Review: Nothing Special
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
The Nelson Touch, Christopher Nuttall’s sequel to Ark Royal, picks up a few months after the Ark Royal ends. The Ark Royal, the previously outdated space fighter carrier that is suddenly humanity’s last hope, and her crew are preparing to launch a mission into the heart of enemy space. Theodore Smith, the captain of the Ark Royal, has been promoted to admiral and now leads a multinational fleet in a strike deep into enemy territory. The Nelson Touch focuses on all of the characters from Ark Royal, with the addition of Henry. Henry is the prince of England and has enlisted to be a fighter pilot under a false name. Obviously his cover is known to the upper echelons of the Navy and Ted is told before the mission departs. As the story starts Henry plays no role, but his character gains progress as the mission progresses.The Ark Royal’s mission is to occupy an alien world and cause as much damage, as well as finding out as much as possible, before they are chased off by a larger force. For the first time we see ground action between the aliens and humans, as well as a prolonged look at their established colonies. As in the first book in the series the action in The Nelson Touch is not concentrated very well. There isn’t an ultimate crescendo where the stakes become higher and higher, while our attachment to the characters grow. There’s a fair amount of danger, but throughout the series no characters are really injured, so when I was reading the book I never felt worried.The Nelson Touch is basically divided into two parts. The first part takes place before the mission even leaves Earth’s orbit and consists mostly of what seemed to me like bookkeeping with the different character’s relationships. One has marital problems that are explored, another deals with his upbringing in the aristocracy. I understand that these arcs are used to build the characters, but they don’t seem that convincing. For the first thirty percent of the book I really only wanted the story to get a move on and amount to something. Once the mission starts the fleet is thrown into a constant state of danger. The level of danger never really wavers, and to me it felt like the level of tension was always the same. Nuttall could benefit from managing tension a little better. Ramping up the tension to a crescendo, then letting off a little tension to give the reader a break, before building it up again. A flat line doesn’t have the same impact as curves; in terms of plot as in so many other things.Overall the characters are well done, though some are similar they do have their unique aspects. Nuttall set himself up well with characters that are in different parts of the same journey, and thus can relate to one another. Likewise, the story, though not stellar in it’s pacing, isn’t bad. There’s plenty of action and there are consequences to each character's decisions. I will certainly read the conclusion to this series, but I don’t feel any inclinations to read it right away. The Nelson Touch was decent, but nothing special.P.S. I think it would have been appropriate, even expected, in a book about naval battles named after Nelson that his tactics would be used. Sadly they were not.