Midshipman's Hope

David Feintuch

New York: Warner, 1994. ISBN: 0-446-60096-2. Pp. 391

Wow. And I mean it. I cannot remember the last time I devoured a novel like my life depended on it. I had never heard of Feintuch, and I bought the first entry in the Seafort Saga on a whim after someone recommended it to me as a David Weber fan. Little did I know that I will be spending the night totally unable to put down the book until I finished it. Everyone is quick to compare Feintuch to C.S. Forester (as they often do with Weber) but with all due respect to the latter, here we have an author who can not only stand tall in his own right, but whose creation, Nicholas Seafort, is bound to become one of the most memorable characters in science fiction. Yes, it's that good.

It is the "year of our Lord 2194," and Nick is a Middy on the long voyage to Hope Nation. To get a sense of Nick's world, imagine what would happen if the current age disintegrates in total chaos from which emerges a planetary government by the United Nations (we have seen something like this before in Haldeman's Forever War, although here it appears that "local" national governments continue to operate under its umbrella) but with a twist: the Reunified Church has essentially turned the U.N. into a theocracy. After a war which devastates Asia and Africa, Earth is unified not just by a single government, but by a single religion (which appears to be an amalgam of the most important Christian denominations). Even though the government itself is secular, mostly representative, and elected, the Church wields significant influence over its operation and over the laws the government passes, and the way it enforces them (death penalty by hanging is not unheard of). To get a sense of Nick's ship, imagine the Royal British Navy circa late 18th century. Duty and corporal punishment are the names of the game. Technology is advanced enough to permit FTL travel (through a process known as 'fusing') but voyages still take many months, sometimes years, to complete. To maintain discipline on the ship, the Captain has virtually unlimited powers over the lives of the crew and the passengers.

An accident leaves the ship shorn of all senior officers but one who dies soon afterwards of cancer. Despite his age (he is a teenager), Nick finds himself next in the line of command. There are more experienced officers on board but the regs do not allow them to assume command. After vainly trying to figure out a legal way to absolve himself of the daunting responsibility, Nick realizes that there is no way out: the regs are clear, and he is to be Captain. Thus, a teenager finds himself in command of a ship in a middle of its long voyage. With a rebellious crew and a glitched computer, the inexperienced Middy will make many mistakes, each of which can cost him his life, and some of which can lead to the destruction of the entire ship. Nick is unyielding in his discipline and his nearly fanatical adherence to the letter of the law and the duty it imposes upon him. He hangs crewmen when he quashes their mutiny, he impresses children into Naval service when he needs more people, he alienates everyone who stands in his way, he will not explain his actions in the firm belief that a Captain's word should be good enough for everyone. He is lonely, he is scared, but he keeps going with no hope of rescue but the faint glimmer of relief if he can only reach his destination. Nick's tribulations do not end upon arrival at Hope Nation: instead of relinquishing command, he has to assume responsibility for the colony as well because all the senior officers there are dead from a mysterious plague. Worse, on his way back to Earth, Nick encounters alien life forms who turn out to be hostile.

As an adventure, the action is non-stop and rousing. But there's much more to this story than rollicking military science fiction. The transplant of the Royal Navy to space is seamless, and it's as fascinating to read as anything penned by Patrick O'Brian. However, it is Nick that commands one's attention. There are many other memorable characters (like Alexi Tamarov, Vax Holser, and Derek Carr, among others) but it's Seafort that is the most intriguing of them all. Nick makes mistakes, a lot of them, in fact. And yet he is incredibly appealing in his devotion to duty and his keen insight into human nature. He manages to command allegiance and exert authority without coercion. In fact, he creates loyalty in those who follow him despite the awful errors he makes in handling them. His trust in officers to do the right thing compels them to live up to his expectations in a way that no amount of caning will ever accomplish. The strength of his character is unbelievable: there are many times in the book in which I almost wanted to shout at him "Take the easy way out! You're just making everything more difficult!" And, of course, this is not Seafort's way. And he is right.

There are plenty of delightful episodes in the novel, but my favorite one has to be Nick's dealings with Hibernia's glitched puter Darla. I can just imagine him, sitting in the Captain's chair, sweating over difficult calculations for the Fuse and insisting that despite his limited knowledge of astrogation, he will not Fuse until his figures agree with everyone else's, including the puter, the professional Pilot, and the experienced Vax. Gotta love the "Pilot, please watch while I try again. Stop me when you see the mistake" (106-7) bit as Nick tries to get his manual calculations to agree with the others.

If Feintuch keeps this up, he will be on his way to my favorite author list along with Heinlein.

June 8, 2006