Although this book is getting the same star rating as Tanya Huff's Vicki Nelson series, I’m not quite so enamoured with it. It's good, and if I hadn't become acquainted with Vicki first, I'm sure I would love Torin Kerr. She's definitely a kickass female character right to the very end of the novel. I respect her, but my heart belongs to Vicki.
Huff writes aliens well. The Confederation troops have members from at least four species from the alliance. Kerr has thoughts about why her combat unit has been assigned to a diplomatic mission, but she has been instructed to treat it as “light duty." Her suspicions are confirmed when the Confederation spacecraft is shot down over a wilderness area. Kerr must deal with an inexperienced commanding officer, people wounded in the crash, swampy surroundings, several species of ambassadors, and incoming hostile adolescent Silsviss (the lizard-like race that the Confederation is courting). (And I know it's not fair, but I envisioned the Silsviss like the Gorn from the original Star Trek.)
In the afterword, Huff explains that the battle of Rorke's Drift was the template for the action. And there is a lot of action. Huff tries to keep Torin Kerr realistic, in that she makes some poor decisions and loses beings under her command. She feels responsible, but isn't paralyzed by guilt.
Although I won't be in a huge hurry to read the next book, I have no doubt that I will continue on with the series. Kerr may have turned down officer training, but I have a hunch that she will continue to be interesting.
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