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Confederation of Valor #3
The Heart of Valor
Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr's goal is to keep both her superior officers and her troops alive as they face missions throughout the galaxy. But she's been sidelined with endless briefings and debriefings for a while, so she jumps at the chance to go to Crucible - the Marine Corps training planet - as temporary aide to Major Svensson. The major was reduced to little more than a brain and spinal cord in his last combat, and now he and his doctor are eager to field test his new body. It's supposed to be an easy assignment - after all, Crucible was set up to simulate battle situations so recruits could be trained safely. But Torin's barely on-planet when someone starts blasting the training scenarios to smithereens...
368 pages, Hardcover
First published June 5, 2007
118 people are currently reading
1134 people want to read
About the author
Tanya Huff
151 books2,451 followersTanya Sue Huff is a Canadian fantasy author. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science fiction series. One of these, her Blood Books series, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title Blood Ties.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 256 reviews
December 20, 2018
This series is starting to feel like "more of the same" on repeat. Once again Torin is ambushed and must hold out and lead her group to victory. Once again there's a bunch of "redshirt" marines that don't really matter and a lot of action. It wasn't terrible, I just felt like I've already read this book.
December 10, 2025
Tanya Huff put a unique twist on military science fiction with the Confederation series. Three 'young' races comprise the Confederation military-- humans, di'Taykan and Krai-- the the interaction among them often adds humor along with creative world-building. The di'Taykan emit sexual hormones that make just about any species with external genitals horny to the extreme; they wear 'inhibitors' to help, but still, they fuck like bonobos and the more the merrier. The diminutive Krai are much more stoic and can eat just about anything (and do). Still, the marines are one family and all platoons are comprised of an admixture of all three races.
After the harrowing events of the last installment, Torin Kerr, now Gunnery Sergeant, suffers endless rounds of briefings until she gets tapped to assist a Major who underwent extensive rebuilding after war wounds (he was basically just a brain and spine); he also got some experimental new stuff in rebuilding the bones of one of his arms. Toward the end of 'boot camp', all marines head to the planet Crucible for two tendays of outdoor war games. Kerr and the major accompany one platoon as 'observers' and things turn to shit in a hurry.
Without going into the plot, lets just say that the lead DI (drill instructor) has some serious 'health' issues and the training exercises quickly turn quite deadly. Once gain, Kerr must somehow keep her fledgling platoon of marines alive in a very hostile territory. Besides the action/adventure, Huff tosses in a dollop of romance and a deep alien mystery that goes beyond the Confederation and the Others, who have been at war for generations. Good stuff! 4 solid stars.
After the harrowing events of the last installment, Torin Kerr, now Gunnery Sergeant, suffers endless rounds of briefings until she gets tapped to assist a Major who underwent extensive rebuilding after war wounds (he was basically just a brain and spine); he also got some experimental new stuff in rebuilding the bones of one of his arms. Toward the end of 'boot camp', all marines head to the planet Crucible for two tendays of outdoor war games. Kerr and the major accompany one platoon as 'observers' and things turn to shit in a hurry.
Without going into the plot, lets just say that the lead DI (drill instructor) has some serious 'health' issues and the training exercises quickly turn quite deadly. Once gain, Kerr must somehow keep her fledgling platoon of marines alive in a very hostile territory. Besides the action/adventure, Huff tosses in a dollop of romance and a deep alien mystery that goes beyond the Confederation and the Others, who have been at war for generations. Good stuff! 4 solid stars.
April 25, 2014
This book must get a 4 star rating, it's better than a 3. Still it's not as good as the two earlier books in the series. In a way we set up the same type of situation that (now Gunny) Kerr faces . It's not precisely the same but close enough. Secondly side issues are crowding in more on our stories.
Still the story is interesting and the characters stay pretty much true to "who they are". We get a return here of a character we met in the first book and we have som4e surviving Marines.
I've noted before that there are very, very few actually "new" or "original" plots or story lines. Most any we come across will be versions of ones used before. With 10,000 years of recorded history it's pretty much bound to be out there somewhere. Mostly it depends on how the basic idea is handled.
You'll see some familiar story and plot points here, They are handled pretty well and in spite of some almost dejavu moments I don't think it will actually bother you.
Read this I'd say for the action and for the continuation of the protagonists story. Not bad, really, Enjoy.
Still the story is interesting and the characters stay pretty much true to "who they are". We get a return here of a character we met in the first book and we have som4e surviving Marines.
I've noted before that there are very, very few actually "new" or "original" plots or story lines. Most any we come across will be versions of ones used before. With 10,000 years of recorded history it's pretty much bound to be out there somewhere. Mostly it depends on how the basic idea is handled.
You'll see some familiar story and plot points here, They are handled pretty well and in spite of some almost dejavu moments I don't think it will actually bother you.
Read this I'd say for the action and for the continuation of the protagonists story. Not bad, really, Enjoy.
October 2, 2018
After her harrowing experience on board Big Yellow, Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is subjected to days of questioning. Oddly, she notices that no one involved with the incident remembers the escape pod from Big Yellow, other than her and Craig Ryder. Torin begins wondering about the Elder Races and memory wipes, and this, coupled with the repetitive days of questions has her on edge and increasingly angry. When Major Svensson, recovering from massive injuries, invites her along on a marine training exercise, she sees it as the perfect opportunity to escape for a while.
Feeling a combination of anger and relief, Torin Kerr travels to Crucible to help shepherd a squad of marines through what should be a relatively peaceful training exercise. That she and the others are soon evading mines, drones and missiles turns what should have been a relaxing time away from her debriefings to a serious and dangerous situation. Complicating matters are Svensson's somewhat odd recovery behaviour and a di’Taykan suffering from some strange health situation that the other di’Taykan in the squad seem embarrassed to talk about.
With more questions being raised the longer they're at Crucible, Torin shows her competence, managing her marines' emotional and physical stress, while also dealing with Svensson and a civilian doctor with aplomb.
Though I had a tough time keeping track of the personalities of the individual marines, their interactions felt believable. I liked Torin's use of toughness and calm in a steadily worsening situation, something she seems to excel at.
These stories aren't deep, and I don't find myself learning anything new about Torin. Rather, the Confederation series has fast-moving plots with interesting interpersonal dynamics between a variety of aliens, with a sensible, world-weary, competent woman central to the action.
Feeling a combination of anger and relief, Torin Kerr travels to Crucible to help shepherd a squad of marines through what should be a relatively peaceful training exercise. That she and the others are soon evading mines, drones and missiles turns what should have been a relaxing time away from her debriefings to a serious and dangerous situation. Complicating matters are Svensson's somewhat odd recovery behaviour and a di’Taykan suffering from some strange health situation that the other di’Taykan in the squad seem embarrassed to talk about.
With more questions being raised the longer they're at Crucible, Torin shows her competence, managing her marines' emotional and physical stress, while also dealing with Svensson and a civilian doctor with aplomb.
Though I had a tough time keeping track of the personalities of the individual marines, their interactions felt believable. I liked Torin's use of toughness and calm in a steadily worsening situation, something she seems to excel at.
These stories aren't deep, and I don't find myself learning anything new about Torin. Rather, the Confederation series has fast-moving plots with interesting interpersonal dynamics between a variety of aliens, with a sensible, world-weary, competent woman central to the action.
April 18, 2011
The third of Tanya Huff’s Confederation series. For those who haven’t encountered the series yet it’s a boots’ eye view military sci-fi, heavy on command structure but always viewed from the NCO/grunts on the ground perspective. Those looking for anything deep or meaningful should look away now. It has no noticeable political or philosophical agenda beyond war is hell but someone’s got to do it. It follows the career of Torin Kerr, a female career military NCO. The first time we meet her in the first book she’s already pretty much god on legs to the rank and file of Sh’quo Company. Imagine Ellen Ripley if she’d signed on with the Colonial Marine Corp rather than the Space Merchant Navy and add a few extra cans of kick-ass. She’s good at what she does, quick thinking and dedicated to keeping her people alive.
The Confederation is at war with another bunch of aliens called The Others. Both groups are made up of many different types of aliens. The Confederation is a peaceful alliance of cooperation whereas The Others are made up of conquered species. Unskilled in the arts of war The Confederation recruits several species who can beef up their aptitude for combat. Top on their list of potential cannon fodder *cough* allies are a bunch of skilled bruisers called Humans. Also recruited are the di’Taykan who are sort of like sex mad Vulcans with emotionally influenced hairdos. Lastly are the Krai, an arboreal species who will eat anything ... apart from stones.
This one suffered a bit from its own plot set-up. In the first couple of books one of the most entertaining aspects of the book was Torin’s talent at riding herd on the local wet behind the ears or glory seeking brass. This one has none of that. She starts off promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, pretty much bored to tears with endless debriefs and instructional talks to whoever the brass point her at, be it visiting officers or groups of raw recruits. She jumps at the chance to accompany one of her former Sh’quo commanders Major Svennson (reduced to a brain in a jar sometime before book one), as an observer on a 20 day Marine recruit training exercise. He needs to road test his new force grown body. Svensson’s doctor, two drill instructors and 37 raw recruits make up the rest of the party, commanded by Staff Sergeant Beyhn (a di’Taykan acting weirder than Spock in ‘Amok Time’). The recruits never come alive in your mind though. Huff sticks to characterising only a handful but none of them spark and the snarky to and fro from the first two books gets replaced by some pretty stilted and repetitive dialogue. Lots of wide eyed recruits yelling ‘sir, yes sir,’ repeatedly. The combat is a bit flat too, pitching AI drones, fliers and tanks against Torin’s savvy is too one sided a contest. I’ll not give up on the series yet but it had better be up for the fight next time.
The Confederation is at war with another bunch of aliens called The Others. Both groups are made up of many different types of aliens. The Confederation is a peaceful alliance of cooperation whereas The Others are made up of conquered species. Unskilled in the arts of war The Confederation recruits several species who can beef up their aptitude for combat. Top on their list of potential cannon fodder *cough* allies are a bunch of skilled bruisers called Humans. Also recruited are the di’Taykan who are sort of like sex mad Vulcans with emotionally influenced hairdos. Lastly are the Krai, an arboreal species who will eat anything ... apart from stones.
This one suffered a bit from its own plot set-up. In the first couple of books one of the most entertaining aspects of the book was Torin’s talent at riding herd on the local wet behind the ears or glory seeking brass. This one has none of that. She starts off promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, pretty much bored to tears with endless debriefs and instructional talks to whoever the brass point her at, be it visiting officers or groups of raw recruits. She jumps at the chance to accompany one of her former Sh’quo commanders Major Svennson (reduced to a brain in a jar sometime before book one), as an observer on a 20 day Marine recruit training exercise. He needs to road test his new force grown body. Svensson’s doctor, two drill instructors and 37 raw recruits make up the rest of the party, commanded by Staff Sergeant Beyhn (a di’Taykan acting weirder than Spock in ‘Amok Time’). The recruits never come alive in your mind though. Huff sticks to characterising only a handful but none of them spark and the snarky to and fro from the first two books gets replaced by some pretty stilted and repetitive dialogue. Lots of wide eyed recruits yelling ‘sir, yes sir,’ repeatedly. The combat is a bit flat too, pitching AI drones, fliers and tanks against Torin’s savvy is too one sided a contest. I’ll not give up on the series yet but it had better be up for the fight next time.
December 20, 2015
3.5 stars. Re-reading this series. This is good, even if I don’t like it quite as well as the first two books.
It begins with a manifest contrivance to get our newly-promoted Gunnery Sergeant Kerr sent on a training mission with raw marine recruits. Once she’s in place and the training mission goes horribly wrong, as they are wont to do, then it’s entertaining to watch Kerr and a few drill instructors shepherd the recruits as they come into their own.
I’m not a visual reader, and I usually appreciate that Huff doesn’t spend a lot of time describing the way things look. For instance, I like the way I’m able to distinguish the aliens species in these novels with the barest of clues. However, I found that her vagueness made the military action a little hard to follow in this one.
The reader will probably figure out the two mysteries - Who is shooting at us? And what is wrong with Sergeant Beyhn? - long before the characters do.
Although I’m still not crazy about the powerful aliens introduced in the previous novel, it is interesting to watch Kerr and Craig Ryder realize that everyone else has a slightly different memory of the encounter with the alien ship. They are bothered enough to track down the pertinacious reporter Presit to confirm their version of events, and to set her on the trail of a possible conspiracy - or worse.
Huff is pointedly nonchalant about the sexuality of her characters, but there’s a nice dig towards the end in a situation where gender becomes significant: “...although it was weird to think of sex based solely on gender.”
It begins with a manifest contrivance to get our newly-promoted Gunnery Sergeant Kerr sent on a training mission with raw marine recruits. Once she’s in place and the training mission goes horribly wrong, as they are wont to do, then it’s entertaining to watch Kerr and a few drill instructors shepherd the recruits as they come into their own.
I’m not a visual reader, and I usually appreciate that Huff doesn’t spend a lot of time describing the way things look. For instance, I like the way I’m able to distinguish the aliens species in these novels with the barest of clues. However, I found that her vagueness made the military action a little hard to follow in this one.
The reader will probably figure out the two mysteries - Who is shooting at us? And what is wrong with Sergeant Beyhn? - long before the characters do.
Although I’m still not crazy about the powerful aliens introduced in the previous novel, it is interesting to watch Kerr and Craig Ryder realize that everyone else has a slightly different memory of the encounter with the alien ship. They are bothered enough to track down the pertinacious reporter Presit to confirm their version of events, and to set her on the trail of a possible conspiracy - or worse.
Huff is pointedly nonchalant about the sexuality of her characters, but there’s a nice dig towards the end in a situation where gender becomes significant: “...although it was weird to think of sex based solely on gender.”
December 3, 2010
84 out of 100 for 2010
In case you're counting, I did not skip 83 but instead re-read an Elizabeth Moon novel for a class I'm teaching (Victory Conditions). Hey, when you're trying to plow through 100, you count re reads.
Another continuation of Tanya Huff's confederation series. Huff is really statring to grow on me; I'm comign to realize ther's a real divid in Military SF between those who write bout tactics and use officers as their main character and those who write about battle and use enlisted as main characters. I'm facmiliar with Military SF that uses women as heroes, but they've all been officers. Although this may reflect a lack of broad reading on my part, Huff is the only woman military SF author who make an enlisted woman a protagonist. "Gunny" Torrin Kerr is well worth knowing; in this novel she takes what seems to be another simple mission--escorting a rehabilitating officer to "the crucible," a military planet that more or less serves as basic training final exam for marines, so the major can see how his body is reacting to rehabilitation. However, the unit is attacked and Marines are killed, adn what seemd to be training has turned into real combat.
Good stuff.
In case you're counting, I did not skip 83 but instead re-read an Elizabeth Moon novel for a class I'm teaching (Victory Conditions). Hey, when you're trying to plow through 100, you count re reads.
Another continuation of Tanya Huff's confederation series. Huff is really statring to grow on me; I'm comign to realize ther's a real divid in Military SF between those who write bout tactics and use officers as their main character and those who write about battle and use enlisted as main characters. I'm facmiliar with Military SF that uses women as heroes, but they've all been officers. Although this may reflect a lack of broad reading on my part, Huff is the only woman military SF author who make an enlisted woman a protagonist. "Gunny" Torrin Kerr is well worth knowing; in this novel she takes what seems to be another simple mission--escorting a rehabilitating officer to "the crucible," a military planet that more or less serves as basic training final exam for marines, so the major can see how his body is reacting to rehabilitation. However, the unit is attacked and Marines are killed, adn what seemd to be training has turned into real combat.
Good stuff.
February 13, 2017
Conspiracy! Shhh. . .
Ooh, the plot thickens! Big Yellow be gone It's on a slow mysterious burn in this book and it's awesome but frustrating but wicked good and mildly confusing. My heart was nervously racing in excitement and anticipation and threat response! Not good, but oh-so-good. Basically (but is it basically?) Torin - now a Gunny - is doing the rounds as show and tell Silsviss expert. Boooring! So of course she jumps on the chance to escape, even if just to the (relatively) tame training grounds of Crucible. And then no slow burn for the non-conspiracy action, it's all tanks, planes and KABOOM. Adoring cadets, dumbasses, more who, what, why, bang, boom, blood, weird alien cultural biological processes and it was just bloody good stuff. Very enjoyable indeed.
Ooh, the plot thickens! Big Yellow be gone It's on a slow mysterious burn in this book and it's awesome but frustrating but wicked good and mildly confusing. My heart was nervously racing in excitement and anticipation and threat response! Not good, but oh-so-good. Basically (but is it basically?) Torin - now a Gunny - is doing the rounds as show and tell Silsviss expert. Boooring! So of course she jumps on the chance to escape, even if just to the (relatively) tame training grounds of Crucible. And then no slow burn for the non-conspiracy action, it's all tanks, planes and KABOOM. Adoring cadets, dumbasses, more who, what, why, bang, boom, blood, weird alien cultural biological processes and it was just bloody good stuff. Very enjoyable indeed.
August 16, 2017
4 stars.
Eager to escape the endless rounds of presentations and debriefings on her troop's encounter with the Silsviss, Torin, newly promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, accepted a temporary assignment as the aide to a Major. The Major wants to test out his newly repaired body by joining a group of Marine recruits on a training mission. However, shortly after they arrived, the lead training instructor fell ill and then Torin discovered that their group is facing live rounds. What follows is a bit like the Hunger Games and then a repeat of the Silsviss siege, except this time, they are surrounded by drones and tanks.
With a group of raw recruits, Torin not only has to whip them into Marines but also find a way out of their predicament...and inadvertently discover something we didn't know about "Big Yellow"......
Another action-packed installment. I do enjoy the inter-plays between the secondary characters but like most military stories, I find it very sad when some of these secondary characters don't make it.
Eager to escape the endless rounds of presentations and debriefings on her troop's encounter with the Silsviss, Torin, newly promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, accepted a temporary assignment as the aide to a Major. The Major wants to test out his newly repaired body by joining a group of Marine recruits on a training mission. However, shortly after they arrived, the lead training instructor fell ill and then Torin discovered that their group is facing live rounds. What follows is a bit like the Hunger Games and then a repeat of the Silsviss siege, except this time, they are surrounded by drones and tanks.
With a group of raw recruits, Torin not only has to whip them into Marines but also find a way out of their predicament...and inadvertently discover something we didn't know about "Big Yellow"......
Another action-packed installment. I do enjoy the inter-plays between the secondary characters but like most military stories, I find it very sad when some of these secondary characters don't make it.
January 31, 2019
My least favorite of the whole Confederation series and still an interesting pick.
It really had a movie vibe. There is a new cast around the heroin who knows only one way to deal with everything : kick ass.
She does it really well, and with humor. ^^
It really had a movie vibe. There is a new cast around the heroin who knows only one way to deal with everything : kick ass.
She does it really well, and with humor. ^^
August 2, 2019
Solid plot, action, and less POVs than the other books in series
Library ebook loan
Library ebook loan
April 6, 2009
Part of my Father's day gift from my wife...mostly because she wanted to read it too.
The genre of hard military sci-fi can be fun, but tends to start falling into a rut in my opinion. I love that Torrin Kerr is an uber-competant Marine without being an Honor-Harrington-level super-being. The technology is cool, and new tech mash-ups are important to solving problems, but it never becomes just a story about the technology.
This book is starting to get into the deeper diplomacy of the world of the Confederation, but it doesn't dominate. Through out this series, we are following a group of Marines. You get the feeling that other groups of Marines are doing the same sorts of things all over the galaxy...the fate of the war doesn't rest on the shoulders of this small elite group. By the same measure, the weight that Gunny Kerr shoulders (responsibility for getting her people through this alive) never feels light.
I want more now please.
The genre of hard military sci-fi can be fun, but tends to start falling into a rut in my opinion. I love that Torrin Kerr is an uber-competant Marine without being an Honor-Harrington-level super-being. The technology is cool, and new tech mash-ups are important to solving problems, but it never becomes just a story about the technology.
This book is starting to get into the deeper diplomacy of the world of the Confederation, but it doesn't dominate. Through out this series, we are following a group of Marines. You get the feeling that other groups of Marines are doing the same sorts of things all over the galaxy...the fate of the war doesn't rest on the shoulders of this small elite group. By the same measure, the weight that Gunny Kerr shoulders (responsibility for getting her people through this alive) never feels light.
I want more now please.
December 29, 2020
Nice solid Military SiFi book. The series builds on itself nicely and in a logical manner. Good characters and background universe. Enjoyable read. Recommended
December 27, 2021
In some ways it does feel like a retread of Valor's Choice, but a couple elements kept it interesting for me. A couple twists I kinda saw coming, a few others I didn't. Huff is doing what she's doing and it's fun. Very curious to see how this series will shake out, as it's interesting to me to have a series where hardly any focus is on the actual interstellar war going on in the backdrop.
December 1, 2015
Another thrill-a-minute addition to the confederation series, with the added plus of introducing a diverse group of young marine trainees who are unexpectedly thrown into a life-and-death battle, and with Sergeant Kerr's guidance must discover what they are made of if they are going to survive.
For a review of the series as a whole, see my review of Valor's Choice.
For a review of the series as a whole, see my review of Valor's Choice.
August 2, 2019
Leave it to Tanya Huff to create a situation where the only way to get out of it is an orgy.
This was my favourite of the series so far.
This was my favourite of the series so far.
October 19, 2018
Stuck in an endless round of briefings about the Silsviss campaign, and with the threat of having to appear before a Parliamentary Committee looming, Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr leaps at the chance to babysit a convalescent Major on the Marine training planet of Crucible. It should be a straightforward mission. But Torin and the team are no sooner on Crucible than things start to go bizarrely wrong - with potentially fatal results.
Torin is one of my favourite military sci-fi heroines - tough, superbly competent, with a wicked wit, and a glare that can shrivel the boldest recruit in their boots. The action is fast and furious as ever and there’s a strong and multi-layered story. Cameo appearances by salvage expert Craig Ryder and by an annoying furball of a Katrien journalist last seen on Big Yellow add to the fun ride.
Torin is one of my favourite military sci-fi heroines - tough, superbly competent, with a wicked wit, and a glare that can shrivel the boldest recruit in their boots. The action is fast and furious as ever and there’s a strong and multi-layered story. Cameo appearances by salvage expert Craig Ryder and by an annoying furball of a Katrien journalist last seen on Big Yellow add to the fun ride.
August 5, 2018
Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr leaps at the chance of going back down to the Crucible, the planet where recruits become Marines. Even better, she's going down with her own former drill sergeant as the head DI. But down on the surface, nothing is as it should be. The military drones and equipment seem to be malfunctioning, and the DI is behaving oddly. Eventually, Kerr has to go from observer to leader just to keep the recruits alive.
Craig Ryder was much more bearable now that he's off solving a mystery away from Kerr. And I liked the mystery very much--when I realized how
Craig Ryder was much more bearable now that he's off solving a mystery away from Kerr. And I liked the mystery very much--when I realized how
June 7, 2017
Torin Kerr is sent to a training base for marines - but things rapidly go wrong.
What I particularly like about the series is the two alien races who are also in the marines and the complexities they bring. One race gives off pheremones that can affect other races and the other can eat anything - including other races. They generally avoid eating other sentients but it does add a dimension to the back chat.
If you like a complex, well thought out world, with interesting characters as well as an adventure story then this is a good series for you.
What I particularly like about the series is the two alien races who are also in the marines and the complexities they bring. One race gives off pheremones that can affect other races and the other can eat anything - including other races. They generally avoid eating other sentients but it does add a dimension to the back chat.
If you like a complex, well thought out world, with interesting characters as well as an adventure story then this is a good series for you.
July 29, 2023
This one was fun, I liked the new element.
The ending was a little abrupt. As I saw the time coming to an end I was worried the end of my audiobook had been cut off.
Solid narration.
The ending was a little abrupt. As I saw the time coming to an end I was worried the end of my audiobook had been cut off.
Solid narration.
January 4, 2019
While I enjoyed this story, I missed the Sh'quo company and was wishing we had returned there. I still love Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr, her voice keeps me entertained. I thought the dual perspective at points with Craig Ryder was useful, I quite like his character. Was good finding out more about the races, look forward to continuing that. The overall story was a little slow for me. I found parts of it rather obvious and it took longer to resolve than absolutely necessary.
All and all a good continuation on the series.
All and all a good continuation on the series.
August 16, 2014
I was ready to give this book 3 stars for much of the story, as it seemed to be going through the same formula as previous books in the series. Towards the end though, some of the assumptions I was making about where the story was going turned out to be quite wrong, and the book headed off into a completely different direction. So, while it still wasn't as good as the first two books, it at least deserves 3.5 stars for blind-siding me.
Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr, now promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, agrees to accompany her former commanding officer and a group of recruits to Crucible, the Marine Corps training planet. There the recruits get to go through combat simulations designed to turn them into Marines. Kerr is there to babysit her commander, recovering from having nearly died (which happened before the first book).
Things start to go badly wrong pretty quickly, and as is usual with these stories, it is up to her to keep everyone else alive when the whole planet seems out to kill them.
I found myself comparing this series not too unfavourably with the Sharpe novels, in that our titular characters not only have to survive what the enemy can throw at them, but also the machinations of those at the top of the command tree, which is often far worse than having mere bullets and bombs thrown at you. There is also a hint of Babylon 5 here as well, with the so-called Elder Races who run the Confederation being less than trustworthy at times.
Having said that, this story turns out to be rather different, in that
There are still the issues of having too many new characters to remember, and the fact that Kerr is just too good to be true at times, but it is still a fun read and I got through it pretty fast. I have one more book to read in this series, and then have to wait several months for the next one to come out, which is annoying as they have been in print for years. I may have to see how much the ebook is.
Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr, now promoted to Gunnery Sergeant, agrees to accompany her former commanding officer and a group of recruits to Crucible, the Marine Corps training planet. There the recruits get to go through combat simulations designed to turn them into Marines. Kerr is there to babysit her commander, recovering from having nearly died (which happened before the first book).
Things start to go badly wrong pretty quickly, and as is usual with these stories, it is up to her to keep everyone else alive when the whole planet seems out to kill them.
I found myself comparing this series not too unfavourably with the Sharpe novels, in that our titular characters not only have to survive what the enemy can throw at them, but also the machinations of those at the top of the command tree, which is often far worse than having mere bullets and bombs thrown at you. There is also a hint of Babylon 5 here as well, with the so-called Elder Races who run the Confederation being less than trustworthy at times.
Having said that, this story turns out to be rather different, in that
There are still the issues of having too many new characters to remember, and the fact that Kerr is just too good to be true at times, but it is still a fun read and I got through it pretty fast. I have one more book to read in this series, and then have to wait several months for the next one to come out, which is annoying as they have been in print for years. I may have to see how much the ebook is.
June 9, 2024
Vanilla milSF story. But thats not a bad thing!
These books remind me why I like milSF in the first place and are great palate cleansers between any heavy books I’m reading.
I love sgt kerr and think she is one of the most realistic women in all of military sf.
These books remind me why I like milSF in the first place and are great palate cleansers between any heavy books I’m reading.
I love sgt kerr and think she is one of the most realistic women in all of military sf.
February 10, 2016
Staff Sargent Kerr has been promoted, she is now Gunnery Sargent Kerr. She earned her promotion through defeating a s***load of aggressive reptiles and now it looks like she will be stuck on Ventris station forever. Briefing officers and intelligence about the new reptilian race and describing her military experience with them.
Kerr is basically a marine and a fighter though, so the sedentary life is wearing thin and when she is given the chance to accompany a recuperating major and a band of recruits to Crucible, the training planet of course she jumps at that chance. Need I say that things do NOT work out to plan?
This is probably my favorite of the Valor series, I love the description of the marine training regime and am endlessly fascinated by the training scenarios of Crucible. Often I have wistfully thought that it would be kind of awesome to see more of the actual battles and day-to-day running of Torin's space marines.
The highlight is of course Torin Kerr (currently) Gunnery sergeant. She comes across as one of the most addictive female leads in a martial series that I have yet encountered. Smart, determined, never doubting herself or her ability to get the job done, with all the battle experience to get it done and the flexibility to adapt to unexpected circumstances.
Kerr is basically a marine and a fighter though, so the sedentary life is wearing thin and when she is given the chance to accompany a recuperating major and a band of recruits to Crucible, the training planet of course she jumps at that chance. Need I say that things do NOT work out to plan?
This is probably my favorite of the Valor series, I love the description of the marine training regime and am endlessly fascinated by the training scenarios of Crucible. Often I have wistfully thought that it would be kind of awesome to see more of the actual battles and day-to-day running of Torin's space marines.
The highlight is of course Torin Kerr (currently) Gunnery sergeant. She comes across as one of the most addictive female leads in a martial series that I have yet encountered. Smart, determined, never doubting herself or her ability to get the job done, with all the battle experience to get it done and the flexibility to adapt to unexpected circumstances.
October 23, 2014
An entirely interesting read. I enjoyed the idea of the training planet, it makes a lot of sense to me for there to be a place such as the Crucible for the Marines to train on. I also enjoyed the way that the book slowly expanded on the equipment on the planet instead of giving everything away at once. My only major annoyance came from the medical situation that plagued the either book's length simply because it did not seem to be needed for the plot only for Torin taking charge of the recruits. Perhaps it'll mean something in further books.
I enjoyed the relationships shown throughout, not entirely sure what I hunk of Craig Ryder but he's an interesting enough character.
Onto the next book then.
I enjoyed the relationships shown throughout, not entirely sure what I hunk of Craig Ryder but he's an interesting enough character.
Onto the next book then.
February 3, 2011
Just as Gunnery Sgt. (she got promoted!) Torin Kerr and her lover, salvage operator Craig Ryder, start to notice that other people don't remember the same things about the alien ship from book #2 as well as they do, she is assigned to accompany a biologically-rebuilt officer on a medical evaluation to the Marine training planet of Crucible. Things almost immediately start to go awry in unpredictable ways: the senior Drill Instructor starts behaving erratically, and the preprogrammed drones seem to be attacking with malice. Is it the work of the enemy Others, or something else entirely? Another awesome installment in this series.
January 5, 2014
Sadly, I might have enjoyed the book more if the formatting in ebook wasn't so terrible. There were no scene breaks, which meant several times each chapter I had NO IDEA what was going on for a paragraph or two, would realize there must have been a scene break, and would go back to re-read. Sometimes re-reading wasn't enough to untangle the confusion as it often seemed like there were several very short scenes one after another. I even wondered if parts of the book were missing I was so confused.
Normally I wouldn't subtract a star for formatting, but this was so bad it interfered with understanding the plot and normal reading.
Don't read the ebook version (ePub)!
Normally I wouldn't subtract a star for formatting, but this was so bad it interfered with understanding the plot and normal reading.
Don't read the ebook version (ePub)!
February 3, 2011
Again with the loving Tanya Huff. This whole series is about, basically, how war is a mindfuck. This book takes it to another level, with a training exercise turning deadly and a twist that, while it's fairly heavily foreshadowed, brings the sort of wacky previous book into horrifying context. I adore the main character, the overall queer sensibility, and the hoo-rah Marine attitude tempered by the increasingly impossible situations.
July 26, 2009
Marine recruits on a world gone amok. Missing memories. Plastic aliens. Aliens whose response to the unknown is to f*** them or eat them (those are the good guys). Smartass aliens who like to test us. Gunnery sergeants who know everything. Why is everyone speaking English? Women in high-ranking positions. Skin color less mentioned than hair color.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 29, 2015
If you liked the first two books, you'll like this one. It follows the same basic pattern, but that doesn't mean it was boring. Lots of action, fun new characters, some good development of characters from the first two books, and some interesting developments in an overarching plot involving elements from the second book. The new plotlines keeps this series fresh.
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