Customer Reviews

Law of Survival

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In "Law of Survival," the third in Kristine Smith's Jani Kilian series, Jani, now a civilian documents examiner, is faced with a new set of problems: someone's trying to frame the Idomeni leader, Nema; there's now a "white paper" out on her describing her checkered (to say the least) past; the military keeps trying to pull her back in as an advisor but won't take her advice; friends show up and start redecorating her apartment; the shady Niall from the previous book turns out to be one of the good guys; and she's still looking for love in all the wrong places. Her knee still hurts.

And then people start shooting at her and her colleagues, a group of Idomeni start to act more "humanish," and, oh yeah, her parents show up.

Our Jani of course continues to kick butt and take names; there's plenty of plot confusion (even Jani, as usual, doesn't quite know what's going on); There's a confrontation in, of all places, a bureaucratic meeting, and maybe the next time you're stuck in one at your job, you may have some delicious fantasies, thinking "oh if only Jani Kilian were here now!"

Great writing, great fun. Smith keeps getting better and better.

Smith's stories remind me of C. J. Cherryh, taut text fraught with tension and rapid discovery of characters and events that scream along the plot line in often unexpected directions. These are involving characters depicted with "real" dialog. The fascinating mix of medicine and aliens, the mingling of the cultures provides intersting explorations and depth of universe to adventure in. Good, intelligent read you won't want to put down. I liked the whole series for much the same reasons.

Kris Smith has created a protagonist to treasure in Jani Killian. Kick-[bottom], cranky, smart and rapidly becoming more than human, Jani is not your typical sci-fi sweetie. The alien race is excellently written. The author doesn't assume her readers want to be spoon-fed the story, so it has weight and depth, which is most appreciated by many of us sci-fi fans.
So, start with the first in the series, Code of Conduct,
go directly to the second, Rules of Conflict, then come to
this one and savor some of the best of recent science fiction.

"Law of Survival" is the third book in a series by author Kristine Smith, showing us a galactic society populated by two diverse, yet seemingly cooperative species: the Human Race and the Idomeni. The first book, "Rules of Conflict" did a good job setting the story line and introducing our heroine and protagonist, Ms. Jani Kilian. It was full of action, creativity, and showed amazing promise for a first-time published SF writer, although a reader could tell the author was holding back for future book opportunities. After this third novel, I am really disappointed in the development of the story, characters and their author.

Kristine Smith has tremendous potential as a writer of novel-length SF. Her use of language can be interesting and entertaining. She has a knack for description and detail. Yet, this book never takes off like it should. There are nice, fun moments, but for the most part, it bogs down continually in self-absorbed rambling. How many times do I need to read about poor half-bionic Jani's sore knee? I had the distinct feeling that it was author Smith's knees that were hurting throughout the writing of this book, as the lead character didn't seem the type to complain so loudly and so often.

Those that have read the first two novels, (both better books), will find value in this work. If you haven't read them, you will be totally lost and may fail to appreciate even the nearly exciting conclusion. I fault not the writer so much as the editor and publisher. You could edit out one-third of this book and miss absolutely nothing but whining.

This writer needs to stay focused on her core plot, and use her better-than-average talent to craft a story that plays on the themes created mixing two different, advanced cultures, and the effects and aftermath of such a blending. Plus her heroine is an action type, and was off-cast as simply a cerebral detective character. This book rates most accurately at 2.40 stars out of 5.00, reluctantly rounded down to 2.00 stars. The low rating is due to rambling, excessive self-pity of a strong character utilized poorly, and the failure to bring this story to a stronger conclusion in a quicker manner. If this author writes more watered down stories just to stretch out her material for another book, then she is doing an injustice to a fine original plot line.

I have read all three of Kristine's books now and I have to say I was not disappointed by this one. In fact as soon as I had finished this one I had to go back and reread the first two. There was so much in this book that fleshed out details from the previous.
Please don't get me wrong, Law of Survival stands on its own as a good book, and it is not really necessary to have read Code of Conduct or Rules of Conflict, but it will certainly increase your enjoyment.
Jani is a civilian now and satisfied with her life. She still faces problems as she tries to walk a tightrope balancing the expectations of a distrustful government and the idomeni who think they have finally begun to understand the strange humanish.
Read the book and enjoy it.

I love this series. Kristine Smith draws an amazing world and realistic characters. A joy to read and escape into.

This is an excellent conclusion to Smith's SF series. It returns to the complexity of the first volume, and so the plot isn't quite as clear as it could be -- but it's an interesting one with plenty of action. Worldbuilding is strong, and characterization excellent. Few writers could create Lucien Pascal and make him a sympathetic character and a sociopath at the same time. Pierce has become less dangerous, which saddened me a little, but I still find him wonderful and wanted to see more of him. Jani herself remains an especially vivid creation. I recommend this series to people who like emotionally powerful, vividly realized, intelligently conceived fiction.

Kristine Smith seems very comfortable with her protagonist, her antagonists and her aliens. This comfort shows in the most straigtt-forward and most upbeat book of the series to date.