KCR: Kris Longknife, Audacious (book, scifi, space)

This is yet another book in the Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd. This time, Kris Longknife was sent to planet of "New Eden" (though everybody just say "Eden"), a sort of oligarchy where half of the people don't have citizenship (and thus, no franchise, no voting), the other half tries to sweep all bad news under the rug and out of sight. There, Kris Longknife had to dodge multiple assassination attempts, and runs into a conspiracy where someone is trying to decapitate the entire Eden government, and the only way to save Eden's freedom is Kris Longknife, and her company of Wardhaven Marines.

The plot is interesting, and the lead up to the big fight, and how each side is trying to hide what they're doing and seek out more information. The casualties on the good side, however, is rather hard to take. As the series have shown, people around a Longknife tend to get hurt, and this time, someone close to Longknife will lose a few relatives.

The dialog is as irreverent as ever, with the princess and crew, and even the computer being sassy and needling each other with puns, bad wit, and verbal barbs. The action is pretty good, nobody acting stupid. It's an honest tough fight, and there will be a victory for the righteous.

Overall, this one has no space battles, just ground small-unit action, and not much of a surprise, just hard fighting, and conspiracies and such. If you like ground action, this may be up your alley.

KCR: Kris Longknife, Resolute (novel, scifi, adventure)

Kris Longknife series by Mike Shepherd is a longstanding series where Princess Kris Longknife goes on various adventures around the universe, fighting pirates, slavers, other bad guys, and occasional fights against the Peterwald worlds. It's pretty much an adventure novel that has a lot of irreverent dialog.

In Resolute, Kris was shuffled off to a corner of the universe and given an independent command to the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, trouble seems to follow her everywhere. The planet don't like her. The station was a ghost town. A pirate ship was caught mucking with jump point buoys. Chasing that down lead to a discovery that have serious implications for the whole sector...

Resolute is an adventure novel that usually have a few twists that is kept things light and humorous for the most part. The crew banter with each other. If you prefer a serious crew, read the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. This crew jokes and joshes with each other, with plenty of eyerolling. All of the crew seem to have secrets. The "maid" appears to be more of a bodyguard and tech whiz. The exec used to run the secret service detail (read: body guard). It's just a much lighter style.

Is it worth reading? Sure, give it a try.

Rating: Try it

Resolute (Kris Longknife) (on Amazon)