The Truth of Valor (Confederation Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

"The Truth of Valor" by Tanya Huff is the 5th book in the Confederation of Valor series. Torin Kerr has now been honorably discharged from the Confederation Marines, and is attempting to make her way within the civilian field as a Civilian Salvage Operator, partnering up with her fiance/boyfriend/significant other -- Craig Ryder.

After 14 years in the Marine Corp, while Kerr can handle civilian life, the transition is proving to be problematic for the ex-Gunnery Sergeant as she is exposed to the CSOs as a culture, who at best are an undisciplined lot of people.

Things become problematic when Ryder is kidnapped by reprobate pirates who have some nefarious deeds planned and need a civilian CSO in order to make the plan work. As you might expect, Torin does not take kindly to this issue, and goes charging after him, a quest which leads her to a rough and tumble, civilian-held pirate space station where anything goes and life is cheap. Enlisting the aid of former Marine comrades as well as a news personality from Sector Central News, Kerr goes in undercover and it's a race against time from there as she locates Craig and attempts to stop his criminal captors from scoring big with a salvage find that could tip the balance of power within the sectors.

IMO, "Truth" is excellent military/ex-military science fiction. Torin Kerr is no longer a Confederation Marine, but we as readers know that there are no such things as ex-Gunny Sergeants. We are shown that the transition from Corps life to Civilian life is not easy, as Torin walks a fine line between the former and current life and is exposed to incidents and people that test her as she tries not to fall into the darker aspects of her soldier personality and military-bred personality because of her actions and decisions as she goes about the process of rescuing her lover.

Good read! The action was kept toned down (though the few glimpses are excellent action and not overdone), so if you're looking for blood and guts spraying across the battlefield, this is not the novel for you. If you are looking for an intelligent space adventure novel with dialogue and content that is solid, and focuses on an ex-Gunnery Sergeant as she tangles with some pirates as well as being a civvie, "Truth" is the novel for you.

Okay, I've read all the other Valor books by Tanya and loved how Gunny Kerr came out on top and always totally destroyed the enemy. All the previous books were great no doubt. This book has a new slant on her personality. She is not in the Marines now but her same drive and determination has not changed. Whereas before you could always count on non stop action (it was like each book was a series of battles without a huge climax); this time around I caught myself looking forward to the end battle(s) much more because she didn't fight a battle the entire time. When she showed up on one of the space stations and three of her old platoon subordinates threw in to help her, well I was smiling big time about that. The best parts of Tanya's books are the banter back and forth that the members of her platoons had among themselves. The comic relief is priceless. Here again, Torin gets to have several of her old platoon go in and save her boyfriend. Sweet! Personally, I really like Sci Fi that takes place completely in space and goes from one outpost station to the next. Throw in a few lizard Silviss juvies that run into Torin and you have a great mix of the past and present in this book. A totally enjoyable easy read where you want to turn the page to get to the end game where you know she is going to be really upset about having Craig kidnapped and her left for dead. Easy recommendation to buy. You have to get in the spirit of her new lifestyle...however, Tanya made sure Torin still had the same personality we all have come to love.

This book will make any Kerr fan dizzy with pleasure. It's a good book, a fun and fast read but unfortunately gives little to the over arching plot of the series. I read the book cover to cover within 24 hours of receiving it and while I loved the characters and the story, it is not as solid as the rest of the Valor series. While the story hearkened back to the original Valor novel with it's non-connection to the Plastic Aliens plot line, the lack of action left it wanting. Kerr books have all been great because they are not so focused on the drama of human interactions and much more focused on a story which is interesting and fast paced. In the first book, Valor's Choice, Kerr had just the right amount of emotion and disconnected between her and the characters around her. Unfortunately with the addition of Torin's CSO boyfriend and all of the lovey dovey emotional crap that comes with it Huff is quickly losing the edge which sets this series, and this character, apart from her others. Kerr is threatening to become one more slightly bad-ass but mostly pathetically in love female character, in a sea of similar characters.

I'm still giving this book a 4 star rating, regardless of how lacking I find it in comparison to all the other Valor books. Because let's face it, Huff's worst (the Blood books in my opinion, or Enchantment Emporium) is still better than most peoples best in the sci-fi/fantasy realm, and this is by no means her worst. While this book does lack in certain respects on it's own (one fairly central character has no resolution, he just walks through a door and no one ever mentions him again) if the next book focuses more on the hard core-ness of Torin as a character (and if Craig could please grow some more manly bits), if the Plastic Aliens plot is somehow furthered by this book and if there could be more action and less standing around being dramatic that would fix every issue I have with this book. I guess I do have to say some of this rating is based on the expectation that all the loose ends and annoying bits of this book will be explained in the next book as having good reason, otherwise I would probably only give it a 3 star.(maybe the disappearing character is being set up to become a crazy vengeful foe to Kerr? Who knows!)

I would recommend any fan of Huff's read this book, you could probably even read this without reading any of the other Valor novels, though you would be confused by some parts. But I wouldn't suggest anyone goes in with the idea that this will make or break the series. It honestly doesn't further it at all, if Huff had simply started the next book with "One Year Later" and alluded to the plot points of this book it would have probably served the same purpose. It is to the Valor series what webisodes were to Battlestar Galactica after season 2. I think my biggest problem is that I waited 2 years for this continuation and it looks like I'll have to wait at least 2 more for another. (Her unnamed werewolf story and the sequel to Enchanment Emporium being scheduled for the next two years) So read it at your own risk. If you haven't started the series I would suggest rereading all her other books and then starting the Valor series, leaving yourself with little time to wait until Huff steps up with another Kerr novel. I give the same advice to anyone who loves the Valor series. Put off buying this book, reread the others and hopefully when you finally do get to the end of this book you'll have less time to itch for story continuation. Cause Huff is either setting up for a fantastic twist or she's about to crash and burn the Valor books into the side of a planet. Either way this book just tortures you.