Customer Reviews

Children of Hope

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellant sequel in this particular series; I find it a return to the roots of the series and a distinct step up from the past couple of books. After leaving the world of Hope for the last few books in this series we return to there and to various colonial issues. Here too for the first time the role of the church as it plays in politics is brought into the main themes. We again see Seafort's rather particular sense of honor put to the test in various ways along with the newest of his child "projects" Randy Carr who provides the POV for most of this novel.

This is a very busy book; plots and sub-plots abound. You need a scorecard to keep track of who is playing what roles as the story unfolds. It is also very fast paced, not an easy book to put down. For serious readers of this series elements (and characters) of the other novels are presented, and occasional loose ends tied up.

My local library just got in the Seafort Saga, and without really knowing what I picked Midshipman's Hope up and started reading it. Wow! I was hit with an awesome look at the future and really felt like I knew and could relate to the book's main character, Nick Seafort. Since then I couldn't put the books down. Now, six books later, I think that Children of Hope is an awesome volume in the continuing saga, but it also stands out uniquely on it's own. With a new main character, fourteen-year-old Randy Carr who is in desperate need of a father, Nick Seafort and his cast of familiar characters are not put on the back-burner, but rather closely intigrated into this young boy's fresh persective to make for some interesting plot twists and very realistic characters. This is a must-read for any fan of science-fiction or military novels!

Well, overall I loved this book. I loved every book in the series, but this one is better than most. I rank it up there with "Fisherman's Hope" (my personal favorite). The action is non-stop and you really care about the characters. There is very little quality science fiction out there with a military theme to it, but this series makes up for lost time! The only negative I saw was that Randy was a little bit to much like Nick. I thought Fientuch trod over some old ground in some of Randy's character traits. Other than that though it was great! I loved finally seeing Nick the way others see him. Most of the books in the series are from his perspective and this is the first time we really get a good look at him through other eyes. I found myself saying "I bet I know what is going through his mind right now!" as I read the book. I wonder if we are seeing Nick mellow in his older days or if its just the perspective. I also love the way Fientuch pulls characters in from books waAAAAy back in the series. Just when you think you'll never see a character again they pop up out of nowhere. You you havn't read this series start at the beginning, but if you have GET THIS BOOK!!

Just when we thought nothing more could be expected from the world and universe of Nicholas Seafort--along comes David Feintuch's next and obviously not last book in the Seafort series! What a great read! Impossible to put down! After having read many sci-fi/fantasy series and being disappointed with the authors' inability to sustain action, character development, etc., I can confidently say that Feintuch breaks the mold. This is a superb addition to the Seafort saga. Plot twists and turns, good character development, a rollicking good yarn all serve to make this book a fine success. The secret to such good writing doesn't rest in the story though--wonderful as it is. The secret is in Feintuch's ability to create characters we really care about--even the bad guys have some depth! Many reviewers have commented favorably on the fact that Feintuch does for sci-fi what C.S. Forester did for naval adventure with his Hornblower series. That's true, but this is no mere update of a swashbuckling hero. Seafort is one of the most intriguing fictional characters to come along in quite a while. Add to that, religion, politics, the place of humans in the universe, the importance of character and integrity--all these issues are tackled as well. Mr. Feintuch ought to be working on more books like this one. One can only hope!

You know, I hate the future Feintuch has created for us. A fanatically religious theocracy in control of everything, burnings for heresy, children who muck up, like in the "rebellious ages" (I guess that would be now), get to enjoy special training camps designed to break them (a beer is enough to get them there...), and the navy is using methods from the 17th or 18th century to educate their officers and run their ships. It's as if you're living a nightmare. I find it hard to believe it could come to that.

But then Feintuch goes on to tell stories set in that gruesome environment that capture you. Randy is flawed and stubborn, but trying to grow, to deal with his actions. His progress is slow, he makes mistakes, you want to yell at him. Randy is a messed-up adolescent, but fairly believable. Seafort has developped from barely tolerable (go get a caning for asking me if I was okay - regs don't allow me to stop cruelty against my friends - belay that - you will be court-martialed for saving my life - etc) to benign saviour (now you can actually understand why everyone looks up to him), though I never noticed how it happened. The characters all have a too black/white view of the world and a way too extreme sense of honor, but you can't keep from admiring them now and then. Or most of the time. And Randy's impulsive behaviour is endearing amidst all the regulated navy behaviour aboard Olympiad. Finally, someone doesn't [care] about the regs.

The plot may be "a little" erratic - too much happening in too short a time to Randy - he is almost killed in various ways and always we have a "deus ex machina" that saves him. He is always where the interesting stuff happens, and always finds an outrageous way to safe the day. But, after all, this is a story, and I suspect it's this rush of events that makes it a page-turner. And Randy's communication attempts with the alien fish and the conclusion are beautifully done. So my misgivings about the environment and the impossibilities are lost in my "willing suspension of disbelief", and I was rooting for Randy all the way. Give it a try. If you haven't encountered the setting of the series before, you will probably find the book somewhat disturbing, but definitely worth the read. Though it isn't very engaging on a intellectual level, it's a great adventure story.

IMO, this book is the best in the series, so far. Finally, some of our questions are answered, and very logical. In "Voices of hope", as much as I loved it, sometimes I missed Nick's voice, here, surprisingly never. Randy is an interesting character and a fascinating viewpoint. All in all, this book is like the others in the series: it makes you laugh, sometimes it keeps you breathless and it hurts. There is this scene, where ... No, I won't tell you. Read for yourself, you won't regret it.

For those fans of Feintuch who'll remember the last part of Patriarch's Hope, it looked like our hero Seafort was going to sail into the sunset never to return. But thankfully Feintuch saw things differently!

Based from the first-person perspective of Randy Carr, Derek Carr's youngest and last child, this book brings back our hero Seafort. I don't want to give anything away, it is just too good, but I just know if you liked the first four books of the Seafort Saga you're going to love this one. It has all the attitude of the first four and opens the door for even more books in the GREAT Saga.

I salute you Mr. Feintuch. I read this book in 2 days and I am thinking about reading it again very soon. Now get back to the typewriter and finish the next one! I can't wait to see what happens next!

Changing viewpoints to that of a troubled and undisciplined teen-ager, Feintuch demonstrates his acute understanding of the guilt and bitterness a young person can build up to the point at which something has to give. The youngster's hatred of Nick Seafort, who, he believes, killed his father, is both logical and insane, and the reader is pulled into his dark maelstrom of revenge and despair. The Seafort books just get better and better.

This is the seventh and latest installment in the Seafort series of books, a series that focuses on the moral struggles of a man raised in a strict religious home located in a theocratic future. Although the first several books contained elements of the parental relationship that Seafort seems to end up establishing with everyone around him, they were mainly focused on his intense desire to adhere to the impossible strictures of his conscience. Those books were eminently readable and even moving.

This book, and Partiarch's Hope, the previous book, depart from that theme and concentrate almost entirely on the way that Seafort saves wayward youths from themselves through proper Victorian discipline and punishment. The author goes from examining the pressures inherent in such a system to simply promoting it as the proper cure for wanton behavior, mental anguish, and in this latest case, interstellar war. Like most science fiction "series", this one should have ended long ago.

You know, I hate the future Feintuch has created for us. A fanatically religious theocracy in control of everything, burnings for heresy, children who muck up, like in the "rebellious ages" (I guess that would be now), get to enjoy special training camps designed to break them (a beer is enough to get them there...), and the navy is using methods from the 17th or 18th century to educate their officers and run their ships. It's as if you're living a nightmare. I find it hard to believe it could come to that.

But then Feintuch goes on to tell stories set in that gruesome environment that wrench your heart. I have only read Fisherman's Hope, Voices of Hope and now this one (I think this is the best), but in all of them, he manages to depict characters that are flawed and stubborn, but trying to grow, to deal with their actions and their guilt. Their progress is slow, they make mistakes, you want to yell at them. They all have a too black/white view of the world and a way too extreme sense of honor, but you can't keep from admiring it. I'm kinda ashamed to admit it, but I did admire Randy's attempts to keep his honor during all he went through.

The plot may be a little erratic - too much happening in too short a time to Randy - he is almost killed in various ways and always we have a "deus ex machina" thing that saves him. He is always where the interesting stuff happens, and always finds an outrageous way to safe the day. But, after all, this is a story, and I suspect it's this rush of events that makes it a page-turner. And Randy's communication attempts with the alien fish and the conclusion are beautifully done.
So my misgivings about the environment and the impossibilities are lost in my "willing suspension of disbelief", and I was rooting for Randy all the way, transported back into the days of my childhood when I read adventure stories at night with a flashlight in my bed. Give it a try. If you haven't encountered the setting of the series before, you will probably find the book somewhat disturbing, but definitely worth the read. A great adventure.