Customer Reviews

A Just Determination (JAG in Space, Book 1)

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This book and its sequel (_Burden of Proof_) are the two very best military-SF legal dramas I've ever read.

In fact they're the _only_ military-SF legal dramas I've ever read. Oh, I'm not quite saying John G. Hemry personally invented the genre; at the very least there were a few episodes of the original _Star Trek_ series that attempted it, with varying degrees of success. But if there are other examples out there in The Literature, I haven't read them. Hemry is doing something pretty new here.

And he's doing it mighty well. Both these books are very fine novels in each respect: military, SF, and legal.

I can't speak directly to the 'military' aspect, but I gather Hemry is himself retired from the US Navy and knows what he's talking about. The portrait of shipboard life is also very realistic, I hear, except for one thing: the near-total lack of rough language may well leave you wondering where the expression 'cuss like a sailor' ever came from. Not that you expect naval officers to go around saying 'Request f***ing permission to come the f*** aboard' or anything, but I think I counted two hells, one pi$$ed off, and maybe a couple of stray damns. (I'm not saying this is bad, mind you, just letting you know that Hemry has toned that aspect down, probably in order to keep things suitable for younger readers.) Oh, and the Space Navy is coed.

The SF is mostly in the background, but if you know anything about physics, you'll recognize that Hemry does too; it's buried in the details and sometimes between the lines, but he's done his homework.

(After reading the book, I turned up some online comments suggesting that it might not qualify as 'real' SF because it could have been set without loss in today's navy as a straightforward, non-SF legal thriller. I don't think that's true; not only is there a lot of stuff here about spaceship design and operation, but the single most important 'background' legal question -- how is it possible for the United States to lay territorial claim to a volume of vacuum the boundaries of which are defined in part by moving planets? -- is one that can arise _only_ in space, and the fact that it hasn't yet been answered underlies a key plot point involving some vaguely worded orders. No, this legal question isn't brought out very clearly or very often in the story itself, because it's something of a side issue with respect to the main plot. But it's there, and the book couldn't happen without it.)

The legal stuff is both realistic and gripping -- and as far as I can tell (I didn't specifically study military law in law school) accurate as well. Hemry can write courtroom scenes like nobody's business.

The tale is well-crafted too. The narrative style is utterly transparent, as well-engineered expository prose should be. There are no stylistic flourishes here to call attention to the author; there's a story to be told, and the narrative tells it very straightforwardly and economically, making sure the reader never gets left behind or confused _and_ that things never drag. For obvious reasons, this approach is well suited to the subject matter.

That subject matter is the experience of Ensign Paul Sinclair in the US Navy in 2099 -- space navy, that is, but the same branch of the service as today's wet navy, and up to its ears in the same unaltered traditions. The first hundred or so pages introduce us to Sinclair and let us watch him settling in to life aboard the USS _Michaelson_. After that, when his captain does something mind-bendingly stupid but apparently within the scope of his special orders, Sinclair finds he has a tough personal decision to make.

I'm not going to tell you any more than that, and I strongly advise (if it's not too late) that you avoid reading the cover blurb and the summaries elsewhere on this page. With _both_ of these books, Ace has for some reason written blurbs that give away things that happen over a hundred pages into the action. I strongly disapprove and wish _I_ hadn't read those blurbs.

Great stuff, anyway, and some of the very best recent SF I've had the pleasure to read. Hemry seems to be aiming these tales at 'young adults' but they're suitable for us older adults too: there's a lot of depth in his explorations of the various sorts of duty (moral, ethical, legal, professional) and the dilemmas to which they give rise, and (as in real life) he's not afraid to leave some matters ambiguous and/or unresolved.

There's supposed to be a third Paul Sinclair book coming out in March 2005; I'll be watching for it (and I hope Sinclair changes his mind and decides to become a lawyer). Hemry is also the author of the _Stark's War_ series, which I guess now I'll have to read.

John G. Hemry's A Just Determination is a remarkably impressive work of military science fiction. The critical action upon which the story hinges is actually rather brief, with the second half of the novel basically taking the form of a legalistic presentation of facts, charges, and adjudications. A book of this kind could easily be dry, analytical, and far from engaging, yet Hemry's writing kept me deeply interested in the story at all times. A large part of his success can be traced to his powerful character development skills as a writer. As the futuristic novel opens, Ensign Paul Sinclair, fresh out of the naval academy, embarks on the USS Michaelson for his first real tour of space duty. We see the ship through his eyes, and Sinclair's impressions and observations of ship dimensions, claustrophobic compactness, and cramped living conditions really make the Michaelson come vividly alive in the reader's own mind. Hemry then paints amazingly lifelike portraits of the many important players in this legalistic thriller, men and women whose discrepancies in terms of my expectations of their actions helped me reach a better understanding of these fascinating individuals; if anything, they are too human. Ensign Sinclair, for his part, is a sympathetic and remarkably likable character, making his share of mistakes as he attempts to juggle the demanding half-dozen important assignments he is given on board ship. The fact that his character rings so true to this reader made his ultimate decisions all the more meaningful and honorable. His shipmates seem every bit as real as he does: the irascible captain whom no one really respects or likes; the inscrutable Executive Officer whose commitment to the U.S. Navy determines everything she says and does; the officer who spends most of her time trying to avoid responsibility in spite of her obvious skills; the sympathetic mid-level officers who lend support to the new guy; the fellow officer who will say anything about his cohorts in an effort to make himself look good; etc.

We spend the first half of the novel learning the ropes alongside Ensign Sinclair as the Michaelson heads out to patrol a region of space. Several months into its mission, the ship detects another craft illegally in its zone. After several weeks of pursuit, events take place very quickly once the paths of both vessels finally converge outside of the Michaelson's proscribed zone. The captain ends up giving the order to fire upon the vessel after it changes vectors to what is potentially a collision course with the Michaelson. It is soon discovered that the other vessel was an unarmed civilian ship posing no real threat at all to the mighty warship, at which point the Michaelson is ordered to return to base, where the captain is to face court-martial proceedings for his actions. Ensign Sinclair finds himself in the middle of all this drama; it was he who had delivered a summary of the ship's mission orders and rules of engagement; in his capacity as legal officer (for which he had only four weeks of training), he had told the captain, when asked, that the vague mission orders did seem to leave the decision as to how to proceed up to his own best judgment. Notwithstanding this fact, Sinclair did not approve of the captain's decision to fire on the vessel, and he faces a moral dilemma in terms of the court-martial proceedings. The captain is charged with broad violations that Sinclair legally does not believe are warranted, yet he wants the captain to be punished for his obvious mistakes in judgment and leadership failures. As he ponders these weighty issues in his own mind, the reader is treated to an instructive lesson in morality, ethics, duty, and patriotism. The end result is a praiseworthy course of action that definitely inspired this reader.

There is something of a love story theme advanced in the late stages of the plot. Ordinarily, I might question the inclusion of such a device, but in this case it does really reinforce the points about duty, honor, and service that Hemry seems to be making. The final chapters detailing the courtroom proceedings are far from mundane, having made me creep ever closer to the front of my seat in anticipation of the final judgment of the case. I would never have expected a legalistic work of military science fiction to prove as exciting as A Just Determination most definitely is. This is military science fiction at its best.

I was a little leary of this book since I find a lot of "Space Navy" stories rather overdone. However, from the first page, I felt like I was back on a ship and was reliving my own first tour on a ship.

I have read both of the the books in Hemry's Space Navy / legal books and eagerly await the one not yet in print. The characters are rich, detailed and believable - more human than David Drake's grim killers. If you have ever been on a warship, you will recognize there is a right way, a wrong way and the Navy way, and the Navy way is the way you have to do things, irrational or not. There was not a false note in the book, nor a miracle resolution on the last page. The plotting is more detailed, and the time frame longer than Hemry's "Starks War" books - I liked them, but these are better.

I picked up this book not sure what to expect; I was hoping for something mildly entertaining.

What I found instead is an extremely taut, well-written, suspenseful story of a junior ensign aboard a military space ship patrolling the solar system.

While somewhat lacking in "hard science", it is a terrific tale of the stresses of the military, legalities of conflict, and the behavior of individuals under trying circumstances.

Although the characterizations were somewhat cliched (sneaky rivals, martinet commanders, Captain Queeg, etc.), I was very impressed with the author's structure and pacing of the novel. I got the sense that it was like a fictionalization of a real-life event. The situations and resolution rang true.

I literally couldn't put this book down. I had nearly the same sense of enjoyment that I had when I read my first Hornblower book. I'll definitely be looking for more books by this author.

Read this after reading The Lost Fleet and enjoying that quite a bit. Unfortunately, like Stark's War, it seems like it took Hemry a few books to really get the hang of things. In this one, the characters weren't all that well developed, plot was essentially straightforward, and the big ethical dilemma was pretty contrived. All in all, barely as good as a mediocre David Weber.

I got hooked on this series when it came out, eagerly awaited each succeeding volume, and am really sorry Hemry found another outlet for his talents (the Lost Fleet series). I keep hoping for another installment in this one, but that seems to be a vain hope.

The plots grab you, the characters are sympathetic, and they develop and grow throughout. The only defect these books have is a lack of character description -- the characters are never given physical descriptions, so we really never know what they look like. And with perhaps one or two exceptions, we don't even know the color of their uniforms.

That was easy enough to get past, though, and the series remains an entertaining read, with a place on my keeper shelf.

A Just Determination is a science fiction novel about an international incident in space. The USS Michaelson, under the command of Captain P. C. Wakefield, pursues, fires upon, and destroys an unarmed South Asian Alliance survey ship. After completion of the JAG investigation, the Captain is relieved of command and referred to a court-martial.

In this novel, Ensign Paul Sinclair's first shipboard assignment is to the USS Michaelson just prior to the ship sailing on an extended cruise through US claimed space. His orders state that he is assigned as the Assistant Combat Information Center Officer and the Executive Officer, Commander Herdez, confirms that, indeed, that will be his primary assignment, but she also assigns him collateral duties as Ship's Legal Officer, Postal Officer, and assistant security manager. In his primary assignment, he reports to Lieutenant Jan Tweed, the COIC and his division chief, and Commander Garcia, the Operations Department Head.

Sinclair bunks with the male ensigns, and Lieutenant JG Carl Meadows, in the starboard ensign locker (the female ensigns bunk in the port ensign locker). Lieutenant Meadows introduces him to most of the other ensigns as well as to the various department chiefs. Since he is the Legal Officer, Senior Chief Petty Officer Kowalski introduces him to First Class Master-at-arms Mate Ivan Sharpe, the "Sheriff".

One of Sinclair's first duties as Legal Officer is to prepare an opinion for the XO as to the legal interpretation of the ship's orders. Paul finds them broad and vague. However, the gist of the orders is to reinforce the nation's claims to the volume of space wherein the ship is to patrol and to prevent unauthorized encroachments into this volume.

When the SASAL ship seems to deliberately intrude into their patrol volume, the Captain and crew are suspicious of the actions of the other ship. The intelligence estimate mentions the possibilities of "unconventional threats", which the crew interprets as Q-ships, vessels with concealed armament. An interception is ordered by the Captain, which eventually results in the SASAL ship disabled and drifting, with all her crew dead.

This novel is as cross between The Caine Mutiny and the Stark incident, with a touch of Mr. Roberts. Ensign Sinclair is originally a witness for the prosecution, but, when the Navy throws the book at Captain Wakefield, Sinclair feels that justice is not being served and volunteers to testify for the defense.

The action scenes and the courtroom sequences are riveting. As with The Caine Mutiny, I had trouble putting the book down, especially after the SASAL vessel is detected. Overall, the book is a fascinating glimpse at what the future may look like for a junior naval officer a century from now.

This novel also includes a romantic interest. Unlike current warships, the USS Michaelson has a mixed crew. Paul begins to accept one of the other ensigns as a friend and maybe something more, but he is not sure how she feels. Both avoid any sign of impropriety to the point of confusing each other, but all is resolved after she receives orders transferring her to another ship.

Highly recommended for Hemry fans and anyone else who enjoyed The Caine Mutiny and other realistic fiction with a military justice theme.

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This is an unusual mil-SF novel. Really, it's just barely SF, and might better be termed a naval procedural -- and very nicely-done, too. In 2098, Ensign Paul Sinclair's first duty assignment is aboard the USS Michaelson CLE(S)-3, a long-endurance space cruiser, newly-deployed to patrol American-claimed space. Young Sinclair suffers through the agonies of on-the-job officer training -- trials that will bring a twinge of sympathy from anyone who's started out green in a demanding job with a difficult boss. Hemry's portrait of the trials and triumphs of day-to-day naval life rings true [note 1] to this former naval officer -- and I'm pleased that the Supply Officer, the humble 'porkchop', is one of the more sympathetic characters, since that was my job, too.

On patrol, the Michaelson detects a South Asian Alliance ship trespassing on the American claim. Challenged, the rival vessel flees. The Michaelson orders the intruder to heave to for boarding. The intercept goes horribly wrong -- the American cruiser fires on the SASAL ship, killing all on board. The intruder turns out to be an unarmed research vessel.

Captain Wakeman is called to account for his actions at a general court-martial, described as meticulously, and as grippingly, as any fictional courtroom drama I've read. Ens. Sinclair, who doubles as the ship's Legal Officer, feels compelled to testify in favor of his disgraced Captain, even though he thinks Wakeman was a piss-poor commanding officer....

All of this is related in thoughtful, serviceable, workmanlike prose that clunks at times, but gets the job done. The job, in this case, is a sympathetic examination of how the modern US Navy actually works, with fallible people doing their duty, or dodging it, or bungling it...

Naval SF novels tend to be Hornblower-knockoffs (Weber, Drake, Feintuch, etc.), so it's a pleasure to see one drawn from the 21st century instead of the 18th. The young Ensign's coming-of-age reminded me of Heinlein's classic Space Cadet, which was drawn from his 1930's Naval service.

Hemry is a retired Naval officer who grew up as a Navy brat, so he's walked the walk, too. Hemry's space warships are, reasonably enough, extrapolated as subs/tin cans-in-space, with similarly compact and, um, challenging interior dimensions. About the only substantial change in Hemry's end-of-the-21st century US Navy is the complete integration of women into the service. This is reasonable, too, as the Navy is a *very* tradition-bound organization.

This is the first of a projected four 'Paul Sinclair' novels -- the next, Burden of Proof, is scheduled for March 2004 publication. I'm looking forward to reading it.
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Note 1) -- except for the language, which is sanitized for the intended YA audience.
Perhaps not the wisest choice, but a defensible one.

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman
Review first appeared at Infinity-plus, January 2004

Ensign Paul Sinclair reports to duty on the USS Michaelson, a warship assigned to "protect" a vast space sector from enemies. The ship's XO Herdez appoints him an assortment of duties to include the only legal officer on board as he once attended an entry-level class.

Not long afterward, as Paul still struggles to get his legs, Herdez assigns him to provide her a legal opinion of the higher headquarters' operation instructions and rules of engagement assigned to the ship. Paul realizes they are vague, but still does his best to interpret the acceptable levels of commitment. Soon he finds himself in a career-threatening situation when he must defend his ship's Captain Wakeman in the wake of the destruction of a civilian research vessel. Worse he violates the first rule of deep space service by starting to fall in love with crew member Ensign Jen Shen.

JUST DETERMINATION is a strong space ship legal thriller that provides incredible insight into life on an outer space vessel as if John G. Hemry served on one (probably similar to submarine duty). The story line insures the audience understands the pressure on the crew not only due to the vastness of space, the length of time, but also the interpretation of what is acceptable encounter behavior. Though there is some action sequences, fans of tales focused on the relationships within a military science fiction will want to trek to the stars with Paul.

Harriet Klausner