Another book I picked up through Lydia Schoch’s weekly Twitter thread of free books. This is a military sci-fi novella, and military sci-fi is one of my favorite genres, so of course I had to check it out!
The book tells the story of Floribeth Salinas O’Shea Dalisay, a deep-space pilot exploring an uncharted system. A stunning discovery and a narrow escape only land her in deeper trouble with the corporation she works for, leaving her with few options, save one that leads her into a series of interstellar fighter battles as part of the Navy of Humanity.
Floribeth (“Beth”) is fun protagonist to root for, and her fellow pilots make for enjoyable sidekicks. At times, I had a little difficulty keeping track of all the secondary characters, so making notes may be helpful. But all of them are entertaining and real, so that’s not really a problem. As long as I’m enjoying the characters, I don’t mind if I have trouble remembering who’s who.
I also had a bit of difficulty visualizing some of the action scenes. Sometimes, trying to picture what deep space combat would actually look like can be a bit daunting. (I had the same problem with the book We Are Legion (We Are Bob.)) That may just be a commentary on the limits of my imagination, though. Overall, I really liked the fast pace and the camaraderie among the pilots. It made me think of Rogue Squadron, which is always a good thing. And the motives of the different corporations and governments are well-thought-out and plausible.
The book is the first in a series, and having read it, I’m eager to read more of these. Fans of sci-fi, or just adventure in general, should definitely give this one a try.
Thanks for once more adding one of my books to your related list. While my future Earth has a military element (the ESC – Earth Space Command), its mission is exploring space and servicing the Mars Colony, not fighting space wars. In fact, war has been eliminated from my future history of 28th century Earth. Other military organizations include EAFC (Earth Atmospheric Flight Command) and TeSeF (Terrestrial Security Force, a global peace-keeping and police force).
🙂 In a way, even though there isn’t any war, I kind of think of your books as military sci-fi.
Always interesting to discover how other people view one’s own books!
Sounds like a fun read. Sent you an e-mail
Thanks! I’ll take a look.
This is the second review I’ve seen of this book, Berthold, and both positive over all. I love great characters and like you will let other things slide if I’m enjoying that element of a read. Thanks for the thumbs up on this book. 🙂
Certainly! 🙂 Glad you liked the review.
The description reminds me a bit of “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.” Not identical, of course, just some similarities.
Oh, I haven’t heard of that book! I’ll have to look it up. Thanks.