Review of INDIE Ebook The Valhalla Call – Book 4 of the Hayden War Cycle by Evan Currie #Brainfluffbookreview #TheValhallaCallbookreview #SciFiMonth2020

I really enjoy Currie’s writing – see my reviews of the first two book in The Scourwind Legacy series – Heirs of Empire and An Empire Asunder. But during the last year, I’ve chosen to follow his military sci fi series, featuring super-soldier Aida Sorilla, given it’s light years away from our current worries. See my reviews of On Silver Wings, Valkyrie Rising, and Valkyrie Burning. I am linking this review to #Sci Fi Month 2020.

BLURB: Lieutenant Sorilla Aida has a new mission and new allies, gear, and support as she is tasked with a job that could ensure that the human race stands a chance of reaching a technical parity with the mysterious alien alliance. Humans and SOLCOM are not the only ones making moves, however, and the Alliance has brought up their varsity to end the little side war before it gets out of hand. Are they really interested in humanity or human worlds, however, or is something more at play?

REVIEW: If you have encountered this offering before reading any of the previous books in this series, my firm advice would be to park it and then go and get hold of On Silver Wings, the first book in the series. This is essentially one long story broken up into smaller sections, despite the time lapses between each adventure. So you will be missing far too much of the context and by the time you are able to pick up sufficient knowledge of who is doing what to whom, the chances are you won’t be in a position to fully appreciate what is going on anyway.

I appreciated getting more of Sorilla and her new challenges with her latest piece of tech. As she was the principal protagonist in the first couple of books, it has been something of an adjustment as the focus of the story shifts into a more epic narrative with viewpoints from both human and alien commanders. The science is very well handled, with sufficient detail to satisfy the nerd in me yet without being overwhelming or silting up the narrative pace. And I don’t think that anyone does space battles better than Currie, including the build-up and making sure his readers are aware of the stakes. It is this superpower of his that makes me happy to overlook the fact that some of his aliens think and act uncannily like their human counterparts. The only other niggle is that this book could do with a bit more editing, as there are too many misspelt words. But it wasn’t a dealbreaker, as years of reading arcs with shocking formatting issues has trained me to cope with such glitches without throwing up my hands.

Overall, this is a cracking addition to an enjoyable adventure and I am happy to report that you can ignore the comments about this being the final book in the series – it isn’t. Which is just as well, as it does leave everything on something of a cliffhanger ending. I am also happy to report that I have the next book in the series already lined up on my Kindle, waiting to be read. Recommended for fans of enjoyable military science fiction.
8/10