Good old fashion Space Opera by one of it's early practitioners. Chandler never wrote for hard SF fans. He wrote good juvenile fiction to stir the hearts of young adventurers. I think he did it well. Sure, it's dated but it was written for the 1960's mostly male audience. The adventures are fun. ( )

At this point I've read a lot of older sci-fi, although I'm still relatively new to the pulpy stuff. This is by far the most dated sci-fi novel I've ever read. I know the author was a sailor and was going for that vibe, but I'm pretty sure smoking pipes on a spaceship would have come off as old fashioned even back when this was written in the 60's.

Anyway, I have mixed feelings about this book. The "romance" was as terrible as you'd expect, and it drove the plot in a way that really didn't work for me. There was also a strange lack of accountability for the three main characters. They make decisions that should have some seriously long-lasting consequences or implications, and they just don't.

I did like the "seafaring" aspect of this. And there was a decent amount of worldbuilding for such a short book. And I was entertained when reading, which is the most important thing. ( )

Ensign Grimes on his way to first ship, travelling on a merchant ship, gets sidetracked into a dubious action and wins the day and ends up on probation on a Survey Ship. A good starting story that has me reaching for the next book. ( )

It took me some time to find a copy of A. Bertram Chandler’s “The Road to the Rim” and “The Hard Way Up” his first books in the space-faring John Grimes series. Although filled with fifties/sixties idiosyncrasies, after a launch the crews immediately light up to celebrate, the stories were rather enjoyable. On the other hand, Mr. Chandler’s novels and antagonist lack the depth and subtle nuances of his seafaring brethren such as Hornblower or Kydd. What I found most enjoyable was Mr. Chandler’s use of telepathy for faster than light communication, Mr. Chandler’s descriptions of telepaths were definitely pleasurable. If you enjoy mid-century science fiction then you will appreciate each of these novelettes. ( )

ZB5