Book Review: Ark Royal

First of All: So I've liked this page on Facebook which talks a lot about Fantasy and Sci-fi stuff.  Most of the time, they just post memes which only nerdy people would get, but occasionally, they'll recommend a book which they liked.  When they posted a short review about Ark Royal, by Christopher G. Nuttall, I got curious and decided to look into it further.  To be honest, it's actually really good.

Second of All: The Book!
Everything changed for the people of Earth once they discovered the gravimetric Tram lines that ran from star to star.  A brilliant scientist developed a device called the Puller drive, which would allow starships to travel these lines in a heartbeat, and thus humanity began its expansion into the stars.  Earth's various political powers have each claimed several inhabited worlds, and each of them have been building up military strength and developing new, more efficient ships for the better part of a century.

Captain Ted Smith, the commanding officer aboard an ancient British carrier named H.M.S. Ark Royal, knows that his command is more punishment than anything.  The decrepit old ship was one of the first battleships built, and now, at 70 years old, it's kept running by sheer determination and grit from its minimal crew.  Everyone in the British navy knows that Ark Royal is where they send the washouts and failed members of the Navy, and it's driven Captain Smith into alcoholism.

Everything changes one day when he's called to a meeting with the British Navy's highest officer, the First Space Lord, who gives him grave news.  Humanity has made first contact with an alien race, and the extraterrestrials aren't friendly.  All of mankind's forces are mustering in the first combined effort to defend human space in history, and the Ark Royal is needed.  With a new, ambitious first officer, Commander James Fitzwilliam, in tow, Captain Smith begins preparations to take his old carrier out into the battle with a vastly superior alien race.

Third of All: The Review!
Going into the book, I was a bit skeptical of how good it would be, since the cover seems to suggest self-publishing, or perhaps an inexperienced publisher.  But I was very pleasantly surprised when I got into the book.
Christopher Nuttall weaves a fantastically real-feeling universe, where tensions between nations run high and the stakes are always increasing.  He portrays the burdens of aristocracy, the weight of command, and the very real repercussions that war has among common citizenry, all with a very skilled and talented hand.  His characters felt real, with passions and history and strengths and weaknesses all of their own, and even the minor, unimportant characters had depth.

Also, the alien race he created was amazingly well-made.  Even though the reader never finds out much about them, the amount of detail he gives us about what their ships look like, their physical appearance, and other aspects (which I won't mention due to spoilers) all demonstrate that he's put a lot of thought into this alien species.

So well was his universe created that the dynamics of space travel and the nature of the ships in his world made for some very real-feeling situations in the book, where the characters' survival was always hanging just on the edge.  The space combat was very well executed, and felt real as well.

There were two things that didn't sit well with me, though.  First and foremost, there was some sexual content in the book.  It was set up by some real-feeling psychological issues, and the situation that resulted because of it was very realistic, but I was disappointed that such a great story had to include it.  Also, there were a few typos, and some times where phrases were repeated in pretty close succession, though this issue could very easily be fixed with a good copy edit.

Overall, I thought this was a great book, and I hope that he gets around to writing another.  Were it not for the above mentioned issues, Ark Royal would have got a near-perfect grade, but as it stands, I give it a Four and a Half out of Six Nerd Stars.