Customer Reviews

Peacekeeper: A Major Ariane Kedros Novel

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
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I appear to be the first person to review this novel who is either not a friend (or friend of a friend) of the author or an (allegedly) bogus searcher-after-her-15-minutes-of-fame, so I will do my best. I actually did read the novel...

First, it was a slow read. Books that I like, I breeze through. The world around me disappears. I don't feel discomfort or the passage of realtime--until I am interrupted by my wife or one of the cats. This novel wasn't like that. I had trouble getting into it.

The background/civilization/social setting is rich and interesting, so that wasn't my problem. I finally concluded that my issue was the main character. She is the most unheroic protagonist in any science fiction novel I have read in a long time--maybe ever. Things happen to her; and things have happened to her that are unresolved, both in the story and in her life. She endures rather than fight. Well, she occasionally tries to fight, but her efforts almost never make a difference. I didn't dislike her, I was just poorly motivated to read about her. I keep expecting her to DO something, but except for the final confrontation, she never does, and it that scene she simply reacts; actually she always simply reacts.

She's a drunk, subject to black-out binges, and yet her very competent superior chooses her for a critical mission. Go figure.

Finally, the plotting of the novel sucks. (Yes, I know that's very blunt.) The novel, in my opinion, can best be described as a Science Fiction mystery. A mystery set in an alternate future, but...

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usually the reader gets some idea of who the villain of the piece is during the course of the story. The author provides some (real) clues for the reader to sift through and choose who-done-it. And that usually means doing more than mentioning a person's name.

I'm going to be hopeful and assume that this novel is a setup for better efforts as the series progresses. So little science fiction is being written these days, I have to give her (the author and the protagonist) another chance.

In "Peacekeeper," ex USAF officer Laura Reeve introduces Ariane Kedros, who once followed legitimate orders that resulted in the destruction (maybe?) of an entire solar system. Anyhow, that action caused the alien Minoans to step in and broker a peace between her faction, the Autonomous (Greek-speaking) Worlds, and the (English-speaking) Terrans. Now, the two factions have reached an agreement to destroy the weapons of seriously mass destruction.

Intel, finding Ari blameless (she was following orders), gave her a new id, and a reserve commission as major in the Autonomous Worlds Intelligence Service. Now, she's been called into service to investigate the murders of her crew on that mission, and in order to do so, she's sent to monitor the arms inspection procedure as a cover.

It's not a bad read at all: a blend of space opera, detective thriller, and cyberpunk, with a suitably complicated plot--you'll probably keep reading. And in Ariane Ms. Reeve has created an interesting, if somewhat damaged, heroine. She's no superhero, she keeps making mistakes, but she perseveres.

Adding to the tension are the frenemies Matt, her business partner in a prospecting business, and her intel minder, Colonel Edones. Edones, like Ari herself, is well drawn. Matt is not. He's portrayed as impetuous, brash, and hot blooded. Maybe you'll feel somebody ought to smack him upside da haid. I did. Anyway, it's hard to believe the Colonel would drag him around on the mission. It's even harder to believe Ariane would put up with someone like that. But that's what happens.

All in all, though, this is an auspicious series beginning. It's complete in itself and leaves enough loose ends for the next book. See that parenthetical "maybe" I tossed in there?

Notes and asides: This book continues the annoying convention of beginning each chapter with "quotations" from imaginary sources. Do sci-fi authors figure, "well it worked in 'Dune' so I'll use it?" Or what? I do so wish they'd stop.

Ariane Kedros is an unlikeable character: first, she was part of a team that set off a Weapon of Mass Destruction which people assume destroyed an entire galaxy; and due to that, has become a drunk and drug addict.

Despite this, or perhaps because I just like self-destructive characters, I liked this book, first in a series. For others, the heroines' problems may make her too unsympathetic - though I will give you some encouragement in letting you know that Ari does seek help for her drug addictions by the end of Peacekeeper.

The first five or so chapters are very confusing. We get bits and pieces but figuring out how this universe works and what factions were in the war, is hardly presented in the best manner possible.

To recap and get you started, a war between Terra (which were formerly Earth residents that have moved to other planets because Earth has become uninhabitable) were in a war with the Consortium of Autonomous Worlds, a loose collection of planet-born and space-born. The war ended when Ari and her team denonated a WMD, that destroyed (presumably) an entire galaxy of Terrans. To be fair to her and her team they were not told that this was what they were releasing and afterwards were given amnesity by the government with false identities.

After the detonation, the mysterious aliens, the Minoans (lots of Greek references in this book), stepped in and told the humans to start playing nice. The Minoans control space travel by having the technology of the buoys which allows subspace travel to happen at a faster rate. Holding all the cards, humans had to agree, though it's taken 15 years to get to a some sort of peace agreement.

What the Minoans are, is not covered in this book though we are given some tantalizing bits of information and one really good scene where Ari is pulled aside by one who wants to neogtiate with her. Finding out more in future books will definitely be interesting.

Under her new identity, Ari has teamed up with space prospector, Matt Journey and as the book begins, the two are logging a claim on a moon which may have space-travel technology that, may or may not be, related to the alien Minoan race. This claim could mean the end of the stranglehold the Minoans have on humans so leads to a lot of power-jockeying and in the end, the kidnapping of Ari by Terrans who want to control the leases to mine such a rich cache.

However, all that is temporarily dropped by the first chapter, as Ari's past has caught up with her, when her commanding officer, Owen of the military secret service, brings her in to protect one of her own. Turns out someone is going down the chain of command and murdering each person responsible for the detonation of the WMD.

A few reviews scoffed at Ari being able to assume an identity and operate as a "secret agent" however, it's clear in the book that her body is bioenginerred to asborb and disperse alcohol and drugs. After one night of binge drinking, when she is checkmated into taking a drug test, it shows her within acceptable limits. She's a highly functioning addict who needs someone to give her a swift kick.

I didn't warm up to anyone until halfway through. It took time to build up an interest in these characters, and I ended especially liking the Owen-Joyce dynamic; Matt and Joyce's interactions; the intriguing appearance of the Minoans (but it did beg the question why the Minoan didn't de-activate the Terran snoop in the conference room); and also Ari's journey of realization that her self-destruction had to end, even if it took a round of torture for her to figure out she enjoyed life.

The Terrans in the book, in terms of developing societies, were the most intriguing. Though I scoff at the idea of Greece becoming a world power (I guess anything can happen in the future), the idea of controlling your body, emotions and aura, while having a secret hand language added dimesion to the State Prince and his delegation. Note I didn't say likeable, but like In Conquest Born, you see another side to the issue of two dueling societies.

It's rather strange that the Terrans who were the victims of the WMD, are not the likeable ones.. but the society that used such incredible force (and really it wasn't called for as the war was stalled with no one winning or losing) are the heroes...

Perhaps in the long run, what I disliked the most, was that no one in the Consortium took any social or moral responsiblity for releasing a WMD that they thought would kill millions of people. If we use the parallel of the atom bomb, no healing, peace or growth of the community can occur, until an atrocity of this scale is agreed to be despicable by all sides in the conflict.

While the futuristic world is rather bleak: everyone has life-debt; the Net controls your life; everyone's actions are constantly recorded and blasted out as news to anyone who wants to read it; I did like the characters so much that I will be buying the next in this series and see how Ari and crew develop.

In some ways this book reminded me of the Sirantha Jax series by Ann Aguirre (Grimspace being the first); the human societies in C.S. Friedman's In Conquest Born, the military works of R.M. Meluch (The Queen's Squadron) , and the futuristic societies in Julie Czernada's Trade Pact Universe. For followers of these authors, I think you will enjoy this series.

Laura E. Reeve has created a very fine debut novel. Peacekeeper is satisfying on many levels. It would generally fall into the category of Military SF, but it is not the continual fighting of a hot war, it is more on the order of a cold war. Major Ariane Kedros is an appealing hero. She has a sense of duty and honor that drive her, but she is continually assaulted with guilt regarding her past. She is trying to live a new life, but her past will not let her go. I've read the two sequels, "Vigilante" and "Pathfinder," and unlike many series they are not a step down, nor are they like the next chapter in a book. They stand on their own, but a reader who is reading them in sequence will find a greater richness.

This is the first novel by Laura E. Reeve, and I think she did a good job. The plot has some good twists and turns, and the main character Major Ariane Kedros, is interesting. She is carrying some heavy duty baggage from having been the pilot in the only mission that actually fired a temporal distortion weapon that "may" have killed billions of people. She deal's with this mostly by accepting high risk Reserve commission postings, and in her civilian life she is an N-space pilot. Off duty, she drinks - a lot. She's a pretty cool character. And the cast of supporting characters is engaging as well.

In this first book, they are still months away from finding out what happened to the people in the colony where the weapon was deployed. Other people that were involved with the decision to deploy the weapon are being killed, and she's recruited into the Reserves and deployed on a special mission to try and find out where the leak is coming from.

I enjoyed this book mostly because of the characters. Reeve does a pretty good job in explaining some of the advanced technology, but the book is more about the characters than it is about the "cool stuff" in the future.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It was an easy read.

Fifteen years ago, the Armed Forces of the Consortium of Autonomous Worlds deactivated N-space pilot Major Ariane Kedros when her mission left behind an eradicated solar system. The Terran Expansion League, whose solar system and its inhabitants were murdered, believes she is a war criminal deserving execution. However, the AFCAW hide in a protection program the major and other alleged war criminals from the wrath of the TEL. Filled with guilt and remorse, currently she works for Aether Exploration in an uncharted sector seeking artifacts and occasionally goes on missions from AFCAW, who remind her she is still a reservist who can be deployed without notice.

However, someone has gotten inside the AFCAW databases to identify those who pandemic butchered the solar system. Twelve were assassinated including Ariane's crewmember Cipher. Though she considers giving up her reserve commission and ergo AFCAW protection, Ariane accepts the mission to go undercover to expose the avenging killer; not understanding that her side has placed her as an expendable pawn in the elliptic path of the assassin.

PEACEKEEPER is an exhilarating military science fiction thriller that hooks readers from the opening scene when the AFCAW assign Ariane her orders. The story line is as fast-paced as any in recent memory as the heroine struggles with one deadly incident after another while her guilt threatens at any moment to overwhelm her. Fans will relish this fine tale as the challenges keep on mounting for a beleaguered heroine who believes her adversary has the right to kill war criminals like her though she will try her best to stop the killer.

Harriet Klausner

This science fiction story has an experienced female military pilot attempting to both survive and find out who is killing her former shipmates. Her former crew was given the order to launch a weapon that may have destroyed an entire inhabited planet. As a result of following orders, the crew was given new identities and scattered to prevent the opposing side from seeking revenge.

The author creates a future universe with a friendly alien race that provided Earth new technology to speed space travel. Earth was also devastated though infighting and environmental problems. Humans also split into two different factions, those who remain loyal to Earth, and those on the colonized planets.

The author uses science to describe the setting. The aliens control the technology, and humans are attempting to unlock the principles of it to gain greater independence in commerce and travel. Humans are also vying each other with each side having their own unique traits in government, equipment, and encryption technology.

The author previously served in the US Air Force, which would explain the military personnel all having a similar rank structure. This makes sense, for in her universe, the Air Force would have led space exploration. In other science fiction stories, the Navy ranks are used as space fleets are designated as being naval.

The character has many foils and weaknesses that negate her skills and strengths. The supporting characters are powerful, but not omniscient, even why trying to save her.

It will be interesting on how the story evolves with the Terrans trying to hold her accountable for being part of the planet destroyer while the colonized planets attempt to unlock ancient technology. Hopefully the character will evolve and not remain a stereo-typical alcoholic trying to break the vice.

Overall the story was entertaining and easy to read. Looking forward to reading the next book, whenever it is published.

I'm afraid I won't be pursuing this series. The protagonist is a victim throughout most of the novel, and that's not my cup of tea, so to speak. There's a wealth of net-centric, AI, and advanced (if poorly understood) science. But on a critical military space habitat, everyone and his brother seems able to bypass security safeguards .... Disappointing.

Laura Reeve's first novel, Peackeeper, marks an auspicous debut by an author who does a lot of things right.
For starters, take the often-difficult art of "world-building." The human societies in Peacekeeper are not simply 2008 societies with high technology grafted on. They have evolved, for better and worse, over a tumultuous century of war, revolution, scientific breakthroughs, and alien contact. For example, people who have grown up on generational (sublight) spaceships don't simply walk onto a planet and adapt. They are disoriented by the infinite sky and repulsed at the idea of vegetables "grown in dirt" and crawling with microorganisms. Many more experienced SF authors could take some lessons from Reeve here.
Likewise, the alien species, the Minoans, are not just funny-looking people. Indeed, humans don't even know what they look like, and they have, from a human POV, strange protocols and obscure motives (leaving plenty of mysteries to explore in sequels).
As would be expected from a former Air Force officer (I am one myself), the military scenes ring true. The military and intelligence cultures of the two human societies both have recognizable 21st-century Earth roots but have adapted in different ways to the needs of spacefaring civilizations.
There is a touch too much techspeak, which slows the story from time to time. In general, though, readers will forgive this because Reeve's complex, interlocking worlds and technologies are interesting to explore.
Reeve's plot about espionage and revenge threads itself through her universe very well. Her characters are three-dimensional creations with reasonable motives for what they do.
No reader finds everything in a novel to be perfect. I never quite "got" one important character, Matt Journey, and the big, tough Sergeant Joyce has a whiff of stereotype about him.
These are minor quibbles, though. This is a terrific first novel that will, no doubt, expand into an equally terrific series. I look forward to the next installment of the adventures of Ariane Kedros.
Full disclosure - I know Reeve, and we're in the same writers' club. But trust me here. This is an absorbing adventure set in a universe you can believe in.

- Matt Bille
author, The First Space Race: Launching the World's First Satellites (Texaas A&M, 2004)

I thought this was a pretty good book. So much so that I bought the two sequels...I enjoyed them as well.

The story is interesting. The "galaxy building" well done. The writing is good.

The main character is an anti-heroine who possesses the ability to jump spaceships through hyperspace. If this sounds similar to Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax character...in many ways it is. Quite frankly however, I find Major Ariane Kedros in this series more interesting and the entire series more enjoyable.