Endless Seas, by John Champaign
The Book
Synopsis:
Captain Joseph Baxtor and his crew on the sailing ship Phoenix cross dimensions through underwater portals on behalf of ‘The Pantheon’, a collection of cultures each led by their own created god.
On their maiden voyage, they are sent to establish diplomatic relations with the El-Fax, a recently discovered, friendly culture. Rather than being the routine voyage expected, everything may not be as it first appears.
My Review
Endless Seas: Never Meet Your Idols is a nautical fantasy novel, following the adventures of the Phoenix and its crew, written by John Champaign, who was part of the SPFBO9. More than a continuous story, what we get in this book is a collection of short adventures, in different worlds where the Phoenix is sent by the Pantheon.
The universe of Endless Seas is quite interesting, formed by uncountable worlds, with some of them being controlled by the Pantheon, an empire controlled by gods; the Phoenix is sent with their full crew to unexplored ones or to places where a mysterious thing has happened, to investigate, or even to meet a new culture.
In this context, several adventures/stories happen, quite similar to what happened on Stargate; and Champaign is quite imaginative, creating some really memorable ones (seriously, time manipulation is exceptionally well done in this book).
You might feel a bit overwhelmed at the start, as almost the full crew gets introduced during the first story; but as they don't change between adventures, you get used to them, and even getting attached, because they are quite charismatic. Personally, I ended loving how the healer, apart from being a sailor, is also always thinking about what to get for her daughter.
Sometimes, the book feels like a study of a group of characters put into different situations, observing how they deal with the unknown/unexpected; but the short story structure was great for me, as you could sit in a few minutes, and read a full one.
While not exactly a novel, if you like sailing fantasy with touches of science-fiction, you should give a look at this book. An original and interesting book, and certainly not the last I will read from John Champaign.
