The Truth of Valor

A Confederation Novel

By: Tanya Huff

Narrated by: Marguerite Gavin

Former Marine gunnery sergeant Torin Kerr is attempting to build a new life with salvage operator Craig Ryder on his ship, the Promise. Turns out civilian life is a lot rougher than she'd imagined - salvage operators are losing both cargo and lives to pirates. And when they attack the Promise, Craig is taken prisoner and Torin is left for dead. When Torin finds out why the pirates needed Craig, she calls in the Marines to get him back - and to stop the pirates from changing the balance of power in known space.

©2010 Tanya Huff (P)2010 Tantor

another good one in the series

I found this one a little harder to get through, but nice to see the character development outside the core. certainly ends strong, and would listen to another.

Life After the Military

I was curious to see where Tonya Huff would take the Confederation series now that the war was over and Torin unemployed. With the Plastic alien riddle solved, what was left for her heroine to do? Fortunately for us, she settles in with Craig as a salvager - and finds a world just as corrupt and just as stupid as the military.

Story: Life as a salvager aboard the Promise with Craig isn't terrible - in fact, it is a nice change of pace for Torin. Until their ship is attacked and destroyed by pirates, Craig taken, and Torin left to die alone in space. But Torin never gives up and will not only have to solve the riddle of why the pirates wanted Craig alive but also to find where they have taken him and how to get him back - alive and in one piece. And without a spaceship.

Admittedly, the pirates were kind of a one dimension evil - but then again, I never expected pirates to be the smartest guys in space, either. Huff does an admirable job of creating a post war universe where stations run under the radar and there is still a lot of war debris to salvage. As well, we have yet another story where Torin makes smart choices and the right sacrifices in order to succeed. The military efficiency that saved her units' lives now works in her favor to survive the pirates and their plans for Craig and the Salvagers.

I am glad this isn't the last book and I eagerly look forward to the next book in the series.

Dark adventure

The performance is great! The story was a little darker but adventurous. I like the ensemble of regular characters surrounding Toren as the central character. Overall really good storytelling.

Fun...

I enjoyed the rest of this series, and this book did not disappoint... good fun, and I look forward to seeing what happens next...

AWESOME series

it was nice to see them face a new enemy. And the narrator's voices were on point.

Love a kick butt female!

I was so happy there was another book to this series. I've gotten attached to the characters. This book is about Torin after she leaves the Marines and her adventures salvaging with Craig. Not as much action as in her other books but still worth it! Marguerite Gavin is an awesome narrator.

I love this series

there are some technical issues. I had a hard time for awhile when the scenes would change but paying attention to which character is where helped a lot with that issue. I love this series and would recommend these books to any who like sci find. ir anyone who just enjoys a good series story.

dialog

This action story is convoluted and mysterious but because all of the characters are plain speaking it's a delight to follow along. They feel like living people who you want to succeed.

Just wasn't as good

So, I've read all of the books in the series, and have been VASTLY impressed and happy and squee about them. Until this one. Kerr just ... wasn't herself (which, I think, was the point) and the book just didn't have the immediacy and awesomeness the others did. I couldn't connect to it - couldn't bring myself to care overly much about what happened. I think, if this is going to be the last book, that I'll just consider the series to have ended with Valor's Trial. Of course, if a new book in the series were to be written, I'd still get it, in hopes that it would be as wonderful as the others were.

Workman-like

The two main characters, Torin and Craig, are two-dimensional stereotypes of the damsel stolen by the bad guys and having to be rescued by the high testosterone manly-man, except that gender roles have been reversed. Here, the man is the equivalent of the helpless pretty blond, and Torin is the tough-talking kick-ass character who must prove her manhood through physical brutality and profanity. Neither had any personality beyond what was needed for them to perform in these roles.

And I really groaned at the hackneyed climax where Craig urges Torin to allow the chief bad guy to live rather than having her "become just like them" by killing him, only to have to blow up his escaping ship minutes later. How many times have we seen this scenario played out?