Games of Command

There really is something about Sinclair's men that make me wanna drool. Seriously. Kel Paten is no exception. I definitely like the original Bantam cover (which I own) better then the new (yellow) one, but I like the ship better on the new cover. Its harder to tell, but the details stand out more. The yellow does stand out more on a bookshelf, which was prolly their intention in marketing I bet.

I'm actually surprised I remembered as much about the book as I did since the first time I read it I was feverish and delusional. The dual romance of the book was amusing to read--on the one hand you have the one-sided courtship of Tasha by Kel Paten clumsily going on (with much of the ship's main crew noticing something) and on the other you show more have Serafino's two-sided romancing of Dr. Eden Fynn. My heart went out to poor Kel Paten, he thought he had paradise within his grasp after a decade of chasing it, but the entire universe seemed bent on ripping it from him. I wonder if it would have helped his case to make Tank, Tasha's furzel (a cat more or less), warm up to him earlier?

The book could be considered to be two parts--that of when things are (mostly) dandy in the Alliance and our fair travelers don't have overwhelming odds stacked against them and then later when pretty much everything they believed is false in some way. Serafino got the worst of this, I think, given what his sister turned out like, but Kel Paten got an equally bad share of it at the end. I can't imagine what it would be like for such a dedicated man like Kel Paten, who gave up everything because he believed so strongly in the Triad's government, to come to terms with the events of later on. Its a good thing he was already half-cracked because of his not supposed to exist love for Tasha, otherwise I shudder to think what might have happened.

Kel Paten being a biocybe however presented a problem to me--not that he was one, but why they made him one. Very little, beyond his military exploits, is really explained about Kel Paten. He became the way he was as a teenager (or so Dr. Eden assumed), lived a solitary life with few friends, shouldn't have human emotions (aside from the preprogrammed anger responses), can spike into computer systems/ships...but its never explained why. Or how many there are. Or what exactly they did (I was more curious about how they got the brain to interact with the computer, since I don't remember there being mention of brain work too). I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for those answers.

The Ved made my skin crawl and I really want a furzel of mine own. Except I'd likely be as allergic to them as I am every other animal. The Accidental Goddess, the first Sinclair book I ever read and my absolute favorite, is next! show less

Yeah. This one is as good as Finders Keepers. I like Sass and Kel-Paten a lot, and Tank is cute. Poor Kel-Paten - they distrusted him so hard...though once he knew what was going on, he was pretty sure Psy-Serv wasn't interfering with him. Not nearly as much as they were with Jace...sheesh! There are still a lot of questions, mostly about Triad culture - why did Kel-Paten's name change? And why are they all Kel - is it a rank thing, or what? Lots of magic solutions, but it's the furzels supplying most of them, not Jace the magic Nasyry (or Eden), which make them less annoying. Furzels indeed, why the name change? They're just cats. Two I-am-not-worthy running into each other and ending up HAE. And that reunion scene was fantastic. I'd show more like to see more in this universe - not necessarily these heroes, but more about the war and how it comes out. Fun. show less

Ex-mercenary, ex-spy, ex-captain... Tasha Sebastian, a.k.a. Sass, is shocked to be assigned (ordered!) to the Vaxxar Admiral Branden Kel-Paten's command ship as his new commander. With a shaky alliance not even quite formalized between the U-Cee and the Triad, she's more than a bit suspicious of the cyber-enhanced Admiral's motives, especially as he's run into the mercenary Lady Sass with less than pleasant results (for him) before. But with a mysterious plague killing ships's crews, and McClellan's Void to escape, the two had better work together or more than just the Vaxxar will be doomed.

A bit overly cute in places, but still a first-rate space adventure.

Ah Kel Patten has to be one of my favorite heroes of all time. The scene where he is using his augmented abilities to help the damaged craft land is just such good writing. I loved the interaction between him and Sass. As I said in the review for "Command Performance", it's interesting to see how this book developed.

This is my fourth book by this author and I'm amazingly pleased at how deftly she blends romantic sizzle/attraction with a dandy space yarn. This one is extremely satisfying from both threads and made me realize that I want to read more of her stuff. A delight for science fiction fans.

Captain Tasha "Sass" Sebastian has just gotten her rank back after 6 months as Commander under Admiral Branden Kel-Paten her old nemesis when she flew for the United Coalition and he for Triad. Now both governments have joined and become the Alliance. Kel-Paten is a biocybe, a technically enhanced and emotionally controlled humanoid with a secret. Sass has a dangerous past which has been wiped from her records. When a wanted rebel who knows her past ends up on their ship, Sass has to tread carefully. Besides these personal secrets there are external forces at work against each of the characters. Plots within plots, paranormal and non-human forces, space battles, and imaginary worlds all propel the story. Lots of action, compelling show more drama, and romance. A favorite. show less

Ever since the Alliance between the Triad and the United Coalition Captain Tasha 'Sass" Sebastian has found herself wondering what to do next. She's been assigned to work under her former nemesis biocybe Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. He knows something about her past but not it all and she'd kinda rather he didn't find out some of the things in her past. Branden has feelings for Tasha but can they become a couple, can they get over the issues?

It's a fun read, nothing deep but I found it entertaining. I did like the Furzels but they seem to divide readers.