Midshipman's Hope was named an ALA Notable book for Young Adults. I haven't been a "young" anything in a few years, but I must have an immature mind because I just finished a rereading and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. This is a space opera adventure with no pretenses of being much more than prime entertainment.
The year is 2194. After worldwide communication has led to a breakdown of national order and a war has been fought, the United Nations is firmly in control of Earth, hand-in-hand with the Reunification Church. Interstellar travel is possible on ship-generated N waves, but a journey to the colonial planet Hope Nation takes 17 months one way. Because most people choose not to be educated, the rankings in the UN Navy come from the urban wastelands and discipline must be swift and harsh. Starships operate like the 19th century British navy.
Into this mix comes Nicholas Ewing Seafort, midshipman on his first interstellar flight, and senior middy in charge of the wardroom (to the chagrin of the older, more competent former senior, Vax Holser). About halfway through the trip out, a couple of tragedies leave Seafort as ranking officer, and therefore, ship's captain. Nick, the product of a cold, demanding father, is determined to be captain by the book. My only quibble is that Nick can't get outside his perfectionist self-flagellation, and the reader is subjected to his internal monologues fairly relentlessly. The science is a rather haphazard mix of 20th century and 22nd, but the adventure is the point and the adventure will keep the average adolescent and me flipping pages. ( )

Very good read and refreshingly different. ( )

It did start a little slow, but it's All About Command, which is very cool. This one was so good, though, that I'm hesitant to get the sequel. The hero's already had all the emotional pain & growth of learning to deal with command--I'm afraid the sequel will just be About fighting aliens. Of course, I was worried about the same thing with Carol Berg's first trilogy, and that one didn't let me down, so maybe I'll put the sequel on my list after all. ( )