Review: Seemed soulless
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 26, 2013
It's hard to really grade any book by Christopher Nuttall.  His books often have interesting if rather unoriginal plot foundations.  (He has more than one series based on a dying space empire.)  The problem seems to be just how narrowly he approaches the story.This series and the Empire Corps series are perhaps the two best examples.  both have an empire that is dying due to internal corruption and the fact that the control of the empire is in the hands of several hereditary "senators" who care only for staying in power.  Corruption and nepotism/favoritism is epidemic and the military is largely filled with cronies of the senators.Of course, the two series do develop differently.  This one has a mutiny and then rebellions.  Democracy's Might starts after the mutineers have captured an entire sector and are now heading towards Earth, ready to overthrow the corrupt government.That part is solid, but the characters are just not engaging.  Christopher jumps around from the heroes building the rebel forces to Earth to look over the shoulder of some of the senators who are trying to stop the rebellion from forcing them from power.  But while the intrigue is interesting, its lifeless.  The character interactions seem almost sterilized.  Characters are not quite two dimensional, but there are no shades of grey in this story.  A character is either a hero or a villain.  Even the final plot twist was telegraphed and didn't surprise or impress me.If you love this genre and liked Democracy's Right, this will be an excellent continuation, but otherwise its not all that special.