The Seafort Saga is a series of science fiction novels written by American author David Feintuch. The novels are set from the late 22nd century to the mid-23rd century and relate the adventures of Nicholas Seafort, an officer in the (fictional) UNNS|United Nations Naval Service. The series is a collection of personal accounts, usually from the perspective of Nicholas Seafort, describing Seafort's adventures, beginning as a lowly midshipman, to the elected leader of earth, and finally to the captain of the UNNS flagship Olympiad. Although most books in the series are told from a single perspective, usually Seafort's, Voices of Hope is a collection of accounts from several sources: Seafort's son, PT, the son of a friend of Seafort's, and a transient boy named Pook. Additionally, Children of Hope is narrated by Randy Carr, the son of a close friend of Seafort's.
Reception
The main character has been described as an anti-hero.
Gwyneth Jones critized the series as "repetitive and formulaic", with "some of the least scientific science fiction, and the least convincing alien monsters (giant spacefaring goldfish), of modern times", noting that nonetheless the series "rolls on, from one dreadful humiliation to the next, with occasional bursts of brilliant action, to the guilty satisfaction of many readers".
Characters
Vax Holser
Alexi Tamarov
Derek Anthony Carr
Edgar Tolliver
Philip Tyre "PT" Seafort
Robert Boland
Randolph "Randy" Carr
Books
Midshipman's Hope
Midshipman's Hope was published in 1994 as the first book in the saga; it depicts the first voyage of UNNS officer Nicholas Seafort.
In May 2015, Clover Red LLC started a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to help fund the development of a screenplay adapting Midshipman's Hope. The campaign ended on June 12, 2015, falling short of the funding goal.
Plot
Nicholas Seafort is a seventeen-year-old midshipman who boards the UNS Hibernia on his first space assignment, a three-year interstellar voyage to the colonies of Hope Nation and Detour. He beats back a challenge to his authority as senior midshipman by Vax Holser, the next most senior. During the trip, he strikes up friendships with Third Lieutenant Harv Malstrom and an attractive passenger, Amanda Frowel.
A disastrous rescue of a passenger injured while sightseeing on the wreck of another ship results in the deaths of Captain Haag and his two senior lieutenants, elevating Malstrom to the captaincy and Seafort to second-in-command of Hibernia. When Maelstrom falls ill with a quick-acting cancer, Seafort, believing himself to be unqualified to command, begs him to promote Holser to lieutenant, but Maelstrom dies without doing so.
The other surviving officers (outside the chain of command) share Seafort's opinion of his leadership abilities and try to get him to relieve himself, but he cannot find any regulations that permit it. They back down when Seafort points out the penalty for mutiny.
Seafort is immediately faced with a difficult decision. Malstrom had condemned three crewmen to death for assaulting the sergeant-at-arms in an attempt to conceal their drug-making operation. Their punishment was extremely unpopular with the rest of the crew. However, despite the danger of a revolt, Seafort has two of the men hanged; the third's sentence is commuted to several months' confinement. His resolute handling of the situation quells the unruly crewmen. This action estranges him from Amanda, who feels the executions to be barbaric.
Other dangers follow. By thoroughness and sheer stubbornness, Seafort discovers that the ship's sentient computer, Darla, has been corrupted by careless naval programmers and would have sent the ship hopelessly off-course on the next leg of their journey. Darla was also responsible for the explosion that killed Captain Haag. To fix the problem, Seafort has a backup restored.
When the ship arrives at its next stop, Miningcamp, a small mining colony in an otherwise uninhabitable system, mutineers from the space station try to take over the ship. Seafort single-handedly holds them off until the crew can regroup and deal with the intruders. Eventually, Seafort ends the rebellion and finds out the cause. An ore barge and the starship Telstar are long overdue, which resulted in the panic that led to the trouble.