Space Captain Smith

May 4, 2009
Frost's debut, a light-hearted interstellar adventure, focuses on a second-rate captain, Isambard Smith. Plucked from a desk job in the bureaucracy of the 25th century British Space Empire, Smith, whose attitudes are straight out of the original British Empire, is sent on a simple mission to escort Rhianna Mitchell from her home on the hippie planet New Francisco to the spaceport Midlight. Naturally the mission isn't as straightforward as Smith is led to believe and he finds himself making mortal enemies of the alien 462 and the evangelical Captain Gilead. Sudden scene changes leave the reader momentarily confused, and offhand references to pop science fiction culture are more clichéd than clever. An ironic sense of British rectitude nicely contrasts with the satire of 1940s space opera, but Frost never quite finds his voice or pacing.

August 15, 2009
In the 25th century, war rages between the British Space Empire and the insectoid aliens of the Ghast Empire. In the first volume of a new sf comic adventure series, square-jawed Captain Isambard Smith is sent on a special mission to retrieve New Age herbalist Rhianna from her home on the New Francisco orbiter. He sets off in his slightly damaged light freighter, equipped with an equally unsettling crew, including best friend Suruk, a ferocious skull-collecting member of the blood-thirsty M'Lak aliens. Pursued by void sharks, android assassins, and an alien warlord with a personal vendetta, Smith collides with the universe in a raucously funny series of encounters that end in a smashing conclusion.

In the second volume, Smith goes to the planet Urn in the Didcot System to ensure that the empire's supply of tea continues to flow freely despite the sudden fall of the planet's government to the fanatic rabble-rousing Grand Hydrax. Joining him are a group of tea-obsessed nomads, a five-member elite commando unit, and other odd characters. Frost has created a likable bumbler in the person of Smith, a man with more character than intelligence and a heart much greater than his brain. VERDICT Fans of comic sf in the tradition of Douglas Adams should appreciate this very British, very funny addition to the genre.

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