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

wonderful audio performance

There are seven species in this book that the author took the time to flush out. the audio reader is just as good in giving them each a separate identity with her voice. Tanya Huff is a remarkable writer who integrates military history with some wonderful characters. I've never been thrilled where this series went in the later books but this book by itself is one of her most thrilling reads. I appreciate that the audio reader made it just as good to listen to as it was to read when I first discovered it 20 years ago.

Combat! In Ssslowww Mmootion!

Overall this story turned out okay, but that was because I had nothing else to listen to for long periods of time that got me through the first half. By about chapter 5 or 6 there's a bar-fight, but until there there's a whole lot of nothing. You really could have picked it up half way through and not have missed much. It does pick up, and delivers some decent military SF - although, aside from the fact that you have humans fighting alongside and against aliens, the SF combat doesn't seem all that present as the storyline seemed to go out of its way to nullify it.

The narrator slows her voice to perform male or alien voices, which got really irritating. Maybe if you played it at 1.5x speed it would sound better.

My intro

This was my introduction to Tanya Huff. I found her right after I finished The Paradox Trilogy by Rachel Bach (Rachel Aaron) and was not disappointed!

A futuristic, female, Horatio Hornblower (Army)

What other book might you compare Valor's Choice to and why?

It has the action and sense of realism that is satisfied by the Horatio Hornblower series, and while Horatio is in the past this book is in the future.

Which character – as performed by Marguerite Gavin – was your favorite?

Our heroine is the clear favorite, but I tried not to get attached to any of her company, which was easier due to the similarity of many names. I like the different alien species too and the contrast/conflict between older, more civilized aliens and the younger species, like humans.

Good story

Good modern telling of a old no win situation. Has the making of a good series.

Huff's the right choice!

This was the first of a great series. I can't wait till she adds more!

excellent story

tanya huff wrote a fantastic story, and the narrator brought it to life quite well.

my favorite series

this title is a great start to an even better series. I recommend this book 1000%.

Strong narration saves a middling story

This is a reasonably good story with a strong narrator but also in need of some serious editing. As a writer and editor, I have generally found it easier to shut off my editing brain with an audiobook and just enjoy the story. In the case of Valor's Choice, some issues with the writing itself were distracting enough to pull me out of the story.

Overall, this is a serviceable military science fiction with a few memorable characters-made more so by the narrator-and a lot of interchangeable warm bodies. If you like a military story, you'll probably like this one. If you prefer characters with some depth and more complexities, you'll be disappointed. For a beer-and-pretzels kind of book, it's just fine.

Fantastic

Great story beginning to end! Fabulous performance- looking forward to the rest in the series!