Fast Paced Indy Space Opera

One of the things I miss from science fiction these days are the hard core space opera novels My favorites right now are the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks, The Lensman series by E. E. “Doc” Smith, and the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Banks and Bujold are still writing and adding to their series’, but there aren’t a lot of other authors writing space operas right now. So, when I got the opportunity to read the book Gift of Change by D Sanders (I received a review copy from the author), I was very pleased to get to read true space opera, it’s been a long time waiting.

This Book Has Everything You Love About Space Opera

Gift of Change is set in a huge interstellar civilization, with a large space navy, numerous ports of call, large ships, small ships, an alien race, and a retired naval commander. The commander has retired from the space navy and is now working as a freighter captain transporting cargo around the civilization and getting blind drunk in every port leaving his pilot to drag him back to the ship and hope he doesn’t kill himself. She stays with him because she is a 40% owner of the business, because she needs the position, but mostly because she loves him. When he has to take off on a contract without her, he nearly gets killed after blacking out in a mine field. Luckily for him his ships AI is able to prevent a large asteroid from pulverizing the ship and when he comes to he pilots the ship to a nearby asteroid that has the ores he needs to effect repairs. This asteroid sets of a series of events that are both exciting and surprising and changes the captain’s life forever.

Off to a Confusing Start

When I first started the book I found the first few pages confusing. The main character seemed almost insane and his thoughts and reactions were all wrong. Was he at war? Was he commanding a giant naval ship? Or was he just a captain of a tiny ship with no crew other than a computer AI? But it quickly became clear that the confusion was deliberate. The captain was going insane and the drunken binges were the only thing keeping him sane—well that and Fallon, his pilot and Fred, his AI.

If You’re Looking for Space Opera, Gift of Change is a Good Choice

It is a very fast read, I read this book in two sittings, I did sleep in between but I did nearly nothing else until I was finished. It’s fast and fun and well worth the time to read. You can buy Gift of Change from Amazon.com: Gift of Change

• Books