To the Galactic Rim: The John Grimes Saga by A. Bertram Chandler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It’s difficult to rate this book. If it had been written today it would probably have gotten a single star. But it isn’t. It’s written almost 50 years ago by an old marine officer. If you read it with that in mind, it surprisingly fun reading.
The main character has sometimes been called “Hornblower in space”. That’s maybe a bit too much but at least it gives you some idea. The book is comprised of three novels and a collection of short stories. The first one is quite good and the rest of varying quality.
They are all quite ridiculous by today’s standards of course. Not only are the technology somewhat outdated to say the least, spinning gyroscopes and mechanical devices to travel through space, but the general life and behavior of the characters are also quite out of whack by today’s standards. For instance the crew smokes like chimneys on the ship. Not that I have jumped on this militant anti-smoke trend of today but smoking on board a space ship still strikes me as something you do not do.
That the author is an old-fashioned marine office is also fairly clear from all the boobs, nudeness and often recurring focus on sex that occurs throughout the book.
However, as I said at the beginning, the book is so old and corny that it actually becomes a fun read.
