Novel: Owner's Share
Author: Nathan Lowell
Rating: 3 of 5
Our hero protagonist comes to own his own space company. That is, his own ship owned by a company that he owns. Well, that he owns most of, anyway. He deals with that with the same approach Ish takes to every other problems.
I would have preferred more money talk; how big are the shares? How do you split shares with only 5 crew? How much is the Owner's cut? Captain's?
I think we're told way back on the Lois that the Owner's share is 20%, and Captain's 10%, such that the 40 crew of the Lois share ~70% of the profits. That makes sense with a large crew, but how does that work with just a Captain, Engineer, and three enlisted?
Rating is down considerably due to the ending. Spoilers below.
-- spoilers ---
ok, Josh Mannon and Tony Lower-Basch.
I was really frustrated by the last ~50 pages or so. One of very few acts of on screen violence occurs, and it kills Ish's newfound love. As soon as he decides he can love someone on his ship, the narrative removes Greta.
I don't see the point; its an expected trope, and doesn't push the plot along. You don't need it; no one needed to die in that attack. I'm not sure the narrative even needs the attack, except to prove that Ish doesn't know what's going on.
Happy to be convinced otherwise.
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You have touched upon precisely the reason why I can't enjoy the book, despite finding much of the early narrative very enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, the lack of insight into the finances was really a chore.
ReplyDelete... Errr, yeah, the narrative enforcing unhappiness on Ish got really old.
Quarter Share: My mother is dead. I'll become a spacer. Woohoo, spacing is awesome!
Half Share: Spacing is more awesome with sex!
Fall Share: I guess I should go to school to be an Officer? Sex!
----- 4 years pass -----
Double Share: Being third mate is kinda shitty when the Captain is an asshole!
--- 10 years pass ---
Captain's Share: Being a Captain is great! I buy and sell cargo, and my crew loves me. Sure, my wife just left me but I guess I don't love her anyway?
Owner's Share: I'll get manipulated into buying a POS, and then luck into it being perfect for high end luxury fast cruises! I've got the perfect crew, an Engineer I adore and love, and --- she's dead! My company is bought out from me! That's OK, I don't want this job anymore anyway. Also, I found my dad but that's not important!
The Amazon reviews suggest there is more to this, explained in the later novels. I'm not sure I want to read it, I'm so annoyed by this ending.
I have no doubt that the author had yet more adventures in store for Ish. It's just that I have seldom seen a narrative arc that actually wrapped up as well as that one clearly did, before Lowell decided that he really didn't want to bother inventing another viewpoint character for his next set of books.
ReplyDeleteYou just ... you get to that point, where Ish has fulfilled every ambition, and you let him rest. For pete's sake, there's nothing wrong with a happy ending, especially when you've built it so darn well! If he'd just let it close there, it would have been the resolution of emotional threads that had been dangling since Half-Share if not from the very beginning. Sheesh.
It all comes down to the box of Welkis and him not being where he was supposed to be, doing things for himself. If Ish is active he succeeds, if he is passive he fails. As much as happened in this book he is entirely passive.
ReplyDeleteJosh Mannon And you can do that without killing the Chief, and without resorting to violence -- which messes with the morality of the series in a big way.
ReplyDeleteHere's one way: Ish can't pay off his loan. The bank looks at how much he's making, and says, "Well, Captain, you've not made nearly as much as we expected. We've not been able to find another buyer, and you'll be in default and unable to pay your bill. I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do.", which forces Ish back to being unemployed not super rich -- for another few weeks, at least.
Or, of course, "Captain, this a tremendous success. We're going to buyout the loan ourselves. Additionally ... how much are you willing to sell your stocks for?", and do the early buy out as shown in the end.
Either leaves the Chief alive, yet forces Ish to take charge of his life.
Or even, "Ish, this has been the final test. Everywhere you've gone, you've fixed the problems in front of you. You brought the crew of the Lois together in a coop, saved a crew from a rapist Captain, turned around the worst ship in the quadrant. We want you to be a fixer. To go around, and fix ships."
ReplyDeleteOr, Greta: "Ish, I need to run away on an adventure. There will be a series of books to explain. Bye!"
Or, even more minimally:
ReplyDeleteSalzmann corporation: Oh hey, interesting business model you have there Captain. Two of your guests on this last leg were our scouts, figuring out how you're making money. We're going to convert five of our fast packets, and steal the market out from under you by doing all the innovations you've applied, but with economy of scale. You won't be able to compete, but we're prepared to buy out your interest at a generous rate... and really, you must have learned by now that the people with the most money will get the fruits of your creativity in the end. Here, have some cash and the loss of your agency.
Ish: What a very generous offer ... but I'm going to have to ask you to prove your claim that we cannot compete. Greta and I are very much not done innovating yet, so try to keep up.
Or, Federated Freight does the same thing, and we've got a loop back to Ish's initial beginnings.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, lots of ways this can do that leave ish having to take control of his life without killing Greta.
Agreed, it was fridging plain and simple which is bad. I'm only ok with it because he warns you of it at the very beginning of the book.
ReplyDelete