Starhawk

Starhawk #1

by Mack Maloney

7200 Anno Domini. Earth is the center of a vast galactic empire-a militaristic state governed by stern repression. The Specials, an extended family that has wielded power for nearly two thousand years, control the galaxy with iron-fisted zeal. After generations of genetic manipulation they are virtually immortal-as is their rule.

On an isolated planet, on the very fringe of the galaxy, lives a pilot named Hawk Hunter. He designs his own ships, using strange technology-but he cannot explain his abilities or his knowledge. His past is a mystery, even to himself.. But now Hawk's talents have been discovered.

And in the Earth Race - a state-sponsored gladiatorial contest that pits pilot against pilot, and earns both winner and sponsor unimaginable wealth - he will not only test the limits of his endurance, but begin to learn the truth of his identity..

Genres: Science Fiction

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Mack Maloney is the author of numerous fiction series, including Wingman, ChopperOps, Starhawk, and Pirate Hunters, as well as UFOs in Wartime – What They Didn’t Want You to Know. A native Bostonian, Maloney received a bachelor of science degree in journalism at Suffolk University and a master of arts degree in film at Emerson College. He is the host of a national radio show, Mack Maloney’s Military X-Files. Visit him on Facebook and at www.mackmaloney.com.

Mack Maloney is the Pen name for BRIAN KELLEHER

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Starhawk series is a very odd and puzzling thing. The original sixteen Hawk Hunter Wingman books were published from 1987-1999 by Zebra and Pinnacle with "Men's Adventure" printed on the spine as the genre tag. About a decade and a half later Hawk-as-Wingman was rebooted with a seventeenth book, and so far two more have appeared subsequently. In between, though, we had the five Starhawk books, which Ace published in the first few years of the new millennium, with "Science Fiction" printed on their spines. The covers are military sf/space opera scenes, with a man over the title who looks nothing much like the way Hawk was ever described. There are elements of the original books, but mixed in with liberal dollops of Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon with lots of Star Wars imagery. The Wingman books are all filled with pulpish hyperbole, but it's escalated by several orders of magnitude in Starhawk. Hawk is introduced in the first book with a profound sense of confusion and dislocation and a sense that he isn't quite sure what's going on; it's a feeling that continues and dominates the series. Hawk's never quite sure what it's all about, and neither is the reader. They're always waiting for a big reveal that's unfortunately never paid off, though we get hints and bits and pieces along the way. Is it all a dream or an alternate universe or a chess game guided by divine intervention? We never find out for sure, though I suppose it does lead to the freedom to reach your own conclusion, and Hawk is all about the importance of freedom. The individual plot points of the Starhawk books have all blurred in my memory, but I do remember enjoying the individual reads, though the puzzles weren't resolved to my satisfaction. I certainly did not enjoy them as much as Wingman, but they were lightly entertaining (even though they occasionally bordered on the silly), and didn't seem to me to embrace the pulp values of the earlier books.

[Fosterite · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really fun pulp adventure. There are some interesting tidbits about the implications of the future tech, like that ftl ships could be smaller but need to be above the maximum size for storing in the small dimension to prevent smuggling shenanigans. Some of the plotting is a little sudden.

[Ronnie Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hawk found

I was sad when hawk hunter left earth,then this series started,this book was awesome,a fast read ,get your copy soon

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blah. Not as cool as the second story in this series but still a fairly decent book in its own right.

[Ace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, but a little drawn out.