Customer Reviews

The Defiance (Helmsman Series , No 7)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was thoroughly disappointed with this book.

First, the switch from 3rd person to 1st person was annoying. It broke the continuity and made it feel like I was starting a new series.

Second, while this started in the earlier books, Wilf completed his transformation from a John Waynish hero-type into a guy who has no problem sleeping with married women. He's not likable anymore. Having his brain "hanging between his legs" was amusing when the character was in his twenties. Now that he's supposed to be in his forties and still can't control himself paints a picture of depravity. In addition, he never seems to get any wiser to the world around him.

Overall, I got the impression that Baldwin was sick of writing these stories and tried to wrap it up quickly and with as much sex as possible. Characters that Brim "loved" at the end of one book were never heard from again in the next and the conclusions to subplots were disappointing at best.

Were it not for the fact that Brim slept with practically every female in the series, I'd at least say that the first half of the series was entertaining enough for teenage space opera, but not much else.

Like many of you, i have despaired being able to continue the tales of Wilf Brim. I have read these 7 books repeatedly, and basically haunted Bill Baldwin's website to get moe news. Recently, it was announced in his website that Timberwolf Press will be releasing the next book, Turning Tide, as well as re-releasing the earlier 7 books again. I cannot wait for it to be available here.

Plenty of action and a couple of new characters you will really, really, REALLY hate. A lot. Wilf, like usual, does his job and does it well - but gets back-stabbed. Read it - you'll see.

This was the first book in the series I read, and hunted up the previous 6. All are well worth the read. One warning - the publisher has no plans to renew the series, even though Bill Baldwin wants to - maybe a little pressure from fans would help!

Update: Bill Baldwin has a new publisher. His books are re-released in expanded versions, and a NEW novel is due by 2007. Wilf will be back!

I've been a Helmsman fan for several years, and I did enjoy this story very much but only because it continued to tell about the character. I found the shift from Baldwin's regular third person to the first person bothersome, and I also found that when he was recalling the past, the writing would slip back into the third person. The story was good, but I think it could have been developed a little bit more.

The book held few suprizes. It certainly wasn't on par with its previous books
However it was a revisit to an old friend.

I waited to start this series until I had the first 7 books. I thought I had something after reading the first one. Not so. Brim was a great character to start with but goes down hill after book 1 I guess Baldwin turns him into what Baldwin secretly wants too be, a Lothario who gets all the beautiful, big breasted women including wives plus the action becomes very predictable and unvaried. Brim flies, fights, takes a lot of damage, kills a lot of bad guys and a lot of his crews.
Very uneven, poor continuity, terrible morals. I will not be buying the new book coming out this year.

This series is one of my favorites so I was more than a little disappointed with this one...seemed almost rushed. There just wasn't as much depth to the writing. The level of detail and explaination for the characters actions was not up to standards set by previous books in this series

Bill Baldwin keeps getting better. I really enjoy this series: I've read every one of the books many times. The books keep growing on me: each time I re-read them I find more details that I missed the previous times through. The publisher is insane not to be encouraging Baldwin to write the next six books in the series. Hopefully enough fan support will cause them to rethink this foolish decision. This series is great Space Opera: far better then the vast majority of the military sci-fi that gets published.
Other readers have complained about the change in writing style: I get so engrossed in the story that I don't even notice.
The change of technologies over the course of the stories has been particularly interesting: as a military history buff and particularly a navy buff I really enjoy this aspect of the books. I like the fact that while the big ships are no longer dominant the smaller units are still much more substantial than mere fighters: there is no carrier dominance in this universe.
I like the way Baldwin set up the character for more adventures: he's dealing with the same problem David Weber is starting to have with Honor Harrington (too much rank!) in a creative way.
I'd really like to see a Role Playing Game supplement for this universe with pictures of the ships and equipment (and maps): I've thought of running my own campaign in this universe since there's such a tremendous amount of detail in these books, but more information can't hurt (hint,hint)!

Although at times Wilf Brim became somewhat maudlin about his romantic relationships. I still enjoyed the book "The Defiance" very much. I do think Bill Baldwin has left fans of the series hanging long enough. I have read the series at least five times. I am very ready for the next chapter.

This book was well written. It used previous details and accomplishments as well as other characters previously introduced well. The plot was a continuation of an on-going conflict and seemed to transition Admiral Brim into a new phase of more responsibility and a posssible end to his overt career as a line commander. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.