Review: Three and a half stars for decent British space opera
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2014
I like space opera involving starships and those who man them, from "Doc" Smith to my new favorites, Jack Campbell and Evan Currie.  Christopher Nuttall's "Ark Royal" fits nicely into the genre, even if it isn't quite up to the top level.HMS Ark Royal of the title is an old battleship/carrier with starfighters, heavy armor, missiles and kinetic energy mass drivers for cannons.  It is an old, obsolete starship one step from the knackers yard when Earth colonies come under attack by aliens who easily destroy the less armored modern carriers.The plot is fine, if traditional, and Mr. Nuttall handles the space combat with flair.  He has also put considerable emphasis on the inner lives of his main characters and in this he falls too easily into stereotypes that are serviceable enough but IMHO are not good fits for the genre.  The captain is a drunkard, the first officer is an ambitious aristocrat, the fighter wing commander or CAG has problems with his marriage, and we must plow through their rather banal mental struggles with their personal failings in order to get to the action.Mr. Nuttall is British and thus the aristocratic concerns of one character and the glaring omission of American presence, mentioned only in passing, among the ranks of Earth's defenders.  At the end of the book the author asks if readers want a sequel.  I think I do.