Reviews

A Peace Divided by Tanya Huff

katyanaish's review against another edition

5.0

Really glad to see the reunion with the Primacy team, and excited to see where this development with the plastic takes us.

Torin is such a great, strong, complex character, and her team is amazing. Love this series.

tarmiriel's review against another edition

5.0

Great job at bringing back old characters, bringing up new problems, and continuing to show the marvelous development of Torin Kerr. A good addition to the series, and one that brings more of the world of the Confederation and the Primacy into sharper focus. Easy answers to the problems of the universe are not provided, but the book manages to keep from going so dark or complex that it's no longer a fun read. A worthy addition to the series, and one that leaves me looking forward to the next book.

tessisreading2's review against another edition

3.0

This was just okay. The set piece - rescuing hostages on a planet - was fine, but there were way too many characters and waaaaay too many motivations to keep track of. Furthermore, in the Peacekeeper trilogy, Huff is

Spoiler

super-reluctant to kill off her main characters, which on the one hand is a nice change from the earlier Confederation books, where she would happily introduce a character who had been majorly featured earlier in the series only to kill them, off-page, later in the book, but on the other hand removes a lot of the dramatic tension. Add in that there's no real personal motivation for any of this - Torin and her friends are just doing a job - and it's hard to care what's going on. Torin isn't the viewpoint character for a lot of this book, which is probably a good thing, because Torin's arc is mostly about the aftereffects of war and loss, but it makes the book just feel... inconsequential. Add in that the plastic really isn't an effective villain and the politics aren't particularly well-drawn - really? Humans First is the first racist group causing issues in the Confederation? None of the other species have these issues? - and it's hard to care about the overarching story arc, either. The lack of well-drawn politics and the vaguely sketched mechanics of the Confederation worked when Torin was a staff sergeant fighting one battle at a time, but now that she's part of a ragtag band of misfits affecting the course of the universe it's a little more glaring.

ofearna's review against another edition

3.0

OK, it's entirely possible Torin Kerr has lived her life to its extent..

I love Tanya Huff, I've enjoyed all the previous books in this series

but...

this one was kinda boring -- the Torin's the shit storyline got OLD, the Ressk/Werst was annoying, Alamber was just SOOO DiTaykan since he didn't really have any "screen time" and adding the newer races, with the exception of the bugs, was confusing

and why does EVERYthing in the universe that goes wrong, including Human's First (at least they got rid of the apostrophe) have to be the fault of the ... plastic?

kerstincullen's review against another edition

5.0

I really appreciate that not only does Tanya Huff make interesting older female characters, but she also makes interesting academic characters too. This is surprisingly rare in SF. The only one that can come to my mind is Terry Pratchet.

Now, all the alien names in this book are confusing. In fact, I enjoyed this much more on the reread than the first time as I was less confused about who was who.

shaekin's review against another edition

4.0

I love these books. With the last few books the beginning has felt a little slow as the plot builds steam, but definitely worth it in the end. What I've liked about the Peacekeeper novels is they have some deeper themes than the original novels. Dealing with the after-affects of war, PTSD, and violence and prejudice in general. I'm pretty pleased with the series and I'm excited to read the next one.

maggpiebymoonlight's review against another edition

adventurous funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

felinity's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 stars

Torin has to be a unique mix of peacekeeper, Marine and politician, in a universe where nothing is *quite* as it is for us. Guns can't be concealed, plastic is either inert or a manipulative intelligent lifeform, and whatever she does there's a mountain of paperwork. Luckily (or not) there's a species that thrives on beauracracy...

And then there is the task at hand. With the opposing teams almost equally balanced, strategy and experience may decide whose long odds are most successful, but it might be too close for comfort.


This wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first, but still good. I would have found it less confusing if I'd reread #1, because then I would have been able to keep the various species' straight. It took me too long to get back into this universe, but that's a failing on my part! Will definitely improve on rereads. (Especially as "watching" alien archeologists at work was quite entertaining.)


Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

iffer's review against another edition

2.0

Eh, maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this, but I had trouble paying attention. None of the stories seemed particularly dramatic, and while I theoretically like the idea of having characters of the multiple sentient species working together, this book didn't portray interesting interactions. This read like a D&D slog through open terrain where the GM rolls for random hazards, in order to eventually rescue the hostages. However, reading about this was not as fun as playing the adventure would have been.

joylene45's review against another edition

3.0

This one was less funny and too many new characters that I couldn't keep up with who was a good guy or a bad guy anymore.