Description:

In the 25nd Century the British Space Empire faces the gathering menace of the evil ant-soldiers of the Ghast Empire hive, hell-bent on galactic domination and the extermination of all humanoid life. Isambard Smith is the square-jawed, courageous and somewhat asinine new commander of the clapped out and battle damaged light freighter John Pym, destined to take on the alien threat because nobody else is available. Together with his bold crew a skull collecting alien lunatic, an android pilot who is actually a fugitive sex toy and a hamster called Gerald he must collect new-age herbalist Rhianna Mitchell from the laid back New Francisco orbiter and bring her back to safety in the Empire. Straightforward enough except the Ghasts want her too. If he is to get back to Blighty alive, Smith must defeat void sharks, a universe-weary android assassin and John Gilead, psychopathic naval officer from the fanatically religious Republic of New Eden before facing his greatest enemy: a ruthless alien warlord with a very large behind... ** ### From Publishers Weekly Frost's debut, a light-hearted interstellar adventure, focuses on a second-rate captain, Isambard Smith. Plucked from a desk job in the bureaucracy of the 25th century British Space Empire, Smith, whose attitudes are straight out of the original British Empire, is sent on a simple mission to escort Rhianna Mitchell from her home on the hippie planet New Francisco to the spaceport Midlight. Naturally the mission isn't as straightforward as Smith is led to believe and he finds himself making mortal enemies of the alien 462 and the evangelical Captain Gilead. Sudden scene changes leave the reader momentarily confused, and offhand references to pop science fiction culture are more clichéd than clever. An ironic sense of British rectitude nicely contrasts with the satire of 1940s space opera, but Frost never quite finds his voice or pacing. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### About the Author Toby Frost has written film reviews for the book *The DVD Stack* and articles for *Solander* magazine.