Strange, not unsatisfactory but not great

Strange, seems like a rewrite of a 40's war novel, or something earlier, hornblower even- names like Gladys and Rose, Ted, all so knowingly dated, brought forward to a Sci fi setting that just isn't that well thought out and isn't well written. Frightening old fashioned characterisations that fail to engage and are repetitive and one dimensional. There is something here, it could work but you end up feeling that it's a wasted opportunity.

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9 people found this helpful

A great story- don't be put off by galactica links

Any additional comments?

Capsule Review:
At first sight the similarities between Ark Royal and Battlestar Galactica put me off. However, this is an excellent book (and narration) and is similar to 'BSG' in the same way that the modern BSG was similar to its 1970's forebear. That is to say; similar but different enough to feel new and fresh.

More detailed review (sans plot details):
First off, I think it's fair to say science fiction has a potential new major player on the scene. The author is clearly very accomplished. He seems to have his writting influenced by a wide variety of authors which brings a lot of colour and life to his work. He is well versed in the technical subject area of this book (pseudo royal navy). While I suspect he does not have direct military experience, he seems to have a good handle on certain points of jargon, military culture and mindset. This adds depth to his work that enhances both the plot and his written style as he weaves age if sail, world war two and modern naval aspects into the future environment.

The writers style and story is very engrossing. It strikes a good balance between detail, context, description and action that really makes for a fast paced 'can't put down' book without the usual loss of plot, character detail, description etc. The book and it's blurb certainly suffers from a plot that (for anyone familiar with battlestar Galactica) is 'all to familiar'. My advise to all is to ignore the similarities and read this book as if BSG didn't exist. It's very engaging and the plot is far from a direct lift of BSG despite the first sight similarities. It's also very nice to see a novel like this written from the perspective of the Royal Navy and allows the author to weave the traditions and history of the Royal Navy (that I suspect he has a penchant for) into the story. I dont think I would offend the author if I was to say that I won't go as far as to say the feel and writting is as good as a Patrick O'Brian or a C.S.Forester but it's really nice (and unique) to see 'the Nelson touch' applied to this genre.

In terms of the narration I would say that I initially thought that it was 'merely adequate'. However, as the book went on I have to say that I warmed to the narrator and his style. I would now argue that the narrators 'gruff' and 'dry' (that last is perhaps a little unfair) style suits the book, characters and authors style quite well and I would hate to see (hear) a different person narrating these books.

All told 5 stars for me. In truth I would give it 4.5 stars on the basis that it's not an O'Brian or Forester or a world leader but as 4.5 stars is not available it will have to be 5 as it would be doing a disservice to a very good story and author to give it a mere 4. I look forward to reading many more from this series and author.

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3 people found this helpful

Ripping Yarn

This is good old fashioned "boy's own" stuff. Ok you could find similarities to a whole raft of war based, human struggle themes in almost every SciFi story. However, this does not detract from this one. It's good honest fun.

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Jane Austen in space

While it has an interesting premise, the stifled language is a major drawback also it's rather odd that they do not give the alien race a name just referring to them as the aliens throughout the book.

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great book 😀 👍

👍 great book already listening to the next book good so far I highly recommend listening to this book 😀 👍

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Wierdly political?

It's your typical military sci-fi story of one man against the world set in space. Where everyone bar the protagonist and his crew are portrayed as monstrously incompetent. Scientists? Bah what do they know? Public Schools? Not for my children! ect, ect

It's's a shame because there are some genuinely interesting pieces of world building here. The space tramlines, the history of earth's various inhabitants colonizing space.

Instead it's everyone's an idiot and our protagonists are here to say the day with their jingoistic attitudes.

The narrator is clear in his speech. But lacks the ability to differentiate much in his voices which make the characters sound similar.

It's clear as the story progresses I'm not listening to a ship's struggle in the face of an implacable alien foe. But rather the opinions the characters about how everyone not part of the ship's crew is an idiot.

I'd recommend another sci-fi novel. This stories less sci-fi and more political opinion disguised as one.

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1 person found this helpful

Potential ruined by Narrator

What did you like best about Ark Royal? What did you like least?

A good concept and good character building. However some of the techie stuff is so wrong and / or out of date (e.g. the use of 'Throat Mics' in the distant future!). But it's the narration that destroys it

What did you like best about this story?

The whole plot line is good. It rings back to the Royal Navy of today (what's left of it!) and is very good at the subtle nuances

How did the narrator detract from the book?

His diction is awful. Shouting, poor timbre, poor characterisation and emphasis. I was going to download Book 2 - "The Nelson Story" - but, as soon as I saw Ralph on the credits I decided NO

Could you see Ark Royal being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

No

Any additional comments?

Such a shame that a great idea has been ruined by a very poor narrative performance

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A great book

Would you listen to Ark Royal again? Why?

Yes, a great story and I enjoyed it from page 1

What other book might you compare Ark Royal to, and why?

The follow up The Nelson Armada

Which character – as performed by Ralph Lister – was your favourite?

The Captain

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, when the SO defended the captain

Any additional comments?

A good read, I fully recommend it and it does have many twists and turns.

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Quality Space Opera

A very interesting concept which promotes Britain to a major space faring nation .
Victory against all odds 😀

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In space no one can hear you make tea

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

well it's a nice concept of what the future will be like, having all of the current day country's turn into interstellar powers reaching across known space with mighty ships. then having all concept of unstoppable power of humanity turned to dust when aliens show up to do what aliens do best, blow up everything. the story of the ark royal cumming from a dump for the worst the royal navy had to what it is by the end is an interesting one that keeps you on till the end and makes you want the next. if you like space battles and explosions then get this book if for no other reason.

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