Space Vulture
Space Vulture, a sci-fi novel written by childhood friends Gary K. Wolf and Archbishop John J. Myers, is an exercise in nostalgia. Wolf and Myers tried to capture the spirit of the sci-fi novels they shared when they were kids. There is space travel, extravagant weaponry, bold heroes and evil masterminds. The technology is impossible and unexplained, the heroine is beautiful, and the aliens are gross. In other words, it is everything one expects from 1950s-style pulp fiction.
Victor Corsaire is an intergalactic space marshal, famous throughout the universe not only for his success at nabbing criminals, but also for his incorruptible character. He is never the first to draw his weapon, and he never harms someone who has been rendered defenseless.
The Space Vulture is a genetically enhanced evil genius who has made a fortune in illegal slave trading. He sets his sights on Corsaire, who has landed on an outlying settlement to capture a thief, and Space Vulture kidnaps Corsaire and the entire pioneer settlement to sell on the black market. Added to the mix is the beautiful widowed leader of the community, and her two resourceful sons, whom she hides from Space Vulture’s clutches.
The prose is unremarkable, and if you read for the love of words, you should probably give this book a miss. There is plenty of action for those who read for plot, but the action includes a beautiful woman in the power of a bad man, and the authors spin out the worn-out will-she-or-won’t-she-be-raped subplot for multiple chapters. The woman in question is consistently portrayed as competent and courageous - a rare enough feature in sci-fi - which is the only reason I did not throw the book down in disgust at that particular plot point.
Myers’ influence can be found in the book’s moralistic tone. While nothing in the novel is overtly proselytizing, Corsaire’s virtue is too perfect. The book sometimes reads as though it were written by a committee of Thomist moral theologians. The action is dictated by the external morality of the authors rather than growing naturally from a well-crafted character. It can get a little annoying, especially given that that morality does not apparently include a reluctance to engage readers’ interest by titillating them with a potentially imminent rape for several chapters.
All in all, it is mostly harmless fluff that may be good for a nostalgic reading experience or a little mindless beach reading, but is not likely to convert any new readers to a love of sci-fi.
