Midshipman's Hope

The Seafort Saga, Book 1

By: David Feintuch

Narrated by: Vikas Adam

When a hideous accident kills the senior officers of the UNS Hibernia, it leaves a terrified young officer to save 300 colonists and crew aboard a damaged ship on a 17-month gauntlet to reach the colony of Hope Nation. With no chance of rescue or reinforcement, Nicholas Seafort must overcome despair, exhaustion, and guilt. He must conquer malfunctions, mutiny, and an alien horror beyond human understanding. And he must save lives and take them - in the name of duty.

©1994 David Feintuch (P)2015 Audible Inc.

The start of something great

"Midshipman's Hope" is the starting book in the Seafort saga. Having read through the series over two decades ago I looked forward to revisting it in audio form. This production does the story justice and the narrator does well both in tone throughout the story and in voicing all the characters.

The series focuses on Midshipman Nicholas Seafort and the trials that he and the ship Hibernia experience on an interstellar trip to the colony planet of Hope Nation.

A Tortured Soul Grows Up Quickly

So, you're a lowly 17-year old Midshipman still learning how to be an officer, still maturing, still ... well, guess what, none of that matters anymore because you have a job to do regardless of whether you want it or whether anyone else wants you to do.

You have a short time to grow up and take responsibility for your ship, the lives or your crew and the lives of your passengers. And now, to top it all off, you're under attack from a previously unknown alien.

How would you handle it? Do you think you could save the ship and get back home? How would you cope with the horrors your decisions bring?

Midshipman Nick Seafort didn't have a choice - the regulations clearly state that he has to assume the roles and responsibilities of Captain of the Hibernia. Every decision he makes eats at his soul, but every decision he makes ensures that the Hibernia will get to its destination safely.

I sent Audible an email 2 years ago asking that they get the rights to this series, as I wanted others to enjoy what I've enjoyed all these years. David Feintuch has crafted an excellent character study of a tortured (albeit to himself) sould trying to do what's right and what's best for those lives he's now responsible for.

One of my favorite sci-fi book series

I am so excited to find that Audible finally brought this series to audio (granted it was over a year ago but somehow I had missed it until recent)!

Feintuch's Nick Seafort and his coming of age story was inspirational to me as a young man as Seafort is his harshest and most severe own self-critic, not unlike my own striving for perfection in my younger days. I still find the story riveting to this day (almost 20 years after first reading it) but I look upon the main character with a little more pity, a lot more forgiveness, and even more sympathy now. It's every sci-fi loving kid's dream to be a Captain of this own ship and following the tragic early events of this book, it's easy to wish you were in Nick Seafort's shoes!

The story varies in pace throughout and you are often left wondering where Nick's motivation comes from (you learn it wholeheartedly by the end of the book). The supporting characters are excellently portrayed by the author, although given to you through the first person narrator, you question the validity of some of it due to perspective.

I highly recommend this book if you are a fan of any of Jack Campbell's novels.

The narrator does an excellent job with the voices of all the characters and I hope he continues reading the rest of the series!

Quite a different angle on military sci-fi.

I really enjoyed listening to this book, but I can't quite put my finger on why. The story has a very sober and serious tone. Bordering on dark at times. A lot of listeners have not liked the main characters self loathing. I actually related quite a bit with the his second guessing of himself. A good leader in a difficult situations, with life and death situations is going to have double takes and regrets. Looking back at this story now, I think most people have a predisposition of a comic book hero as a main character and when a writer tries to put some reality to their writing some people have a bad reaction because it's not what they expected. The part of this story I enjoyed the most is the stay on the new colonies and the writers perspective on how life on new worlds would be. The narrator did a better than average job, but not a 5.

spectacular

an amazing Tale well told. I've thoroughly enjoyed this read and will look for more books from this author