it. Several different leadership styles appear in the book, and I got a great deal from that aspect.
The novel worked well enough for me to give it four stars, but there was also a star's worth of disconnect.
If you enjoy sci-fi military, then definitely pick this book up.
A few years after that, I absently picked the book up and read the first couple of pages while stuck in a room, possibly with a new kitten if I remember correctly, and I was intrigued.
I was not captivated enough to keep reading it there, and it would be years before I picked the book up again.
I had a completely different impression of the book's topic. I thought it would focus on the trade route the book starts with, but I discovered that it is a military science fiction story. A fact any cursory glance at a synopsis would have illustrated!
The story does an excellent job of capturing the submarine/spaceship battle, though the focus is more on this than on natural character development, even though they go on quite the story arc.
I also struggled to understand what was happening as the story progressed in jumps forward, and then aliens- but not aliens- appeared among the crew (modified humans with a hive mind). However, it added flavour to the story once I caught up, and I felt more established in the universe from there on, so I'm not complaining.
There's a consistent approach to space travel that serves the underwater submarine-style combat. At no point did my suspension of disbelief falter.
I found the references to prayer and magic somewhat jolting and unnecessary, though this is maybe about submariner superstitions and horseplay. It's not a world I'm incredibly familiar with.
The story concerns leadership, how it can go awry, and how to regain it. Several different leadership styles appear in the book, and I got a great deal from that aspect.
The novel worked well enough for me to give it four stars, but there was also a star's worth of disconnect.
If you enjoy sci-fi military, then definitely pick this book up.
June 25, 2021
It reads like "Star Trek" with the serial numbers filed off...which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a pick-n-mix of standard sci-fi items, put together with a pleasing writing style and featuring an intense piece of work in Korie...by far the best character in the novel. Nothing groundbreaking, but a solid spacey-wacey diversion.
September 1, 2012
I’m not sure whether this book should be considered the first book in the Star Wolf series or the second. Many seem to consider it as the second but the “first” one is also considered to be a prequel. Personally I see this book as the first.
It’s a good book. It is nothing spectacular but good. The story is okay although it would have been nice to get a wee bit more ship to ship action. I definitely like the new captain, the Star Wolf, which they are getting somewhere half way through the book. He’s my kind of captain.
Some of the ideas and the physics in the book are of course a bit funny like, for instance, that the enemy should not know the locations of their permanent installations so they have standing orders to sneak out of their starbases. That’s not very plausible but it’s a minor complaint.
The main complaint, and the reason the book only gets a 3 star rating, is the idiotic bit where the entire crew (and ship!) is blamed for leading the enemy to the convoy in the beginning of the book. That is just so stupid not to mention incompetents of the fleet management. It’s not the crew's fault that the captain they had at the time screwed up. The main character should be considered a hero for getting the crew home alive at all. This is just such a nonsensical and idiot part of the plot and, as I said, brought down the rating at least a star.
It’s a good book. It is nothing spectacular but good. The story is okay although it would have been nice to get a wee bit more ship to ship action. I definitely like the new captain, the Star Wolf, which they are getting somewhere half way through the book. He’s my kind of captain.
Some of the ideas and the physics in the book are of course a bit funny like, for instance, that the enemy should not know the locations of their permanent installations so they have standing orders to sneak out of their starbases. That’s not very plausible but it’s a minor complaint.
The main complaint, and the reason the book only gets a 3 star rating, is the idiotic bit where the entire crew (and ship!) is blamed for leading the enemy to the convoy in the beginning of the book. That is just so stupid not to mention incompetents of the fleet management. It’s not the crew's fault that the captain they had at the time screwed up. The main character should be considered a hero for getting the crew home alive at all. This is just such a nonsensical and idiot part of the plot and, as I said, brought down the rating at least a star.
January 14, 2011
This is a fun space opera. Gerrold, perhaps best known for The Trouble With Tribbles is obviously a Science Fiction fan of all media. The book is loaded with puns and quotes from famous movies, TV and novels from the past.
I suspect I missed many. The best, IMO, is his name for a new crew member, young, innocent, handsome Lieutenant JG, "Valentine Michael Jones" which I think is a hoot. Another is using interocitor parts to jury-rig a piece of equipment, shades of Metaluna! I want to re-read this just to look for more of these remembrances of things past.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
I suspect I missed many. The best, IMO, is his name for a new crew member, young, innocent, handsome Lieutenant JG, "Valentine Michael Jones" which I think is a hoot. Another is using interocitor parts to jury-rig a piece of equipment, shades of Metaluna! I want to re-read this just to look for more of these remembrances of things past.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
September 16, 2007
I can't explain why I like this so much; it's written like (and by an author of) TV shows -- but it's just enjoyable, perfect escapist fluff, and delightful to do so. You have your near-human bad guys (with all the fun animalistic stuff thrown in), your tough-as-a-machine-in-more-ways-than-one captain, the idealistic-but-world-weary XO who can't decide if he wants a captaincy or not, the near-omniscient computer, and there's just enough background to make it a fun read without bogging anything down with reality.
A great way to spend a few hours when you don't want anything substantial.
A great way to spend a few hours when you don't want anything substantial.
March 4, 2015
Solid story with interesting characters. You can tell Mr. Gerrold knows a thing or two about writing a tale from the bridge of a spaceship.
I will say I'm concerned that the Morthans will be "just powerful enough to almost always win except at the end" without ever really becoming a fleshed out people, but what's a bad-guy race for if not to be, well, bad-guys?
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
I will say I'm concerned that the Morthans will be "just powerful enough to almost always win except at the end" without ever really becoming a fleshed out people, but what's a bad-guy race for if not to be, well, bad-guys?
Looking forward to the next book in the series.
March 27, 2008
When I saw that the writer of this book was the writer of one of my favorite Star Trek episodes,"The Trouble With Tribbles", I knew it would be good. I wasn't disappointed. Fast-paced and keeps you guessing. It is a great read. I can't wait to read the other two books in this trilogy.
July 21, 2009
Interesting take on starship life. The story I always heard was that it started life as a Trek script idea, morphing into an original tale.
July 10, 2013
The plot is layered with traps within traps. Science fiction, yes. Space opera, yes. But mostly a satisfying psychological thriller.
November 16, 2025
The universe can be harsh, humans can be brutile in their judgements. Space military opera. Read this long ago for first time, now one chapter short of finishing. Kindle read.
March 27, 2026
"For a long dead moment, she drifted. Then--slowly, painfully, life began to reassemble itself. A heartbeat, a gasp, a twitch, and finally even a flicker of thought. Somebody moved. Somebody else choked. There was a moan in the darkness and a terrible stench."
Primeiro, como cheguei aqui: David Gerrold foi roteirista da franquia Jornada nas Estrelas, criando uma das criaturas mais icônicas da série clássica dos anos 60 - os Tribbles - e famigeradamente desistiu de escrever para a sucessora oitentista A Nova Geração após ter um roteiro recusado. "Blood and Fire" era o nome, e veio a se tornar o último livro dessa série literária, Star Wolf; o texto original era uma metáfora para a crise da AIDS e introduziria o primeiro casal gay do mundo da U.S.S. Enterprise. O que é uma falácia, já que Spirk exis--
Curioso pelo celeuma em torno do último livro, comprei a trilogia, que em si deriva de uma outra aventura literária de Gerrold nos anos 1970. Pois, vamos lá, comecei.
Apesar de amar ficção científica, ainda não me aprofundei no gênero das óperas espaciais, nem nesse subgênero militarista. A ingenuidade foi o melhor para a experiência...
...porque achei a primeira parte desse livro absurdamente genial. Simples, mas com um nível de descrição preciso, sem abandonar complexidades psicológicas e debates morais ou científicos. Coisas bobas como um ataque surpresa que deixa os personagens à deriva da gravidade zero, alterando a maneira que interagem com o espaço físico e pessoal. Ou uma violenta explosão literalmente orgástica. Ou a dependência da nave às peças de personalidade da I.A. integrada, HARLIE (em si um personagem já estabelecido dentro da carreira do escritor).
O enredo é simples: Rota da Seda. No Espaço. À espreita, uma raça de superhumanos (Khan much?). Acompanhamos uma nave sem nome da caravana, a LS-1187, que ainda há por merecer um nome.
Li muitas reclamações sobre "inconsistências" lógicas na escolha que relega seu protagonista a um lugar adstringente dentro da hierarquia estabelecida. Ora pois, tudo é bem explicado, então acho uma péssima crítica. Inclusive o conceito de Jonathan Korie ser um Primeiro Oficial competente em tudo, menos manter seus Capitães vivos, é (tragi)comicamente brilhante; existe um jogo de poderes ali que nenhum merecimento consegue subjugar.
A segunda metade do livro é bem legal, apesar de sua estrutura ser inversa ao esperado; primeiro acompanhamos uma mega ação, e só depois temos o clichê de uma equipe se construindo e se conhecendo. O mix de ideias entre a carreira do próprio Gerrold e as inspirações (obviamente) derivadas de Star Trek é interessante. Os personagens são bastante sexuais, o que acho um aceno bacana aos preceitos do Roddenberry.
Apesar do autor ser um homem homossexual, são quase nulos os elementos queer, mas possui acenos que poderão ser trabalhados nos próximos livros. Os integrantes da nave são descritos ao mesmo tempo de maneiras mundanas e clichês, mas indo direto ao ponto, psicanaliticamente falando.
Como dito na introdução de Jerry Pournelle, se você não sabe que Gerrold é um roteirista, saberá até bem cedo nesse livro.
April 19, 2026
For the first 50 pages or so I thought I had found a rare gem. It's still a good book, but two problems killed it for me. The first was some kind of voodoo priest trying to do an exorcism on a space ship. That was just weird. The second thing was the epilogue, in which we discover
Still, it is a good book, it just didn't grab me enough to look for the other books in this series, so I can't justify 3 stars and had to settle for 2.
Still, it is a good book, it just didn't grab me enough to look for the other books in this series, so I can't justify 3 stars and had to settle for 2.
April 22, 2018
I enjoyed this book. It was a relatively quick and easy read. The dynamics of commanding a starship and managing a crew during a time of war were concepts the novel explored really well. The stress of leadership felt real. The plot was decent, though the last few chapters got a little silly, and I'm not so sure about how the conflict was ultimately resolved. I liked Korie, Brik, and the Captain as characters and thought their interactions were interesting. Everyone else was pretty bland, but they also weren't nearly as important or featured as prominently, so they didn't really affect my enjoyment of the novel.
December 19, 2017
A friend suggested this book, and it turned out to be entertaining. It feels like pulp military sci-fi, and since Gerrold's background is Star Trek TOS (The Trouble With Tribbles) & TNG - you can immediately see references and character traits similar to Star Trek. The storyline was quick paced, and kept me engaged. There are no strong, developed female characters though - so it is definitely geared for guys.
After reading this 1st novel of the Star Wolf trilogy, I'm eager to continue reading the series.
After reading this 1st novel of the Star Wolf trilogy, I'm eager to continue reading the series.
November 13, 2025
It’s a very basic story. The enemies are standard space fascists with genetic engineering and a supremacy complex. Our brave heroes are all forgettable and unprofessional. Commander Korie is the only one that is fleshed out at all and his backstory is a fairly standard male action hero - basically Riker from Star Trek without the sense of humor.
The moral dilemmas with HARLIE was the only plot point that stuck out to me. It was a neat subversion of the bog standard “AI on the ship tries to kill the crew” plot.
The moral dilemmas with HARLIE was the only plot point that stuck out to me. It was a neat subversion of the bog standard “AI on the ship tries to kill the crew” plot.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 9, 2023
It was okay, not great, but ok. To the extent I either liked or hated some of the characters, it did the job. Some of the descriptions of the ships and equipment weren't really clear, at least to me. But, I'd been meaning to read this book for a while now and I'm glad that I did.
May 14, 2023
The second book in David Gerrold’s Star Wolf series is chock full of space battle action, compelling characters, and bad ass baddies. I’m not sure how valid the applied science is in the story, but I really enjoyed the fiction.
December 30, 2024
Just like all of his books, Gerrold has weaved together both an exciting story AND fascinating characters. It is my understanding that this was originally intended to be a television series, and it would have been a fascinating one. I absolutely love this book and recommend it highly!
June 2, 2018
Good old fashioned sci fi read. Complete with good guys and really bad guys (genetically modified and mean has hell)! The story follows the crew of LS-1187 as they experience total defeat, humiliation, a fight to survive, and a fight for redemption. The characters aren't deeply drawn, but they're still likeable. Fun to read.
November 9, 2018
Not terrific, but very good early military sci-fi.
September 18, 2019
Beyond Infinity?
Pournelle's introduction is correct. The Space Opera is back and redeemed. And Gerrold knows how to craft a good one. Now I have to go read the rest of the series.
Pournelle's introduction is correct. The Space Opera is back and redeemed. And Gerrold knows how to craft a good one. Now I have to go read the rest of the series.
December 2, 2020
The whole series is a masterpiece, waiting to become a tv series. Just shows how the big studios are just a pawn shop for actors. A pity.
June 13, 2022
Great intelligent fun!
November 5, 2022
I remember reading and re-reading this book back in the day, and loving it greatly. So nostalgia and no current reading of it compels me to offer a five-star review.
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