The Weight of Command

By: Michael Mammay

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Lieutenant Kiera Markov is a scout platoon leader for a peacekeeping force on the remote planet of Tanara, where little has happened for decades, and the only mission is to keep the lithium flowing up the space elevator to feed the galaxy’s incessant demand. But when an unprecedented attack kills the entirety of the brigade’s leadership, the untested lieutenant suddenly finds herself in command.

Isolated and alone, Markov must contend with rival politicians on both sides of the border, all of whom have suspect motives and reason to take advantage of an untested leader, while an unseen enemy seeks to drive the two sides toward a war that Markov has a mission to prevent. It’s enough to test even a seasoned leader.

Markov isn’t that.

With challenges from all sides, and even from her own troops, Markov will have to learn quickly and establish her authority. Because what hangs in the balance is not only the future of the peacekeeping force, but of the planet itself.

©2022 Michael Mammay (P)2022 Audible Originals, LLC.

This is Mammay’s best yet…

It is nice to watch a writer reach for their potential and find it. After a good three book series, followed by a misfit adventure that was both entertaining and nicely written, The Weight of Command really shows what this writer can do with a few words and some imagination. I look forward to reading what comes next. This one will be hard to top.

Another fabulous story from Mammay

I devoured this. With my ears, of course. Full disclosure: I'm always a bit leery of male authors writing female main characters, as I've seen it done poorly too many times. But this was so well-done. Mammay has a knack for capturing the raw, unvarnished inner monologue of his characters in a way that makes them flawed, believable, and utterly relatable, and, as he did with Carl Butler in Planetside, he did with Keira Markov here. I found her a fascinating character and refreshingly three-dimensional.

This story got off to a rollicking start and never slowed down from there. It's amazing how on-point the pacing is and how the tension never slackens. There's always something new happening, and the threads of the storyline are expertly interwoven to arrive at an intense finish. As wish Mammay's other stories, this one is about good people finding themselves in situations that force them to do bad things, and I loved how unflinching and honest the character was about her actions and their consequences. It got me to think deeply, and that's the most I can possibly ask from a story.

Five stars, and I can't wait for more from this author.

Incredible Military Thriller

Mammay weaves the characters, politics, and plot elements together perfectly to create a masterpiece. I was so enthralled, I finished this in two days! Major Markov, the main character, is very authentic and relatable. The intense situation and events that unfold are very believable and well paced - you won't be able to stop listening either!

The narrator does a fantastic job as well, though a few times the voices were not differentiated enough to be able to easily distinguish different characters when two females were conversing. Luckily, the writing is remarkably clear and it was never an issue.

Easy 5/5 stars.

The author knows his stuff.

The book was a pleasure to listen to and the storyline was entertaining, contained no nerve rattling errors in terms of the military activity. I like books like that.

Good story. Had the feel of a Honor Harrington book

The overall story was great.

As said in the title, it had a Honor Harrington feel to it. To me that is a good compliment. Young female office forced into a tough situation and has to grown beyond her current level of trying, skill, and self confidence.

I am hoping this will turn into a long series. I enjoyed several of the characters and would love to follow their story arcs as the series expands into more adventure and character development.

good story

I liked the story overall but would have liked a longer ending.
I wish there was more to the ending.

More closure. it just of sort of ended and I was disappointed.

A firm recommend - time well spent over two days

Ok, you've read the book's fly sheet on Audible, and wondering if this is worth a go? The premise of a junior officer becoming the only officer of a planetary command unit is a probable minefield. Pleasantly surprised - not full of too much exposition, nor never-ending internal monologuing, and with the story blocks moving along nicely. A good listen, either as a stand-alone book, or the beginning of a series if that is the author's plan, However I agree with other reviews that a little more differentiation by the narrator between female characters' voices would help the listening experience if there is a follow-up book.

Great insight into the mind of a young officer

This book is another great novel written by Michael Mammay. Something I think that all young people in leadership should read.

The idea of young officer having a greater level of command thrust upon them has been done before, but this novel does such of good job of really going through both the good and the bad of that. It’s not a fairly tail of the young officer that performs like an experienced general. It’s a realistic take on the successes and mistakes. The self doubts of not even being close to experienced to make the correct decisions. The thought processes of learning from those mistakes. And it does this without being a whiny mess of self pity.

I know it’s the title of the book, but it really does help you to understand the “Weight of Command.”

Very good story with great characters

The story of a character thrown in the deep end of heavy duty responsibility due to circumstances and her journey of growth, development, and mistakes.
I Loved it.

Need more.

This was a story or growth through adversity. You had to really feel for the main character with all she had to deal with.
My only critique is I felt there needed to be more to the story. it felt like it ended more of the story left untold.