Status Updates From Conviction (Scattered Stars...

I'm impressed.

This isn't a shoot-em-up video game disguised as Military SF. Nor is it soaked in all those way-of-the-warrior duty-honour-sacrifice attitudes.

These guys are former military, betrayed by their leadership and now with a bounty on their heads and working as mercenaries, so the ethos is more personal and more rational.

It's well thought through, has a steady pace and keeps widening its horizons.

The tech is nicely thought through. The situation shows promise. The pace is slow enough for me to settle in to while still keeping me moving forward, although I'd like some action soon. The writing is clean and clear. The characterisation is light but not cartoonish.

A good clean start to a military SF series. Strong forward motion that establishes the main character and does some swift world-building without descending into info-dumps or over-wrought introspection.

I'm keen to see where this is going, I'm expecting lots of action, lots and lots of weapons and some surprises along the way.