Review: long range thinking not just order following
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2014
The book portrays a female character (and her best friend) who is rejected by her family, and takes a military career.  She is portrayed as a bit too rational like a computer - she does have some feelings for comrades lost, but little self doubt and no romantic entanglements.  While some things go wrong, she pretty much optimally plots her way out of trouble.  This was refreshing after reading a series of books in which things go from bad to worse even for competent heroines.  It could be viewed as realistic only in the context that this woman was selected from a very large number of candidates, and so she really does have unusual characteristics.  One of them is that she does not blindly follow tradition, but rather seeks to optimize the real long range goals, and it looks like the author (who has a lifetime of actual military experience) is planning to develop this further in sequels.  I'll definitely look for them.  Unlike other reviewers, I did not see the episodes as disconnected stories.  Life is like that.  My project assignments in my career would appear as disconnected episodes to these readers.  But each contributes something to my understanding, and that is what happens with this character.