Review: Character Study with a dash of Sci-Fi
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2013
Plot Synopsis (spoiler free):Humanity is embroiled in a long running battle with the Vothriles.  Evenly matched technologically, the war has seen years of brutal conflict that has devolved into a war of attrition.  The technology of EM Field Manipulation allows each side to cloak its most valuable warships and so combat resembles something like the submarine battles of WWII - death comes out of the blue and the fate of any ship depends upon its ability to hide from discovery and retaliation.  Thus, EM Field Warfare is the key to survival and victory for each side.  For the Humans, EMmers are gifted individuals who manage the EM units for each capital ship while the Vothrile, lacking an equivalent amongst their race, must use less capable computers to fill that role.  Emil is the sole remaining sane EMmer in the Human task force and his grip on reality is tenuous at best.Into this volatile mix is thrust an unknown, Force Cantrithor - a hostile entity so potent that the Vothrile are willing to (temporarily?) seek an alliance with the Humans in hopes that their combined might can stop Force Cantrithor's swath of destruction through both Human and Vothrile space.Emil is the key to victory - can the Human/Vothrile fleet stop the alien menace before he, like the other EMmers before him, loses his mind?--------** light spoiler-ish content below **This isn't really a book about the conflict between humans and the Vothrile or between them and the alien designated Force Cantrithor; it is really about what it means to be human and whether or not something that isn't human can be raised to be human in thoughts, feelings, and loyalty, if not in physical form.  The meat of the story follows Emil as he discovers the truth about himself and what that means for himself and those (near and far) who depend upon him.  Sort of The Shining.  In space.  With Aliens.Unlike the Synchronicity series where the aliens are fully realized and explored in depth, the Vothrile appear to exist to provide an antagonist for Emil's faction of humans to fight against and then ally with.  It could just as easily have been a rival faction of humans and not materially changed the core plot.The Force Cantrithor alien is even more thinly sketched.  It seems to be a simple macguffin there to provide motive force for the plot but little more, except possibly as an example of what Emil could have (or might yet) become if he went down a different ethical path.  I think that's the point of the plot, really, so it is a shame more of the page count wasn't given to its point of view.The story is interesting and has some fascinating ideas but I was repeatedly pulled out of the story by similarities to McCloskey's other works, the Synchronicity Series and the Trilisk/Parker Interstellar series.  The concept of EM field manipulation is a fairly central to the Spinner aliens and (Mama) Veer appears in both series.  Storage rings are also used by the Spinners.  I think I remember PAWs in one series or the other.  Each time I hit a reference to these I kept racking my brain trying (and failing) to see how the novel could fit into either series.I disliked the ending (on the last page) but I have to applaud the author for having the courage to end the book on a downer that is consistent with the rest of the book rather than inventing a happy ending that would have clashed with the tone of the rest of the novel.As usual for McCloskey, the writing and pacing are fine and there are few (if any) typos.  On it's own, this is a fine sci-fi story and perhaps it is unfair of me to compare it to its siblings but... there it is.  I deducted a half of a point each for the non-development of the Vothrile/Cantrithor, the cross-story references, and a few other miscellaneous story elements that didn't work for me.  I'd give this 3.5 stars if Amazon let us award half stars.