Chain of Command

By: Frank Chadwick

Narrated by: Graham Rowat

Lieutenant Sam Bitka, US Naval Reserve, is getting used to civilian life when he is called back to active duty. Tensions between Earth and the alien Varoki are on the rise, and Sam is assigned as tactical officer aboard the deep space destroyer USS Puebla. Dispatched to the distant world of K'tok to protect human colonists, he wants nothing more than to serve out his active duty time and get back to his civilian life.

But when the Varoki launch a crippling surprise attack against the Earth coalition fleet, Sam finds himself suddenly in command of the USS Puebla, a job he is far from certain he can discharge successfully. What's more, mounting evidence points to a much larger and more sinister alien plan.

Now, Sam must deal with faltering leadership in the human task force and an alien enemy who always seems one step ahead of them. Time for Sam to step up and rise to the challenge of command.

©2017 Frank Chadwick (P)2020 Tantor

Great book.

I loved everything about this book. That is the way you tell a story.

Fun Story; Compelling Characters

Its been a few weeks since I finished the story and I'm regretting there isn't a ready sequel. I really enjoyed the main character and the way he navigated the imperfect personalities around him. The scenario plays out the way many of us perceives ourselves working through life's challenges. In the book, Captain Bitko has that occurring in a life and death situation with even larger consequences.

Its well written and I'll keep Frank on my watch list. If I ever meet him, I'll have a bottle of Baker's 7 for him.

A very well written story

Usually these types stories are a just either endless violence or overly dramatic soaps. This was a nice balance of story with character development.

great story

it is great writing at its finest. downloading book 2 now. looking forward to the rest of the series.

good listen. wow i liked this cant wait 4 book 2

wow liked this book cant wait for book 2. this is good listening. woo hoo

Protagonist

Loved the world building. Well written and well read. I liked reading about both sides

Great book

I had to skip back to parts i missed because of fast narrative. otherwise great story. cant wait for the next one!

I can’t put my finger on why I really like this book a lot

I enjoyed the book a lot. There’s so many things in this I could say were really good and great but again I can’t point to exactly specific parts. The characters were good. The bad guys were so so. With the politics and the battle between crewmembers and figuring out how to survive, put it all together and great story.

Outstanding listen

The military jargon was pretty spot on. The characters were well thought out and played well.

Excellent Military SF

Frank Chadwick is best known as a game designer, including being one of the lead designers of the original Traveller RPG and the principal designer of the Space: 1889 RPG. His long study of military history shows in this excellent novel of space combat.

The protagonist, Sam Bitka, is a reservist recalled to active duty during a military crisis who ends up playing a major role in the first military confrontation with a new enemy. (I'll avoid spoilers and not say more about the plot.) The book is almost entirely a combat narrative and the combat is well-rendered and quite believable. The protagonist's experience with the military hierarchy and personal growth throughout the novel rings true for someone dealing with the events presented here.

The only major quibble I have with the writing is that Chadwick apparently doesn't understand how delta-V works on a spaceship. If you know what that means, you'll probably see the same problem I did and if you didn't, this is probably not the place for a short course in the basics of spacecraft acceleration. But that's not enough to change my rating from a 5. The plotting and characterization are strong enough to sustain my attention throughout.

The reader, regrettably, is not as good. While he is capable of the full range of emotions from A to B, C is apparently right out. And his voice is grating. The next book would be much better with a different narrator (and I see that there was a change for the next book in the series, one hopes for the better.)

Strongly recommended for any fan of military SF.