Non-Stop

This was the first novel published by Brian Aldiss, titled Non-Stop in his native Britain. The US title, Starship, rather gives away the surprise of the first section of the book, and the many reviews available give away most of the rest. Fortunately I encountered neither sources before reading, and rather enjoyed this story.

The main character is a rough-and-ready sort who adapts quite well to the situations he encounters. Halfway through he meets an excellent female character, well written and strong, and they team up for the remainder of the book. All is not rosy, however - half of what is introduced is not resolved, and the ending is extremely abrupt (and also unresolved).

Having already mentioned the starship, I would be remiss if I didn't point out this was one of two major sources for the role playing game Metamorphosis Alpha, one of my all-time favorites. 3½ stars for the writing.