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sophia_sol) wrote2016-10-19 09:05 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2016-10-19 09:05 pm
Confederation 3&4 - The Heart of Valor, Valor's Trial (Tanya Huff)
The Heart of Valor, by Tanya Huff
Another enjoyable entry in the Confederation series!
I was pleased that the alien spaceship from last time around turned out to continue to be relevant in our characters' lives - and that the spaceship is itself the alien entity, not just built by aliens! So great. I am here for sentient alien spaceships. I'm very curious just what this entity is UP TO though, with its various testing behaviour towards the Confederation military. What was it that it said in this book - that it's still analyzing data?
I was amused to see that once again this is a book where Torin's superior-ranking officers are problems she has to solve instead of supports for her. Of course!
The various recruits were pretty great. I enjoyed seeing their baby-marine reactions to things (and to Torin). The really earnest overachieving one who's in love with Torin is my favourite.
I was sad that the doctor turned out to be one of the casualties - I liked her! I was surprised it wasn't because she figured out a way to get the noncombatant chip off of her and onto someone who could make good use of it. But she DID die protecting everyone, so that still fit. And I'm so mad at the alien that that's why the noncombatant chip was hinted at so clearly early on that it was going to be an important plot point - the alien entity essentially KILLED HER :( I hope it had a good reason.
I'm kind of annoyed that the one-off love interest for Torin from last book seems to be sticking around as the permanent love interest. I'm not actually at all interested in him.
The plot itself was pretty standard, nothing to write home against: hostile environment, difficult and unexpected situations, must survive against the odds. But enjoyable.
Also: the series started like relatively standard mil-sf, but in this book we start to get hints that the situation of the war is more complicated than previously suspected. And I believe that next book we'll get to find out the TRUTH. My personal paranoid conspiracy theory is that the Elder Races are massively lying and there is no Other, they've just put on a war for fun between various species they've recruited to "opposite" side, playing silly buggers with the whole lot of them.
(I don't think this is actually what's going to happen; probably we'll just learn that the Other isn't as other as previously expected and peace will for once be at least a possibility beckoning on the horizon. And probably the Elder Races are still being dicks in some way, just not quite to the extent of my paranoid conspiracy theory.)
Valor's Trial
Fourth in the Confederation series. And these books just keep getting better!
I am SO DELIGHTED that we finally got the chance to meet some people from the Other - or from the Primacy, as they call themselves. And work together with Torin and her team! Aww yeah. I wish more of the book had been spent on this!
I am also fascinated by how the alien from the spaceship is turning out to be the major through-plot of the series, when I was expecting it to be a one-off adventure since it hadn't even been mentioned in the first book. It makes for such a great antagonist!
RELATEDLY: my paranoid conspiracy theory might not have been 100% correct but it also wasn't exactly wrong! The spaceship alien engineered this entire war for its own nefarious purposes, playing silly buggers with everyone on both sides! LOVE IT. (well it's awful, this alien has zero concern for the lives of "lesser" beings, but it makes for a great and fascinating antagonist!)
I dearly hope that next book we find out what all this alien wants its data for.
I also hope we get to see more of the Primacy aliens! I really enjoyed the interactions with them that our group had. I'm particularly intrigued by the obviously pretty intense relationship between the two species that act as rider/mount for each other. And also how the officer among the Primacy group managed to totally win Torin's respect and obedience and is possibly the best commanding officer Torin's had so far in this series. Amazing!
The books in this series do a better job as they go on of making background characters be actual characters instead of set pieces. Both in this book and the last one I had actual opinions and feelings about the various secondary characters.
I still do not give a single damn about Craig though, oh my god. He is the most boring love interest. At least in this book every single one of his scenes also involved Presit, and I LOVE Presit. She's the conceited obnoxious stubborn go-getting journalist of my heart! (I would probably dislike her if I ever met her in person. But she's so GREAT.)
Another enjoyable entry in the Confederation series!
I was pleased that the alien spaceship from last time around turned out to continue to be relevant in our characters' lives - and that the spaceship is itself the alien entity, not just built by aliens! So great. I am here for sentient alien spaceships. I'm very curious just what this entity is UP TO though, with its various testing behaviour towards the Confederation military. What was it that it said in this book - that it's still analyzing data?
I was amused to see that once again this is a book where Torin's superior-ranking officers are problems she has to solve instead of supports for her. Of course!
The various recruits were pretty great. I enjoyed seeing their baby-marine reactions to things (and to Torin). The really earnest overachieving one who's in love with Torin is my favourite.
I was sad that the doctor turned out to be one of the casualties - I liked her! I was surprised it wasn't because she figured out a way to get the noncombatant chip off of her and onto someone who could make good use of it. But she DID die protecting everyone, so that still fit. And I'm so mad at the alien that that's why the noncombatant chip was hinted at so clearly early on that it was going to be an important plot point - the alien entity essentially KILLED HER :( I hope it had a good reason.
I'm kind of annoyed that the one-off love interest for Torin from last book seems to be sticking around as the permanent love interest. I'm not actually at all interested in him.
The plot itself was pretty standard, nothing to write home against: hostile environment, difficult and unexpected situations, must survive against the odds. But enjoyable.
Also: the series started like relatively standard mil-sf, but in this book we start to get hints that the situation of the war is more complicated than previously suspected. And I believe that next book we'll get to find out the TRUTH. My personal paranoid conspiracy theory is that the Elder Races are massively lying and there is no Other, they've just put on a war for fun between various species they've recruited to "opposite" side, playing silly buggers with the whole lot of them.
(I don't think this is actually what's going to happen; probably we'll just learn that the Other isn't as other as previously expected and peace will for once be at least a possibility beckoning on the horizon. And probably the Elder Races are still being dicks in some way, just not quite to the extent of my paranoid conspiracy theory.)
Valor's Trial
Fourth in the Confederation series. And these books just keep getting better!
I am SO DELIGHTED that we finally got the chance to meet some people from the Other - or from the Primacy, as they call themselves. And work together with Torin and her team! Aww yeah. I wish more of the book had been spent on this!
I am also fascinated by how the alien from the spaceship is turning out to be the major through-plot of the series, when I was expecting it to be a one-off adventure since it hadn't even been mentioned in the first book. It makes for such a great antagonist!
RELATEDLY: my paranoid conspiracy theory might not have been 100% correct but it also wasn't exactly wrong! The spaceship alien engineered this entire war for its own nefarious purposes, playing silly buggers with everyone on both sides! LOVE IT. (well it's awful, this alien has zero concern for the lives of "lesser" beings, but it makes for a great and fascinating antagonist!)
I dearly hope that next book we find out what all this alien wants its data for.
I also hope we get to see more of the Primacy aliens! I really enjoyed the interactions with them that our group had. I'm particularly intrigued by the obviously pretty intense relationship between the two species that act as rider/mount for each other. And also how the officer among the Primacy group managed to totally win Torin's respect and obedience and is possibly the best commanding officer Torin's had so far in this series. Amazing!
The books in this series do a better job as they go on of making background characters be actual characters instead of set pieces. Both in this book and the last one I had actual opinions and feelings about the various secondary characters.
I still do not give a single damn about Craig though, oh my god. He is the most boring love interest. At least in this book every single one of his scenes also involved Presit, and I LOVE Presit. She's the conceited obnoxious stubborn go-getting journalist of my heart! (I would probably dislike her if I ever met her in person. But she's so GREAT.)