Wednesday 2 January 2013

Second Chances by Susan Schwartz

Started: Dec. 13, 2012
Finished: Dec. 30, 2012
Pages:454

"Don't judge a book by it's cover".  There's a dictum meant to be ignored, particularly when you're reading SF.   Covers are marketing.  The cover is the brand.  This one looks like it could be authored by David Weber, and true to the cover it's military SF.

But Susan Schartz isn't David Weber, and this is not a rousing tale of daring do and heroism.  It's about idealism, dishonour, shame, and the search for redemption.  Note I said "search".  Not all searches are entirely successful, after all.  

I can't whole-heartedly recommend this book. Unlike (at least my memory) of Silk Roads and Shadows, the writing is sometimes quite wooden.  But I won't condemn it either.  The character of Jim is drawn with some sophistication, and if it's a little hard to believe the actions that lead to his downfall, well, he finds his own actions inexplicable.  And somehow that seems more real than otherwise.


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