Customer Reviews

The Heart of Valor (Confederation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books of the Confederation series by Tanya Huff. After happening upon the first one seven years ago in a bookstore, I've been hooked, periodically checking to see when the next ones would come out. I therefore splurged and bought this book on it's publishing date. It's a good book, don't get me wrong, but I think it's a little formulaic now. Miss Huff has great talent- if she kept going with the character and this universe she's created, I would keep reading, it's rich and vibrant, obviously well thought out. But a different storyline than an "against all odds, barely scraping through" would be great.

The first two books in this series about a Space Marine NCO, Torin Kerr, Valor's Choice and The Better Part of Valor, were really excellent, which is why I sprang for this one in publisher's HC as soon as it came out. This one was still quite enjoyable, but not as good as the first two, imho, and if I'd known that I'd probably have waited for the PB in a year or so. Torin has been promoted from Staff Sergeant to Gunnery Sergeant and is giving a course on the Silsviss to various Marines at a training base on a space station. A Major she'd worked under in the first book, who'd been so badly injured that his life had barely been saved and he'd spent two years in a regrowth tank and had just recently been decanted, has persuaded the brass to send him with a recruit platoon to Crucible, where recruit classes are sent for a 2-week tactical problem as the last part of their basic training. But under the condition that his attending physician goes with him, and that Torin accompanies them for added protection. Then when they get there the senior DI on the mission goes into a change peculiar to his species, and he's the only one who can abort the mission--and the various drones that act as enemy on the missions, with tight restrictions on how much damage they're allowed to do, start seriously attacking the platoon. And the orbital platform that has the capability of turning them off is destroyed by a SAM. And then things start to really get interesting. Meanwhile, Torin and her sometime lover, Craig Ryder, have discovered that they are apparently the only ones who were on Big Yellow, the alien spaceship, who remember that an escape pod from that ship was picked up by the Confederation ship they were on, and while Torin is on Crucible Craig investigates that, with surprising results. It's a good story, with an interesting mystery to go along with the battle action; it's just not up to the level of the first two books (which, if you missed, are now out in an omnibus titled Confederation of Valor).

Newly-promoted Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is one tough Marine who prefers action to talk. She's tired of the endless briefings she is forced to participate in on Ventris Station since returning from a first contact with the Silsviss. So she is delighted when the newly regenerated Major Svensson asks her to accompany him to Crucible, the Marine training planet.

Crucible is the last step in a Marine's training--a twenty-day live-fire exercise pitting human and alien Marines against robot drones. Kerr is just there to observe what is supposed be a milk run, but the drones start to act more aggressive than their programming should allow. The only Marine who can shut the exercise down is incapacitated, leaving Kerr outmanned and outgunned. Now she has to train these "baby Marines" fast. It will take all her ingenuity and significant combat skills to get them out alive.

As a tough Marine who can still let her guard down with her lover, Craig Ryder, Kerr is a compelling heroine. Ryder plays a key role in this book, as he investigates the mystery of why only Kerr, himself and a reporter can remember a significant event.

THE HEART OF VALOR is the third novel in Huff's Confederation series, with layers of back story throughout the book. This approach means that readers new to the series may struggle for a few chapters to figure out motivations of all the different constituents in this universe.

Huff does an excellent job of world building, putting the reader in the middle of the action without losing them in military jargon. Readers stay tuned: there is a revelation near the end that sets up an interesting premise for the next book in the series.

Reviewed by Deb Gross
on 08/16/2007

3.5-Books on WUAT = 4-Stars on Amazon

In the very far distant future, the Confederation consisted of the elder races whconvinced other species to join them in the fight with the Others by making them space-faring species. The military consisted of various races who coexisted in harmony with one another. The heroine of the hour is Guunnery sergeant Torin Kerr, who single-handedly brought in the Silviss, a fighting sentient race into the Confederation, defeated an alien space ship and brought her squad home safely.

Tired of the scrutiny, Torin agrees to go to Crucible where the newly enlisted marines will have their last stop in their training. Accompanying Torin is Major Svension recently released from the regeneration vat and his doctor to see if he has returned to his full fighting capacity. From the time they land nothing goes right as Torin's unit comes under attack from the Others. They destroy the Operations Unit and hacked into the computers that simulate the marines fighting the others. Torin has to use all her units and all the experiences that she gained to get them out of what looks like a hopeless predicament.

Tanya Huff uses a different voice when she writes pure fantasy than when she writes urban fantasy and military science fiction. Readers who like the Honor Harrington series will thoroughly enjoy the Confederation novels. The protagonist is a strong and peaceful commander easily able to relate to men and women of different species because they know if the chips are down she will be for them. There is plenty of battle scenes and some shocking surprises in this fantastic military science fiction thriller.

Harriet Klausner

The Heart of Valor is another well written book by Tanya Huff. For once, I completely agreed with the positive reviews from professional book reviewers on the back cover of the jacket. Usually I take them with several grains of salt and then throw them in the bin.

Trouble seems to always follow the main character, Sergeant Torin. After her successful completion of her previous two missions (the first two books of the series- Heart of Valor is the third. I suggest reading the first two before this one. There are many references to events in them which wont make sense otherwise), she is briefed and debriefed by her incompetent deskbound superior officers and aches to escape, which comes in the form of being an aide to a fellow officer she rescued several years ago, who only just recovered using a new medical procedure. He, and his doctor, want to go to a recruit training facility to gather medical data on him. To field test him, as it were.

Torin gratefully accepts and from here on in, it's constant fast paced chaos and mayhem, which Tanya Huff manages well. There's conspiracy theories, a covert alien invasion, involving her current love interest and a pesky journalist, her former Drill Instructor (DI) becomes ill, and the recruits with her come under lethal attack during what is supposed to be a training exercise. This results in a very interesting ending and leads to book four, which I can hardly wait for!

I also read the inside jacket and discovered a few interesting things about the author too. She's an avid pet lover, a lesbian and lives in Canada. Pretty unusual, but I'm not biased. Even Canadians can write good books from time to time ;)

Hope this review helps!

I am still loving this series. Torin, newly promoted (though she really would rather stay away from being top brass) to gunny sargeant has agreed to accompany Major Svensson as an aide to Crucible. Crucible is the training planet for the Marines. That's where they put all their learning to practical applications. The planet sounds kind of cool - the marines have a few different training situations complete with terrain and weather variations;winter with below zero temperatures or tropical with all the accompanying bugs and heat. There are drones and other dangerous things that are programmed to run certain scenarios to put the marines through their paces - it's supposed to be dangerous, but non-deadly.

At the same time Torin's new man - Craig Ryder - is wondering where that escape pod is. The one he used to escape Big Yellow and bring help back to the others. Weirdly, it seems that only ones who remember this escape pod are him, Torin and Presit (the reporter). Strange. In fact, Torin was almost in trouble over asking questions, something that makes her think she's being used,making her angry.

Back on Crucible, Major Svensson (who has recently regrown almost his entire body and nervous system - I love futuristic sci-fi) seems just a bit odd to Torin. She's being his aide, managing him and protecting the civilian doctor who is monitoring him while the recruits they are accompanying are being put through the beginnings of a training program. The Staff Sargeant in charge of the recruits is the same staff sargeant that Torin trainined under years before, and she's surprised that he's still in the marines (something to do with Di'Taykan culture and his age). In fact, she finds something off about him also....

Things go from a bit off to that incredibly descriptive old anachronism - SNAFU. Yep - situation Normal-All F-d Up. Love that phrase. The training drones are suddenly deadly, the major is behaving strangely inconsistantly, the staff sargeant in charge suddenly is incapacitated and things go horribly wrong.

I enjoyed the return of a few characters from The Better Part of Valor - Craig Ryder (the man for Torin), Presit (the reporter who irritates Torin and who doesn't really like Torin), and General Morris in all his pompous glory. The man tries so hard to be a good general, but he's....well he's a bit pompous - he had a smaller part to play in this book, but important. I also really enjoyed a few new characters from the recruits and the Navy spaceship. There is a recruit that is so enthusiastic that she packs everything on the suggested list - something that the other recruits thought unnecessary. She's the first to volunteer answers and actions, and she has developoed a crush on Torin. There's the tech whiz, who's good at all things programming and hacking. The Di'Taykan cultured is almost a character in itself.

Ms Huff has written a great series and I've enjoyed this third novel very much. After finishing this novel, I grabbed the fourth novel off my shelf right away.

"The Heart of Valor" contains another story about fierce marine sergeant Torrin Kerr. It is the second in a series of books which begins with "Confederation of Valor". Author Tanya Huff has a terrific ability to set up an armed conflict and carry the action forward for chapter after chapter. Her protagonist is not only a super warrior, but has an amazing (almost unbelievable) ability to see the big picture and figure out what background forces are at work putting honest marines in harm's way.

So, this is lightweight military science fiction that makes for a good read. It was good enough for me to get the follow-on books about Sgt. Kerr.

I've read all of the Valor books and most of Tanya Huff's books. None have left me disappointed and this is no exception. I liked the characters, the story and the idea.

I like that she is from a colony world where the gravity gives her some extra strength. I enjoyed all 4 books and hope she continues the series. It's a series I'll be giving to my step-daughter. You don't have to be female to enjoy it (My husband read all of them straight through) but it's always nice to see a strong, ethical woman who has the normal fear and worrys but can put that aside to get the job done.

I'm a gamer and this is a character I'd like to play, the way I like to play my female Shepard in Mass Effect.

If you like a good story, with interesting characters, I think it's a good read. JMO.

This is by far my favorite novel in the Tanya Huff Confederation series.

Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr, Huff's main protagonist, is a female NCO who completely rocks out. The novels overall premise involved a training exercise gone wrong, and I loved every minute of the adventure.

The characters were vibrant, and the military themed adventure was perfect for an "Armchair Colonel" such as myself who was looking for some military sci fi. Kerr is indeed the type of character that I love to read about, as her sense of duty and honor comes out loud and clear.

I was not disappointed by The Heart Of Valor.

Excellent series for those who like their military sci-fi. Not ofetn we get inside the mind of an NCO which brings a good perspective.
Highly recommended