pjonsson's review against another edition
3.0
This series hovers around three stars from me which means that it is okay to read but not really great. This book got itself the same three star rating as the rest although that’s really barely thanks to it wasting about a third of the book on some side story which was really messy and, for the most part, boring. It’s portrayed as some kind of “training” involving a bunch of other Magistrates but it never really worked for me.
To add to the mess the author throws in the classical “we are a peaceful people so you cannot do this or that or carry arms etc… bla bla” that just screws with the investigations. This is something that always annoys me in science fiction novels. First because this pacifist rubbish is just annoying and boring but also because, to me, it is just so implausible. A species so naïve and idealistic (and usually inflexible and stubborn as well) would simply not survive in a universe filled with species not sharing their views and in this universe there are plenty of those.
The book blurb mentions Barnabas stopping buy which is really nothing more than typical overhyped marketing. Why mention Barnabas when he’s really not in the book for more than a few paragraphs? It just becomes a disappointment.
At around the one third mark Rivka is finally sent on the “real” mission and, to me, that’s really when the book starts. That’s when Rivka again returns to be the main protagonist and when she and her merry band of misfits starts to kick some ass.
From this point the book becomes fun to read again. I quite like Rivka and her friends. They all add their unique strengths and oddities and they are all, some of them in unique ways, kicking some serious ass, from her gun touting “body guard” to the “brainiac” alien hacking into everything he touches.
As with most books in this universe, that was originally created by Michael Anderle, there is a fair amount of bantering, trash talk and language that most certainly will offend the easily offended and, as always, I do like these parts.
Overall the book was saved by the last two thirds being quite good.
To add to the mess the author throws in the classical “we are a peaceful people so you cannot do this or that or carry arms etc… bla bla” that just screws with the investigations. This is something that always annoys me in science fiction novels. First because this pacifist rubbish is just annoying and boring but also because, to me, it is just so implausible. A species so naïve and idealistic (and usually inflexible and stubborn as well) would simply not survive in a universe filled with species not sharing their views and in this universe there are plenty of those.
The book blurb mentions Barnabas stopping buy which is really nothing more than typical overhyped marketing. Why mention Barnabas when he’s really not in the book for more than a few paragraphs? It just becomes a disappointment.
At around the one third mark Rivka is finally sent on the “real” mission and, to me, that’s really when the book starts. That’s when Rivka again returns to be the main protagonist and when she and her merry band of misfits starts to kick some ass.
From this point the book becomes fun to read again. I quite like Rivka and her friends. They all add their unique strengths and oddities and they are all, some of them in unique ways, kicking some serious ass, from her gun touting “body guard” to the “brainiac” alien hacking into everything he touches.
As with most books in this universe, that was originally created by Michael Anderle, there is a fair amount of bantering, trash talk and language that most certainly will offend the easily offended and, as always, I do like these parts.
Overall the book was saved by the last two thirds being quite good.
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