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annaswan's review against another edition
3.0
Reminiscent of CJ Cherryh’s prose style, but with different themes
starsfanalison's review against another edition
4.0
A massive improvement on Linesman. Very glad I opted to continue the series. The pace increased immensely and the general flow of the story is far better than it's predecessor. Makes me greatly anticipate Confluence.
zzzrevel's review against another edition
4.0
This was every bit as entertaining as Book #1 ("Linesman"),
with a terrific climactic scene.
It took awhile to get going; the first 250 pages or so are
more off-ship than on and I did not enjoy that as much.
But this mysterious technology of the 'lines' is pretty
cool even though as a reader I did not always understand
some of the interactions/motives/emotions between
the humans and the ships. Nonetheless as I said it
did not take away from my loving this storyline. The
rich cast of characters is pretty good too.
Highly recommended and not it's on to Book #3
("Confluence") for me.
with a terrific climactic scene.
It took awhile to get going; the first 250 pages or so are
more off-ship than on and I did not enjoy that as much.
But this mysterious technology of the 'lines' is pretty
cool even though as a reader I did not always understand
some of the interactions/motives/emotions between
the humans and the ships. Nonetheless as I said it
did not take away from my loving this storyline. The
rich cast of characters is pretty good too.
Highly recommended and not it's on to Book #3
("Confluence") for me.
liliavisser's review against another edition
5.0
As entrancing as the first book, this one made me dive in the story right away. Again. And not. Want to stop reading till the end.
spacebornfew's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I definitely liked this one, the second in the trilogy, better than the first. A lot less politics, a lot more action, and further character development. There's a particularly sympathetic view of a captain in deep depression, having lost her ship and her crew - essentially her family - trying to get used to her painful and awkward new legs.
There are plots and machinations and spying. There's also the uncomfortable and bewildering feelings of newness and shattered self-confidence. I appreciate the more psychological depth of exploring the pain and isolation people can feel even as they're surrounded by others.
Ean Lambert is more than likable and I'm really glad I have one more book to read. I was only disappointed that we didn't see more of Michelle and Abram, two of the more prominent characters from the first book.
This series isn't as light and funny as Stars Uncharted / Stars Unbound but I'm coming to like it just as much.
There are plots and machinations and spying. There's also the uncomfortable and bewildering feelings of newness and shattered self-confidence. I appreciate the more psychological depth of exploring the pain and isolation people can feel even as they're surrounded by others.
Ean Lambert is more than likable and I'm really glad I have one more book to read. I was only disappointed that we didn't see more of Michelle and Abram, two of the more prominent characters from the first book.
This series isn't as light and funny as Stars Uncharted / Stars Unbound but I'm coming to like it just as much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
meera01's review against another edition
4.0
The reviews were a bit mixed on this so I wasn’t sure what I was going to get but I enjoyed this. Ean did grow up in this or at least he was in less situations where he was completely helpless. But I did notice another weird trend continuing from the last book - bad guys who get captured somehow usually escape behind the scenes and not much detail is given. It was weird. It’s as if the authors wanted that to happen but didn’t feel like giving plot time to make it more believable. Oh well. The rest of the novel was good. This wasn’t as fast paced as the first book but I enjoyed kind of relaxing with the slower story and the old and the new characters. We learned some new things about the lines and about the players in the conflict. This was a typical second book, kind of a place holder but I liked it. It’s too bad there are only 3 books in this series because I’m enjoying this world.
colossal's review against another edition
5.0
A great second book in this brilliant space opera series.
Ean Lambert finds himself as the chief Linesman of the New Alliance, a new political entity rising out of the events of the previous book. The New Alliance is also at war with the Gate Union, a conflict that it is bound to lose because of the GU's monopoly over galactic trade and the Gates required for safe travel. What stops the war from being over before it's begun are the alien ships that Lambert and his friends now have control over, but they remain an unknown quantity at the beginning of this book.
We get viewpoints in this book from Ean, an experienced Lineship captain who is being considered as the new captain of the Eleven and an enemy agent who is attempting to get a hold of Ean to explain to the GU exactly who and what he is and how he's doing it.
There's a term for this sort of book: competence porn. The good guys are really good at what they do, and in almost all cases, the best at what they do. Even the bad guys are really, really good, just not as good at it as the good guys. There's a very narrow line that these authors work deftly to dance upon where the good guys get challenged and the bad guys still lose. For context, this is the same sort of thing that goes on in the Miles Vorkosigan books by [a:Lois McMaster Bujold|16094|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377313786p2/16094.jpg]. I don't think anyone would complain about being compared with that brilliant series and I eagerly devoured this one much as I devour every Miles book I get my hands on.
Highly recommended.
Ean Lambert finds himself as the chief Linesman of the New Alliance, a new political entity rising out of the events of the previous book. The New Alliance is also at war with the Gate Union, a conflict that it is bound to lose because of the GU's monopoly over galactic trade and the Gates required for safe travel. What stops the war from being over before it's begun are the alien ships that Lambert and his friends now have control over, but they remain an unknown quantity at the beginning of this book.
We get viewpoints in this book from Ean, an experienced Lineship captain who is being considered as the new captain of the Eleven and an enemy agent who is attempting to get a hold of Ean to explain to the GU exactly who and what he is and how he's doing it.
There's a term for this sort of book: competence porn. The good guys are really good at what they do, and in almost all cases, the best at what they do. Even the bad guys are really, really good, just not as good at it as the good guys. There's a very narrow line that these authors work deftly to dance upon where the good guys get challenged and the bad guys still lose. For context, this is the same sort of thing that goes on in the Miles Vorkosigan books by [a:Lois McMaster Bujold|16094|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1377313786p2/16094.jpg]. I don't think anyone would complain about being compared with that brilliant series and I eagerly devoured this one much as I devour every Miles book I get my hands on.
Highly recommended.
tome15's review against another edition
3.0
Dunstall, S. K. Alliance. Linesman No. 2. Ace, 2016.
In the second installment of the Linesman series, Dunstall complicates his world in several ways. He adds an eleventh “line” that may allow a super user (like our hero Ean Lambert) to control a whole fleet of ships. He also delves into some Game-of-Thrones-style competition between groups of star systems. He also introduces a major new character, a captain whose has had her ship blown out from under her by a secret new weapon and is suffering from post-traumatic stress. Will a newly refurbished alien ship accept her? Or she it? What is missing—still no real explanation of lines or all the singing; nor is there anything new on the missing aliens. Sigh.
In the second installment of the Linesman series, Dunstall complicates his world in several ways. He adds an eleventh “line” that may allow a super user (like our hero Ean Lambert) to control a whole fleet of ships. He also delves into some Game-of-Thrones-style competition between groups of star systems. He also introduces a major new character, a captain whose has had her ship blown out from under her by a secret new weapon and is suffering from post-traumatic stress. Will a newly refurbished alien ship accept her? Or she it? What is missing—still no real explanation of lines or all the singing; nor is there anything new on the missing aliens. Sigh.
idealpigment92's review
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0