Review: Ark Royal by Christopher Nuttall
With Ark Royal, what you see is what you get. There’s a giant spaceship on the cover with a couple starfighters blasting away over some alien planet. Inside there are mass drivers, plasma cannons, rail guns, nuclear missiles, alien spaceships, and all sorts of other cool stuff. It reads like a classic Hollywood war movie before Vietnam changed the genre. Those who love military sci-fi will enjoy it. For those who don’t, it will probably bore you.
In the future, humanity has mastered FTL travel and colonized dozens of worlds. Out of nowhere, a mysterious alien fleet invades bringing about humanity’s first interstellar and inter-species war. Enter the Ark Royal, an aging warship with a drunken captain, misfit crew, and a date with the scrap-heap. The war changes its fate, putting it at the vanguard of a new human offensive against the alien invaders.
The military technology, tactics, and explanations in the book are well-researched, and well executed. The combat in particular felt realistic and balanced. Some military sci-fi tends to portray war like its just a video game: highly individualistic, always exciting, over-romanticized, and fair. War is none of these things, regardless of the time and place.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Nuttall has a Navy background. The details concerning the military bureaucracy, war journalists, and the challenges of leadership are compelling. The action itself is exciting and fairly easy to follow. It is beginning of a series and ends at a good point that should make fans eager for Book 2 (entitled Nelson’s Touch).
I enjoy military sci-fi but don’t like it when authors dilute the tragic realities of war to appeal to wider audiences. War is horrible and should be depicted as such, even in young adult fiction. Unfortunately, Ark Royal waters down the more devastating aspects of warfare to the point where its was difficult to take it seriously.
The characters were fairly one-dimensional and approach their duties in a very disconnected manner. Their internal monologues were mostly objective analysis rather than their inner emotions. The depiction of female officers in the Royal Navy of the future was less than flattering. The only significant female character flung herself at her commanding officer like a scene from a porno.
The writing style is simple and straightforward. The narration has a colloquial style that is very accessible. For younger readers it is perfect. Older readers may get bored of the repetition, limited vocabulary, and lack of character development. There is a fair amount of infodumping as well, which slowed the story down. Nuttall also left behind some spelling and grammatical errors.
The military science fiction market is fairly large and is forgiving of stylistic shortcomings, which is why Ark Royal has done well. It has a significant fan base, no doubt about it. It is pure military sci-fi without the artsy embellishments or dark emotional interludes. It is objective and impersonal, detailing the events and tactics rather than the human experiences. While this book really wasn’t for me, I can understand its appeal. There are plenty of readers that will enjoy Ark Royal and the sequels.
3 Stars
J
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