Law of Survival (Mass Market Paperback)

by Kristine Smith (Author) "Come look at these..." (more)
Key Phrases: Anais Ulanova, Elyan Hadrin, Armour Place (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A human-idomeni hybrid with a very bad reputation, former Captain Jani Kilian is out of hiding and officially a civilian. But peace is not an option. Suddenly an important player in the Commonwealth's delicate dealings with the alien idomeni, Jani has inadvertently incurred the wrath of top powers in politics, finance, diplomacy, and crime. Her war is not yet over, just moving to a higher plane. There's no truth to the timeworn adage that old soldiers never die; they do...and sometimes badly. Jani Kilian's come back to a new world that's not brave but definitely in peril. And "kill or be killed" is her only real choice...because now only one law remains.

About the Author
Kristine Smith is the author of Rules of Conflict and Code of Conduct. She works as a process development scientist for a large pharmaceutical manufacturer and lives in northern Illinois.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Eos (October 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380807858
• ISBN-13: 978-0380807857
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #633,740 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jani returns to Civilian Life and does not find it restful, January 24, 2004

By	lb136 "lb136" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

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.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Set aside time,its gripping!, December 3, 2001

By	J. Palmer "knyght_errant" (College Station TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent characters drive a fascinating story..., August 6, 2002

By	A. Lehman - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.