Kingdom Come.
Backyard Starship, #7.
By J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert.
My rating ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ :star:.
When the Fafnir responds to a desperate distress call, their act of kindness is turned against them, making Van the most wanted man in the known universe.
Targeted by a vicious, charismatic politician and his shadowy partner, Van and his friends are faced with a decision that carries long term consequences—deliver justice. . . or run and hide.
The choice is easy. The Fafnir will attack, and criminals will pay regardless of the bounty chasing them across the stars.
But first, there’s a little business to take care of in the form of a social event at Milon Estates. Dress is formal, the atmosphere tense, and a choice must be made. And just like Van’s decision to fight, the event on Helso will change his life forever.
The crew is willing, and the ship is ready. Now, all Van has to do is avoid the law, apply the law, and dive headfirst into a conspiracy that will play out on the largest stage of all: The Galaxy itself.
This was a good book in the Backyard Starship series. The books in this series generally provides light but fun adventure stories with a very likable crew of humans, AI’s and aliens. Although there is a red thread between the books each books generally have a decent conclusion of the particular adventure that makes up each book which I very much appreciate.
I got a bit of oh-no-not-that-crap feeling at the beginning of the book when it looked like Van was going to be framed for some “crime” that he, obviously, did not commit due to political shenanigans. Luckily that part didn’t really play that big role in the story and our heroes went about their business as usual for most of the book.
It did help of course that the Peacemakers stood buy him and made sure the political asshats got more or less nowhere with the bovine excrements.
I really like Van and his team. They work well together, they are quite funny and they kick ass. Each of them can be quite hilarious but I especially like his sharp tongued AI and the can-I-please-bust-some-heads Icky. The Peacemaker, former stickler for procedures, master running most of the Peacemakers are growing on me as well.
Apart from the usual head busting and criminal catching routine there are both some personal development for Van and Torina as well as, quite some, revelations about the beginning of the Peacemakers and several characters in the overall story arc.
Of course there are also quite some decent action in the book including bringing the Peacemaker’s mythical bad-ass cruiser into play, albeit briefly. Speaking of bad-ass ships, I really hope that they finally get their battle cruiser, aptly named Iowa, in a working (as in kick-ass) state sometime soon.
Overall this was a good book. Nice mix of adventure, fun dialogue, crime investigation, story arc progression and action.
PG's Ramblings 