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It’s been a while since I’ve written a review of a podiobook, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been reading… One series of books that have been in my “to read“-que for – well, since I started reading podiobooks really, is the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper-series by Nathan Lowell. The series consists of the books Quarter Share, Half Share, Full Share, Double Share and Captain’s Share. I wanted to read some classical-ish Science Fiction lately, and decided to dip my proverbial toes into this highly praised series of books. I read through the first book, Quarter Share faster than you can say “Planet Ahoy!“, and got stuck in the world like flies on dung.

Quarter Share follows Ishmael Horatio Wang, a land-crab who after losing his mother in a traffic accident takes a job at the freighter space ship SC (Solar Clipper?) Lois McKendrick. In most SciFi-stories he would be a hero, saving the lives of the crew, probably at least one pretty lady in particular, from the fierce attack by gruesome aliens who want to probe, tickle and spit like there’s no tomorrow.

Not so in Quarter Share. Ishmael (Ish) gets a job as a messman apprentice, which means his job is basically brewing coffee and doing dishes. No killing tickling aliens, not even irritating probing monsters… The book tells the story of how this land-crab coffee-maker gets to know his shipmates and the ship they’re on, how to cope with the fact that there are no ogres to spit on, what to do in space-ports and how to pass the weeks in between ports of call. So what does he do? Flea markets and studies. How exciting is that?!

I’m not doing a very good job selling this book, am I, mr Lowell? The fact is, this is an excellent story. Because it follows a regular Joe, without superpowers, it’s a lot easier to identify with the characters – they feel a lot more real than in most SciFi stories, which meant at least I felt more involved with it. It probably wouldn’t have needed much of a rewrite to have been taken place during the age of sails in the 18th century. Having said that, there’s a lot of science between the lines, and not just thrown together to suit the story, everything feels right – like it actually could work. You get to know a lot of this science as Ish studies to climb in rank aboard the ship.

I will definitely carry on reading of the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper, and as the first book in the series has been picked up by a publisher for printing, I will be buying a copy of it, especially as I think they made it such a killer cover.