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Alacrity FitzHugh and Hobart Floyt #3
Fall of the White Ship Avatar
Alacrity required only a few minutes at the White Ship's helm to learn that a captain's problems can be tougher than those of a knockabout spacer. Solving them could cost a piece of his heart.
356 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published December 12, 1986
14 people are currently reading
156 people want to read
About the author
Brian Daley
47 books97 followersBrian was born in Englewood Hospital in Englewood, New Jersey on Dec. 22, 1947. A blizzard kept him and his mother at the hospital over Christmas, and the nurses sang "Away in a Manger" to them.
His middle name is Charles. He grew up in Rockleigh, NJ. His mother's name was Myra and his father's name was Charles. He has an older brother, David, and a younger sister, also named Myra. He had no children of his own, but he was always great with his two nieces and four nephews.
He went to Nathan Hale Elementary School in Norwood, NJ, and a consolidated High School - Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, NJ.
Brian loved to read, drive his '74 Corvette Stingray, spend summers with me on Martha's Vineyard, and travel to wild and exotic places like the jungles of Guatemala and Mexico, and the mountains of Nepal.
He said he wanted to write from an early age, about third grade. He also read a LOT of science fiction as a kid, and that inspired him.
After he graduated from high school in 1965 he joined the army and went to Vietnam for a year's tour of duty. Then he went to Berlin, Germany.
After the army he went to Jersey City State College, majoring in media. While attending college and working as a waiter at a local steak house, he also wrote his first novel, Doomfarers of Coromande. Del Rey Books accepted it and started him on his writing career. The editor picked Brian's manuscript out of the "slush" pile (unsolicited manuscripts) because it was the most neatly typed, but it wasn't accepted right away. The editor made Brian do a lot of re-writing.
When the first STAR WARS movie came out Brian saw it, and he was elated. He said he came out of the theater fundamentally changed. His editor asked which character he would like to write about for a movie-related novel. Brian said he picked Han Solo because Han was the only one who made a moral decision... he started out on the wrong side of the law, but joined with the good guys. And to tell you the truth, Brian was a whole lot like Han, a maverick.
He died of pancreatic cancer in February of 1996. He had just turned 49. He wrote the adaptation for National Public Radio drama THE RETURN OF THE JEDI while he was undergoing chemotherapy. He died at his house in Maryland the night the Jedi radio cast was toasting him at their wrap party, having finished the taping of the shows that day.
When they posted the notice of his death, messages began coming in from all over the world. The gist of them was that his passing created a "disturbance in the Force."
Brian Daley's first novel, The Doomfarers of Coramonde, was published on the first Del Rey list in 1977. It was an immediate success, and Brian went on to write its sequel, The Starfollowers of Coramonde, and many other successful novels: A Tapestry of Magics, three volumes of The Adventures of Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh, and, under the shared pseudonym 'Jack McKinney', ten and one half of the twenty-one Robotech novels. He first conceived of the complex GammaL.A.W. saga in Nepal, in 1984, and worked on its four volumes for the next twelve years, finishing it shortly before his death in 1996.
His middle name is Charles. He grew up in Rockleigh, NJ. His mother's name was Myra and his father's name was Charles. He has an older brother, David, and a younger sister, also named Myra. He had no children of his own, but he was always great with his two nieces and four nephews.
He went to Nathan Hale Elementary School in Norwood, NJ, and a consolidated High School - Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan, NJ.
Brian loved to read, drive his '74 Corvette Stingray, spend summers with me on Martha's Vineyard, and travel to wild and exotic places like the jungles of Guatemala and Mexico, and the mountains of Nepal.
He said he wanted to write from an early age, about third grade. He also read a LOT of science fiction as a kid, and that inspired him.
After he graduated from high school in 1965 he joined the army and went to Vietnam for a year's tour of duty. Then he went to Berlin, Germany.
After the army he went to Jersey City State College, majoring in media. While attending college and working as a waiter at a local steak house, he also wrote his first novel, Doomfarers of Coromande. Del Rey Books accepted it and started him on his writing career. The editor picked Brian's manuscript out of the "slush" pile (unsolicited manuscripts) because it was the most neatly typed, but it wasn't accepted right away. The editor made Brian do a lot of re-writing.
When the first STAR WARS movie came out Brian saw it, and he was elated. He said he came out of the theater fundamentally changed. His editor asked which character he would like to write about for a movie-related novel. Brian said he picked Han Solo because Han was the only one who made a moral decision... he started out on the wrong side of the law, but joined with the good guys. And to tell you the truth, Brian was a whole lot like Han, a maverick.
He died of pancreatic cancer in February of 1996. He had just turned 49. He wrote the adaptation for National Public Radio drama THE RETURN OF THE JEDI while he was undergoing chemotherapy. He died at his house in Maryland the night the Jedi radio cast was toasting him at their wrap party, having finished the taping of the shows that day.
When they posted the notice of his death, messages began coming in from all over the world. The gist of them was that his passing created a "disturbance in the Force."
Brian Daley's first novel, The Doomfarers of Coramonde, was published on the first Del Rey list in 1977. It was an immediate success, and Brian went on to write its sequel, The Starfollowers of Coramonde, and many other successful novels: A Tapestry of Magics, three volumes of The Adventures of Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh, and, under the shared pseudonym 'Jack McKinney', ten and one half of the twenty-one Robotech novels. He first conceived of the complex GammaL.A.W. saga in Nepal, in 1984, and worked on its four volumes for the next twelve years, finishing it shortly before his death in 1996.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 25, 2020
I always get the feeling Daley might have had another book in the back of his mind when he finished this story, chasing after Alacrity and Hobart and their search for Precursor secrets. Still, it's a satisfying end to the trilogy.
February 7, 2012
LOVE love love these books. Every time I finish this one, I am saddened that there are no "continuing adventures."
March 11, 2017
Giving it more of a 3.5/3.75. The end of the trilogy is bittersweet as author Brian Daley died before writing more exploits of Hobart and Alacrity (one wonders why he abandoned the characters in favor of Robotech novels, but oh well). A few things become blazingly apparent with this entry, most specifically that all three novels follow pretty much the same blueprint: Floyt and Fitzhugh start off in a big city port, end up on some remote planet, stranded Robinson Cruesoe-style, survive by their wits in the wilds, and eventually end up back in some big city port. The only thing that really changes are the characters they encounter, and Daley is aces with creating these. Which is why this novel is so bittersweet, many of the characters that jumped off the pages are left to wander in the reader's imagination slipstream, their eventual whereabouts and happenings a mystery never to be solved. This is by turns frustrating, but also cool, like an open-ended ending to a movie that seemingly begs for a sequel, but also begs to be left as it is. I must say that I am remiss to never know if Alacrity lives out his days with Heart or if Hobart finds Paloma or what happens to the myriad other engaging characters who have filled the three tomes, but at the same time it's a warm feeling to conjur up my own outcomes to their unknown future adventures and ponder what might have been.
May 24, 2018
The culmination of Requiem and Jinx, Fall of the White Ship Avatar is a tour-de-force across the galaxy that unfortunately concludes the Alacrity Fitzhugh trilogy. Daley introduces few new characters in this last novel, but those he does are memorable, and if not human, exhibit many of the species’ tendencies and characteristics. But will the two protagonists be able to overcome these final obstacles in time to see the White Ship’s latest and greatest struggle for ownership?
Daley’s Fitzhugh trilogy is a true thrill-ride. He evokes the best qualities of a space opera and any good novel: self-discovery and conflict, high technology and star travel, battles and power struggles, love and friendship, and much and more. His characters are memorable, certainly after the book is closed, and the plot is different and quirky—we never seem to know where Fitzhugh and Floyt will end up next, nor in what condition! Despite there being a few loose ends, the conclusion of the saga is neither unfinished nor hurried. It makes sense, and is as enjoyable as the rest of the trilogy.
Daley’s Fitzhugh trilogy is a true thrill-ride. He evokes the best qualities of a space opera and any good novel: self-discovery and conflict, high technology and star travel, battles and power struggles, love and friendship, and much and more. His characters are memorable, certainly after the book is closed, and the plot is different and quirky—we never seem to know where Fitzhugh and Floyt will end up next, nor in what condition! Despite there being a few loose ends, the conclusion of the saga is neither unfinished nor hurried. It makes sense, and is as enjoyable as the rest of the trilogy.
June 30, 2022
It pains me to give this four stars, but like many other reviews have said, the middle slows the story down a bit too much for my taste. Our two heroes, joined by a third for this act, are stranded in the wild for six chapters (out of twenty), and that time could've easily been cut in half IMHO. Those chapters weren't poorly written, nor did they pull me out of the immersion, I simply felt the time could've been better spent elsewhere; such as more details about Spica and another Langstretch trap evasions. It also didn't help that the gawklegs began to wear a bit thin, and that it didn't match the science fiction themes of the previous books, or the remainder of this one.
Having said all that, AF/HF 3 was still a lot of fun and a great follow up to the world-shattering events of the previous books. Now that Earth is opening back up to the universe, it's Alacrity's turn to fulfill his destiny in seeking the White Ship. A shareholder's meeting of the ship's counsel is approaching quickly and he has to get there in order to throw his hat in the ring. Not a complicated plot, but there's plenty of hurdles along the way.
Unfortunately, this is the end of the series, and with Brian Daley's untimely passing ten years after this book was published, we won't be getting any more out of these characters or world he built up so well. Knowing this, along with being somewhat let down by the ending, I can't seem to shake the bittersweet feeling this trilogy gave me. I wholeheartedly recommend reading the AF/HF series to anyone who loves sci-fi, or those who like connecting with well-written characters.
Having said all that, AF/HF 3 was still a lot of fun and a great follow up to the world-shattering events of the previous books. Now that Earth is opening back up to the universe, it's Alacrity's turn to fulfill his destiny in seeking the White Ship. A shareholder's meeting of the ship's counsel is approaching quickly and he has to get there in order to throw his hat in the ring. Not a complicated plot, but there's plenty of hurdles along the way.
Unfortunately, this is the end of the series, and with Brian Daley's untimely passing ten years after this book was published, we won't be getting any more out of these characters or world he built up so well. Knowing this, along with being somewhat let down by the ending, I can't seem to shake the bittersweet feeling this trilogy gave me. I wholeheartedly recommend reading the AF/HF series to anyone who loves sci-fi, or those who like connecting with well-written characters.
August 13, 2023
You might think it odd the the cover of a book that sounds like space opera has the two main characters on horseback on it.. but that's entirely accurate.
Despite what the summary says, about 1/2 of this book is spend in the woods of a planet where our heros meet up with a herd of sentient Buffaloes and have to convince them to help them get back to civilization. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as interesting as it sounds.
Perhaps I would have likely this book more had a realized when I got it it was the 3rd book of a trilogy, but I'm not sure that would have helped. The characters are both pretty boring... Alacrity sort of resembles Han Solo a bit, but really only in the sense of the space pilot rogue trope, and the fact that Brian Daley is writing. Hobart get no character development at all of his own... perhaps he did in the previous books. Definitely not good enough to want to find the others of the series.
Despite what the summary says, about 1/2 of this book is spend in the woods of a planet where our heros meet up with a herd of sentient Buffaloes and have to convince them to help them get back to civilization. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as interesting as it sounds.
Perhaps I would have likely this book more had a realized when I got it it was the 3rd book of a trilogy, but I'm not sure that would have helped. The characters are both pretty boring... Alacrity sort of resembles Han Solo a bit, but really only in the sense of the space pilot rogue trope, and the fact that Brian Daley is writing. Hobart get no character development at all of his own... perhaps he did in the previous books. Definitely not good enough to want to find the others of the series.
February 20, 2023
I can see why some say this one is the slowest of the trilogy. The middle third of the book, set on Lebensraum, does kind of drag along if we are thinking about the overall plot of the White Ship. So it's perhaps not the tightest construction.
Six out of five stars, greatest adventure story ever.
Six out of five stars, greatest adventure story ever.
March 6, 2022
It wraps up the series, but not in an especially satisfying way. The middle portion drags and much of the book seems focused on being gonzo than advancing the story.
March 13, 2017
Really hard to keep track of the plot. I kept forgetting why characters were doing what they were doing and what their goal was. The style is pretty funny and full of references, but the abrupt ending just reminded me that there was no real meaning to the whole thing.
April 11, 2013
In this, Daley's third installment of the "Adventures of Hobart Floyt and Alacrity Fitzhugh" (following _Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds_ and _Jinx on a Terran Inheritance_), we go beyond the scope of the original books into the past of Alacrity Fitzhugh--including his real name, his "Captain's Sidearm", and his obsession with the Precursors, an uber-race that has disappeared from the Cosmos--but not before leaving tantalizing technological clues. Much of the story takes place on an inhospitable planet as Floyt, Fitzhugh, and a female companion fight nature to reach an important meeting for the eponymous White Ship of the title. Enjoyable--but it leaves some unanswered questions, which, alas, will now remain that way with Daley's passing.
January 25, 2012
The final book in the series, and as I drew closer and closer to the end of the book, I grew sadder and sadder. I didn't like this book as well as I liked either the first or the second one, but there are still some really interesting events that are EIH. The chemistry developed in the first two books is very powerful in this book, and though I feel like the long interlude with Pokesnout and company takes up way more of the book than I would have liked, the book is redeemed in the next portion, where we see the endearing qualities of Alacrity and Hobart expressed more clearly than ever. Again, it would be worthwhile to dig up this series and enjoy Brian Daley at his very best.
July 20, 2025
This remains for me a fun read - not just this one, but the trilogy as a whole. I had reached out to the author years ago thanking him for the series and asking for more, but he had moved on (and unfortunately passed away before he could complete even those plans.)
August 25, 2012
Ho-hum. I had read the first two years ago, and this one is a bit of a disappointment. Fun in spots, but too much of it is made up of science fiction cliches, including buxom alien women and silly creatures.
January 27, 2016
incredible characters that sweep you into the story it's the complex but realistic world Daley creates for those characters to live in. Somehow he makes a futuristic SiFi world seem logical and real. Highly recommended
August 13, 2025
One of the Great
This is the third and last of the books in this series, which I've loved and reread several times over the decades I've had them. I'd be bugging the author for more, if he'd not tragically died young.
This is the third and last of the books in this series, which I've loved and reread several times over the decades I've had them. I'd be bugging the author for more, if he'd not tragically died young.
June 19, 2013
Very funny trilogy.
Remember finding it a bit hard to get into the first book but after that
breathtaking pace of action and great characters :)
Remember finding it a bit hard to get into the first book but after that
breathtaking pace of action and great characters :)
November 4, 2013
Enjoyed the story.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews