Faster Than Light by Jamie Lendino - Book Review

After reading the excellent Breakout by Jamie Lendino, it did not take me long to order the spiritual follow up, Faster Than Light. With a title that references both a successful software developer for the ST and the perceived increase in performance compared to the then existing 8-bit machines, Faster Than Light charts the story of Atari's last great computer range, from both the personal point of view of the author and in the general sense of the 16-bit home computer market of the period.

The presentation in Faster Than Light differs from Breakout in that the author takes a more chronological path through the history of the ST, mixing in serious and leisure software in between the history, rather than having separate sections. It's also refreshing to see an international approach to the story. Indeed, by 1990, the ST was pretty much out of the US market but elsewhere, in particular Germany and the UK, the ST maintained a respectable market share right up until the end of Atari's computing endeavours.

I found this another well-written book by Lendino. The main body is well researched and extremely readable, and I found the later sections on emulators, mods and further resources of be very valuable. These also highlight the more international base of ST users, something that was missing from Breakout as that was quite a US focused tale.

One thing that is constant throughout the telling is the attitude of Atari to the computer business. As noted in several other volumes I have on the subject, Atari had a good history of products but a complete lack of ability in releasing them on time, marketing them or improving them in a timely manner. The same could be said about Commodore, but at least they didn't screw over dealers with the purchase of a network of stores. There again, Atari and Commodore were so locked up in the battle between themselves, they almost completely ignored the slow but steady rise of the x86 PC as the true winner of the home computer battle. Lendino captures a sense of loss and regret very well as an owner of the ST at the time. I recall similar feelings when Commodore shuffled of the mortal coil.

In a repeat of what I found with Breakout, Faster Than Light acts as a superb companion piece to another excellent tome, Zafinn Books' 50 Atari ST Games You Have To Play, which I reviewed here last January. This gives you a history of the ST platform, guides to emulators and a list of 50 games you need to experience on the format - but in full colour and with more screenshots. As with the Breakout/Atari - A Visual History combination, the sum of the pairing is greater than the individual parts. Yes, you can buy one and have an excellent resource on a classic home computer, but buy both and you have a more well-rounded and inclusive view of the ST. Checking Zafinn Book's website, a new edition of this book is due out later in 2022.

You can pick up a copy of Faster Than Light on Amazon here and follow the author on Twitter here. The author has two more books about classic videogaming, Attract Mode which focuses on the rise and fall of coin-ops, and Adventure, which details the story of the Atari 2600. I have no doubt that these will be joining my growing library as the year progresses and that there will be reviews as and when that happens.