Customer Reviews

Kris Longknife: Resolute: Resolute

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

With this, the fourth in the Longknife series (which now consists of seven books), Mike Shepherd really hits his stride. He's got the formula down pat. As usual, he lets you know what's incoming for Kris and the fun is figuring out how she'll deal with the threat. His characters are interesting, and his plot elements mesh smoothly.

Naturally, Kris is once again sent on some obscure mission in order to keep her in line, out of trouble, and out of the way. As before, she ends up being confronted by two tasks. In the first one, she captures a pirate ship quite easily, which leads to the discovery of some mysteriously alien tech that must, of course, not fall into the wrong hands.

Then, she is forced to defend an idependent planet, which has the sort of government that Heinlein would have approved of (whether the author himself does I leave for the individual readers to decide for themselves) against the planned take over by the Longknifes' enemy, the Peterwalds--represented in this case once again by their idiot spawn, Hank. As usual, the odds seem to be against her. Of course, since this is the fourth of seven . . . well, you know she'll prevail.

The novel goes on a bit after Kris wins out, too--and sets up the machinery for the next installments. We learn more about Abby the mysterious steamer-trunk-bearing maid, too.

It's all smooth, harmless, a fun read. It goes down easily, like an episode of one of your favorite TV dramas. And Mr. Shepherd doesn't let things get stale.

Kris's superiors send her to the end of he rim, hopefully unable to cause any trouble. She gets her own command, of the space station High Chance but soon finds out that the space station is all but closed down since there is almost no traffic through this boon dock part of the galaxy. This frontier style planet enjoys its peace and just wanted to be left alone but Kris eventually charms her want into the hearts and minds of the locals. Kris leads an expedition mission and uncovers treasures that advance the story line of the entire series forward. Suddenly an invasion occurs led by Hank Peterwald and Kris and hank at first enter the political games, trying to win over the kind locals folks by grand standing at fairy tale dance balls. Then the antics turn nasty and Kris is stuck defending Chance as only a Longknife can.

This book is full of our favorite returning characters but, once again, the impeding last battle scene seems slow to develop and a little drawn out for my tastes.

I still love the fun and adventure and makes for a fun, fast, summer read.

I've enjoyed these, as fluffy "space opera", and I actually think the writing is improving with each book, as is the enjoyment one gets from the continuing escapades of the main characters. I think the plot construction is steadily improving, as well as the author's ability to hammer out sentences that don't distract from the reader's enjoyment of the story. That said, I have two negative observations that have become slightly more pronounced with each novel; the author has never really learned the use of humor in balancing the novel, and that he seems to be getting into a bit of a rut. Each novel is seeming like a slightly more polished version of the prior ones, albeit with the props (space station for ships in this one) swapped out. I think the work is fun and entirely readable, but I hope the author continues to develop in new directions, rather than becoming more entrenched in the rut I've mentioned. Frankly, this is one of several series that seem near knockoffs of the Honor Harrington books (which were innovative, but not nearly as well written in my humble view). It was a fun, quick read, and I've already ordered the next book (albeit with some trepidation, due to the increasingly repetitive nature of the author's developing style). I think each one has been more readable, the plot construction is increasingly good, the characters are worth following, and there's a lot to enjoy. For the price, I enjoyed it quite a bit...and I hope you do as well. Just don't expect too much; it is rather fine military space opera, if a quick read and somewhat monotonously dire in the tone of the story and the situation the heroine faces.

The Wardhaven's United Sentients and Greenfield's Confederacy are too evenly matched to go to direct hot hostilities, but that does not restrain the latter from trying to annex planets or from the former trying to stop them in a galaxy cold war. Navy Lieutenant Kris Longknife is also a princess since her grandfather is the king and her father is the prime minister. Some will say her new assignment as the Commander of Naval District 41 is due to her royal connections, but those who know her believe she has earned her position with hard competent work though the brass place her out of harm's way due to her royal lineage and her tendency to get into trouble.

The nearest planet not part of the Confederacy is Chance and she must somehow keep it that way while also checking on pirate activity and jump sights. Kris finds and goes through ones she discovered that lead to an unexplored part of space. She soon finds an alien planet with technology that neither she nor her crew have ever seen before. The orb could prove a gold mine, but instead the Confederacy is coming to the space station and Chance to take over both. Kris must prevent that plus she has a more personal war to contend with from the Confederacy commander.

Fans of the Honor Harrington escapades will welcome the adventures of another strong female in outer space starring a in a thrill a page military space opera. The heroine's dry wit, ability to know what she is good at and her faults while keeping her regal DNA in perspective especially during a crisis endear her to readers. The audience will root for the determined, courageous and endearing heroine as she displays intelligence and leadership during lethal confrontations.

Harriet Klausner

Kris Longknife is banished to an out of the way, run down, command, to get her out of the way, and has to fight against superior odds, again... The story is the same with different characters, but is is a well written story, that kept me entertained so much I couldn't put it down.

I enjoyed this one. It kept moving, and setup the story line for the future of the series.

I recommend you read the previous books in the series (Mutineer, Deserter and Defiant) prior to reading this installment.

This installment did not grab my attention until about page 94; however, from thereafter, the story took a change for the better. The author successfully entwined a great feel of adventure with the hidden secrets of the unknown. I can't say the story was on par with me not being able to put it down; but I did manage to finish this entire book with continued lukewarm interest and that counts for something.

I don't know what it is about this series, but no matter how annoyed I get or how bad a particular installment gets, I know that I am automatically going to read the next installment. The promise of learning more about the brilliant Ancients and knowing that Kris would be discovering their journey through the galaxy, in addition to finding out what exactly Nelly will evolve into keeps me coming back again and again.

I recommend this series to fellow SF readers and I look forward to reading the next book Audacious.

This is a good space opera, and every one of the series is enjoyable. Doesn't excite much deep thought, but the series is very entertaining. I've got the entire series to date.

Of course Kris is never completely on her own, and there is some development of her well known cast of supporting characters in this outing. This time Kris is sent to the back of nowhere to a station command nobody wants, which naturally turns out be of enormous importance. If you like the series you'll like this one. If you haven't read any of them I'd suggest starting at the start with Mutineer. Well worth the effort even if you're not a sci fi fan.

I could repeat this review for all the books in this series. They are not books of deep meaning. They don't need to be. They are fun space opera. I buy and read them the day they hit the shelves. I have read the whole series more than once and enjoyed them as much the second time as the first.

A nice mixture of action, politics, military sci-fi and cool gadget syndrome which im always partial to.

If you read SF for the fun of it, this is good reading. Its not Shakespeare, its good fun in a pretty well done universe.
Read it to enjoy. Re-read the series 3 times so far, but that what's I do to books I enjoy.
I've re-read the HH-series by Weber 5 or 6 till the last book... still waiting.
Now I'm waiting on Mike to get the next one out, then the next...