Shorter review: Vanilla sf, i.e. story matches cover image.
Longer review: Halcyon
Drift (1972) is the story of Grainger, a man stranded on a distant planet after
his spacecraft has crashed and his partner died. Eventually rescued, he’s not without debt:
firstly in money to the group that rescued him, and secondly to the mind
parasite that took up residence in his brain while he was stranded. Back among civilized systems, he must find a
way to repay the people he owes. A
chance encounter, however, changes his fortunes: a pilot is needed to fly a
very new, highly experimental spaceship.
And where to? None other than the
Halycon Drift, an uncharted nebuli where a treasure awaits to be recovered.
While Stableford’s on-point prose makes this story readable,
overall it has serious trouble distinguishing itself from the myriad of other
space operas. If you are a fan of such
works, then for sure Halcyon Drift
will scratch your itch. Otherwise,
nothing special here.
I reviewed this novel yesterday. You are on point -- a functional (mostly readable) space opera -- but very very very vanilla.... despite Stableford's rather half-hearted attempt to make Grainger something of an antihero.
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