Customer Reviews

Audacious (Kris Longknife)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

First of all, I very much enjoyed the prior novels, "light" as they might be in some ways (classic space opera and lighter-weight military sci fi, not that they were short on challenges and even various tragedies in the plots). Unfortunately, this one has yet another expendable Peterwald arriving at just the same time as our heroine, with (yet again) a plan to over throw the local government that is maturing at just that convenient time. Without giving away any details, this struck me as a repeat of what has become a formula for this author, with two changes that aren't entirely improvements. There is lot more text devoted to battle scenes, and a whole lot of text devoted to the wonders of Marines (who certainly are amazing, but too much of it doesn't make for a strong novel), and less to character development. The plot development itself is a bit rough at times, as so much time goes to the prior topics (bang bang! and praise of the Marines) that the many twists and turns are not always well developed. It's not bad, but it's not as good as the prior works. Readers who want a lot more gunfights and more idolatry of the services will enjoy it more than those who prefer a balanced approach to the same messages. Perhaps that's what fans want; if so, you'll enjoy this more than I did. I don't think attempting to emulate Weber (much "harder core" military sci fi, and quite good at it) was as successful as following this author's own muse had been in the earlier books. There is more background on one of the secondary characters, but it is unsurprising and the main character Kris is simply robotically following the same old script, except in the the last few pages. It might be viewed as a transitional novel, which are often weaker, as the ending obviously sets up another episode in the "franchise".

Note: This review assumes you're familiar with this series.

This fifth novel in the open-ended Kris Longknife series wastes no time getting "That Longknife Princess" into trouble. In fact Grampa Trouble's got her into a serious mess by sending her to a most non-edenic planet that calls itself New Eden. After thwarting an assassination attempt or two, fighting with the local authorities and her own ambassador, and resnatching a kidnap victim, Kris learns of a planned slaughter of the not so innocent, and after some uncertainty (in her mind anyway--readers know well that no action, no book) decides to save their butts anyhow. The last third of the book features Mike Shepherd's signature step-by-step multiple POV view of a battle--this one fought on land by marines, rather than in space.

Mr. Shepherd proves once again that when it comes to grand finales, he's efficiency itself. Unlike some authors, he knows when to stop the descriptive passages, the interior monologues, and relationship issues and sprint to the finish. But that's not to say that he ignores character building. In this novel Kris begins to show signs of adulthood, and actually self-questions some of her motivations before proceeding. And we learn a great deal more about Abby, at long last. We also are introduced to a new Peterwald, red-headed sociopathic Victoria. We shall, I am quite sure, be seeing more of her in future books in the series.

Notes and asides: As always, the author tacks on a bit of a coda that sets things up for the next book in the series.... I'm far from a typo-hunter, but: as is typical of this publisher, who shows no respect either for the reader or the author, the book is riddled with typos and homonyms (shown for shone, e.g.) that the spellchecker didn't, of course, catch. Since my stars are awarded strictly to the author, none are deducted from this four-star (plus) effort here.

This is the fourth book of the series and I have enjoyed them all. If you like the Longknife universe you can get more background information from the books under Mike Shepards real name, Mike Moscoe. They are all good reads and I enjoyed them all.

This book also sees the start of new conditions where Kris Longknife will no longer be at the beck and call of her grandfather but will in future books be making her own decisions.

After numerous assassination attempts, Princess Kris Longknife, a Lieutenant in the Wardhaven navy plans to do a little business and get some rest and relaxation on the planet New Eden. Almost as soon as she lands an attempt is made on her life and efforts to get assistance from her computer implant were jammed. This was thought to be impossible and the last time it happened her family's enemies were involved.

The attempt on her life makes it on the news and she learns after some digging that New Eden is not as productive and peaceful as it is supposed to be. New Eden journalists are forbidden from reporting negative stories, a large part of the population is forbidden to vote and there is much crime but nobody hears of it. She discovers Victoria is on the planet and she blames Kris for killing her brother. In the course of dealing with another assassination attempt, a large cache of weapons is found by Kris' troops. Something big is going to happen on New Eden and Kris will find herself, her marines and other allies in the middle of it.

Mike Shepherd is a fantastic storyteller who excels at writing military science fiction. His protagonist is a strong willed independent thinker who does what she thinks is best for humanity even if it means not adhering to planetary law. Human life is very precious to her and those people in her inner circle who play roles in the storyline. There is plenty of action and tension as this is a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience for science fiction fans.

Harriet Klausner

Once again we find our heroine Kris Longknife and her trusty sidekicks find themselves assigned to the back of no where, fighting unknown enemies, with little support. The exiting characters gained more depth and the new characters were brilliantly developed.

This was a great good vs evil story that I couldn't put down. Mike Shepherd's writing stile carried me away.

Like the previous books in this series, this one has plot holes and appallingly bad copy editing. I choose to look past these failings because I find this series to be great fun, and the characters are intriguing.

In this episode, two things happen that keep me interested. First, we start to have some of the story told through other people's points of view, and it rounds out the characterization of the main character to see her, however briefly, through other people's eyes. Second, Kris herself starts to have a more nuanced view of her famous heroic relatives. One of the appealing aspects of this series is that the main character actually grows and changes -- in this book, she refuses to do things she would have done without thought in earlier books. I find that both credible and interesting.

The story moves quickly, and there are lots of appealing aspects to the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I did have to put the part of my brain that cares about typos on "ignore". I really wish Ace would do a better job with that part of this series. Most of the issues appear to be the result of a too-automated process. A spell checker won't catch the difference between "wont" and "want", but I sure will. I took off 1 full star for the editing and half a star for a couple plot holes. This is a 3 1/2 star book that would have been a 4 1/2 star book if it had been more carefully edited.

I have in my library a number of science fiction series that have strong female protagonists. Some writers are good at handling this genre and some are... eh. Mike Shepherd has a firm grasp on this genre and handles Kris Longknife's persona as well as writers who I have picked up knowing that I will be sure to find a book that I want to read and reread and reread, you get the picture. Writers like Elizabeth Moon, David Weber. Kris Longknife will sweep you up and take you with her along with her as swiftly as she sweeps up her cohorts. Or as fast as she is swept up by events around her! ::weg:: The action makes sense, nothing gratuitous, but there is plenty of action as well as character development. Something that you don't always find in future sf. Everything falls into place. I can safely say that I want more. Let me put it this way, there were already four books out when I first discovered Kris Longknife. I read the first one and immediately ordered the others. I was NOT disappointed by any of them. Mike Shepherd has delivered a consistent series. Here's to seeing more and more and more and... Enjoy.

Audacious is another good book in the world of Kris Longknife. As usual Kris is in it up to her royal neck from the first sentence through to the last. Looking forward to the next installation in Kris Longknife: Intrepid. Hurry up Shepherd - we're waiting.

Less enjoyable than the previous two novels. I found the storyline jumped around without any real center to focus the reader. The plot such as it is fixates on democracy with almost a religious fervor. Strange.

I'd guess the author had to push to get this one done. Whenever I read a book like this one I think of the old Python audio album titled 'Contractual Obligations.'

In this novel Mike changes form, and moves from the pure space opera. Indeed, there is still plenty of action, most of it ground based with the Marines, and he covers that well. As one other reviewer indicated, we have YAP (Yet Another Peterwald) showing up with the same old overthrow the government and kill Kris plan. That plot is almost a backdrop though to the author's main purpose of starting to give us insight to the backgrounds of Kris and key characters. I enjoyed the book, read it in two days. This is definitly a pivotal work though...from here the series could rapidly improve, or devolve. Only time will tell.