Elitist Book Reviews

So pretty much everything I said about AN OFFICER'S DUTY (EBR review) I should just cut and paste into this review...because its sequel HELLFIRE is almost the exact same book. Save yourself some time, read that review, and come back and I'll try to be succinct.

Ia is now the captain of the Space Force ship Hellfire, which contains their ultra secret new weapon against the alien Salik enemy. The only problem? It's too powerful and only a precognitive can safely wield it, otherwise anyone caught downstream would die.

The ship and Ia's crew are ready just in time: the second Salik war has begun and Hellfire becomes Earth's secret weapon. Because she's a precog Ia knows exactly where to go in order to do the most good. Sometimes it means convincing the Space Force leaders, but Ia time and again proves that she can predict what's coming with chilling accuracy.

Johnson attempts to step up the tension a notch with the war. Now that everyone knows Ia is a precog it does change the dynamic--she openly uses and talks about her abilities to convince her crew, and to sway Alliance alien governments as well as her own superiors in the Space Force. The majority of the book is spent on the Hellfire as it flits from fight to fight in quick succession, making the plot feel circular. While I enjoyed the technical aspects of the ship, ship's life, and military life at war, it quickly grew stale because of infrequent change of scene.

The biggest problem with HELLFIRE is that Ia bugs me. I was able to get past her character 'flaws' in the previous books because there was still the question of whether she would be able to achieve her goals--not so, here. In HELLFIRE she becomes shrill and repeats over and over the same sanctimonious dialogue from the previous books. She always knows exactly what to do or what to say (which consists of contrived and clunky dialogue so there's a suspension of belief there for me). She's so powerful she's not only a precog, but she's a biokinetic (self healing), electrokinetic, pyrokinetic, postcognitive (can see the past), telekinetic, and even a little telepathic. She's risen through the ranks so quickly she's a ship's captain in her early 20s. Her crew idolizes her and her man loves her unconditionally. She's self-sacrificing to the point of unbelievability. The concept is cool, but the execution makes Ia unsympathetic.

Johnson also attempts a subtle underlying theme of chess with Ia as the grandmaster: pieces being placed, a little nudge here, a warning there, and then making sure she's always in the right place at the right time. Again, the concept is interesting, but I don't see where the plays are lining up in a recognizable strategy/plot, and at this point in the game it feels less like chess and more like bowling: with Ia as the bowling ball, knocking everyone flat who gets in her way.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: Made up words only
Violence: Mostly the spaceship variety (lasers and missiles blowing up things), very little blood
Sex: Innuendo

Find this book here:

HELLFIRE

I made the mistake of starting AN OFFICER'S DUTY before reading the book that came before: A SOLDIER'S DUTY. I was completely lost and from what I read, the PoV character Ia was an insufferable know-it-all so I stopped. It reminded me too much of the annoying Kris Longknife books, only with more infodumps. As a result I wasn't interested, but with Steve's prodding I tried again--from the beginning this time.

In SOLDIER we learn that Ia is a precognitive and when she was 15 years old saw the end of humanity itself. From that moment forward she dedicated her life to taking the steps necessary to prevent the coming apocalypse when an alien race would wipe out mankind.

So she joined the military. Because, really, it was the best way to get done what she wanted. Plus, a Marine precog? Yeah, imagine how those fights go.

Anyway. In OFFICER Ia continues her plans to manipulate future events, and during her leave she visits her family and prepares them for the future. Then, after her leave is over, because of her field commission she must attend officer academy. It's all a part of her long-range goal of captaining a ship on Border Patrol and setting herself up to where she can ruin the alien Salik race's plans to start a war with the Alliance. But when she gets to the academy she runs into a grey spot in her psychic predictions: her own roommate, the handsome and brilliant Meyun Harper.

The premise is actually kinda cool: a space prophet. That's basically what Ia is. She's predicting the end of humanity in three hundred years and the arrival of a savior. But in order to prevent the end of mankind certain events must take place, and the only one who can make sure they happen is her. But in order for her to do that she must first hone the necessary skills and place herself in positions of authority. This means joining the Marines, spending years on tours of duty, making a name for herself, strengthening some powers, manipulating people, etc. She has a Big Plan and Jean Johnson's Theirs Not To Reason Why series documents Ia's execution of that plan.

It's interesting, no question. The fights are cool and unique, especially those that take place on the space ships; the interactions between family, friends, and co-workers felt genuine; comments on different alien cultures and physiology are interesting; and it's easy to understand why Ia makes the choices she does. Johnson's prose is uncluttered and easy to read, Ia's PoV is straightforward and moves quickly (sometimes too quickly glossing over events, but there are years to cover in each book), and the tension is enough to pull readers along.

However, OFFICER is a frustrating book to read. Maybe it's me because there are people who do like (unlike me) the Kris Longknife books--those kind of people will love this series. Or maybe it's because of the excessive SciFi/military information (i.e., we had to learn all the ammo types in her Basic Training in SOLIDER--and that's only one example of the plethora of infodumps). Or maybe it was frustrating because Ia's abilities make her too perfect, and since she's perfect, her holier-than-thou attitude grates my nerves. We're talking some seriously melodramatic dialogue/monologues as a result--and she says this stuff over and over. It's hard to sympathize with a person like this.

Or perhaps I'm too much of a stickler for a recognizable plot. Ia doesn't broadcast her plans more than the bare minimum and it's frustrating because I don't know where the story is headed, except a string of events that eventually lead up to an exciting and over-the-top crazy ridiculous climax (can anyone say deus ex machina?). How could one person have all of these abilities? The woman is super human, there's no way she can lose. Where's the tension in that?

I'm currently 50 pages into the sequel, HELLFIRE, and it's high time this girl ran into real problems, because no one is this perfect. But then again, she is a space prophet, so what do I know?

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: Made-up words only
Violence: It's military SF, so guns and blood and severed limbs
Sex: Innuendo and implied (in case you're worried this is a romance because of the author's previous works, I'm here to tell you that it most emphatically is not a romance novel)

Find this series here:

A SOLDIER'S DUTY

AN OFFICER'S DUTY

My review of book three, HELLFIRE, will be forthcoming.