C. F. Bentley (1) (1950–)

Meh. Not as fun as the first. Set solely on the space station, it never really settles down to what the problem is, or why any of these characters are involved. Jake's assumed absolute command, for no particular reason and Pamela seems to want to hold that role which would be very inappropriate for the spymaster and of little benefit tot he rest of the CSS. Sissy is moping because she's not sure where she should be or how to get the possibly real Harmony to 'talk' to her. Instead there's a confusing new race, and a pair of estranged brothers one of whom runs the station, but has let various aspects tail into disrepair to save costs.

Something about the station just doesn't feel right, not properly imagined or set in place. I'm not sure why as quite a bit of detail is given, it's just that it always seems tacked on at a convenient point in the story rather than having always been present in the author's mind. The brother's apparently managed to hide various bits of technology, again at whim of plot rather than sense. Sissy goes out to investigate another new planet, and struggles even more with her breathing. There are traces form other races here too. You can feel the ideas the author's looking for, but it just doesn't quite work.… (more)

I liked this, a colonisation effort has discovered a planet where they can interact with the harmonic vibrations of that planet's soul. Isolated from mainstream humanity they control the export of a very rare alloy, which both humanity's space force and the local aliens badly need for their war. Works surprisingly well.

The focus jumps between an uneducated Worker caste girl who finds herself the next true High Priestess of Harmony able to intercede with the planet - ish; and a milita pilot who's recruited to attempt a spy mission on the planet and retrieve the formula for the metal before the aliens invade. You can probably guess the rest, it does more or less unfold as you'd expect. But it's well written with empathetic characters. Sissy the new High Priestess is completely charming, but her naivity struggles against the corruption in the temple. Sadly this is perhaps the least believable aspect as she learns to manipulate hardened priests far to quickly. The "science" is sadly lacking even Jake's attempted explanations to himself don't hold water. Hopefully this is all resolved somewhere along the line.

Enjoyable. The book ends decisively, but a trilogy has been written, which I'm likely to explore.… (more)