Caine’s Mutiny is available on Amazon, among other places. First off, a disclaimer. I have known Chuck Gannon for several years, having met him first at LibertyCon, then at DragonCon. I consider him a friend. Which has nothing to do with my review of his book, really. I only review books I like, a lot. If I didn’t like a book I will not about stoop to giving it a crappy review. That’s not what I’m here for. Giving bad reviews can backfire on an author, so I only review the ones I like. Bottom line, if I review it, I think it has merit. If I don’t, it could be many things, including it just didn’t impress me enough.
So, on to the review of Caine’s Mutiny, by triple Nebula Award nominee Dr. Charles E Gannon. Chuck was nominated for the Nebula for each of the preceding three novels, Trial By Fire, Fire With Fire, and Raising Caine, an unheard of feet in one series. This book didn’t come out in time for this year’s nomination, and in my opinion is the best of the bunch. We’ll see next year. Not saying the others were bad. They were all really good. Chuck has a way of extrapolating the future from what we have now and what we will have in the future. The science and future political predictions are tight, the characters are well developed, and the action is exciting. That said, Mutiny has the most action of any of the books. Set on another planet in an unusual system inhabited by two of the space faring races of the series, it has ground and space combat tightly interwoven into the storyline. The villainous Ktor make appearances early and often in this novel, and they have become the enemy I love to hate. The other alien species can also be a pain at times, but, unlike the Ktor, not because of any truly evil intent. Can’t say much more, but fans of military history will get many of the references to past wars.
I bought this book on my own, and didn’t request a reviewer’s copy. It really helps the author to have sales loaded into the Amazon algorithm, and I’m happy to contribute.
Also, the Dragon Awards are coming up for their second year. Unlike any other awards in scifi, you don’t have to belong to an organization or pay a membership fee to vote. Just go here and register, then vote for your favorites in the categories. Caine’s Mutiny will be my selection in Military Science Fiction. Beyond that, I just don’t know, and will have to look over the categories and think about books I have read.
