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paradoxically's review against another edition
4.0
Every once in a while I wander back in the direction of military science fiction (usually with a female MC because I'm predictable like that), and imagine my delight when I realized that Elizabeth Moon continued on Kylara's adventures in a brand new series. While I feel like any newcomer can pick up the book and be okay with reading it, I do think it's better if they read the prior series first (if only because then maybe someone would understand my endless crying over how much I love Rafe and Ky together [get together already please], but I digress).
In this book you have Ky going back to her homeworld for some nonsense, even though she doesn't want to, and suddenly finding herself in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of soldiers she doesn't know (and the one person she does know, her aide, is a royal pain in the ass). Somebody tried to kill her. The environment is definitely killing her. And who knows who she can trust in the end? On the other side of the spectrum you get the people on the flipside--mainly her great aunt Grace who is head of the planet's defense (though with all the sabotage, what's even the point), Stella (her cousin and head of the Vatta conglomerate), Rafe (sorta boyfriend), and MacRobert (military... spy... Grace's lover).
While I really enjoyed the book, it didn't quite tip over into loving it. Almost odd, really, considering how much I appreciate survival in books, and taking charge of a situation and turning it around, but it left me--PUN AHOY--a bit cold, Ky's interactions with the people she was with. She never really developed the type of camaraderie with them that I really wanted, and her aide drove me up a wall. While I did appreciate the little side views into what the rest of the cast was doing, I did want to read more about Ky herself than anyone else (except maybe Rafe, but again, my love for him in the previous series was big). I still don't like Stella all that much. I appreciate the character she grew into, but she seemed largely superfluous in this book.
The ending was also a bit more of a whimper than a bang. I felt like there was this somewhat large set up and then...that was it. There was bits of excitement here and there, but it felt over really quickly, and with little that Ky did other than just keep forging ahead. While it did set up well for the next book (mysterious conspirators that never get unveiled), I wanted a bit more excitement here. Somewhat unfortunately it seems like it's gearing up towards more a political plot than anything else. A bit of a slow start, but it was a solid book. 4 stars.
In this book you have Ky going back to her homeworld for some nonsense, even though she doesn't want to, and suddenly finding herself in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of soldiers she doesn't know (and the one person she does know, her aide, is a royal pain in the ass). Somebody tried to kill her. The environment is definitely killing her. And who knows who she can trust in the end? On the other side of the spectrum you get the people on the flipside--mainly her great aunt Grace who is head of the planet's defense (though with all the sabotage, what's even the point), Stella (her cousin and head of the Vatta conglomerate), Rafe (sorta boyfriend), and MacRobert (military... spy... Grace's lover).
While I really enjoyed the book, it didn't quite tip over into loving it. Almost odd, really, considering how much I appreciate survival in books, and taking charge of a situation and turning it around, but it left me--PUN AHOY--a bit cold, Ky's interactions with the people she was with. She never really developed the type of camaraderie with them that I really wanted, and her aide drove me up a wall. While I did appreciate the little side views into what the rest of the cast was doing, I did want to read more about Ky herself than anyone else (except maybe Rafe, but again, my love for him in the previous series was big). I still don't like Stella all that much. I appreciate the character she grew into, but she seemed largely superfluous in this book.
The ending was also a bit more of a whimper than a bang. I felt like there was this somewhat large set up and then...that was it. There was bits of excitement here and there, but it felt over really quickly, and with little that Ky did other than just keep forging ahead. While it did set up well for the next book (mysterious conspirators that never get unveiled), I wanted a bit more excitement here. Somewhat unfortunately it seems like it's gearing up towards more a political plot than anything else. A bit of a slow start, but it was a solid book. 4 stars.
lissajean7's review against another edition
5.0
I love Ky's story. When I saw we were getting a new Vatta series, I was ecstatic. And while it wasn't what I expected, it was an interesting surprise. Instead of space difficulties, Ky survives a shuttle crash and needs to continue to exert her impressive leadership skills to keep herself and all the other survivors alive as well. A worthy addition to a great series.
georgina_bawden's review against another edition
3.0
This was an enjoyable, fast-paced read. I wish there'd been more cold weather stuff but that's just personal preference. I'm also not a huge military sci-fi person as a general rule, and this book is kind of mid series! That said it was easy to pick up and had enough intrigue and adventure to keep me going!
tyrshand's review against another edition
4.0
A good return to Vatta's universe. It in life's all the elements expected from a Moon sci-fi novel and doesn't spend too much time explaining the events of past novels. In some ways this makes it not a great entry point for new readers, but mostly I don't think anyone would be too confused if they started here. They'd just miss out on the character development, as this novel doesn't focus on that at all. I'm excited about the next book -- particularly if it follows one lead more than the other.
roytoo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
A fresh book from Elizabeth Moon and not a Paks book! This should have been a pretty jarring return to Vatta, it's been quite some time for me and I've re-read nothing. But we are handed just enough to make the world feel rich and remember some. But it's not a space battle or really an intrigue in space. Actually it has the feel of a kind of small story with a mystery. And we learn almost nothing about the mystery. And the ending is a bit irritating. But a good fast read from an author who I wish was writing more.
iffer's review
3.0
I loved Vatta's War for featuring strong female characters and being fun, relatively light military/space sci-fi. I enjoyed this, and I was glad to revisit the characters, but I didn't love it, mostly because I'm not generally a fan of survival-type stories.
annaswan's review against another edition
3.0
Far too much plot depended on the whens and whys of the security of various communication technologies, and it ended up feeling contrived.
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. This just isn't my kind of book. I got about 75 pages in and I just didn't care what was going on. Things moved too slowly and there was no personal connection with any of the characters for me.