PG's Books

I have to excuse myself before starting this review. My reviews are normally fairly short and I have never pretended to be a professional reviewer but I finished this book shortly before attending the funeral of a close family member back in Sweden and now it has taken me a few days before I got around to write anything so my memory might not be the best nor my attention during my reading the last few days.

Anyway, I found this installment of the Kris Longknife series fairly enjoyable. Enough to place it slightly above average. To me this series have been a bit of a bumpy ride and the first one that got an above average rating was the previous installment in the series. I think the main reason I gave this one the rating I gave it is because it is really a nice space adventure as opposed to many of the previous books that took place down on planets and focused on petty politics between the main power blocks.

This one follows fairly straight on from the previous book. Kris won the first major engagement against the space raiders but more is to come and Kris has to build up their defenses…again. As the book blurb states, a mutiny complicates things for Kris and although the mutineers are promptly disposed of, their actions do indeed have some consequences.

Kris is still the Longknife we have come to know during what now amounts to 12 books and I at least like the character. She is now an admiral but that does not mean that she is not going out on various adventures in person although a number of her entourage does their best to dissuade her from taking risks.

There are quite a few revelations concerning the space raiders in this book and although I have to give credit to the author for cooking together a depiction of aliens that was somewhat new and original, at least for me, I felt it was a bit over the top at times. The fanaticism of these guys makes the Taliban or Al Qaida look like quite moderate and reasonable political factions!

The space raiders and the aliens on Alwa are not the only aliens though. The book manages to throw in a first contact situation into the story as well. First contact for the aliens of course. I quite liked this alien race. I hope there will be more involvement from them in future books.

On the whole it was an enjoyable read though. Obviously the main story arc is far from finished so I certainly hope that the author plans to write more books in the series.