o this is book three of the Ark Royal series, the final book (final, did you say? That sounds like foreshadowing. Uh oh). In a nutshell, the Ark Royal was an old Royal Navy space carrier, built along specs thought important eight decades past, put out to pasture with a goof-ball crew and suddenly pressed back into service when all those lighter, newer carriers were all turned to scrap by the Tadpoles (an alien race that seemingly attacked us out of the blue (well, black, since this is space)). If you are curious about all this, read my earlier reviews of the first two books:
So again, it’s a deep penetration raid and this time our cast of RN characters make solid contact with the Tadpoles, finding out how their society works and how it decides to act (in peace and war). In this case, it turns out that the Ark Royal has inflicted so much damage on the enemy that the “war faction” is now backed into a corner. Decided that the “vote” against them was “illegal” (and what the hell does this mirror?), said faction decides that before it loses all support, it’s going to launch a do-or-die mission with all its ships against Earth. Once more, the Ark Royal must do the Star Blazers thing, planting itself in the enemy path to stop them.
If anything, you’ll want to see if your favorite character gets through this hold-at-all-costs action. Great fun in space; the opera we know and love.
And don’t worry, there are other ships and other stories by this wonderful author. Check them all out!