Review: First Flight by Chris Claremont (Lt. Nichole Shea Trilogy, Book 1)

Synopsis: Drifting farther and farther from any hope of rescue after a band of marauding space pirates leave her defenseless ship a wreck, Lt. Nicole Shea and her desperate crew make contact, humankind's first contact, with alien life forms. (from the online description)

Review: Chris Claremont is best known for nearly single-handedly reviving Marvel's X-Men comic book line. As a fledgling writer, he was given X-Men (because the line was so unpopular no one cared if he screwed up the story). He used his talent as a writer to give the characters a complexity and depth unseen before in most comics. He is credited with creating strong female characters and introducing high-literary themes into the stories. His work turned X-Men from an unpopular comic to one of Marvel's most successful franchises.

So with all this praise, I expected First Flight to be better. I concede this book is his first novel and all first novels have inherent flaws. And to be honest, I can't rightly pinpoint what about this book I didn't like. It felt boring, which is odd because there was plenty of action and romance and science and adventure and cliff-hangers - and yet, I had to make myself finish the story. It just didn't grab me as I though it should or would. Disappointing. Perhaps because I never connect with the main character? And again, I should have. She is a written as a strong, complex, realistic female. The other characters are equally as well-rounded, although slightly more stereotyped. The science-fiction aspects seem realistic, and all the ending is a bit showy, again, it’s a good story.

In the end, I would recommend this to anyone looking for a solid science-fiction read. Even though I didn’t enjoy it, since I can’t honestly say why, it would be wrong to dissuade others from reading it and forming their own opinion. And if I come across the next two in the series, I'll probably buy and read them. 

Prude Note: There are several sex scenes - a few that are mildly graphic. Both can be skipped without detracting from the story, although they are important to the relationship of the two characters involved. 

Bookmarks: 6 of 10

Awards: None

ISBN: 0-441-23584-0
Year Published: 1987
Date Finished: 6-27-2016
Pages: 243