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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Kris Longknife: Planet Saver, November 15, 2009
This review is from: Resolute (Kris Longknife) (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Still a Great Space Opera Series, May 20, 2011
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.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, improving, but in a rut?, March 24, 2007
This review is from: Resolute (Kris Longknife) (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
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