Caine's Mutiny (4) (Caine Riordan)

A new entry in the critically acclaimedCaine Riordan science fiction series by three-time Nebula nomineeCharles E. Gannon! Science fiction on a grand scale. Prequels Raising Caine, Trial by Fire andFire with Fire were all Nebula Award finalists. Charles E. Gannon is also the winner of theCompton Crook Award.Caine Riordan, fresh from serving as envoy to the aliens known as the Slaasriithi, has been given yet another daunting task: apprehend raiders that are terrorizing a distant planet. As difficulties mount, Caine becomes aware that themission his superiors sent him to perform may not be the one they actually hope he will achieve. Which means Caine may be forced to choose between honoring a promise to friends or following ordersa choice that could ultimately put him in front of a board of inquiry.Or a firing squad. AboutRaising Caine: "Raising Caineunveils a lot of thought-provoking ideasbut ultimately this is a space opera adventure. There are space battles, daring emergency landings, desperate quests, hand-to-hand combat, and double-and-triple crosses. Its an engrossing read. You owe it to yourself to read the two previous books in order. Then enjoyRaising Caine. Its an intergalactic thrill-ride."Fantasy and Science Ficton Book and Audiobook Reviews "This is science-fiction adventure on a grand scale."Kirkus "Gannons harrowing . . . military space opera (followingTrial by Fire) builds well on his established setting. . . Gannons signature attention to developing realistic alien worlds makes this installment satisfying."Publishers Weekly . . . an incredibly active book . . . asour protagonists are confronted by the beautiful, terrible, and sometimes lethal variety of the universe and its inhabitants. . . . a whole mess of fun . . . that manages to be scientifically accurate while refraining from excessivewonkiness. Those who value meticulous world-building . . . will certainly have their needs met.BN Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog About Nebula-nominated second entry,Trial by Fire: I seriously enjoyedTrial by Fire.This ones a tidal wavecant put it down. An excellent book. Jack McDevitton the prequel "Gannon's whiz-bang second Tales of the Terran Republic interstellar adventure delivers on the promise of the first (Fire with Fire). . . The charm of Caine's harrowing adventure lies in Gannon's attention to detail, which keeps the layers of political intrigue and military action from getting too dense. The dozens of key characters, multiple theaters of operations, and various alien cultures all receive the appropriate amount of attention. The satisfying resolution is enhanced by the promise of more excitement to come in this fascinating far-future universe."Publishers WeeklyStarred Review " . . . definitely one to appeal to the adventure fans. Riordan is a smart hero, up against enormous obstacles and surrounded by enemies. Author Gannon does a good job of managing action and tension to keep the story moving, and the details of the worlds Riordan visits are interesting in their own right.."Analog " . . . offers the type of hard science-fiction those familiar with the John Campbell era ofAnalogScience Fictionwill remember. Gannon throws his readers into an action-packed adventure. A sequel toFire With Fire, it is a nonstop tale filled with military science-fiction action." Daily News of Galveston County About Compton Crook Award-winner for best first novel,Fire with Fire: Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous findssomeone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint.David Weber "If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact.David Brin "The plot is intriguing and then some. Well-developed and self-consistent; intelligent readers are going to like it."Jerry Pournelle "[T]he intersecting plot threads, action and well-conceived science kept those pages turning."SF Crowsnest About Starfire series hit,Extremis, coauthored by Charles E. Gannon: Vivid . . . Battle sequences mingle with thought-provoking exegesis . . . Publishers Weekly "Its a grand, fun series of battles and campaigns, worthy of anything Dale Brown or Larry Bond ever wrote." Analog About Charles E. Gannon: "Chuck Gannon writes the kind of science fiction we all grew up on: rousing, mind-expanding, pulse-pounding sagas of spaceships and aliens. He's a terrific writer, and we're lucky to have him."Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula award winningauthor of Quantum NightandFlashforward "[A] strong [writer of] . . . military SF . . . [much] action going on in his work, with a lot of physics behind it. There is a real sense of the urgency of war and the sacrifices it demands." Locus WHAT COULD GO WRONG...? Progress! It's wonderful—though it sometimes has unexpected and undesirable side effects. Read the long warning list of possible side effects on a medicine bottle's label sometime...the part in really tiny print. But surely the benefits of modern technology outweigh the drawbacks. Until they don't. Remember how increasingly deadly weapons, from the machine gun to the H-bomb, were supposed to make war too horrific to even be contemplated? Didn't happen. The cell phone has made it possible to phone from almost anywhere—too bad if you wanted to be out of reach. And civilization is so big and complicated, that a breakdown of any part can have disastrous consequences. Modern transportation makes it possible to get anywhere in a hurry, though traffic jams and overextended airports may slow the hurry part to a crawl. And it also can ensure that a new disease can go all over the planet in a few days. Then, there's the sheer complexity of society itself, from interminable waits at the DMV to trying to get tech help on the phone ("Your call is important to us..."). And that's just the present day. What new technologies, new ways of organizing (or disorganizing) society, new confused and confusing government bureaucracies, new ways for small disgruntled groups to wreak havoc, and worse, will the future bring? Will privacy keep eroding? Could computers and robots take over? Maybe they wouldn't want to. And if the pace of modern life is driving you batty, just wait to see what's on the horizon. Exploring such scary, yet fascinating, possibilities are such masters of science fiction as Robert A. Heinlein, Sarah A. Hoyt, Fritz Leiber, Gordon R. Dickson, Lester del Rey, Christopher Anvil, Fredric Brown, and more, writers who have seen the future—and it may not work... At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). "Caine Riordan, fresh from serving as envoy to the aliens known as the Slaasriithi, has been given yet another daunting task: apprehend raiders that are terrorizing a distant planet. As difficulties mount, Caine realizes that the mission his superiors sent him on may not be the one they actually hope he will achieve. Which means he may be forced to choose between honoring a promise or following orders--a choice that could put him in front of a board of inquiry...or a firing squad"-- Provided by publisher