Review: Well paced, well written...where is the sequel
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 22, 2012
Military sci-fi can tend toward the technology and whizz bang-ness of being in space, at the expense of good plotting and characters.Fortunately, 'Alarm of War' is nothing like that.Hudner gives us a reasonable array of characters, on both sides of the political divide, and then nurtures our understanding of their motivations, limitations and aspirations. Indeed, we meet many of the protagonists in boot camp and thence walk in their shoes as they grow into their careers. We did not tend to get such a detailed insight into the other side (I don't want to nominate them as baddies because it was not that black and white for me, but I guess that's what they were intended to be), but there was enough to-ing and fro-ing in the course of the novel that the scene was still well painted.The premise of the novel is essentially covetous revenge. The Victorian's seem to have it all - military might, ideal trade location, stable monarchy. This and the fact that they kicked the Dominion of Unified Citizenry's butt in a previous fleet encounter, is enough to spawn intrigue against them which turns into a clever and well planned strike by their enemies.Our four youngish heroes must overcome horrendous odds and circumstances to fight their way clear, and even though you strongly suspect they will all come through in the end, that is not guaranteed, setting up tension in the various threads that make up the story.There are the occasional rough edges on the writing and a few times I was suspending disbelief briefly because the protagonists are uncommonly lucky. And the technology aspects hinted steampunk to me, even though they are not, but overall 'Alarm of War' has a strongly cohesive narrative that delivers the goods.If you like military sci-fi then I doubt you will be disappointed with this novel, and hopefully you will be looking forward to a sequel as much as I am.