Customer Reviews

Games of Command (Bantam Spectra Book)

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This is Linnea Sinclair's fourth multi-genre Science fiction romance. All these stories borrow from a number of genres, including Space Opera, Romantic Comedy, and usually also Paranormal Romance.

Games of Command is the same type of story as Sinclair's previous books, "Finders Keepers, "Gabriel's Ghost" and "An Accidental Goddess." This time, however, Linnea Sinclair has set herself a much more challenging task; this one is a double romance with two heroes and two heroines, and is set in a universe with a galactic political situation which is more complex, much darker, and rather better thought through than in her three previous similar novels.

Background:

Two star nations which were often enemies in the past - the Keltish Triad and the United Coalition (or "U-Cees") have formed an alliance in the face of a threat from a much more dangerous and aggressive race, the Illithians.

This is a universe in which a number of races have telepathic or empathic abilities: because both the Triad and U-Cees are terrified of rogue telepaths, both nations have powerful agencies to keep them under control. "Psy-Serv," the Triad agency, is a ruthless and feared "state within a state" which nobody wants to cross. Although we are told that the U-Cee equivalent "Tel-Tal" (the Telepathic Talents Regulatory Agency), "wasn't as overzealous" as Psy-serv, they don't sound like a particularly gentle or benevolent outfit either.

The action of this book starts on the Triad Huntership "Vaxxar," flagship of the First Fleet, which is tasked with watching a large section of the Illithian border. All four of the main characters on the ship have secrets from each other, secrets which could destroy them ...

Branden Kel-Paten, the admiral commanding First Fleet, has a secret. Kel-Paten is a "biocybe," the product of a radical programme of biocybernetic enhancement. This gives him considerable extra abilities for a terrible price; it is supposed to remove his ability to feel human emotions. Usually it does, and he is an effective, apparently emotionless Admiral nicknamed the "Tin Soldier" by subordinates and enemies alike. But he would be in danger of being removed from command under "Section 46" if Psy-Serv or his subordinates realise that he feels a forbidden emotion - an obsessive passion for his flag captain ...

Captain Tasha Sebastian, a U-Cee officer who has been seconded to the Triad as Captain of the Vaxxar, has a secret. The Triad know that she used to work for U-Cee intelligence before the Alliance. What they don't know is that she used to be "Lady Sass," a raider and smuggler who stole many cargoes from the Triad under the noses of Admiral Kel-Paten during a time of cold war between the Triad and U-Cees. To the Triad, Lady Sass was a wanted criminal who is believed to have died seven years ago - it would give them a shock if they found out that she is now commanding the flagship of their first fleet ...

Doctor Eden Fynn, Chief Medical Officer of the Vaxxar, has a secret. She is half Zingaran, a people among whom telepathic or empathic powers are common. Officially she is a registered Empath. But she is starting to experience full scale telepathic communcation with one of her patients, Captain Jace Serafino - which might get her in serious trouble with Pys-serv or TelTal ...

Captain Jace Serafino, sometime mercenary and freelance spy for Triad intelligence, has a lot of secrets. The Alliance sent the Vaxxar after him after he appeared to have betrayed them - and saved his life, beaming Serafino from his ship as it was about to be destroyed by a space vortex. His surface personality is that of a freewheeling human mercenary. But hidden in his head is an implant from Psy-serv. Also hidden in his mind is his real personality, which can only communicate telepathically - and knows the most dangerous secret of all, about a sinister conspiracy to take control of both partners and reduce everyone in both nations to helpless mind-controlled slaves.

As if things were not complex enough, Tasha and Eden both have pet "furzels," called Tank and Reilly who increasingly become characters in their own right as the story develops. Like treecats such as Nimitz in Dave Weber's Honor Harrington books, the furzels are much more intelligent than most humans realise, and also have special abilities; Tank and Reilly are the only beings who can sense a sinister danger lurking on the Vaxxar.

As the book says, "Let the games begin!"

The comments above describe the scene setting from the first few chapters of the book. It should be obvious to readers of Linnea Sinclair's previous novels that this one is much more complex than anything she has attempted to date.

Like her previous books, it is at times a little silly. For example, I can believe that a captain of a warship might wear casual clothes in his or her own quarters, and that in an emergency she might have to run onto the bridge in such clothes. However, I can't see anyone capable of holding down the position of captain of an admiral's flagship, particularly where the admiral is a notorious martinet, getting herself in the position where she might have to dash onto the bridge wearing a t-shirt with the slogan "No, No, bad captain!"

Mind you, some of the silliest moments of the book are also some of the most entertaining.

If you like your science fiction deadly serious and highly plausible, don't touch this book with a barge-pole. If, on the other hand, you want to be entertained and liked any of Linnea Sinclair's other books or Lois McMaster Bujold's "Miles Vorkosigan" series, then get hold of this book. Now.

Lady Sass had been a merc, a rim runner from Kesh Valirr. Then "Ace" Edmonds, of the United Coalition (U-Cee), gave nineteen-year-old Lady Sass an offer to legitimately become a part of the U-Cee Fleet. Lady Sass jumped at the offer. "Lady Sass" went to prison and died.

Commander Tasha Sebastian's past looks legit. Very few knew Tasha's history as Lady Sass. There is now a new Alliance between the Triad and the U-Cee. Tasha is one of the first transferred (merged) as part of the Alliance Personnel Integration Program. Problem is that Tasha finds herself serving under her former nemesis, Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. Kel-Paten is a biocybernetic officer. He can "spike into" his Triad huntership, the Vaxxar, at any time and actually become a large part of the ship! It is said that the "Tin Soldier" is more 'cybe than human. Neither Tasha, nor Ace, could understand why Kel-Paten had personally requested Tasha Sebastian be transferred to the Vax. He even allowed Tasha and his new Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Doctor Eden Fynn, to bring their pet furzels with them! However, the two furzels, Tank and Reilly, are more than anyone could possibly imagine.

Wanted rebel Jace Serafino literally tears out of a vortex and ends up in the Vax's sick bay. Eden must keep the pirate alive for interrogation. Jace is supposed to have information to help the Alliance, but he also has information that could expose Tasha's past and rip the Alliance apart. Then Eden finds out that Jace also has an implant that only his unconscious self is aware of. As a touch empath, Eden must bring Jace's split personality together if the much needed info for the Alliance is to be received.

At the same time, somewhere aboard the Vaxxar, resides a dangerous entity. It quietly waits bides its time. And only two playful furzels sense its deadly presence.

The Tin Soldier and Lady Sass must team up, put all their secret cards on the table, and learn to trust each other. They find that together, they make one hell of a team!

***** Author Linnea Sinclair NEVER fails to please! I am, once again, in awe of this author's ability to spin complex webs within multiple plots. Will hold your attention from start to finish. This one is NOT TO BE MISSED! *****


Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I have waited to write this review because I was so thrilled by the book, I felt I might be to enthusiastic, however, now I can say truthfully this is a wonderful read. Although this is two of her older novels put togather they are much better. The story is somewhat like FINDERS KEEPERS, but as an earlier attempt they are very good in one volumn. this author has not written a bad book so far. I have loved all of them.

Tasha (Sass) Sebastian is a captain in the UC fleet. She has also worked undercover as a spy. But for the last 7 years she has been totally immersed in her career. Now there is an alliance with their former enemies. Sass has been accepted as a ally trainee on the flagship Vaxxar, captained by Admiral Brandon Kel-Paten. Although Sass is now a fleet officer she has met Kel-Paton several times over the last 12 yrs. Always they have been on opposite sides. She is uncertain how they will mesh in the new alliance. But she has been allowed to bring a few officers and her pet fursal with her.

Kel-Paten is a biocybe, he is more machine than man, however against all probability Sass has managed to touch the male part of him. A part he did not know existed and if Psy-Serv finds out he will find himself erased. At the age of 16 his arms and legs were removed and replaced with cybernetic appendages. It is a wonder he is human at all. His brain is enhanced and he is able to plug himself into his ship and become part of it.

Dr Eden Flynn is a friend of Sass's, she has been assigned to the Vaxxar too. Only she knows Sass's secrets and she has her own furzel. Another independent woman she will not easily become entangled in the clutches of romance.

Jace Serafino is a gambler, spy, and all round cad. He is captured and turned over to Eden who finds that he has secrets of his own. He is a telepath in a country that kills and maims its telepaths. Eden finds a way to reach the inner Jace and hopefully save him from the evils of Psy-Serv.

The Fursals are not just pets, but their humans do not know of their abilities. Reilly is Eden's and Tank belongs to Sass. The fursals are bonded to their owners and now it seems they are also telepathic. These furry little creatures may be the only answer to the horror that is overtaking the Triad.

Psy-Serv desperately wants to recover Jace and the implant in his head. The battle for Eden to save Jace and Sass to discover the dangers they now face in the Triad, are played out against the feelings of Kel-Paten who is loyal to his country and fasinated by the woman who has stolen a part of him that no one knew he had, his heart.

I loved the old fashioned space-opera type of book and the romances were hot and delecious. Linnea Sinclair is a wonderful addition to our favorite writers.

The war between the United Coalition and the Triad is over and the two former enemies now make up the Alliance guarding against the llithians who want more inhabited worlds to conquer. Former Coalition Captain Tasha "Sass" Sebastian is now assigned to captain the Vaxxar. Admiral Branden Kel-Paten, a biocybe who is more machine than human, and the captain have played cat and mouse with each other during the war and now that Tasha is in his space, the feelings he isn't supposed to have for her begun to geow much stronger.

During a flight, they travel into the middle of a vortex to pick up Triad rebel Jace Serafino. He lapses into a coma and is able to take Eden the medical officer into a private dimension, a creation of his race. There he tells her he has an implant in his head put there by Psy-Serv so he can't use his telepathic abilities for more than ten minutes of time. The implant needs to be removed because he has information about Psy-Serv that could tear the Alliance apart if he can get his memories straight so that Kel-Paten believes him. On the way to a space station, Jace, Eden, the admiral and Tasha are all caught by their enemies and sent to a dimension nobody knows exists; inhabited by an enemy that controls the people who thought to use it. The foursome must escape in order to warn the inhabited galaxy.

Every book Linnea Sinclair writes is better than the one before it, which says a lot because all are great. Readers will fall in love with Eden's pet furzel Reilly and Tasha's pet fidget (a baby furzel). Their antics and protectiveness to their humans and their play in trying to save the galaxy is so entertaining that the audience will want to adopt a fidget of their own. The developing romance between the two heroes and heroines in between galactic crises adds realism to a tense and thrilling science fiction saga.

Harriet Klausner

I am not usually the gushing type, but allow me to indulge for a moment. You see, I love really good, well-written Science Fiction. You know, the kind that builds a believable universe with real people in it, humans and aliens. I also love romance, two intelligent people falling in love and trying to navigate the brambles of each other's emotions. What I have always dreaded is the hackneyed plot, the unbelivably obtuse hero or heroine, or the purpled prose that makes your eyes bleed. Thank heaven for Linnea Sinclair! Not only does she neatly dodge the usual shoals of bad writing and never once take the easy way out, but she writes tautly suspenseful, nail biting, nerve-wracking action to hold together all the best things about SF and Romance. If Georgette Heyer and Robert Heinlin had a bastard love child, it would be Ms. Sinclair.

This latest one, Games of Command, doesn't dissapoint me at all. I got it in the mail yesterday and read until one in the morning, unable to stop turning pages until I hit the very satisfying conclusion (though she had me very nervous till the last page). I loved the heros and heroines, they were all very clearly defined personalities, with flaws and strengths and senses of humor. I adored the furzels (and want more background on them!) especially as I have been owned by felines for many years. I liked the plot, the universe, and the way everything twisted and turned like a snake with lumbago. The nonstop action left me breathless and the romance made me dreamy eyed. All in all, the only thing I can say is... it's how long until the next one? (whimper)

As romantic sci-fi goes, Sinclair rules. She writes captivating, her storylines are cool and she adds innovations. So what's new this time?

She's invented the funniest new sci-fi animals ever. They're cuddly, cute, soft, smart. Even telepathically gifted! And they hunt really Bad Things.

This is a lovely adventure. Surface-level-wise. Even if you analyze it critically, it holds up. This story is about the beauty of emotions: if you have too much, it may turn into a bad thing. If you can't express it, you're not really human. If you're caught, either by pursuing too much or expressing too little, love is the answer. Love for your furry fuzzly pet. Love for your friends. Love for your love.

Sweet.

I had an interesting experience with this book. I happened to have a digital copy of Command Performance, an earlier version of this story published in 2001 by a now defunct publisher. So I read it first-- it was painful to say the least. The author was still finding her way with lots of "tell" rather than "show". In fact it felt a lot like a ST:TNG Fan Fic. By the middle the writing started to improve but the author had thrown in a world threatened by some sort of psychic monster where they just happened to speak the same language as the characters from outer space, an idyllic heated spring, a Duke of Whatsis who is really taken with one female character, and a warrior class who just happened to dress a lot like two of the characters from outer space. This is the sort of stuff that makes most "futurist romance" stories unreadable.

Unless you are a fan of the authors and a completist, Command Performance is not worth the huge amounts of money being asked for copies at some sites.

If you want to read an entertaining space opera head straight for Games of Command.

The writing is vastly improved. While the first part of Games of Command tracks the first part of Command Performance plotwise, the writing is leaner and stronger. (All right, the Furzals are cute overload, but what's a space opera without a pet?)

However, it is where the plot deviates from the previous book that things really begin to shine. The idyllic pool, the Duke of Whatsis and the equinards are gone. Instead a more complex and tighter story emerges with lots of slam bang action and some emotional angst. I was up to 3:30 am because I just had to finish it.

Sinclair has stated on her web site that her current publisher is not interested in making this a series. I think this is probably a good idea. However, I would like to see more books set in this universe.

One thing that totally made me wretch was when one character refers to another as a "green-eyed vixen". Cut the romance cliches please Ms Sinclaire.

Linnea Sinclair has found her true calling when it comes to writing sci-fi/ space travel fiction. There is a touch of everything in this book. A great hero and heroine, action packed space travel and also some interesting little creatures as side kicks that are so adorable.
Tasha Sebastian is a hardnosed space captain who has a shady past but tries to let it go as she looks forward to the future. She is assigned to go on a mission with a man who has been the bain of her existence for years. Admiral Branden Kel-Paten is as perfect as you can get. When he was a teenager he was made into a half man/ half machine that can run a ship with his body. But Kel-Paten is supposed not to have any real feelings. He even has the nickname "Tin Soldier". Well, everyone was wrong. He has an undying passion for Tasha, who he has secretly loved for years. And he hasn't had a lot of experience with women so he feels he is unworthy of her love. This needs to be kept hidden because if anyone finds out, he will be considered a malfunction and perhaps his life will be ended.
Along for this ride is Tasha's doctor friend Eden and their two little pets known as furzels (Hey, it is sci fiction after all; we need some adorable creatures for comic relief at least). Every time one of these furzels enters the scene, it was a joy and took away some of the heavy action occurring.
Tasha's and Kel-Paten's journey doesn't go well as they pick up Jace who maybe an enemy against the fraction they both work for. Tasha and Jace have a past that if also found out, it could mean the end of Tasha's career and yes, her life. But things go from bad to worse with other enemies coming out from all sides for their own devious reasons. It is up to our two main characters along with Eden and Jace, who also eye each other, to save part of the universe.
There is so much going on in this book that it is an enjoyable wild ride. There are two love affairs going on with four great characters that you can not miss. Kel-Paten is one hero that suffers so silently that you wish Tasha would see what he sees in her and understand his feelings.
Yes, there are undertones of a romance but it doesn't overrun the story. This book is perfect for male and female alike and even teens.
A true intergalactic feat by one storyteller who is reinventing this genre

Katiebabs

Gabriel's Ghost

The primary love plot is between Tasha "Sass" Sebastian, an unorthodox and smart aleck military captain, and her commanding officer, Branden Kel-Paten, a cyborg programmed to be coldly logical. KP has been madly in love with Sass since the first time they met on opposites sides of the war. When the war ended in a peace treaty and the mutual merging of their governments, KP threw his rank around to get Sass transferred to his ship...and then he has no idea how to take the next step. Complicating matters is Sass's best friend, Eden, whose empathy and rank make her both capable of sensing KP's emotions and duty bound to report him for reprogramming if she can confirm their existence. So now KP has to juggle declaring his love for Sass and getting her to fall in love with him while avoiding Eden and accomplishing his goals before Eden figures out what's wrong with him and has him axed - or worse, tells Sass that his love is nothing more than a computer glitch.

The secondary love plot failed utterly. I spent the first half of the book wanting Jace to get punched in the face and the second half wanting him to die. He abuses his psychic abilities, withholds vital information from the other characters "for their protection" and nearly gets them all killed with his incompetance. At one point Jace roots around in KP's mind and digs up the most painful secret he can find, a secret that left scars on KP's psyche for more than a decade, and throws it back in his face solely for the purpose of causing him pain. No consequences for his actions ever appear. Jace's alleged motivation is to protect his nephew but he seems to forget about the child's existence about 80% through the novel. I guess he didn't love him all that much.

If Jace Serafino had never entered the picture, I might have given this novel a 4.5 or a 5. As it is, this book is only average, and disappointing compared to the author's other works. Try Finders Keepers or An Accidental Goddess before this one - they're far superior.

Games of Command is classic Romantic space opera. It is a light, fast read. No hard core sci-fi here; just a fast paced romance. Truly a guilty pleasure.