Product Description: The Trophy was, is, and always has been, a futuristic, Military-Science-Fiction novel about intra-galactic competition and conflict. Originally published in 1990, it is third in a series of seven novels about the adventures of StarSailor and expert Helmsman Wilf Brim during an epoch of discord and outright war among various star-nations--within a galaxy that could be a far-future version of the one in which we live.
This special, "Director's Cut" Edition is heavily re-written, a la George Lucas' rewrite of the Star Wars Trilogy, to bring it more in line with later novels in the series, as well as the first two "Director's Cut" Editions of The Helmsman and Galactic Convoy. This edition also answers a question from thousands of readers: "What happened to Anna Romanoff," a love-interest character in the novel who, previously, never quite made it to the next in the series
The novel begins just as Brim--once a fast-rising First Lieutenant in the Imperial Fleet--has been thrown out the service during a post-war reduction in force (RIF), along with thousands of other warriors by a Imperial Government that all-too-easily forgets how much it relied on them only a short time previously.
The change devastates Brim; like so many other young men, from humble beginnings, he bases much of his self-worth on his success in his occupation. For a short while, he hangs on piloting worn-out third-rate spaceliners, but when that operation fails, Brim has nowhere to turn. As a last resort, he works passage to on one of the grand liners as a baggage-handler to the City of Atalanta on the planet Hador-Haelic where, eventually, old friends involve him in the great Mitchell Trophy astroplane races, and he ends up piloting for the Imperial Starflight Society.
Anyone familiar with the history of air racing will instantly recognize The Trophy as my personal tribute to one of the grand fascinations of my life: the Schneider Trophy Races that began in 1913 with fragile Bleriot biplane racers on floats and ended in 1931 with Reginald Mitchell's early masterpiece, the Supermarine S.6B, that retired the trophy for all time. In addition, its twelve-cylinder engine was the prototype for the Rolls-Royce Merlin and Griffin engines that years later powered Mitchell's superb Spitfire, the U.S. Mustang, the British Lancaster bomber, and most of the unlimited Gold Cup hydroplane racers of the late 1940s, the 1950s, the 1960s, and the early 1970s.
ON THE "DIRECTOR'S CUT" VERSION: Turned out that Trophy was a pivotal book in the Helmsman Saga, because in the original version, the prototype Starfury was a destroyer-sized starship, but by the time The Defenders came along, it had shrunk to something a fraction of its original size--and made the intervening Mercenaries extra difficult to bring into line with the later books.. It took a lot of rewriting.
"The Trophy" Director's Cut I have been a fan of The Helmsman series by Bill Baldwin for nearly two decades. The series is a fast-paced space adventure. I have always loved the main character, Wilf Brim. His simple modesty despite his great accomplishments against powerful personal and professional odds has caused me to return to the series time and time again. When I heard about the Director's Cut novels in 2004, I was both surprised and excited and overjoyed to learn that the story would finally continue with the Turning Tide.
"The Trophy" is the third director's cut released. It has changed significantly from the original version; however, the changes add much more depth to the story. They also resolve the story of Anna Romanoff who appeared in this book, yet never appeared again afterwards. I enjoyed this new version. It was cleaner and stayed true to the spirit and flare of the story. The only problems I had with the book was the lack of justification of the font. The letters were spaced a bit far apart. I am not sure if this was an error, but it suddenly corrected itself toward the end of the book.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone. If you love military science fiction and a plain old adventure story, then you will love this novel and the series itself.
Voot's Greasy Beard, the Trophy is a thraggling good ride!
Pretty Good Book, But..... Finally Bill Baldwin produced the next book in his "director's cut" series. Too bad he waited so long. His customers got screwed over by timberwolf press that purchased the entire series. Hope the new publisher doesn't do the same thing. Aside from that I enjoyed the book very much.
space-race and humor Like others in this series, this book is an enjoyable read, with what I found was a little more humor than the other books in the series.
Baldwin continues to tell the tale of Wilf Brim, however the book starts out with Wilf out of the Fleet. The reasons for this are given quickly, but this style of having events happen between books reminds me of the original three star wars movies. (Don't worry, I'm not putting the two things on the same level)
The plot line is that during a lull in the War, the different factions focus on the privatly sponsored Mitchell Trophy Race, for the fastest starships in the galaxy. Baldwin uses this time well for a quick step up in technology for the ships later in the series.
(I'm also curious what references the other reviewer is talking about. I'm intereseted, please email me at Vampyre292@aol.com)
The Helmsman goes Racing against the League The Third novel in the Helmsman series has ex- Fleet officer Wilf Brim down on his luck. But as luck would have it, his friends and enemies combine to allow Wilf to become the fastest pilot in the Universe.
Though by this time the reader is starting to see repeat paragraphs of descriptions, the writing is good enough to allow one to escape into an adventurous tale of racing and derring-do. Though the end of the book is entirely too predictable, the descriptions of technical detail and flying prowess are entertaining in their own right.
I hope they reprint this book as it is part and parcel of a fine series. Besides, how many references to material in the Helmsman series have you seen in recent Sci-Fi movies and TV shows (8 by my count). The writers are reading
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