Valor's Trial

by Tanya Huff

Book Overview

The fourth book in Tanya Huff's action-packed military sci-fi adventure Confederation series After surviving the perils of the Crucible, the Marine Corps planet where a routine training assignment had... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0756405572
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: DAW
• Length: 416 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.1" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

One of the stronger books in the series

The most interesting aspect of this series is the interaction between unfamiliar species. I liked that aspect very much about the first book but found it lacking in the second and third. Here Kerr and her comrades are forced to cooperate with the opposing side which is a theme I very much enjoy.

As Wonderful as Expected

Everything I had come to expect from Torin Kerr. The ending kind of hinted that there might be another Torin book, but at the same time wrapped things up so well with a nice finale that it also hinted it would be her last appearance. Shrug. Action, adventure and some butt-kicking that only a Gunnery Sergeant can provide. This book helped to pull the previous three books together into one homogeneous story, which I so did not see coming. There was a couple of points where my suspension of disbelief was stretched pretty far...but then it all makes sense and it turns out my disbelief wasn't as stretched as I thought it was! :) I'm a big fan of Tanya Huff and this book proves why. BUY IT! Oh, I should mention that this book (#4 in the series) doesn't stand well on it's own. There is too much carry over from previous books that you should really know to truly enjoy it. Don't start with this one!

Eagerly waiting the the next one

It has been so long since I had read the first 3 books in the series .. "Valor's Choice," "The Better Part of Valor" and "The Heart of Valor," that I had to reread them before I read this book. I enjoyed them as much this time as I had before. This book didn't disappoint. Torin kicked alien butt. My only quibble .. even tho the action was still hot and heavy, I could tell the book was coming to an end by the number of pages left. I felt it ended on an "Ooooops, better finish this" note. Even so, it's still a 5 star book. If you like believable action and a strong heroine, Torin's your girl.

Another great installment in this series.

After reading the first three Confederation novels, I was waiting with baited breath for this one and I was not disappointed. This novel has characters, humour, action, suspense and imagination. Unlike a few books I've read recently, like Jack Campbell's "The Lost Fleet" series, this one is of decent length and you can get lost in it for hours in order to find out how it all turns out. The story is pretty much what it says on the back of the jacket. Gunnery Sergeant Kerr is MIA, declared dead, except that she isnt. She ends up in an underground prison camp. Being a sergeant in the Marine corp, she promptly plans to escape and in the process makes discoveries that could shake the Confederation to the core and end the war with the Others. The Good: - great humour with plenty of digs at all species involved, including the humans. - Torin is well written in a consistent manner. - plenty of suspense and action - good thick book which never has a dull moment. The Not So Good: - towards the end I could see an obvious similarity with a scene from The Chronicles of Riddick. Please dont let this be a sign Huff is running out of ideas. The Bad: - none at all! Cant wait for the next one.

Great Character Evolution

Good military sci-fi is remarkably hard to come by, once you get past the "universe threatened by bugs" stage of your reading. Ms. Huff has created a set of characters that are intelligent, complex and willing to think outside the box; a good representation of actual military professionals, in other words. While this volume stands well on its own, you'll get a lot more out of it if you go back and read the series. The heroine, Torin Kerr, is a bit larger than life but her responses and attitudes are dead-on for an NCO who understands that NCOs really run the military, that the politicians don't always tell the military what's going on and that top brass doesn't always think with its top knob. In this action, she's trapped in an alien prison and must think, as well as fight, her way out, leading not only her own marines but a group of the enemy soldiers as well. Torin's process in coming to understand the enemy military personnel is probably a little simplistic, and Ms. Huff's dependency on the deus ex machina of a sensient alien substance a bit far fetched, but this is overall an excellent read that leaves you considering what you would do in these circumstances as well as what Torin will be up to in the next novel.

Worth the hardcover price...

With the price of books these days I always grumble when a favorite author goes hardcover. I think I waited to get the library copy when this series did that in the last book. This time, wanting a good read right now, I bought the hardcover as soon as I saw it was out and was not at all sorry. I savored the book and read it over a few days. Good suspense, great characters; makes you laugh, makes you cry. Kerr, the main character, a female Gunnery Sergeant is "magically" transported from the battlefield and ends up in a cave. (magic is my word, it's all technology) There Gunny is her amazingly competent self, both a killing machine and one-track minded leader of the escape crew, totally focused on getting the other prisoners she meets in these underground caves and tunnels out to freedom. She's ultra tough but has total understanding of newbie recruits' emotions and alien customs. It's fun to see her get around officers, getting them to unwittingly agree to HER plans. Meanwhile her lover, who is told she is dead, goes along with the funniest reporter I've ever read about to track what happened at the battlefield. Their story is juxtaposed between chapters of the attempted escape from the prison. Love the tech guys! What they can do with a sleeve will amaze you. Just a really good read. One that I'm glad now I have in hardcover because it will get read again.