Space Captain Smith is the first in Toby Frost’s Chronicles
of Isambard Smith series. It’s sci-fi comedy, mixed with high adventure, in a
world where the British Empire is a space-faring power, with all the social
attitudes of the 19th century. It’s a no-frill adventure story,
which is also sometimes pretty darn funny.
The world of Captain Smith is one that is both different and
familiar. On the one hand, it’s quickly established to be a world of high
technology. There’s blasters. There’s soaring, graceful ships, leaping across
the stars. There’s aliens. There’s intergalactic Empires. Frost manages to make
us aware of some of these things through inference, though others – such as the
provision of spacegoing ships – are integral to the plot. As our protagonist
stumbles from disaster to catastrophe, he runs afoul of a great many things
which are strange, and often wonderful or terrifying in their novelty.
And then there’s the familiar. Our protagonist starts off in
the British Empire. Except that this British Empire has several star systems under
it’s belt. It also has rather a lot of starships and guns, which take the place
of cannon and navy. What it’s kept hold of, however, are Victorian social mores.
This is handwavingly explained at one stage, but it’s perfectly acceptable as
an entertaining conceit. The British march around the place, being rude to
aliens, and occasionally saving the universe. It’s a place instantly familiar
to anyone who ever read or watched Sharpe on television, except with ray guns
instead of rapiers.
The characters are an interesting mix. The eponymous Captain
Smith is a braggard, with a heart made, if not of gold, then at least of tin.
He, deliberately one assumes, embodies the best and worst of what could be
thought of as British characteristics – proud, shading to arrogant, determined
to be fair, but willing to press an advantage. He gets a smidge of development
over the course of the narrative, largely coming to regard other members of his
crew as at least marginally valuable. There’s a gradual shift toward a slightly
more humane character, and it’s represented in both actions and internal
monologue – it’s slow, believable, and makes for surprisingly affecting
reading.
Smith is ably assisted by his ships crew – including a
runaway android, designed for dubious purposes, a murderous alien, who regards
lethal missions as a sort of holiday, and a mysterious woman, whose main talent
appears to be being a bit of a hippy. They don’t get quite the sense of an arc
that Smith does – but there is a growing sense of camaraderie and a sense of
acceptance running through the text, which was nice to watch growing udner the
characters noses. They still don’t feel fleshed out enough, but they’re more
than collections of traits, so overall, I shan’t complain too strongly.
From a plot standpoint, this is an old fashioned adventure.
Smith and his crew leap from the jaws of death repeatedly, often by accident.
They’re also quite good at leaping into the jaws of death, and that’s usually
not on purpose either. There’s malevolent aliens, irritating bureaucrats, and a
galaxy to save. It sets off at a fairly swift pace, and charges ahead throughout
– it felt like you didn’t have room to breathe at times, but perhaps enough
breath to keep up. The jokes are laced thick and fast through the dialogue and
the situations the cast find themselves in – and whilst some of these do fall
flat, some raised a chuckle, and several got a real laugh. It’s a rarity to
find this fusion of adventure and humour, and Frost has pulled it off quite
well.
Is it worth reading? Well, if you’re in the mood for that
sort of adventure-tale in space, with a lashing of laughter, then yes, I’d say
so. It’s a great popcorn read, and I’m eyeing the sequel with some interest.
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