A review by carolynf
First Light by Linda Nagata

4.0

Very early on I realized that this book was aimed much more at people who like first person shooters (i.e. not me) but I stuck with it and it turned out to be an excellent read. The protagonist, Shelley, is four years into a ten year military contract, that he was forced to take in lieu of prison after broadcasting police brutality against protesters. He is 23. He and his crew are policing a fort in the middle of nowhere North Africa, equipped with exoskeletons and internet-enabled skullcaps. The skullcaps enable them to communicate sub-vocally with each other, the command center, and overhead drones, and to also get their brain flooded with whatever chemicals they need to sleep, fight, or cope with about that fighting that just happened. Shelley is special because he gets these feelings that no one can explain, which enable him to pull off impossible missions. All of this is in the first few chapters. The main part of the books is able trying to bring a war monger to justice who has already paid her way to immunity, and answering the question of who is controlling Shelley's special feelings. I don't know if I'll read the other books in the series. Not until after I take a break anyway. But this book was a lot more captivating than I had thought it would be.