Review: An oldie but goodie.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2013
I first read this book while I was in college; hrm, in the 90's, so there are some references that were relevant then but not now (Soviet premiere, tapes, and such).  I loved it, and I really liked and loved the two that followed (Grounded! and Sundowner). With rereading, my original copies became well-worn, frayed and glued/taped together.  I eventually gave in and hunted down down copies in better shape. I haven't been able to bring myself to throw out the ragged books, so I still have two copies of the series on my bookshelves.  Imagine my delight when I found out that this had been released in e-format!The only thing I didn't like about the series was that there were only two books that followed the first.  I felt like the last book left us all on the cusp of even grander adventures, so I was dismayed as time passed and nothing followed.  However, the foreword hints that there may be more to come if the e-sales are good enough.  This series captured my attention long before I stumbled across Honor Harrington or Kris Longknife.  If you like those series, you won't be sorry you gave this one a try.  If you like this one and haven't read those, do so immediately.I'll try to give you a sense of the book without giving away many spoilers:Imagine if all your life's ambitions came true.  You were given your dream job, but people you respect thought you couldn't hack it.  Still, you and your best friend forge ahead and are confronted with boredom, then danger, violence, sacrifice, and loss.  You then experience terrible beauty, grief, guilt, and desperation.  Next comes hope, wonder, and kinship, which turns into betrayal and, again, desperation.  Then, understanding, forgiveness, anger, planning, struggle, violence, confusion, insanity, and pain.  Finally, hope, again, and salvation, recovery, recognition of victory and loss, kinship, and goodbyes.At the end, you've been successful beyond anyone's wildest fantasies, but your success was not without a dear price.  The journey has left you shattered, but you're healing.Enjoy!