Robert Mckay's Reviews > Command Decision

Alas, the library here in Albuquerque has removed the intervening volumes from the catalog, so I read the first installment, and now the fourth. I sometimes think the Albueruque library system tracks what I like, and gets rid of it; that sounds paranoid, and I really don't believe it, but time after time something that's been in good physical shape, and which isn't very old, and which I like, has vanished.

But on to the book. Kylara Vatta has very nearly made the complete transformation from Slotter Key privateer to commander of an actual military force. All she needs is government support so she can buy actual warships built for the stresses of combat, instead of converted merchant ships which are coming apart from the strain of firing ordnance at the enemy. Meanwhile, her cousin Stella is getting Vatta Transport back up and running, and Rafe Dunbarger is - reluctantly - now the CEO of ISC, the company which provides ansible service all through human space.

Communications are key. Whether the pirates whom Ky is fighting did it, or someone else did, many of the ansible platforms are down, seriously disrupting real-time communications between and in star systems. And there's new technology on the loose - ansibles that can fit aboard a ship, creating a revolution in space combat tactics. But ISC is jealous of its monopoly over interstellar communications, and Ky might have to fight not only the pirates, but ISC's feared fleet as well.

This is military space opera. It's not profound, it's not great literature - but it is great entertainment, and a book which isn't a pleasure to read isn't worth reading, no matter what great ideas it may contain. This book is a pleasure to read, and I highly recommend it.