Valor's Choice

By: Tanya Huff

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

In the distant future, humans and several other races have been granted membership in the Confederation - at a price. They must act as soldier/protectors of the far more civilized races who have long since turned away from war.

©2000 Tanya Huff (P)2008 Tantor

Good military science fiction

Tanya Huff has created a universe with messy but realistic political and social dynamics. I have been a fan of this book for years and this audio version complimented it well.

Solid Military Sci Fi

Tanya Huff did an excellent job bringing the world of military sci fi to life in this first novel of the Confederation series. Whip smart dialogue, believable aliens, an interesting mission/world and a very well balanced view of both the foibles and strengths of a military organization are the strengths of this story.

Staff Sergeant Torrin Kerr is assigned to assist bringing a new world into the Confederation fold. On what should be a routine assignment, hell breaks loose and she finds her company enmeshed in a lot more than bargained for in the new world. It'll take her wits and ability to lead her small company (including her commanding officer) in smart directions in order to survive.

I really liked that Kerr was street smart and in the middle rank of her company - she has superiors and she has underlings - and needs to handle both. As well, she has a company full of aliens and each has unique needs - so she constantly has to rethink her strategies for both the greater good and also individual motivational factors.

The first half of the book is very quiet - but by the end there is a lot of action. That first half is really important since it sets up Kerr's confidence and also gives us a chance to get to know each of the alien species. There are several characters and this could have been a very confusing book without. The book uses several POVs but the emphasis is on Kerr.

This is one of those books where Audible narration really shines. The narrator did an excellent job of giving a unique voice to each of the aliens yet also a distinct voice to Kerr that was very welcome. It really elevated the book for me.

Good book, ok narration

The narrator was not very good at distinguishing between characters with the voices. So it was difficult to follow group conversations.

Exemplary story!

I have purchased every hard copy book in this series, and I have shared them with many people. They have all said the same thing, particularly those with military experience...These writings do honor to those who serve. The stories themselves are worth the reading, they are marvelous, but they also do a perfect thing - detail the life of soldiers.
I truly do recommend these books, and Marguerite Gavin does a terrific job of bringing this one to life.
I look forward with great anticipation to the next one

Intriguing military space sci fi.

Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr has seen her share of battle – sometimes with more success than others. Her platoons last encounter with the Others had left a good chunk of the soldiers in sick bay and desperately seeking shore leave for a break. Kerr already started her break the evening before having met an intoxicating di’Taykan and enjoyed a vigorous night of pleasure. It is only due irony that the man turns out to be her new commander.

Her platoon isn’t ready for another assignment but that is what they are getting. At least it isn’t a battle assignment but rather their job will be to serve as honor guard, escorting diplomats on a mission to gain agreement from the Silsviss to join as an ally with the Confederation as they fight against the Others. The Silsviss are an extremely large, strong, reptilian race who consider battle prowess as the measure of success. This is the first time a delegation has been sent to their planet and success isn’t guaranteed.

Most of the assignment goes well, with only a few rough encounters. However, on the last trip before the vote is to be taken, the ship Kerr’s platoon is on is shot down into a reserve where the young Silsviss men are placed to contend for survival and command. The platoon has to find its way across unfamiliar terrain while trying to escape attack by the hyped up Silsviss.

I really enjoyed the writing style which includes effective bantering dialogue and lots of action. There were hints to determine the enemy but the primary characters were too busy fighting to spend much time speculating. Kerr is a kickin’ female lead who carries the story. I enjoyed the different alien input too. The story is engaging and I recommend it to sci fi fans who like military action in space. I will likely pick up more in this series.

Audio Notes: Marguerite Gavin is a wonderful narrator whose voice I recognized from several series I like. She does a good job with this work too, presenting different sounds and voices for the human and alien characters. The narration added to my enjoyment of the book.

Best last line in a book

It is true that some battles are fought for political gain, regardless of the human cost. The characters in this book bring this to the fore. The characters, both main and supporting, are wonderfully written. The dialogue is superb. All in all, an excellent listen that is well read.

Not great but not terrible

A fairly entertaining story, once I got all the character names figured out. (Audible REALLY needs to do a character sheet with sci fi and fantasy books, with all the strange names. Super hard to follow with audio only!) The main character had a nice, dry sense of humor, and I liked the overall camaraderie among the platoon members. The fighting scenes were not to gory, which was a relief. I liked the very end. But overall, while it was mildly entertaining, it didn’t grip me like I wanted it to. It may have something to do with the narration.

I was not overly impressed with the narrator. Her delivery was a little TOO dry and unemotional. And she consistently mispronounced multiple words. I think I might have liked the MC more with a better narrator.

The audio playback also had several glitches throughout.

If you like Kris Longknife you will love this

Tanya Huff has written a fantastic series that you will love if you are a fan of the Kris Longknifw series. The performance was also fantastic. I strongly encourage you to give it a try.

Military Future Past

This was my first introduction to Tanya Huff. I REALLY enjoyed the sarcasm of this book. Having been an enlisted man who had to “guide” his junior officers, those inner sarcastic comments were EXACTLY what I was thinking at the time.

Tanya Huff’s characterizations are classic. In a way, it is a metaphor of the multicultural milieu that is the military. How many times has an impotent intellectual oligarchy sought the assistance of their perceived inferiors when they finally realize they need protection. I saw a great cross section of America when I was in the military. It is not a stretch to see it at the galactic level. Soldiers are soldiers, despite race (or planet of origin).

I enjoyed the pace, as it helped to develop the characters. Life in the military includes a lot of downtime. It’s when you learn who is beside you, good, bad, otherwise. I must admit, it’s nice if some of them had four hands instead of two, when you need an extra hand.

I have never been intimidated by a strong female (after all, I did marry one), and Torin Kerr could never be described as just “strong”. Here are times when you just have to persevere by pure force of will. This is where the metal of a… (well, the classic phrase says “man”, but that is truly BS)… is tested.

There is the juxtaposition of terror and humor, which is commonplace in stressful times. Sometime, when things are at their bleakest, something strikes you as funny. This was one of the first Audilble books I purchased, and to this day, the phrase “get it off me, get it off me” still pops up in the back of my mind. This is the humor persists in the darkest times.

I would really like to see this as a movie, but I don’t know of Josh Wheaton is available to direct.

Surprisingly Good!

I had never read anything by this author before, so I was a wee bit skeptical. In the end I was rewarded with a fun book, albeit a wee bit formulaic, that had me laughing out loud and fully engaged throughout. The main character is a fully-developed female officer and she didn't fit the stereotypical female sci-fi character. She was strong and capable and intelligent. Definitely a great listen! I'm going to scour this site for more books by this author.