The first entry of Vaughn Heppner’s niche science fiction series opens half a century after the foundation of the Commonwealth of Planets, with the protagonist, Captain Maddox, and his subordinate, Sergeant Riker, discussing an antiaging treatment when a rich man’s son named Caius Nerva wishes to duel the Captain, with Riker interfering and killing Nerva, earning him a life sentence on the prison planet Loki Prime. One main mystery of the story is the identity of Captain Maddox’s mother, with him and Lieutenant Noonan being targets of assassination in Paris.
Maddox and Noonan travel to Glasgow, Scotland to recruit the skilled pilot Keith Maker, with the trio heading to the Loki System to rescue Riker from the detention world. A conflict key to the series is the antagonism of the New Men with the human race, with another recruitment from Loki Prime, Doctor Dana Rich, who is promised a pardon. When escaping the inmate world, the Commonwealth ship Saint Petersburg pursues Maddox’s vessel, the Geronimo, and they ultimately encounter an alien ship which they term the Victory, which holds the key to defeating the New Men.
The Lost Starship settles the fates of its characters with its epilogue, accounting for a satisfying, if somewhat derivative, science fiction yarn that has plenty of good action and character development, although sci-fi enthusiasts are sure to note the similarities with the Star Trek franchise, with the Commonwealth resembling the Federation, and even a key piece of backstory known as the Eugenics Wars. Even so, this reviewer is definitely more than willing to give the book’s eight sequels (as of writing) a read, and would recommend the novel to fans of the literary genre.
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