Midshipman's Hope

From midshipman to Captain, Nick Seafort begins his space career as a realistic leader, full of self doubt, following basically good instincts and doing the best he can under trying circumstances. The difference is Nick makes the tough transition on his first voyage! A rousing adventure, Feintuch creates drama from the human conflict as we watch Nick frown from a boy into a man.

I've read David's Seafort Saga novels -- the seven published novels -- at least three times over the years. I communicated via email (write man!) with David in the early 2000s, before his untimely death in 2006. Unfortunately, shortly after David announced the eighth (and final?) book in the series -- Gallahad's Hope -- he passed away. The series is fantastic, character-driven space opera which begins with this novel, Midshipman's Hope. The first four books in the series are a single arc; each subsequent book progresses Nick Seafort's story but it was in the seventh book -- Children of Hope -- that the story was set up for a final confrontation in Galahad's Hope. Is it worth reading the series, knowing that it doesn't have a definitive ending? Most certainly. If you're bothered by such things, just read the first four novels (again, beginning with this one, Midshipman's Hope). But you'll want to go further. It's a character-rich universe, very enjoyable, very visual, and very much worth your time.