Starrigger

This is one of those books I call a "check your brain adventure". I compare it to Brian Daley's Han Solo Star Wars books, E.E. "Doc" Smith books, Conan stories, Edgar Rice Burroughs, etc. It's fun. But it's not only that. There are some interesting ideas here. The concept of traveling everywhere by truck and not spaceship is interesting and explained very well. There's a big time travel element in the story. The characters are many, varied, and well fleshed out. I first read this when it came out in 1984 and loved it. I re-read it this year, and loved it again. The two sequels expand the concept of the Skyway in a very interesting way.

Starrigger
By John DeChancie

Publisher: Ace Science Fiction Books
Published In: New York City, NY
Date: 1983
Pgs: 264

Summary:
Jake McGraw drives a truck, a truck that plys the Skyway, a portal gateway system that connects worlds. He leads a union of fellow skyriggers in opposition to a rival organization, TATOO. A dangerous rumor is spreading, a rumor that claims that Jake has a map of the entire Skyway system, a map that TATOO, the Communist based Colonial Assembly, the Colonial Militia, aliens galore, and others will kill, maim, and torture for. Jake and his star rig Sam are on the run and picking up hitchhikers and hanger ons along the way.

Genre:
science fiction, space opera

Main Character:
Jake McGraw

Favorite Character:
Sam the rig. show more He’s a computer based on an alien technique said to draw the soul from a deceased body and bring personality and “life” to a machine. Sam was based on...is the essence of Jake’s murdered father.
Winnie runs a close second. The chimpanoid creature from the planet Demeter/Hothouse is a wonderful character.

Least Favorite Character:
Susan, one of the members of the Church of Teleological Pantheism, comes across as a stumbling block. She’s a woe is me character, a why can’t they just leave us alone character. Since those kinds of people exist in real life, I guess it makes sense among so many characters to have one appear in a story, but I just don’t like her.

Favorite Scene:
The chase scene along the Skyway leaving Goliath with Jake and company in the extremely modified ‘57 Chevy.

Plot Holes/Out of Character:
I’m not sure if I missed something or not, but at one point I thought they said that the only portals off of Akwaterra/Splash were underwater and that there was a section of Skyway underwater that didn’t have a portal on it at all. There was also reference to needing to take a trip via starship to another planet in Ryxx space to transit back to Terran Maze. But then, when they reach the far shore they pick up another section of Skyway which would supposedly have another portal along it.

Last Page Sound:
I love this book.

Author Assessment:
This is the second time I’ve read this book. And I still love it. When I first read it, I couldn’t find the other parts of the story. Now that I have a chance to pick them up, I’m glad that I’ll get a chance to see the rest of Jake, Sam, and Winnie’s story. Case by case basis, I’ll be more than happy to take a look at anything that Mr. DeChancie puts out or has put out in the past.

Disposition of Book:
Keep it. Keep it. Keep it.

Why isn't there a screenplay?:
This would make a helluva Syfy series as long as they spent enough money to make it a going proposition. show less

Adventure, humor, super-science ideas: what more could you ask for.