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jhouses's review against another edition
3.0
El título lo dice todo, es "Algunos hombres buenos" con naves espaciales. Entretenido una vez que coge ritmo. En la serie son cuatro y ya voy por el tercero. Tampoco se puede estar siempre leyendo a Faulkner y a Joyce (y menos si no se llevan gafas de pasta).
adamdavidcollings's review against another edition
5.0
I always enjoyed the TV show Jag. The appeal to me was the genre mashup of military and legal drama. This was a blending of ingredients that resulted in a whole that was superior to both of its parts. So imagine my reaction when this concept is further mashed up with my greatest love, science fiction. I knew I had to read this book.
The result didn't disappoint. I wasn't surprised to learn that the author is a veteran of the US Navy. This book definitely gave the impression of being written by somebody who knows what he's talking about. This is one of the most believable -feeling military spaceships I've encountered in fiction.
The story took longer than I expected to get to the court case, but everything before that served the development of character, the world-building, and laying important seeds that would become important later in the book.
The author made a surprising choice of protagonist for this book. Rather than using one of the lawyers, or even the accused, the protagonist is an eager young Ensign, fresh from the academy starting his first posting on a spaceship. He is made ship's legal officer as one of his secondary duties and does get involved in the trial, but in an unexpected way.
I've come to love this character as I've read his story. Paul is an idealistic and thoughtful man who gives great consideration to his actions and ultimately puts what is right ahead of what is best for him. He's the kind of guy I'd want to be friends with were I serving on this ship.
A Just Determination explores themes of duty, personal responsibility and sacrifice. Exactly the kinds of themes you'd expect from a military legal thriller. But it explores them well in a satisfying way.
This book has excitement, adventure, intruige, and even a little unexpected romance. It all added up to a great yarn.
This serves as a grand opening to what promises to be an enjoyable and fulfilling series. I, for one, am very eager to continue this journey with Ensign Paul Sinclair.
The result didn't disappoint. I wasn't surprised to learn that the author is a veteran of the US Navy. This book definitely gave the impression of being written by somebody who knows what he's talking about. This is one of the most believable -feeling military spaceships I've encountered in fiction.
The story took longer than I expected to get to the court case, but everything before that served the development of character, the world-building, and laying important seeds that would become important later in the book.
The author made a surprising choice of protagonist for this book. Rather than using one of the lawyers, or even the accused, the protagonist is an eager young Ensign, fresh from the academy starting his first posting on a spaceship. He is made ship's legal officer as one of his secondary duties and does get involved in the trial, but in an unexpected way.
I've come to love this character as I've read his story. Paul is an idealistic and thoughtful man who gives great consideration to his actions and ultimately puts what is right ahead of what is best for him. He's the kind of guy I'd want to be friends with were I serving on this ship.
A Just Determination explores themes of duty, personal responsibility and sacrifice. Exactly the kinds of themes you'd expect from a military legal thriller. But it explores them well in a satisfying way.
This book has excitement, adventure, intruige, and even a little unexpected romance. It all added up to a great yarn.
This serves as a grand opening to what promises to be an enjoyable and fulfilling series. I, for one, am very eager to continue this journey with Ensign Paul Sinclair.
suzannekm's review against another edition
2.0
I was enthusiastic about this series even though I'm not always a fan of space opera. JAG in SPAAAACE! The world building is excellent and the plot is intriguing. Characters have a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the writing is pretty horrible. I was especially disturbed at the inner monologues... nobody actually talks like that to themselves and in dialogue heavy scenes it was sometimes difficult to tell which character was speaking. The exposition was heavy handed as well. My first real space opera is the far superior Honor Harrington by Weber. I may give the series one more book to improve because I do like the foundation, but…
lhawk1's review against another edition
4.0
Campbell writes a good story. He knows what he's talking about, and he expertly describes the day-to-day life of an ensign in the (space) Navy. It really was a fascinating and engaging book! At the beginning it felt like there'd be so much science, it would be impossible to find the fction. But that quickly got resolved. It was a genuinely fun read. The romance, however? Not Campbell's forte. At all. It seemed to forced and last minute. It seemed more like a relationship of convenience rather than one of mutual affection. But, from what I hear, that improves in later books. I'm excited to continue the series!
I'm 16, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I'm 16, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
bobmanasco's review against another edition
4.0
A quick read, light and fluffy, which would seem to be the wrong adjectives to describe a hard sci-fi military courtroom drama, but the shoe fits. I enjoyed it, and will likely look into its sequels.
tuftymctavish's review against another edition
3.0
This was an okay read - I didn't dislike it, it was just perfectly average. Took a while to get through all the initial ship procedure, protocol and chain of command description and I was still unsure who some of the characters really were by the end of things. No real surprises to be found either, but I'll continue reading the series for now.
mothwing's review against another edition
4.0
Very diverting novel about a space navy lawyer. As ever with Hemry, I enjoyed the level of realistic and believable detail.
ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting blend of hard SF and legal drama. Ensign Paul Sinclair’s first ship assignment is on the USS Michaelson, where, in addition to his other duties, he acts as the ship's legal officer. The naval dialogue seems quite realistic, and were it not for a few references to space stuff, one might think they were aboard a modern day Navy ship. Except there was not one “fuck” in the entire book. So maybe in the future they have eliminated all swearing; yeah, right.
The Michaelson’s captain Wakefield, anxious to see some combat, decides to intercept an alien vessel that is technically outside his patrol zone. He’s the typical Queeg without the steel balls and stolen ice cream. (As an aside, the Caine Mutiny is a must read and based oin Herman Wouk’s experiences aboard a WW II mine-sweeper/destroyer. Queeg’s must have been relatively common because my brother-in-law’s first assignment as an ensign was under a similar character.) When the ship fails to heave to and then makes what appears to be a threatening move, the captain asks Sinclair for a legal interpretation of the orders, very broad and suitably vague,** then destroys the ship only to learn it was an unarmed civilian ship, albeit an alien one. (Remember the USS Vincennes shooting down Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988? see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655) I’m still puzzled by how an Airbus 300 could have been confused with an attacking F-14. 290 civilians were killed including 66 children.*)
Unlike the captain of the Vincennes, Wakefield is court-martialed and the last third or so of the book is the trial, itself quite interesting if you like legal drama, which I do. Sinclair finds himself in some interesting moral and ethical dilemmas that are sensitively handled.
Billed as a legal thriller, it’s not much of the latter, but the legal aspect is quite good.
*Quote from the Wikipaedia article: When questioned in a 2000 BBC documentary, the U.S. government stated in a written answer that they believed the incident may have been caused by a simultaneous psychological condition amongst the 18 bridge crew of the Vincennes called 'scenario fulfillment', which is said to occur when persons are under pressure. In such a situation, the men will carry out a training scenario, believing it to be reality while ignoring sensory information that contradicts the scenario. In the case of this incident, the scenario was an attack by a lone military aircraft. Just imagine what the U.S. reaction would have been to an Iranian attack downing a U.S. civilian airliner.
** That reminds me of something a candidate for a job once said during an interview. One of the search committee had asked something about mission statements, and the guy (bless him) said that he was familiar with mission statements, that they were “vague yet meaningless.” Direct hit.
The Michaelson’s captain Wakefield, anxious to see some combat, decides to intercept an alien vessel that is technically outside his patrol zone. He’s the typical Queeg without the steel balls and stolen ice cream. (As an aside, the Caine Mutiny is a must read and based oin Herman Wouk’s experiences aboard a WW II mine-sweeper/destroyer. Queeg’s must have been relatively common because my brother-in-law’s first assignment as an ensign was under a similar character.) When the ship fails to heave to and then makes what appears to be a threatening move, the captain asks Sinclair for a legal interpretation of the orders, very broad and suitably vague,** then destroys the ship only to learn it was an unarmed civilian ship, albeit an alien one. (Remember the USS Vincennes shooting down Iran Air Flight 655 in 1988? see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Air_Flight_655) I’m still puzzled by how an Airbus 300 could have been confused with an attacking F-14. 290 civilians were killed including 66 children.*)
Unlike the captain of the Vincennes, Wakefield is court-martialed and the last third or so of the book is the trial, itself quite interesting if you like legal drama, which I do. Sinclair finds himself in some interesting moral and ethical dilemmas that are sensitively handled.
Billed as a legal thriller, it’s not much of the latter, but the legal aspect is quite good.
*Quote from the Wikipaedia article: When questioned in a 2000 BBC documentary, the U.S. government stated in a written answer that they believed the incident may have been caused by a simultaneous psychological condition amongst the 18 bridge crew of the Vincennes called 'scenario fulfillment', which is said to occur when persons are under pressure. In such a situation, the men will carry out a training scenario, believing it to be reality while ignoring sensory information that contradicts the scenario. In the case of this incident, the scenario was an attack by a lone military aircraft. Just imagine what the U.S. reaction would have been to an Iranian attack downing a U.S. civilian airliner.
** That reminds me of something a candidate for a job once said during an interview. One of the search committee had asked something about mission statements, and the guy (bless him) said that he was familiar with mission statements, that they were “vague yet meaningless.” Direct hit.
shadyeglenn's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
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