Hope's Folly

This is tied in with Gabriel's Ghost and Shades of Dark (collectively known as the 'Dock 5' novels), so spoilers abound for many events and character relationships, but a brief recounting of the major plot points occurs to keep potentially new readers out of confusion. The book is also populated with characters that readers will know from the two previous novels (not just Sully and Chaz) so old faces are a friendly sight occasionally.

It was different to read a Linnea book where the romantic leads pretty much are on equal footing in most aspects (power, race, motivation), but I have to say I enjoyed it a great deal. It was nice to see both Rya (I love this name now) and Philip struggle with their attraction and respective feelings show more towards it. Rya was, with good reason it would seem, in serious hero worship of Philip for about two decades and was having trouble reconciling her Heroic Vision of the Man vs. the mundane reality. Philip meanwhile was struggling with not only his guilt over her father's death, but their age differences and I think the awkwardness of Rya's hero worship.

Some people just don't like pedestals.

Time of course is the great equalizer and by the time their romance really begins their main problem was how little time they had left to express those feelings. Imminent death from all sides does that. I will say, for a little while near the end, their relationship hit a common historical romance trope that is sometimes annoying as sin, but by the end of the book Linnea manages to finagle it into a workable solution to their romantic woes.

Rya's fascination with weaponry was amusing and entertaining (I wonder at the fact that Philip didn't think to question if her feelings were for him or his guns), especially the first few scenes that Philip and Rya re-connect (albeit unknowingly). Rya's ex-lover (can't really be considered a boyfriend) was an aggrevation, but not really anything to be concerned over.

Since the major arc of the Dock 5 books hasn't been concluded I sincerely hope for more exploration into the aftermath of the Alliance's reformation in any future books that come out! show less

I like. Better than Chaz and Sully, because there's no "magic" powers here - just Philip and Rya doing their jobs and dealing with assorted disasters. I liked Philip in Shades of Dark, now I like him a lot better. And Rya, aside from her persistent "I am not worthy" problem, is great. "May I fondle your rifle?" heh. There are an awful lot of plotters around - well, OK, the enemy has been identified as a plotting sort of person, so I guess his minions would carry out the same style (more or less). I thought there was a really obvious reveal - two, actually - that Rya totally missed. The second I guess she wasn't on the bridge, but...she must really like the guy not to see anything odd in his behavior. I kept wanting to point him out to show more them, as they went far and wide in considering potential enemies. Bah. There's also no mention of the problem with chain of command of the two of them getting together - admittedly things are rather loose and wild right now, but they're both military (if not quite the same) and it should have been a concern, along with "I am not worthy" and age and what others might think. Should have, but wasn't. And with all those nitpicks, this is still my favorite (so far) Dock Five book and among my favorite Sinclairs. I didn't go on to the next book because I can't _find_ it - but I will, as soon as I can. show less

When Admiral Philip Guthrie chose a career in the Fleet over the life his family wanted for him, he never thought he would find himself on the wrong side of the law fighting against a corrupt Empire. Nor did he ever picture himself the commander of a derelict old fruit transport with only a ragtag skeleton crew as support - and a possible saboteur on board. And he definitely never expected Rya the Rebel - the daughter of his first commander - to turn up on board determined to protect him.

Hope's Folly is a straight up space opera (no telepaths around in this instalment), with less focus on the romance and more on the adventure and discovering who might be responsible for the troubles on board ship. That's not to say, of course, that the show more romance gets short shrift. The interactions between Rya and Philip are heated enough to peel the paint off the bulkheads as more than one crewmember points out.

I really enjoyed watching the two of them working together, loved how they bounced ideas off of one another, one building on the other's thoughts. They made a fantastic team. And a good thing, too, as the ship is essentially falling apart around them (even without the help of a saboteur). With assassination attempts, fires, explosions and plenty of enemies determined to blow them to bits before they can manage to dock for re-fitting, Philip and Rya certainly have an action-packed journey from the moment they meet.

More at my blog: A Hoyden's Look at Literature. show less

As usual, too much romance for my tastes--but the rest made up for it. I keep reading Sinclair's work, even though it is largely romance, because she also has good plots and does a good job with character development. Unlike many authors, each of her main characters is a well-defined individual, not "another good guy" or "another beautiful-yet-insecure woman." There was a touch of beautiful-yet-insecure in Rya Bennton (SUCH an annoying clich@eacute;!), but she got past it.Some of the things that annoy me the most are, apparently, standard romance memes. Having relationship problems just because nobody will say, "Hey, this is what I want and need, how about you?" is fairly realistic, but I'd love to see SOMEBODY in a book who has grown show more past that.Anyway, this was a worthy read, and it does stand alone, but everything will make far more sense if you read the earlier books in the same universe. show less

Ok. So, this book has a sense of humor, which is maybe the only thing it has going for it. I do like a good sense of humor.

But it wasn't enough to save the overblown language of romance. I cannot abide overblown romantic. I just can't. I do not swoon. I cackle and then hide my face or smack myself in the head with the book to make the ridiculousness fade.

This book also suffers from one of my least favorite book characteristics: it's like an *episode* of a TV show, not a season. I swear to god the plot of this book (when you take out the frustrating romance) was: take a ship somewhere, fight, take another ship somewhere, stuff breaks, they fix it, fight. THE END. Nothing happened except people moved a ship through space to another point show more in space. SO WHAT?! I get that this is book 3 in a longer arc, but SERIOUSLY. Nothing. Happened. At. All.

And I'll never know what happens in the longer arc because, yeah, nope. Life's too short. show less

I loved the unusual characters who star in this book. The hero, Philip Guthrie, who is trying to come to terms with his loss of mobility and being continually reminded of his age and now being less than perfect. And Rya, not your typical weak feminine TSTL heroine who still sees the integrity of the man underneath and worships the man he was and the man he is now.

With its lumbering build, come-and-go orange scented air, and opinionated ship's cat, the de- then re-commissioned Stryker-class heavy cruiser Hope's Folly is no beauty. For newly commanding officer Alliance Admiral Philip Guthrie, getting the old hulk spaceworthy again is enough of a challenge. But he also finds himself unavoidably attracted to his new chief security officer Rya Bennton. If they don't die fighting Imperial forces, they just may kill one another.

A bit awkward in spots, and there were a few pet phrases that were cute the first time but appeared ad nauseum. Despite it's flaws, Sinclair's managed to weld a decent space opera onto what might otherwise have been a so-so romance. The bad guy is overly easy to spot, but show more appealing characters (love the cat) and snappy dialogue mostly make up for it. Overall it's not a bad read. show less