Review: Not bad, just not that good
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 16, 2013
While this was a fairly good space opera, there were significant issues that keep me from rating it higher.  The plot line was reasonable although there were a few instances where things just seemed to get wrapped up a bit too conveniently.  One of my criticisms was the marines' addressing each other by their first names.  My experience in the military was that members of your unit were "Winslow" or "Johnston," but never "Ron" or "Mary."  The language was a bit explicit, but, hey, they're marines.Another criticism had to do with continuity.  One of the characters, Aaron McDonald, was worked into the story early on with the suggestion that, as a native of the planet that was their destination, he might be able to provide the marines with better local intelligence.  Yet he was never again mentioned in the story.  (Perhaps his character ended up on the cutting room floor or maybe he shows up in a sequel.)  The most glaring issue, however, was late in the story (SPOILER ALERT) when the insurgents are about to attack.  There is an argument among their leaders about whether it is indeed the right time to proceed with the attack.  They reluctantly decide the plan is too far along to stop because some units undoubtedly wouldn't receive the word to hold off.  So (and here is the problem), the leaders agree to send forth the order for everyone to go ahead.  But if everyone was still waiting for orders to proceed, all they needed to do was not issue those orders.There are more stories in this series, but I doubt I'll read them.  There are too many other titles out there for me to spend my time with literature that makes me pick nits.