Evan Currie

By the midway point I was absolutely certain that I was loving this one best out of the three novels, but that was only because I appreciated the new direction it was taking, sliding easily between a cat and mouse tale, a good chase, and solid warfare tactics and strategy. I've said a lot about the good characterizations, and that remains and is possibly improved upon, here, but I can add another great feature to the series.

The world-building is only getting better. :) Sometimes I look show more forward to a good exposition. Isn't that odd? Well I do. I like to know how things work, whether it's the tech, the political situations, or anything else that has direct impact upon the tale. We've got a lot more of that in this one, and I'm immensely grateful for it. It rounds out all the ever-increasing action and characters in a very familiar and succinct way, building nicely upon the already heavily-embedded "natural" world-building.

But what about the second half?

Oh my. Guess who's homeworld the title refers to? Yup. Ours. And we're in for a mighty shitstorm. This is the kind of classic SF we're used to, of course, but the storytelling is quite modern and quite fun, and I have nothing but great things to say about the surprising and grand ways we make it through.

Even the last reveals seem quite natural because we've already had quite a bit of introduction to it in the way of Central. :)

Poor Odyssey. I do so wonder if she'll get reconditioned in time for book four? *sigh* :) show less

War on a planetary scale sounds great. But this leads to a change of style from the previous books and it's not for the better.

Previous books were basically an excuse for a very long battle. And then you would get battle strategies and detailed descriptions of weapons & munitions. Now on a planetary scale there's no strategy - it's just survival by any means necessary. That's why the president's point of view chapters were usually boring.
The characters are now split geographically and have show more different jobs. So there's no "dream team" to return to. And you don't see the individuals shine doing the thing they do best. Weston is "demoted" from space ship captain to rogue foot soldier.
We are in our fourth book, so it's natural that the sense of wonder would fade. But I didn't expect the new ships to be that boring. "It's just like the other one, only bigger" is so unimaginative. I want my David vs Goliath stories back.
Gaia was ridiculous - it's the personification of deus ex machina. I expected her to take a more consultative role, to be the collective consciousness.
There was no point for this book to exist. The aftermath is pretty much the same it was in the previous one.

The formula is broken, my trust is broken. I will look elsewhere for scratching the space opera itch for a while. show less

This is the best book in the series so far.
We know what the Odyssey is capable of, we know her allies and her enemies, so there is not a lot to be set up, nothing to mumble through.
Once again, the battles are absolutely great. This time we stick all the time with the main ship, which provides a sense of continuity.
A great improvement on the series are the various points the author makes on various topics: drone warfare, cold war, politics, pacifism, economy and others. He drops one idea or show more two, just to make you say "huh, good point, I guess" and moves on to prepare the next major plot point. It's enough to spawn a discussion on a subject without forcing his perspective down your throat.
The only problem with this book is that in the final pages Currie pulls a "Lady Stoneheart", just like George RR Martin. So again, the author plays down some of the strongest parts of the book by refusing to commit completely to an idea. He just had to have his cake and eat it too.
Anyway, this is a very entertaining series and I really appreciate how old problems need new solutions because of technical advancement: communication is yet again slow, localization of other ships is difficult, even travel happens blindly. This feels again like reading about wooden ships lost at sea, which is brilliant. show less

An unadulterated fun action romp in space with more snark than any military could ever allow. Sympathetic characters on all sides, no one (important) dies. The lines between good guys and bad guys are clearly defined, even as the bad guys are not quite as bad as they could be. Only downside: This first part of a trilogy is not a stand-alone novel and ends basically after the conflict is squarely established, but with no solution in sight. Be prepared to hunt down the next parts if you want a show more satisfying reading experience. show less