Stronghold Rising (Sholan Alliance Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Where much of the three previous books revolved around the character Kaid, this book represents a return to Kusac as the central focus of the story. The fifth book, "Dark Nadir", had some unpleasant things happening to the main characters and left some readers uneasy about the direction the series was taking, but with this, the sixth book, we get some payoff. It provides the overall context that makes more sense out of some of the events in "Nadir" and the earlier books. Furthermore, it sets some remarkable events in motion, some of which are left to be resolved in the next installment of the series (read: cliffhanger ending).

Fans of the series don't need to be convinced to buy this book, but some readers have been less impressed with the last two than they were with the earlier books. I believe many of them will find "Stronghold Rising" to be at least as good as anything so far in the series.

The major drawback is the large number of unidentified alien species that keep popping up -- and the "deus ex machina" devices to keep the plot humming along. Since the aliens all seem to speak the same pidgon language -- it's hard to keep straight which species -- and which individual -- is acting.

There are numerous cryptic references to the "entities" leaving Shola -- possibly only Vartra will remain. The concept of Guardians (like Noni) is touched on in passing -- but we never really know who is a guardian or what s/he is guarding.

The general, Kezule, emerges as a dominant personality both in Valtegan society and in the universe as a whole.

A list of characters (which is available on the web site) would be most helpful, since many of the names are similar and the cast is growing exponentially.

The first novels in this series were self-contained. Each new novel is longer and denser -- and depends on the previous books. It is no longer possible to jump into this series with any of the novels.

If you have read and enjoyed any of the previous books in the series, this one is a keeper. If you haven't read the previous novels, read them first.

Unlike many authors when they have reached their sixth book, Norman can still add innovating ideas, twists, concepts, and turns. As an avid reader, most serial books seem uneventful and formulaic after their fourth or fifth installment. This book was not as predicable as most and contained a complex enough core to keep me reading for more than one day. Normally, books of this size that are this far along in a series are only good for a quick one night's read like Robert Jordan's Path of Daggers or Jean Auel's Plains of Passage.