Review of Space Pirates of Andromeda
Star Quest Book One
Many excellent works of fiction are shamelessly stol… I mean, inspired… by something else. Star Trek was famously pitched as Wagon Train (a TV show that ran from 1957 to 1965) but in space. The Three Amigos was inspired by The Magnificent Seven, which was a reimagining of The Seven Samurai, which was inspired by the western films of John Ford. Sons of Anarchy was “Hamlet on Harleys.” The Lion King was “Hamlet with lions.” Strange Brew was “Hamlet in a brewery in Ontario, eh?” One of my current works in progress is a two-part series of novels that got its start with me imagining Star Trek, but all the technology runs on magic. What inspired the story is important, but what is most important is what the creator does with it.
John C. Wright’s latest book, Space Pirates of Andromeda, got its start with him wanting to do Star Wars, but better than the current stuff that Disney is serving up to us. And readers can certainly see that in some core elements of the book (a princess whose planet was destroyed, a young hero with a powerful weapon from an bygone civilization, an order of space-knights, etc.). From those seeds, though, has come something that is both original and exciting.
Space Pirates of Andromeda is in the far-distant future, when humanity had long ago been forced to leave our galaxy. Humans and robots (some of which have free will) work side by side with a variety of alien species, as a new evil empire rises from the ashes of a fallen empire, and heroes struggle against the forces of tyranny.
One such hero is Athos Lone, a space cop with a mysterious past who strives to bring down a band of interstellar pirates and prove himself worthy of the woman he loves. He joins forces with Lyra Centauri, wielder of the mystical powers of a Star Maiden and ally to the unseen Nightshadow. And far away, an agent of evil is confronted by a vision that shakes his beliefs and threatens to send him on a different path.
“Remember the days gone by,” the author asks, “when science fiction was fun?” In this, John C. Wright has succeeded. Space Pirates of Andromeda is a fun tale of big action, and noble heroes fighting against impossible odds. The worldbuilding is most impressive, feeling original and fully realized, but only offering us tantalizing glimpses of what has gone before instead of burdening the reader with tedious exposition. I was left with a desire to find out more about Wright’s Star Quest universe, and to see the mysteries of the characters be slowly revealed.
I highly recommend Space Pirates of Andromeda for all ages. I loved it, and immediately handed it off to my youngest, who is currently deep in the adventures of Athos and Lyra (I had to “steal” the book back to write this review). This novel is the first in a new ongoing series, with the second book (Secret Agents of the Galaxy) scheduled to come out within the next few months. Wright posted at his website that this was planned to be a twelve-book series, and I plan to buy each book the day it is released.
(And while we wait for the next Star Quest novel to come out, if you like virtuous heroes battling the forces of evil, consider buying my novel Chosen by the Sword, also the first book in a new series.)