Could Be Fun

I stopped in at Barnes & Nobles on December 21 to buy gift cards for various school-associated people (it's amazing how many people are involved in the education of one six-year-old girl!). While there, I purchased my usual "quad espresso". Then I perused the racks, and ended up buying something that will curtail the "quads" for the next seven visits.

It's a new book called Warp Speed by Travis S. Taylor. Now, there were two strikes against it. First, it's a first novel by somebody that I've never read many short stories by. I usually don't chance a first novel in hardcover unless I've got a familiarity with the author or have read some pretty good reviews.

Second, the only two people they could scare up for blurbs are John Ringo (a Baen Books author) and Jim Baen (the Baen Books publisher). Hmmm...not a good sign.

On the other hand...Jim Baen...the man who saved Ace, who helped to get Tor off to a good start, who did a lot of great "bookzines", who has brought a lot of classic science fiction back into print. He has a lot of credibility.

And...I have read one short story by the author. It was a short story called Cleaning Lady in a collection called Cosmic Tales: Adventures in the Solar System (ed. by T.K.F. Weisskopf, Baen Books). The story was accompanied by an article (in the tradition of Charles Sheffield's McAndrew stories) called Are We There Yet?. I enjoyed the story, and enjoyed the article.

Hmmm...weird physics, space shuttles, near future solar system exploration, female astronauts, some stuff in the book that makes it clear he's inspired by Robert A. Heinlein and Spider Robinson...maybe we've got another Wil McCarthy on our hands?

...Well, I'll forgo my "quads" for the next seven trips past B&N, as I bought it.

So far, it's fun, if a bit clunky. It's a first-person narrative, so it feels more like a Mark Twain tale of Tom Sawyer than a more recent novel where you get deep insights into the character. But it is moving right along, there's a lot of Hard SF to chew over and the guy seems like he has potential.

Addendum: The author sounds like a Heinlein character, by the way. Look at those academic credentials! B.S in Electrical Engineering, M.S. in Astronomy, M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, a M.S. in Physics and a Doctorate in Optical Science and Engineering (what? only one doctorate?). He's worked for the Department of Defense and NASA. He seems to be dabbling in advanced propulsion concepts, space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems and next generation launch systems. In his copious spare time (it says so on the jacket flap) he is a martial artist (black belt, of course), a pilot, a SCUBA diver, races mountain bikes, competes in triathlons and even has been involved in rock. Oh yes, somehow he found time to get married and have a daughter. Hmmm...sounds like too much free time, he better get cracking on the next book!

Addendum: Finished it last night. I look forward to the next one!