Marque of Caine

Tales of the Terran Republic #5

by Charles E. Gannon

Book 5 in the critically acclaimed Caine Riordan science fiction series by three-time Nebula nominee Charles E. Gannon. Science fiction on a grand scale. Prequels Raising Caine, Trial by Fire and Fire with Fire were all Nebula Award finalists. Charles E. Gannon is also the winner of the Compton Crook Award and a Dragon Award nominee.

BLAZE A TRAIL THROUGH DANGEROUS WORLDS

It’s been two years since Caine Riordan was relieved of his command for following both his orders and his conscience. Now he’s finally received the message he’s been waiting a summons to visit the ancient and enigmatic Dornaani. And this time, making direct contact is not just professional, but the Dornaani still have his mortally wounded love, Elena Corcoran, in their unthinkably advanced medical facilities.

But instead of arranging a swift reunion, Riordan’s new Dornaani hosts have lost track of Elena’s surgical cryocell. Riordan must blaze his own trail through dying and dangerous worlds to find the mother of his child, her fate as uncertain as the true agenda of the Dornaani leaders.

However, as new clues and new threats push Caine’s quest beyond the edge of known space, he discovers that the Dornaani empire is not merely decaying; there are subtle signs that its decline is being accelerated from without. Which means that rescuing Elena is just half the mission. Riordan must report that the Dornaani collapse is not only being engineered, but that it is the prelude to a far more malign To clear a path for a foe bent on destroying Earth.

About Caine's

"This is military Science Fiction the way it’s supposed to be written. . . . All in all, a highly satisfying tale of the Terran Republic that moves the story forward and setting us up for the next chapter, which promises to be interesting at worst and explosive at best." — SF Crowsnest

About Raising Caine :

"Raising Caine unveils a lot of thought-provoking ideas but ultimately this is a space opera adventure. There are space battles, daring emergency landings, desperate quests, hand-to-hand combat, and double-and-triple crosses. It’s an engrossing read. You owe it to yourself to read the two previous books in order. Then enjoy Raising Caine . It’s an intergalactic thrill-ride." — Fantasy and Science Fiction Book and Audiobook Reviews

"This is science-fiction adventure on a grand scale." — Kirkus

"Gannon’s harrowing . . . military space opera (following Trial by Fire ) builds well on his established setting . . . Gannon’s signature attention to developing realistic alien worlds makes this installment satisfying." — Publishers Weekly

“ . . . an incredibly active book . . . as our protagonists are confronted by the beautiful, terrible, and sometimes lethal variety of the universe and its inhabitants. . . . a whole mess of fun . . . that manages to be scientifically accurate while refraining from excessive wonkiness. Those who value meticulous world-building . . . will certainly have their needs met.” — BN Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog

About Nebula-nominated second entry, Trial by

“I seriously enjoyed Trial by Fire. This one’s a tidal wave—can’t put it down. An excellent book.” —Jack McDevitt

"Gannon's whiz-bang second Tales of the Terran Republic interstellar adventure delivers on the promise of the first ( Fire with Fire ) . . . The charm of Caine's harrowing adventure lies in Gannon's attention to detail, which keeps the layers of political intrigue and military action from getting too dense. The dozens of key characters, multiple theaters of operations, and various alien cultures all receive the appropriate amount of attention. The satisfying resolution is enhanced by the promise of more excitement to come in this fascinating far-future universe." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

" . . . definitely one to appeal to the adventure fans. Riordan is a smart hero, up against enormous obstacles and surrounded by enemies. Author Gannon does a good job of managing action and tension to keep the story moving, and the details of the worlds Riordan visits are interesting in their own right." — Analog

" . . . offers the type of hard science-fiction those familiar with the John Campbell era of Analog Science Fiction will remember. Gannon throws his readers into an action-packed adventure. A sequel to Fire With Fire , it is a nonstop tale filled with military science-fiction action." — Daily News of Galveston County

About Compton Crook Award-winner for best first novel, Fire with

“Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds—someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint.” —David Weber

"If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first co...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Ebooks, Aliens

500 pages, Paperback

First published July 2, 2019

About the author

Dr. Charles E. Gannon is a Distinguished Professor of English (St. Bonaventure U.) & Fulbright Senior Specialist (American Lit & Culture). He has had novellas in Analog and the War World series. His nonfiction book "Rumors of War and Infernal Machines" won the 2006 ALA Outstanding Text Award. He also worked as author and editor for GDW, and was a routine contributor to both the scientific/technical content and story-line in the award-winning games "Traveller," and "2300 AD." He has been awarded Fulbrights to England, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands, and worked 8 years as scriptwriter/producer in NYC.

Reviews

[Nataliya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Finally. This book is *finally* over.

When I started this book to wrap up my 2020 Hugo/Nebula Awards reading project, I was quite wary. It’s book 5 in the series in which I have not read the first four. I was prepared to be lost and confused and frustrated, and was ready to abandon it if things get confusing (it’s a big deal for me, to “dnf” a book; I’ve done it exactly once in my entire reading life). But I’ve started in the middle of a series before, so I decided to plunge right in.

But guess what - starting at book 5 in the series was not a problem. This seems to be a start of a completely new narrative arc in the series, and the important and relevant information from the first four installments was neatly summarized and presented whenever necessary. So I never felt like I struggled to keep up.

The problem was the book itself.

You see, I love science fiction. I *like* classic pulp style of SF. I love exploration of alien worlds. I even made my peace with (some) military SF. I like quest-type stories. And this one has all that.

But I really just could NOT get into it.

And when you dislike a very long book, it really becomes endless. But hey, I’m nothing but tenacious, I powered through it, mostly unscathed (basically, pretty much like our reliably and tiresomely awesome Caine Riordan).

The main thing for an unsuspecting reader to know is this: Caine Riordan is a perfect human specimen who cannot be wrong about anything, and everything he does is perfection, and every one of his hunches is a correct one, and knowing this is enough to get you through this hefty tome.

Also, most of the book follows this pattern: Caine Riordan, on his quest to find his missing and deadly injured lover, ends up on an alien planet where contemptuous aliens proceed to insult him to his face (according to aliens, humans suck and are primitive savages with rudimentary intelligence), he manages to impress them nevertheless, they give him some ridiculous task in exchange for information, he promptly excels at whichever task it is (because he is unerringly beyond awesome), gets the information that requires him to move to a different alien planet. Rinse and repeat. More contemptuous aliens, more inane tasks, more of Caine Riordan’s sheer awesomeness. And on and on and on.

“Before Riordan could stop himself, the words blurted out, “So this is just another stupid test.”

It’s predictable, dry and very drawn out, and at times screeches to a complete halt. And the awesome protagonist lacks dimension in his unquestionable perfection. The dialogue is consistently stilted and clunky, bordering on robotic. There are no nuances, especially not for our flawless space hero. I assume he’s probably square-jawed, too.

He’s like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story before the poor chap realizes he’s a toy and not a space ranger.

This novel warns against dangers of virtual reality and extols humanity’s resourcefulness and adaptability — actually a refreshing concept in the recent SF landscape where we have been painfully aware of humanity’s shortcomings with our propensity for violence, aggression and cruelty. Gannon focuses on the positives, which is almost refreshing — but the annoyingly uber-awesome Caine unfortunately lessens the impact of such optimism.

Apparently almost all the novels in this series, including this one, have been nominated for Nebula Award. I can’t speak for the other ones, but I can’t see why this one got the nod. But there’s gotta be something that eludes me here, given all the nominations. But hey, I’m not perfect - unlike our Caine.

Unless the nominations all are for this wonderful space race name: Hkh'Rkh. Say it a few times in a row: Hkh'Rkh, Hkh'Rkh, Hkh'Rkh. At least you’ve cleared your throat now. Now wipe the spit off your screen and let’s move on. I’m almost tempted to buy an audio book of this just to hear that pronounced.

2 stars. Not for me.
————

My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2020: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

After leaving his previous command with many plot-threads left hanging in the prior book, this one sets itself up as a bit of a wanderer.

That's not bad. We have his quest to find the mother of his child, the ongoing mystery of a very powerful alien race that has something in mind for him, and a ton of political intrigue in the wider universe that will either spell survival or doom for the human race.

Not bad. Add a ton of interesting reveals about that alien species, gather together a rag-tag crew of ex-soldiers on a de-mothballed ship, and we've got ourselves the Odyssey. With virtual realms, real-space, and risky ventures all around.

There is no real wrap up, but as they always say, the adventure is in the journey, not the destination.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Caine Riordan saga grinds to a halt in the fifth and (so far) last installment. Like the previous volumes, this highlights another of the alien races, in this case, the Dornaani, who are the architects of the Accord and staff the Custodians, who ensure the Accord is not violated. Prior to this volume, we have only encountered one of the Dornaani, Alnduul, who is a senior mentor of the Custodians assigned the space around Earth.

MoC is set a few years after the previous installment, and Caine is 'chill'in' in the Caribbean with his son Connor. Caine only became aware he had a son recently; Connor was conceived shortly before Caine was put 'on ice' for 15 years or so. Connor's mother, Elena, was badly injured during the battle for Earth in the first volume and taken away by the Dornaani who might be able to save her. Caine was also badly injured then, and likewise was saved by Dornaani medical technology. While Caine was revived and immediately put back in the field, Elena has basically 'gone missing' for several years now.

So much for the set up. Basically, Caine, after an attempt on his life (something to do with the 'lost solders') sets out on a mission with Alnduul to find Elena in Dornaani space. While we do encounter some political machinations on Earth, MoC is basically a 'quest' novel akin to the well used fantasy trope. Caine must face several challenges and tests on various Dornaani worlds to get the clues necessary to find Elena...

While supposedly the last volume, Gannon did little to tie this up with a bow; in fact, I thought it basically just ended without much resolution of anything. We do learn much about the Dornaani, who as a race/society are in rapid decline. Caine comes off as something of a superman here; he was always pretty smart and adaptable, but here, he is almost invincible, conquering every task/test with aplomb. I was hoping for more here. In the previous volumes, Gannon always had Caine and crew jumping from one fire to the next, with generous action scenes punctuating various battles and space adventures. Here, very little in the way of action; the focus is on the Dornaani and their decline, as well as hinting (again!!) at perhaps a master plan by the 'old races' who fought a massive war 20,000 years ago. Overall, 2.5 frustrating stars, rounding down due to all the loose ends.

[Jeffrey Schmieder · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favorite of the five books in this series. It was like the author has run out of gas so he invents these games with eccentric aliens. Even Caine finds it tiresome. It is supposed to prepare us for a new series of books, I am guessing, but at this point I no longer cared about the fate of Elena. I will probably read the spinoffs with the Lost Soldiers.

[Robert Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is incomplete. It's obviously the first volume of a longer story in the overarching series. That pisses me off. I don't appreciate lengthy reads with no obvious or even partial conclusions.

All the initial plot catalysts remain with no closure. Caine is still wanted, The Lost are still not safe, the Doornani are still ambivalent and Elena is still missing.

We spend the better part of the book being jerked along by increasingly insulting Doornani, learning that their species are for lack of a better word, junkies.

The key hook about Doornani decline and the subsequent cause of their decline is force fed over the majority of the book ad naseum. It was interesting but didn't need to be the entirety of the volume.

I'll read the next book but if this doesn't get any better, I will not be continuing the series.

Rated 2.5 Stars.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't seem like this is book 5 of the series. I've been right there when each is published. They have been really good. The fourth stumbled a bit, but here in the 5th book the author returns to form. More intrigue, more mystery, more questioning of where loyalties lie. The only issue I had is I went through it quick and now have to wait another year or two for the next installment.

Think of this as a road trip through Dornaani space. We get to learn about their origins, current society and all of the cracks underneath the veneer of superiority. Many questions are answered, but like a good mystery, new questions spring to mind.

Here is good commentary of how a society can lose touch with itself by existing solely within a virtual world. This is a much better representation than the previous fiction book that attempted to portray a virtual society (Looking at Stephenson & _Fall_). It is instructive just how addicted the Dornaani society is to virtual worlds. The author dives into it, but doesn't dwell there much, except to drive the story forward.

If you have come through the first four books and wondered if it gets better, yes it does. Here, the big question is: Why does one, in order to fulfill their oath of protecting their society, need to break the oath? Where does one's loyalty lie, with the corrupt government or to the stability of the greater galatic good?

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a stronger book than the last two, but still suffers from the usual flaws, or at least I should probably call them traits. In particular, every book, since the first, is an “explore the species” book, so moves slowly as we are taking a guided tour through another species.

Plot-wise, I understand why every government has to be corrupt, venal, or incompetent for the purposes of isolating the good guys so they are more heroic; but for me it is a tired trope.

I’m still chewing on the plot, and whether it is simplistic because of the need for the guided tour (which is my assumption), or if we’ve reached the problem of a horror movie, where when the antagonist isn’t known, it is spooky, but the moment the antagonist is known, the feel changes and we lose the emotional charge.

Also, the complication in this book? It feels entirely like “kids these days and their new technologies.”

[Tim Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

It might help to think of this book as Scenes in the Caine Universe, in which Gannon has written several set pieces. That done, he builds a flimsy plot around them ... and doesn't bother with an ending.

Older readers with a British background will recognize Caine as a modern Dan Dare. Never wrong, never really in trouble, inspires fierce loyalty, and can be underestimated an infinite number of times.

There are some mildly interesting thoughts on what virtuality can do to a society. There are some dull political machinations.

For a long time in the middle of this book I thought I had slipped over into the similar John Scalzi series.

Elena is a real Maltese Falcon. I don't really care by now whether we ever see her again.

And the inane "challenges" - sheesh. Especially the virtuality with microscopic detail about 1860s London, give me a break. And of course you can never go wrong with a fight on a train. Yawn.

And then we come to what I have to call the ending because it was at the end. This is right out of Edgar Rice Burroughs. There they were in the 30'-deep pit with venomous snakes and greased sides. (turns page) Having escaped the pit, they strolled into the palace ... Or, to put it another way: "Cap't this could go ANYwhere -- or nowhere!" ... "Oh look, we're in the Vatican on Easter Sunday!" (book ends)

Too many loose ends and mighty leaps. Ptui. Three stars only because there were so MANY ideas.

[Karsten Stiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I'm happy to know that in a few weeks the next installment will hit the shelves :), Because this is a book with a mayor cliffhanger at the end ...

[Andrew Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set two years after Caine Riordan was relieved of his command – for doing the right thing – our longsuffering protagonist finally receives the message he’s been waiting for: a summons to visit the Dornaani on their home world.
It seems Caine’s hopes of discovering the current location and welfare of his long-lost love, Elena Corcoran, (mother to his seventeen year old son, Connor), has taken a positive step forward at last.
However, there’s no silver lining to the clouds waiting on the horizon. As Caine discovers, time may have passed, but his principles and loyalty ensure he remains a political radioactive hot potato. Bureaucratically instigated obstacles ensure he remains stymied by a frustrating conveyor belt of one step forward, and two steps back red tape. It’s not until Caine takes matters into his own hands that he makes progress . . . if being impeded at every turn and led down countless dead ends can be construed as progress.
And why might this be the case?
The Dornaani culture is crumbling. They may come from a super-sophisticated civilization where technology is so advanced that it makes what human’s possess seem like a primitive sticks & stones society, but they’ve lost the will to create anything new. A malady that has grown steadily more insidious with each passing century. Instead of reaching out to explore and extend their understanding of the universe, the Dornaani are now more content to evade the pressures of real life and immerse themselves within VR sims where their every whim is catered to. Yes, their existence is slowly festering from within.
The thing is, both the planting of the seeds and subsequent cultivation of this spreading rot appears deliberate. Does that mean stagnation is a prelude to something more sinister? And how does that tie in to Caine and Elena?
We find out, in an epically complex tale, where plots within plots weave a textured web of prejudice, racial avarice and duplicity. Little wonder, then, that Caine ends up despairing. Will he ever actually make it home?

[Daniel Shellenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, it was inevitable that we'd get here sooner or later given all the allusions to Homer and Greek mythology that have peppered this series, but this series has finally gone full Odyssey on us. After receiving an invitation to travel into Dornaani space, Caine Riordan goes on a personal quest through a strange alien empire to find the woman he loves (where she was taken to be healed of a seemingly mortal injury, until they lost interest and forgot where they put her...) complete with encounters with seemingly-magical technologies and sinister beings with unknowable agendas (and a penchant for playing mind games). The big problem with this book is (as others have noted) it's all journey, no payoff. At the end of the book, Caine may be closer to finding his beloved that when he started (maybe... the ending throws things for a bit of a loop), but that's not to say that it seems like he's anywhere near actually achieving his goals. On the other hand, I enjoyed the journey quite a bit, Gannon has repeatedly shown a skill with developing strange new worlds with new life and new civilizations throughout the series, and he continues to shine here, exploring the amazingly advanced but decadent and rapidly failing Dornaani Civilization. It certainly isn't as thrilling as some of the previous books in series as the stakes aren't (seemingly) as high and there's fairly little action, but I found it to be an interesting and fitting addition to the series, even if it is a bit frustrating that nothing was really resolved by the "end".

[Jason Hoople · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can appreciate a certain level of classic scifi nostalgia from this one. It does hit certain beats, like the John Carter-esque man of men, the "Fountains of Paradise" references to space elevators and super technology. However....it just didn't feel like this went anywhere. I understand that this is the 5th in a book series, but even among series books should stand on their own. The ending was far too much of a cliffhanger to bring any satisfaction to the story told here. Additionally, it jumped from so many different types of stories. First we have the exploration aspect of this new civilization (from the reader and the main characters perspective), then he keeps being put through these seemly arbitrary trials by every new alien he meets, and then there's all this virtual reality. It's very hard to say what the overall message of this book is. Again, maybe that's just due to it being part of a bigger story but it's hard for me to even say what it's "about"....finding his wife.....that he never does?

Furthermore, it is commonplace in books I have read for aliens to praise human risk-taking and ingenuity. If there are any aliens out there, I am not aware of their existence, but it seems pretty silly to me that so much fiction tries to make us out to be something unique among a galaxy of sentient species. This one certainly falls prey to that overt level of overture of human kinds greatness.

[Mike Huberty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally we get to see what the Dornaani are all about

There’s almost too much plot in this one, as Caine bounces from adventure to adventure inside the Collective. Some of the concepts seemed like they weren’t fully explained (factotums, the technology stolen from the ancient civilization, why no one in the Accord punished the Ktor for doing evil and obviously illegal things), but the world is so well developed and the plot points are so much fun, that you can forgive the underdeveloped bits.

And Gannon knows how to keep you going from chapter to chapter with cliffhangers. Caine as always is a little too perfect, he’s like the world’s smartest man, who’s also a brilliant fighter, politician, and strategist, but we’ve gotten used to that from the first book. One thing I like is that his team is always working together and loyal and smart, so the plot focuses on the struggle against the aliens, which is nice because I’m tired of books where “humans are the real bad guys” (well, funny enough that’s true in this series as well, but he reversed the trope by making those humans actually a different offshoot.) Anyway, as usual, the plot of these books is extremely compelling and I like that we never know what’s really gonna happen next.

[Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest, and fifth, volume in the Caine Riordan saga, this is also probably the best book up until now. As in previous volumes we follow Caine Riordan this time as he gets a whirlwind tour of Dornaani space. The Dornaani species which we've met back in the first volume is a mysteriously advanced species and all we'd met of them had up until now been Alnduul, their ambassador, which had played the part of the closest ally to humanity.

As the book goes on we learn that Alnduul isn't really a representative of the species and the Dornaani show themselves to be much weirder and more dangerous than expected. 

The book is a lot of fun, this time not being overly long, a problem that had plagued some of the previous volumes, and it is also varied enough to keep the interest going. There's even a whole section set in a virtual world with an alternative Victorian earth where coal is a rare substance with all the historical implications of that. A great read, particularly if you've already invested time in the series, no time to quit now

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

Can't say too much about it for fear of spoilers but, suffice it to say, Caine Riordan goes into Dornaani space to retrieve his mate Elena Corcoran, given to the Dornaani after she was grievously injured because their superior care was her only hope for survival.

I especially enjoyed getting to see more of the Dornaani culture. As always, I particularly enjoy seeing many alien races in the same book.

Highly recommended for longtime fans of this exciting character-driven space opera series!

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. Where the hell are they? I'm a big fan of this series but I missed the release of this one. Glad I took my time looking through all the books at the bookstore to find to my surprise the latest installment was out. Now two days later, I'm finished.

Some people have called this a road trip book but I think of it more as an education in the politics and history of the Dornaani. Without going into detail or spoilers, Caine is led through a series of worlds that may bring him closer to Elena while educating him to the darker side of this seemingly powerful race.

[Jeremy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the previous books in the series. Despite the main character being better than everyone else at... pretty much everything, it didn't read like a Gary Stu. However, in this book I found myself skipping over paragraphs - there was a lot of filler, a lot of "Caine goes to this place and interacts with someone, does something, and then goes on to the next." And nothing gets resolved.
I will probably read the next book to see what happens, but if it is similar to this one I will be done with the series.

[Jason Snell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than book four. This one is largely a download on world-building, with occasional gratuitous action set pieces when the author has decided that things have been too boring for too long. Caine Riordan continues to be the universe's most competent reluctant warrior genius. I enjoyed a lot of the ancient-alien-civilizations archaeology stuff but the truth is there's not a whole lot of plot here, there's a lot of digression, and the book ends in a cliffhanger with nothing resolved.

[Sleemon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a long slog with very little payoff in terms of moving the story arc forward. Most of the book reads like a travelogue in Dornaani space. We learn a lot about their origins, the source of their advanced technology and the reason for their decline, but not much about how Caine and friends are going to foil their enemies on Earth. It was mildly interesting to go along for the ride, but there isn’t much here to stir the blood.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The alien races are fairly unique are some interesting food for thought. Caine is a bit too close to a Heinlein hero, he's supercompetent and almost never makes mistakes. There's enough context that you can start reading this series from this novel, but you may want to wait till #6, this ends on a cliffhanger.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a while, it seemed like I was reading "Caine Riordan vs. the evil bureaucracies" crossed with a touch of gulliver's travels. I enjoyed it more towards the end, but was disappointed that we were left hanging. Hopefully Gannon has the next sequel out soon.

[Michael Rutkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not as good as the first four books ! A lot of filler and it's transitioning to set up the story line for the next couple books in the series ! Kind of disappointing and it spent a whole book on a plot line that did little to further the story !

[Joseph Manes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is so intellectual it’s so well done great characters

That’s with the end of all great books you just want to know when the next ones coming out if you haven’t read the series start from the beginning and revel in the grand riding

[Ryan Kovar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/4 of a book

Typical for the series the first 75% and last 25% are like two different novels. I'll continue reading but can't say I'm pleased.

[Constantine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles E. Gannon is a mostly-hard-sci-fi writer whose books promise the thrills of the opening words in a Star Trek episode: “To explore strange new worlds/To seek out new life/And new civilizations/To boldly go where no man has gone before.” His Terran Republic series is a perennial runner-up in the Nebula Awards, and Marque of Caine was no exception. Its stalwart hero, Caine Riordan, like his Kirkian model, is the kind of guy who leads the away missions, ship-be-damned. His mission this time is to recover his lover Elena from an alien medical pod.
The action moves us from the warm seas of the Bahamas to a simulated universe in a distant star system. Gannon’s Consolidated Terran Republic is a world where “change was always uneven in distribution and irregular timing. Plenty still varied along social lines. Tidiness was transient.” This untidiness keeps his world believable and relatable. Even his ancient alien mentors seem fuddled at times.
But such a messy sprawl of a world has its downside. As almost every reviewer notes, this 500-page tome is too long and may put some readers into as deep a coma as poor Elena. But the action, with its clever critters and tech, kept me up and at it.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the currently last (and definitely my last) book in the series.. where the 'travelogue' continues and the Dornaani are next up. One problem, though, to manage to get Caine to go there, we have what is a nonsensical plot to get him there... he has to leave his son (who he's finally met and seems to like alot, because of course Caine Riordan is great at everything) to chase after his probably dead wife.

Oh, and by the way, he's also immortal now. Ugh.

On top of that, the Dornaani are far less interesting that they could have been.. just another race in decline because of awesome technology... nothing unique at all after what could have been very good.

Not sure the next books will ever be released (they were announced when this one came on in 2019.. Amazon does have covers and descriptions), but even if they do I'm not interested in where the plot went... it'll just be a re-tread of the last book with different aliens.

[Ric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard SF tale. The narrative picks up where the previous book (#4) left off, with Riordan seeking to find where aliens, who were meant to help heal her mortally sick wife, had taken her body, somewhere in the 100 light-year sphere of the galaxy populated by air-breathing sapients.

Unlike the previous books in the series, which tended to be firmly in the military SF genre, this book leans more towards the many challenges of dealing with alien cultures that a "mere" human has to face. In this sense, it is more in the nature of SF mystery and problem-solving that is the bedrock of "hard" SF.

I did enjoy this rather-long book, which unfortunately still seems unfinished because it terminates on a cliffhanger. But as they say, it's the journey that matters rather than the destination. This was a good ride. 5 stars.

[Richard Domey · Rating 2 out of 5]

His philosophy of the minds human makeup.

Lots of human mental philosophy. Short sequences of action. All in all not an especially interesting book. Generally speaking most of the interesting parts could have been covered in one chapter.

[Jimmy Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cliff hanger!

Good story if you ignore probability. Bouncing from one crisis to another and living through it with horrible odds makes for an exciting tale. Unlikely as rolling seventy side in a row, but still..