Wojciech Tuchalski in Valhalla's Last Flight focused primarily on politics, talks and intrigues. Can a science fiction story without space clashes be good?
Mutiny on Calypso
Valhalla’s last flight begins a description of William Rhodes’ expedition to Calypso. It was on this planet that a rebellion took place, as a result of which the entire crew stationed there was killed. Then the self-proclaimed leader of the rebellion announced the separation of the colony from the Union of Independent Planets. After that, we go back in time to find out why William made this journey. And as it turns out – this is not a story about a single admiral, or even a rebellion. It is primarily politics. We look at it from different perspectives, be it the Governor or Max’s subordinate of his greatest rival. So it’s important to note right away that there won’t be any description of space battles here, it’s all actually happening in the background. Character conversations are the most important. This is another story about how power corrupts. However, it is well written and the fate of the heroes can draw you.
The Ragnarokos are fired
In addition to the most important heroes, i.e. Max and the Governor, there are also supporters of the latter – Grammes, who is Max’s superior, and the entire Rhodes family, including William’s mother. Unfortunately, the main characters do not stand out too much. In addition, we also know that there is one alien race that has not been properly exposed. We receive information about their combat potential, about the war with them, negative opinions about them are also included, but unfortunately the author did not even describe what they look like.
Odysseus, the Reaper, Ares
The release is satisfactory. The cover did not convince me, but I also saw much worse designs. Unfortunately, I came across a few typos, but luckily it wasn’t that many. I also don’t understand the need to repeat the initial few pages. It began with William’s departure, after describing the events before that event, the beginning was repeated again. For what? Wasn’t it easier to even shorten this relationship by half? Especially since the distance between these descriptions is only a few dozen pages. Moreover, I have doubts about the second repeated situation, it was quite justified, but in my opinion it should be different from the previous one. I won’t elaborate on it further because I don’t want to spoil it.
Is it worth boarding Valhalla?
I do not regret the time spent with this novel. This is an example of a good history in sf climates. This time, for a change, armed conflicts will be a secondary issue, and the most important will be the rivalry between the Brotherhood (the armed arm of the Union of Independent Planets) and the Senate. The book has great moments, such as the Calypso rebellion, but on the other hand, I have to admit that my interest decreased a bit over time. About halfway through the novel, I was more and more interested in the fate of the heroes with each page, but after Max landed on Primorius, the plot lost a little of its quality. The ending was disappointing. This theme had come up before, and I was expecting something more pessimistic. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading The Last Flight of ValhallaWojciech Tuchalski. I liked the main plot, the character of the Warden, or the way the Calypso case was resolved. This is an example of good science fiction literature, which, however, is missing something, but I think it deserves attention and a seven for the overall result.
