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The Helmsman #2
Galactic Convoy
Book # 2 in the best selling Helmsman saga! Ursis nodded soberly out the Hyperscreens toward the merchant ships, then turned to Brim. "Out there, Wilf Ansor," he brooded, "are real heroes of war. To fight from behind disruptors of warship is something anyone can do. One can always count on lucky shooting to save him from disaster—or heavy armor plate at least. But to face enemy with only black void and thin sheet of hullmetal separating you from disruptors—and then stay in formation—that is kind of bravery we Sodeskayans record in Great Books."
336 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 7, 2017
Some criticize Baldwin's writing as simplistic, too rigid and similar to authors such as E.E. Smith possibly the father of space opera.
This has always been both my favorite and least favorite of the Helmsman books. In it Brim's hopes of a relationship with Margot takes some beatings, and Wilf goes through some changes.
Although I understand Wilf's fling with Claudia was a wartime affair - all passion and nothing else, I always thought that if Wilf wouldn't have been so wrapped up in Margot, who he is obviously never going to have a relationship with, he might have married her and settled down.
The combat action is decent.
This has always been both my favorite and least favorite of the Helmsman books. In it Brim's hopes of a relationship with Margot takes some beatings, and Wilf goes through some changes.
Although I understand Wilf's fling with Claudia was a wartime affair - all passion and nothing else, I always thought that if Wilf wouldn't have been so wrapped up in Margot, who he is obviously never going to have a relationship with, he might have married her and settled down.
The combat action is decent.
February 23, 2018
I had listened to the first chapter of this series, The Helmsman, and I got exactly what I was looking for. Some cheesy, 1950s type Space Opera. A hero that good do no wrong, lots of action, you know the drill. However, this installment was more soft core porn than space opera. I have never read a Harlequin romance, but I think this entry would be more appropriate in that genre than in space opera. I am unsrure what Mr. Baldwin was going for but this was a big strike out for me.
October 30, 2017
A lot longer book than it needed to be.
Lots of military style space drivel. Shaky science. Annoying treatment of female characters. Not sure I'll read the next one in the series. Bored.
Lots of military style space drivel. Shaky science. Annoying treatment of female characters. Not sure I'll read the next one in the series. Bored.
June 29, 2020
The story and the war continues
Just a good book and fun read. The continuing story of Wilf Brim as he fights and loves his way through an all consuming galactic war. More exciting battles, more intriguing missions, and as always time for love.
Just a good book and fun read. The continuing story of Wilf Brim as he fights and loves his way through an all consuming galactic war. More exciting battles, more intriguing missions, and as always time for love.
September 11, 2024
Trochu mi vadia niektoré fyzikálne nezrovnalosti, hoci od letov vo vesmíre asi netreba čakať príliš veľa. A kladiem si otázku, čo všetko spadá do kompetencií navigátora a ako je možné sledovať v záchvate boja detaily okolitého prostredia. Drobnosti, ale keď niet čo iné vytknúť...
March 8, 2023
The previous book, "The Helmsman" was classic space-opera although the warships acted more like they were fighting at sea rather than in space. It wasn't as exciting as E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series where fleets of hundreds of thousands of ships battled. Abridging the book so it could be dramatized by a full-cast performance may have harmed the story, but I was willing to give the sequel, "Galactic Convoy" a try.
The sequel is inferior! The space battles are comical with ships ramming each other (highly unlikely given the vast distances the combatants would have to have been from each other). Baldwin's habit of making something sound futuristic by tacking "Hyper" onto its name was annoying. And other than "Wilf" it was the bad guys who had all the silly sounding names.
I don't know if it was just the audiobook dramatization that did this, but the prolog to CG has a distant relation of Princess Margot explain what happened to the main characters after the war. Of course, since the war hasn't actually ended when the story begins, the prolog kills any suspense for our heroes' fates.
Speaking of the audiobook, it was pretty bad. The female characters were given poor dialog ("heh heh heh" was how they laughed, which sounded artificial and silly). Wilf and the Ursus characters were voiced well, but other male voices were stilted.
Finally, there's the Skinemax soft core porn aspect of CG. There's plenty of wet kisses and groping, and one of Wilf's women complains that she'll be sore down there. But it's not well done. And really, what were those comments about piles of kleenexes left after nights of love making supposed to mean?
Can't recommend and I won't reread. Hence the 4-star rating.
The sequel is inferior! The space battles are comical with ships ramming each other (highly unlikely given the vast distances the combatants would have to have been from each other). Baldwin's habit of making something sound futuristic by tacking "Hyper" onto its name was annoying. And other than "Wilf" it was the bad guys who had all the silly sounding names.
I don't know if it was just the audiobook dramatization that did this, but the prolog to CG has a distant relation of Princess Margot explain what happened to the main characters after the war. Of course, since the war hasn't actually ended when the story begins, the prolog kills any suspense for our heroes' fates.
Speaking of the audiobook, it was pretty bad. The female characters were given poor dialog ("heh heh heh" was how they laughed, which sounded artificial and silly). Wilf and the Ursus characters were voiced well, but other male voices were stilted.
Finally, there's the Skinemax soft core porn aspect of CG. There's plenty of wet kisses and groping, and one of Wilf's women complains that she'll be sore down there. But it's not well done. And really, what were those comments about piles of kleenexes left after nights of love making supposed to mean?
Can't recommend and I won't reread. Hence the 4-star rating.
January 24, 2012
This really wasn't bad, but it's not my kind of book. This was heavy on action, and had some interminable, highly-detailed sequences about starship landing procedure that it could do without. In addition, the overall plot is pretty obvious from the beginning, and the ending was unfortunate; some of the most interesting parts of the climax happen while the reader is somewhere else, and there is no real resolution to a good deal of the plot lines, as the author clearly preferred to set up a sequel rather than satisfy his audience. But it wasn't bad, really.
February 25, 2008
Ursis nodded soberly out the Hyperscreens toward the merchant ships ...
- the above text pretty much indicates what I disliked about this book. The writing was pretty awful. "nodded soberly out"? maybe "nodded drunkenly out" would have been more fun!
- the above text pretty much indicates what I disliked about this book. The writing was pretty awful. "nodded soberly out"? maybe "nodded drunkenly out" would have been more fun!
September 14, 2009
Decent enough space opera in the old tradition of "Doc" Smith (lots of nerdly technology, blatantly apparent plot, black/white characterizations for the most part). Still was kind of fun. WIll probably not read it again and glad I picked it up used.
July 25, 2010
Reliable military sf/space opera, with a hero who never seems to do any wrong and gets mixed up with a stunningly beautiful royal scion. Good job of reassembling lots of familiar pieces into a diverting tale.
February 2, 2017
Excellent Science Fiction. Well done space battles, expertly drawn characterizations and even love triangles and marriages of state. So far this has been a terrific start to a series and I can only expect it to get even better
September 9, 2014
An enjoyable read -- an oldie but a goodie.
June 27, 2016
Uncertain when read. Before 2003.
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March 22, 2018Well, it is basically WWI and WWII in Space... but so what? I quite enjoyed it anyway. Heroes, enemies, space battles... what's not to like?
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews