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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not as strong as the first book, March 9, 2005
I really enjoyed "Kris Longknife: Mutineer", but the sequel "Deserter" is not as strong a story. (By the way, who chose the silly names for these books? They are in no way a fair description of the action that takes place).
Kris launches herself off on an adventure without her beloved Navy when her friend Tommy goes missing on holiday. Accompanying her are her bodyguard and the most dangerous lady's maid I've ever come across in fiction, plus a few others that crop up as the story unfolds. Trading on her despised status as a princess, Kris "infiltrates" high society and finds that there is more than one dangerous plot threatening her and the planet she's visiting.
I do like Kris herself and the plot outline is a good one, but the execution suffers somewhat from a plethora of characters that aren't given enough to do and an poorly-defined setting. Also, some matters were introduced but never engaged with, like alien technology. And I never thought I'd say it, but I wanted some risks and last-minute hitches rather than everything going perfectly in the big finale.
I'd like to read more of Kris' adventures (some features of "Deserter" hint at a third book in the series), but Shepard needs to be careful that Kris stays properly human. At present she's veering dangerously close to superwoman territory. Some plot elements seem to have no better purpose than to demonstrate how consistently wonderful she is.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A pleasent 2nd effort by the author of the series, but..., February 25, 2005
Kristine Longknife has some very determine enemies who'd like nothing better than to axe this prime ministers daughter, billionaire in her own right, member of a extreamly weathy-powerful multi-generational family, and navy lieutenant 2nd class, and now a Princess in a new star nation/empire.
Kris is about to learn just how far her enemies will go to try and kill her. As she says in the first book if she is going to be "one of those damn Longknives," its time she knew what it was all about. All of Kris's friends will be back plus a couple new ones as Kris once again leads her friends to kick tushy!
The story itself in a interesting one and a fun read. But there are so many inconsistancies; name changes, tense changes, several places the word "a" or "an" is missing, there are spelling errors of the most basic sort and etc, that they take away from the punch of the story. Oh don't get me wrong this is a fun read but it could have used some serious proof editing.
On the whole the story is a decent read.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre but Not Without Hope, June 3, 2011
I strongly recommend you read the prevous book in the series (Mutineer) prior to reading this installment.
I have been cruising around, looking for a good SF book since all my Scifi TV shows, except for Doctor Who, that I have watched up until May 2011 have been cancelled (my beloved Stargate Universe, SG-1, SGA, The Event, V, Outcasts, Caprica, Farscape, BSG, etc.). Unfortunately this particular installment did not completely satisfy my huge SF appetite.
I subtracted two-stars for two reasons; (1) the whole princess idea and the endless logistics of Kris's societal obligations seemed completely farfetched, uppity and received more focus than it should have; and (2) this installment simply wasn't as good as the first book. Kris seemed like some over-privileged debutante, whose military career was completely non-existent. Through most of this book she spent her time in the bath or being fawned over and overdressed by her maid.
Although this installment didn't have as much action as the last installment; it was still interesting and I had no problems finishing this book. Luckily this installment was well written and intriguing because the Kris from this installment in no way resembled the brave heroine from Mutineer.
While this book takes place in the 24th century, I was a bit disappointed to see minorities and religious nut-heads still exist, and that humanities pettiness still reigns supreme.
I recommend this book to fellow SF fans, however, this installment will take some patience to get through. It's a good book but it's ashamed that it barely resembles a military space opera. I also look forward to the next book in the series Defiant.
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