De eerste 100 bladzijden bleven we ons afvragen waarom we dit boek alweer wilden lezen en of we het wel zouden uitlezen. Nu hou ik dat stadium zelden langer dan 50 bladzijden vol, dus stelde ik me ineens ook de vraag waarom ik dat hier al 100 bladzijden vol hield. Misschien omdat Huff de tijd nam om haar personages te laten groeien en de lezer de kans gaf om hen beter te leren kennen voor ze de actie indoken. En misschien dat ik daarom geduldiger dan gewoonoijk was. Als dat inderdaad haar opzet was, is ze geslaagd: ik bleef lezen en eens de actie er aan kwam, was ik mee met personages, karakters en verhoudingen.
Eens dat gezegd, zijn de relazen (het boek bevat de eerste 2 delen van de Confederation-reeks) over hoofdpersonage Sergeant Torin Kerr goed geschreven, meeslepend, actie gedreven maar ook inhoudelijk goed gestuurd. Aangezien Tanya Huff haar hoofdpersonage tussen de leidingevenden en de troepen plaatst, gebruikt ze die setting om vooral de diplomatieke kunsten van Kerr in de verf te zetten; zelfs ten midden van vuurgevechten, weet de Sergeant als geen andere hoe ze het wankele evenwicht tussen het ego van haar oversten en de behoeftes van haar soldaten moet bewaken.
Dat maakt de boeken lezenswaardig: het karakter en de sociale vaardigheden van het hoofdpersonage. Dat én goed geschreven actiescènes, snedige humor en vlotte dialogen.
Graag gelezen, ook die eerste 100 pagina's dus ;) ( )

It is a gripping action book that completely sucks you in. I was unsure when this book was first recommend to me. I had read a Tanya Huff novel several years before and found it so so. However this was a pleasant surprise and I can't wait to finish the series. ( )

Valor’s Choice: Just back from the battlefield Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr is told to assemble a platoon from the survivors of her company to serve as an honor guard for a diplomatic mission to convince the reptilian Silsviss to join the Confederation rather than ally themselves with the Confederation’s archenemy, the Others. The orders come from a general who wants troops to impress the warlike Silsviss of their courage. Kerr doesn’t think that dress uniforms will make much of an impression, and she worries that marines bored with marching around all day, instead of getting anticipated rest and recuperation, are going to get into mischief. But she soon has more than a bar brawl to contend with, when their transport is shot down and she finds herself refighting the Battle of Rorke's Drift.

The Better Part of Valor: Sergeant Kerr has been ordered to guard the scientific exploration of an immense spacecraft of unknown origin discovered by a civilian salvage operator adrift and apparently abandoned by its crew. This time she has to put up with two commanding officers with political aspirations in addition to the salvage operator and an unexpected and unwanted pushy journalist and a camera crew.

Once inside the huge yellow spacecraft an attempt to open a panel in a wall leads to an explosion, and Kerr is sucked through the floor and away from her team of marines. From there things only get increasingly challenging and hostile.

There’s plenty of believable action, humor, and courage in these two exceptionally well written, action packed, fast paced, military science fiction adventures. ( )

I am fond of Tanya Huff, and occasionally like military scifi. This was a good combination. Hard-bitten, wisecracking female staff sergeant, aliens that are "the most indiscriminately enthusiastic life-forms in the Galaxy" (and irresistible if they forget to wear their pheromone scrubbers,) and odd missions that go badly wrong. Nothing too terribly profound, but fun stuff for sure. ( )

Yay, I finally got the omnibus. Two books in one is good, it fits better on my shelf. I've reviewed both books recently in the separate editions, so I'll just say:
I like Torin, she's very...solid. I can't quite say realistic - I've never really known anyone like her - but she fits with herself as she's presented. The Confederation is interesting and I like the way Huff managed to have dozens of alien species but she really only has to deal with a few - two (or three) deeply, three lightly in the first book, and then another one or two lightly in the second (the Mid and Elder (are there any Elders in these?) races are only dealt with lightly). ( )