I read this as part of the SPSFC Finals! This review reflects my thoughts and not my team as a whole.
Synopsis:
Captain Wu’s the name. Smuggling’s her game.
To be fair, they only started shooting after she started insulting them.
She was just about to hand off the package—Wu didn’t know what was inside, and she didn’t want to—when three tentacle-faced strangers attacked.
Wu loves a good fight and lives for a good heist. The Captain and her crew make their living taking undercover assignments from questionable clients… and it pays. Or at least, it used to.
But this time the merchandise is a little too hot to handle. So when the squid-shaped xenos show up and destroy the guys who are there to receive it, Wu is barely able to make it back to her ship alive. Soon the Nameless is racing around the galaxy with not only the powerful Commonwealth on its tail, but another dangerous creature bent on revenge.
And then an unexpected visitor arrives, putting Wu and her crew in the position of taking care of some very precious cargo. Is it time for the Captain to give up criming and retire to a sedate life more suitable for a woman of her age?
Not a chance.
Review:
Ooooookay this was fun. I absolutely flew through Captain Wu at quite the pace and it kept me hooked the whole time. Space pirates, found family, a mysterious package are all mixed into this space opera and it created a great story!
I really enjoyed that the MC (Captain Wu herself) was an accomplished smuggler who had been around for quite a while, but still could keep up with the younger generation. Her granddaughter is introduced early on in the story and I loved seeing the dynamic between them. Wu’s grandmotherly instincts warring with her smuggler’s brain, making a great side plot that just made me love Wu all the more.
The story itself is great. Wu and her crew end up with a mysterious package and they have noone to deliver it to. So, they do the logical thing and open it up. Most of the book is the crew trying to outrun Xenos that are chasing them which takes the reader on a tour of the galaxy, introducing new xenos, new planets and new forms of transport along the way. This is clearly a well thought out universe and I would love to see even more of it. I’d also love to learn more about the Commonwealth in the future books.
The highlight of the book for me is Wu and her relationships with her crew and granddaughter. It feels like characters are really at the heart of the story and some of my favourite moments involved them trying to teach Wu’s granddaughter to fly their spaceship. This isn’t a book that is bogged down by politics or a complicated plot. Instead it’s a fast-paced trip across the universe with a crew you’ll come to love.
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