Did you get a haircut? Something’s different!

Yeah, it’s called designer clothes and a hookup. He’s 17 years old and all the women want him. He learns fast and remembers it all. He has never had a friend yet is very astute about behavior and relationships, and talks like a mature savvy professorial businessman.

This is book 2 in the series and still there is no arc to this story– it’s totally flat. Granted this is the Golden Age, but absolutely no conflict happens. Everybody likes him, he learns all the skills and jobs, nothing breaks, okay Pip got mugged in book 1, but even that wasn’t too bad. All the shipmates get along, they team up and buy and sell and make money. Why are we reading this?

Jeffrey Kafer is type-cast to read space stories, but he still misses the needed emphases on contrasts. Too often he highlights the articles (a, the) and reduces the nouns, making the listening a bit less than perfect.

Save your time. Get a good book–this ain’t it.