MATURE SPACE ADVENTURE
Starhawk
Academy Series
By Jack McDevitt
Science Fiction
New College
Kickin' Female Lead
Starhawk is set in a not-too-distant future Earth where faster-than-light (FTL) space travel has just begun, changing the way earth finds solutions the ever increasing global resource deficit. It is in this era that our heroine Priscilla 'Hutch' Hutchins starts her piloting career. Determined to make a life in space for herself, Hutch takes on any jobs she can find, only to end up working for a terraforming corporation that has very questionable ethics on sustaining life on viable planets.
During a series of incidents involving threats and sabotage, Hutch has to find a way to fulfil her contract and keep everyone safe from the political upheaval that they find themselves in.
I've read the whole series and I do find this prequel lacks what the others in the series excel at. The adventure, daring rescues and heroics all make for an excellent series but I think if you were to start reading, Starhawk would be a let down, so head over to Jack McDevitt's 'The Engines of God' book and start there.
The Academy Series is a great space adventure that follows the career and adventures of a young female pilot who often ends up in the wrong place (or right place depending on perspective) at the wrong (or right) time. She is as courageous as she is professional and her adventures all draw on previous experiences to get her through. She is quick to learn, slow to anger and always determined to help save lives where ever she goes.
The world of the series is so well constructed and believable and the characters all feel very real. I really enjoyed reading each of Hutch's adventures, following her life's career from pilot to company manager and eventually to explorer of the most intriguing question man kind will ever face – what is the Omega Cloud? You will have to read the whole series to find out.
I gave 4 stars to Starhawk, but 5 to the whole series as I really enjoyed reading them all.
