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A review by righteousridel
Counterstrike by Joshua Dalzelle
2.0
The Search for Plot
If Joshua Dalzelle were to remove all the things I liked about the Black Fleet series, and magnify the parts I felt were mediocre or downright terrible, we would get Counterstrike. The Terran Confederacy, its politics, games of brinksmanship, and status quo-changing events were some of the best parts of this series. Spaceship combat and tactics were enjoyable and bloody. Both of these things are in short supply, and instead we're treated to overly aggressive pacing, recycled tropes and paper-thin caricatures.
I had previously praised the author for the effort spent in building up the Terran Confederacy. The events of Call to Arms foreshadowed major political and military consequences, but none of it is relevant in this novel. Instead, we focus on the main characters as they run away from existing complexities in order to find the plot. I'm not being facetious: there are three threads that require us to search the vastness of space.
Given the author's frantic pace of writing, there is little page count in the book left for anything more than the search for plot. Nearly all characters get downgraded in screentime: Singh, Wright, and even Pike. The new ally has a narrative POV but is on-screen so rarely that you'll be forgiven if you don't remember his first name, much less form any emotional attachment. And given the lack of page count, the recycled tropes are obvious and executed poorly.
If you disliked the politics of the previous books, and preferred the parts of Warship where spaceships were off on solo missions and shooting things, you may come away entertained. Honestly, the saving grace of this novel is that it's a quick, easy read. It's over so quickly that you may not even realize you're suffering.
Not recommended, with reservations.
I think where I went wrong was not recognizing that the author wanted to tell an entirely different type of story in each novel. The first was a classic Age of Sail novel, replacing the larger French vessel with the Phage Super Alpha. The second was a civil war. The third was exploration and aliens.
The issue is that I liked the worldbuilding and the Terran Confederacy, and so the ugly machinations of the civil war demanded more. Off-hand, the author ignored the President, the Ark, and two breakaway Enclaves. The political element (and declaration of martial law!) was handled entirely behind the scenes by Markham, who was then reduced to being the angry police chief to Wolfe's rules-breaking detective. Everything I felt was praiseworthy about this series was ignored.
What replaced it were Star Trek-style alien plots, where Wolfe met two new species and had "talks". Is this interesting? Yes, maybe, if it wasn't occuring during a civil war and alien invasion. Certainly it was worth exploring Blake and the Vruahn. Was it interesting enough to seperate Wolfe from human society three times? First he leaves (the abruptly ended Earth politics) to go solo and negotiate with the Vruahn, whereby he fights the Phage with their fancy technology. Then he goes off nearly solo (with Ninth Squadron) to find the Super Alpha. Then he goes off solo (with his ship) to kill the hive mind.
Seriously?
Oh and of course the Vruahn made the Phage. Insert eye-roll. And of course the Phage Hive Mind wants to speak with Wolfe for inexplicable reasons, while also never explaining what the 'test' was from the previous novel. And of course killing the Hive Mind instantly shuts down all Phage everywhere. These tropes are so boring that you really, really need to execute perfectly. Instead we rush through all of this in about 50 pages.
Pike, this time, was a transparent plot device. Wolfe returns to being an alcoholic as an introductory paragraph and this is never addressed again. Wright killed hundreds of Phage in a way that was neither satisfying nor important. We get no battles between the massive human fleet and the Phage. Blake dies for reasons. Singh dies for reasons. There's an abortive romance subplot that went nowhere and resulted in no character development. For a book whose summary was an offensive against the Phage where most will not survive, it's amazing how little is about an offensive, and how many do survive.
This novel could have been great -- we could have sent Wright and Pike to find the Hive Mind (thus reviving the tension between them). Markham and Wolfe could have managed the fleet, losing vast portions of it to defend humanity while shipping an offensive element, all the while dealing with political fallout and the morally questionable declaration of Martial Law. Wolfe could have even done his insubordination thing, stealing a few vessels in the midst of combat and flying to kill the Hive Mind off in the middle of nowhere, all the while Markham angrily swears.
But... we got nothing. We didn't even get fleet combat. What a shame.
Series Overall Spoiler-Free Thoughts
★★★★☆ Warship (Black Fleet Trilogy, #1)
★★★☆☆ Call to Arms (Black Fleet Trilogy, #2)
★★☆☆☆ Counterstrike (Black Fleet Trilogy, #3)
Never a groundbreaking story, the Black Fleet Trilogy leans heavily on existing tropes and extremely fast-paced storytelling. This ends up being a double-edged sword, as the author races towards a conclusion that is neither surprising nor satisifying. If you're looking for a safe, easy read, this is for you.
★★☆☆☆ - Not recommended with reservations.
If Joshua Dalzelle were to remove all the things I liked about the Black Fleet series, and magnify the parts I felt were mediocre or downright terrible, we would get Counterstrike. The Terran Confederacy, its politics, games of brinksmanship, and status quo-changing events were some of the best parts of this series. Spaceship combat and tactics were enjoyable and bloody. Both of these things are in short supply, and instead we're treated to overly aggressive pacing, recycled tropes and paper-thin caricatures.
I had previously praised the author for the effort spent in building up the Terran Confederacy. The events of Call to Arms foreshadowed major political and military consequences, but none of it is relevant in this novel. Instead, we focus on the main characters as they run away from existing complexities in order to find the plot. I'm not being facetious: there are three threads that require us to search the vastness of space.
Given the author's frantic pace of writing, there is little page count in the book left for anything more than the search for plot. Nearly all characters get downgraded in screentime: Singh, Wright, and even Pike. The new ally has a narrative POV but is on-screen so rarely that you'll be forgiven if you don't remember his first name, much less form any emotional attachment. And given the lack of page count, the recycled tropes are obvious and executed poorly.
If you disliked the politics of the previous books, and preferred the parts of Warship where spaceships were off on solo missions and shooting things, you may come away entertained. Honestly, the saving grace of this novel is that it's a quick, easy read. It's over so quickly that you may not even realize you're suffering.
Not recommended, with reservations.
Spoiler
The following is in spoiler tags, and I say so since some Goodreads clients may not respect it. You've been warned:I think where I went wrong was not recognizing that the author wanted to tell an entirely different type of story in each novel. The first was a classic Age of Sail novel, replacing the larger French vessel with the Phage Super Alpha. The second was a civil war. The third was exploration and aliens.
The issue is that I liked the worldbuilding and the Terran Confederacy, and so the ugly machinations of the civil war demanded more. Off-hand, the author ignored the President, the Ark, and two breakaway Enclaves. The political element (and declaration of martial law!) was handled entirely behind the scenes by Markham, who was then reduced to being the angry police chief to Wolfe's rules-breaking detective. Everything I felt was praiseworthy about this series was ignored.
What replaced it were Star Trek-style alien plots, where Wolfe met two new species and had "talks". Is this interesting? Yes, maybe, if it wasn't occuring during a civil war and alien invasion. Certainly it was worth exploring Blake and the Vruahn. Was it interesting enough to seperate Wolfe from human society three times? First he leaves (the abruptly ended Earth politics) to go solo and negotiate with the Vruahn, whereby he fights the Phage with their fancy technology. Then he goes off nearly solo (with Ninth Squadron) to find the Super Alpha. Then he goes off solo (with his ship) to kill the hive mind.
Seriously?
Oh and of course the Vruahn made the Phage. Insert eye-roll. And of course the Phage Hive Mind wants to speak with Wolfe for inexplicable reasons, while also never explaining what the 'test' was from the previous novel. And of course killing the Hive Mind instantly shuts down all Phage everywhere. These tropes are so boring that you really, really need to execute perfectly. Instead we rush through all of this in about 50 pages.
Pike, this time, was a transparent plot device. Wolfe returns to being an alcoholic as an introductory paragraph and this is never addressed again. Wright killed hundreds of Phage in a way that was neither satisfying nor important. We get no battles between the massive human fleet and the Phage. Blake dies for reasons. Singh dies for reasons. There's an abortive romance subplot that went nowhere and resulted in no character development. For a book whose summary was an offensive against the Phage where most will not survive, it's amazing how little is about an offensive, and how many do survive.
This novel could have been great -- we could have sent Wright and Pike to find the Hive Mind (thus reviving the tension between them). Markham and Wolfe could have managed the fleet, losing vast portions of it to defend humanity while shipping an offensive element, all the while dealing with political fallout and the morally questionable declaration of Martial Law. Wolfe could have even done his insubordination thing, stealing a few vessels in the midst of combat and flying to kill the Hive Mind off in the middle of nowhere, all the while Markham angrily swears.
But... we got nothing. We didn't even get fleet combat. What a shame.
Series Overall Spoiler-Free Thoughts
★★★★☆ Warship (Black Fleet Trilogy, #1)
★★★☆☆ Call to Arms (Black Fleet Trilogy, #2)
★★☆☆☆ Counterstrike (Black Fleet Trilogy, #3)
Never a groundbreaking story, the Black Fleet Trilogy leans heavily on existing tropes and extremely fast-paced storytelling. This ends up being a double-edged sword, as the author races towards a conclusion that is neither surprising nor satisifying. If you're looking for a safe, easy read, this is for you.
★★☆☆☆ - Not recommended with reservations.