Review of INDIE Ebook Valkyrie Rising – Book 2 of The Hayden War Cycle by Evan Currie #Brainfluffbookeview #ValkyrieRisingbookreview

I read and enjoyed the first book in this entertaining military science fiction adventure, On Silver Wings so this was an obvious choice from my TBR pile when I yearned for more full-on action with some nasty aliens.

BLURB: Two years after the initial invasion of Hayden’s World, the newly reinforced Hayden Militia is in a state of stalemate with the remaining enemy forces but neither side is content to leave things at that. The alien alliance has dispatched their varsity to clean up the resistance on Hayden while the USF has officially activated Task Force V, the latest and most advanced combat ships built by humans. In the end there are some things you decide in the skies, but some can only be settled in the mud.

While I am sure you could pick up this one without having had the pleasure of reading On Silver Wings, my firm advice would be to read it first as I think you could slightly flounder at the start of the second book, otherwise. I was pleased that this book opened with my favourite character, the scary super-soldier Sorilla, who featured so memorably in the previous book. But this time, we see her gritting her teeth at the prospect of a series of invasive surgical procedures as her military wetware is being upgraded. I was pleased to see this, as authors often airily allude to these additions, but it is relatively rare to see our protagonists having to pay the price for all those awesome fighting skills.

However, while she is recuperating, all is not well. Those pesky aliens are still causing havoc, which causes the infighting amongst the human spacefaring nations to abruptly stop their feuding and frantically begin arming against this technically superior threat. Since the disastrous first encounters that have wiped out so many captains, many posts are now being filled by suitably experienced women, giving rise to the derisive nickname by some of the more chauvinist elements of the Valkyrie Force… Disappointing to see that sexism is still alive and well in Currie’s future universe – but all too realistic, I feel.

Military sci fi often requires a number of viewpoint characters in order to give the reader a ringside seat in a variety of settings as the action swings around. This time around, we find ourselves in the head of an alien fighting on jungle planet, Hayden, along with Sorilla, Admiral Nadine Brookes amongst others. Sorilla is still a solid favourite, but Nadine runs a close second.

While the first book is characterised by some cracking action scenes on the colony planet fighting a rearguard action after having been initially overrun, this book contains some excellent space battles. Currie writes the techie stuff well – sufficient detail so that I could follow what was going on without silting up the forward action by too much description. He is also good at keeping the viewpoint character and her reactions to the fore in the middle of all the high-stakes fighting.

This book took a bit longer to get going than the first book – but then, we needed to find out what was happening in order to understand what is at stake, but once the full situation is laid out, I was whisked up in the tension of an incipient alien invasion. This is a strong second book, taking the action on yet leaving some major questions open – particularly around the aliens and their motivations. Recommended for fans of engrossing military science fiction, I will be continuing this series.
8/10