Voidhawk by Jason Halstead

Description:  Too young and naïve to care about the tensions between nations, Dexter Silverhawk considered himself the luckiest man alive when he found a derelict voidship hidden amongst a forbidden field of asteroids. Lady luck proves a fickle maiden when he goes from luckiest man alive to dishonorably discharged.

Escaping prison is only the first step in making his own luck. Finding a crew of castoffs and bringing them together to face the dangers and opportunities of the void between worlds tests Dexter beyond anything he's ever imagined.

Review 3 of 5 Stars

If you were watching a kind of cheesy, low to mid-budget mix of Lord of the Rings, Firefly and Pirates of the Caribbean on a Sunday afternoon this might be what fell out of the blender.  It could also use some substantial copy editing for grammar, etc.  The explanation for wooden spaceships that were like pirate ships never did settle with me as well as some other less than plausible things that went on throughout the book.  However, it was basically a fun read and it was free. I picked it up because of some Firefly references in the comments of others because I loved Firefly and was curious.  Firefly it was not, but it was swashbuckling in space alongside wizards, elves and the like.  The lead character Dexter probably makes as many bad decisions as he can along the way and he's kind of bashful at times for a pirate/trader who makes his female friends in the gutter.  Although considering where he finds them they are a pretty good bunch, just a little bit bad.  We aren't talking world-class literature here, but for what it was it had its moments and I chuckled on several occasions.  Fortunately for Dexter and despite his decisions getting him into trouble more often than not his crew members, picked up in various lowly places along the way, seem to demonstrate new and interesting skills just in the nick of time.  This isn't the best book I have ever read, but it also wasn't the worst by far.  I doubt that I'll be delving into more of Dexter's adventures, but it wasn't so bad I couldn't finish it and it had some fun moments.  Some of the dialogue is witty.  Fantasy/Science Fiction literally with more emphasis on the fantasy than the science for sure in a strange sitcom kind of way.