Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd
Genre: military sci-fi
Books in the series: Mutineer, Deserter, Defiant, Resolute, Audacious, Intrepid, Undaunted
Synopsis: As a marine of Wardhaven, Kris Longknife has a lot to live up to and a lot to prove in the long-running struggle between her powerful family, a highly defensive - and offensive - Earth, and the hundreds of warring colonies. But an ill-conceived attack is bringing the war close to home and putting Kris's life on the line. Now she has only one choice: certain death on the front lines of rim space - or mutiny.
Review:
This is a gripping series which is heavy on politics as well as military action. The heroine, Kris, is the very rich daughter of a powerful family, and by the end of book one, she's a princess too (one with real authority)... and yet she is also a very low-ranking officer, so there's some interesting power dynamics at work. There are times when she's giving orders and then taking them from exactly the same people! She's an interesting character; strong, determined, rather bossy and definitely very prone to finding herself in every dangerous situation possible. She also has some trauma in her past; her younger brother was kidnapped and killed when she was a child, and as a result she became an alcoholic at a very young age.
The other characters in the series are just as engaging as the lead, especially Jack, her secret service agent, who I may have a slight crush on. There's masses of unresolved sexual tension between him and Kris, and he's both her best friend and her harshest critic.
The first book's good, but the second one's definitely better, and later ones are better still. My favourite military sci-fi author is still Elizabeth Moon, but Shepherd comes a pretty close second. This is one of the few series where I preorder every book before it's released, and then read it as soon as I can after it arrives.
Books in the series: Mutineer, Deserter, Defiant, Resolute, Audacious, Intrepid, Undaunted
Synopsis: As a marine of Wardhaven, Kris Longknife has a lot to live up to and a lot to prove in the long-running struggle between her powerful family, a highly defensive - and offensive - Earth, and the hundreds of warring colonies. But an ill-conceived attack is bringing the war close to home and putting Kris's life on the line. Now she has only one choice: certain death on the front lines of rim space - or mutiny.
Review:
This is a gripping series which is heavy on politics as well as military action. The heroine, Kris, is the very rich daughter of a powerful family, and by the end of book one, she's a princess too (one with real authority)... and yet she is also a very low-ranking officer, so there's some interesting power dynamics at work. There are times when she's giving orders and then taking them from exactly the same people! She's an interesting character; strong, determined, rather bossy and definitely very prone to finding herself in every dangerous situation possible. She also has some trauma in her past; her younger brother was kidnapped and killed when she was a child, and as a result she became an alcoholic at a very young age.
The other characters in the series are just as engaging as the lead, especially Jack, her secret service agent, who I may have a slight crush on. There's masses of unresolved sexual tension between him and Kris, and he's both her best friend and her harshest critic.
The first book's good, but the second one's definitely better, and later ones are better still. My favourite military sci-fi author is still Elizabeth Moon, but Shepherd comes a pretty close second. This is one of the few series where I preorder every book before it's released, and then read it as soon as I can after it arrives.