A vast and hostile force is attacking prosperous trade centres, destroying their space fleets then moving on, leaving death and chaos in their wake. Admiral Ky Vatta's family was decimated by one such attack and Turek, the pirate force's leader, will not escape her vengeance. Ky has a loyal taskforce, but the enemy have three times the ships and the firepower to match. She must offset these advantages with her knowledge of military strategy and her ace: superior ansible technology, facilitating fast and accurate in-space intelligence. The alternative to victory is unthinkable - devastation of interplanetary trading networks on a galaxy-wide scale - and the end of a way of life.
Victory Conditions: Vatta's War: Book Five
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Praise for the Vatta's War series: 'Continues to get better with every volume ... roll on the next one' Guardian, 'Moon's latest tale of intergalactic take-over and economic turmoil is still running strong ...promises to take us to new places again' SFX, 'Full of thrills' Locus, 'Rip-roaring ... But this military SF tale is no mere shoot-'em-up' Publishers Weekly, 'A new epic chapter in space adventure has opened' The Alien Online
About the Author
Elizabeth Moon joined the US Marine Corps in 1968, reaching the rank of 1st Lieutenant during active duty. She has also earned degrees in history and biology, run for public office and been a columnist on her local newspaper. She lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband and their son.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In my opinion the best of the series by a good margin. I'm not always a Moon fan - some of her other series seem to me too narrowly focused on a female teenage market (tiresome family, handsome suitors, underrated heroines and so on) but the Vatta series has a good balance of technical interest and nuanced characters: nobody's perfect, and only the pirate chief is undeveloped.
This volume has several interesting twists: new developments in ansible technology, the daredevil romantic pilot from a schizophrenic culture shifting personality at a crucial moment, divisions and rivalries imperilling the alliance, and a satisfying final space battle. There are also quite a few loose ends (e.g. the shadowy adviser in volume 4 turns out to be nobody in particular): as in real life, not every detail is significant and you have to guess which will matter.
It could have done with a little more editing - the occasional repetition of phrasing, the uneven character of Rafe (sometimes a daredevil Rhett Butler type, sometimes just a foil for heroine Ky).
So should you buy it? To enjoy it you really need to read the full series (and I do recommend that if you want light fast-paced SF with some three-dimensional characters), but if you've got to volume 4 I'd certainly recommend getting this to round it off.
This volume has several interesting twists: new developments in ansible technology, the daredevil romantic pilot from a schizophrenic culture shifting personality at a crucial moment, divisions and rivalries imperilling the alliance, and a satisfying final space battle. There are also quite a few loose ends (e.g. the shadowy adviser in volume 4 turns out to be nobody in particular): as in real life, not every detail is significant and you have to guess which will matter.
It could have done with a little more editing - the occasional repetition of phrasing, the uneven character of Rafe (sometimes a daredevil Rhett Butler type, sometimes just a foil for heroine Ky).
So should you buy it? To enjoy it you really need to read the full series (and I do recommend that if you want light fast-paced SF with some three-dimensional characters), but if you've got to volume 4 I'd certainly recommend getting this to round it off.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Put simply: the series of books were worth reading; they were fun and enjoyable with some good characters, and one or two especially interesting ones.
The series as a whole was let down by being too contrived. Every work of fiction is, of course, but it is the writer's job to make it believeable within the world it exists - occasionally I would find myself thinking - 'that's awefully convenient', or 'I expect that is going to happen'. As someone else put much less verbose - predictable. And it spoilt the fun.
Apart from the predictability of the ending, it was as good as book four, and a reasonably good end to the series; however, I believe there were a few too many loose ends. So whilst it finished the series, it didn't complete it.
The possibility of a follow-on series can't be discounted. I would certainly consider buying them, but I would likely wait until some or all of the series were available if that did happen.
The series as a whole was let down by being too contrived. Every work of fiction is, of course, but it is the writer's job to make it believeable within the world it exists - occasionally I would find myself thinking - 'that's awefully convenient', or 'I expect that is going to happen'. As someone else put much less verbose - predictable. And it spoilt the fun.
Apart from the predictability of the ending, it was as good as book four, and a reasonably good end to the series; however, I believe there were a few too many loose ends. So whilst it finished the series, it didn't complete it.
The possibility of a follow-on series can't be discounted. I would certainly consider buying them, but I would likely wait until some or all of the series were available if that did happen.
By sandra
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was like all the rest. It kept you wondering what next. Could not put it down.Would recomend all 5 books.Elizabeth
is very good. Syl
is very good. Syl
By JG
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
for the sake of the very excellent first 4 volumes read this one too, but it feels rushed sometimes and drawn out at others. Not a bad book by all means but not the class the volumes 1-4 are in.
By John Ellaway
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Same review as for book three in this five part series. A clever space opera with believable characters. Plenty of action and tense moments.
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Moon writes a taut, exciting novel whether fantasy or sf. It is always a shame to see a good series finish, but at the same time many authors appear unable to let a good earner end and you end up with a limping series of 'add-ons'. There is always the possibility of a next generation series as there appear to be plenty of loose ends in this universe, so who knows?
Good enjoyable book but I do wish publishers would be more honest with their pricing given all the savings of the ebook format to all concerned and the fact that--scandalously--you cannot dispose of an item even after paying to own it!
Good enjoyable book but I do wish publishers would be more honest with their pricing given all the savings of the ebook format to all concerned and the fact that--scandalously--you cannot dispose of an item even after paying to own it!
By M. Thompson
Format:Kindle Edition
A great conclusion to the story with all story threads concluded in a fun and satisfying way.
As per the Product Description, Admiral Vatta goes out to do battle with some advantages and experience. Ky still has to learn through her mistakes and is exceedingly lucky in at least a couple of areas in how she survives.
If you have got this far in the story, you probably don't need this review to help you make your decision. If you are still wondering if to start - well you will know by the end of book 1 if it if for you; if you like Anne McCaffrey books then you will like this from one of her co-authors of her books.
As per the Product Description, Admiral Vatta goes out to do battle with some advantages and experience. Ky still has to learn through her mistakes and is exceedingly lucky in at least a couple of areas in how she survives.
If you have got this far in the story, you probably don't need this review to help you make your decision. If you are still wondering if to start - well you will know by the end of book 1 if it if for you; if you like Anne McCaffrey books then you will like this from one of her co-authors of her books.
By Cruiseo
Format:Paperback
I can't imagine reading just this book in the series. The story is much longer and the action doesn't seem to stop. The hero develops over the whole series. To me it only makes sense as part of the whole.
The story line is a bit of James Clavell's Taipan set in space. There is the corporation under attack, the enemy is space pirates, the authorities are tools of one side or the other there are politics and high adventure. But! Problem solving is typical for women fantasy writers. The hero is still the hero but relationships play a much bigger role. There is competition and rivalry between the characters but it is mainly based (and blamed) on lack of communication. Conflict is so easy to solve (as long as the characters are on the same side). It makes the books very readable. We have come across it with authors like Anne McCaffrey and even J. K Rowling.
Part of the story are all sorts of sub plots which I call tips of ice bergs. One gets to see a new character just for a brief period and is left to wonder what happens to them. Some of the activities lead to nothing apparent in the story. At the end of the book I wanted to read on but had nowhere to go. So I wondered, what happened with all these loose ends and with those characters with so much potential. This is the genius of it: the mind is free to imagine further. What a subtle replacement for suspending disbelieve. Of course, this is not just a trick of Elisabeth Moon, but apart from the plot twists it adds hugely to the readability.
This book concludes the series (So what's the next series?). It ends just before the complete clear up of the pirates with only the beginnings of the future for the hero's family's corporation - good news all round for the good side. This shouldn't be surprising.... Read more ›
The story line is a bit of James Clavell's Taipan set in space. There is the corporation under attack, the enemy is space pirates, the authorities are tools of one side or the other there are politics and high adventure. But! Problem solving is typical for women fantasy writers. The hero is still the hero but relationships play a much bigger role. There is competition and rivalry between the characters but it is mainly based (and blamed) on lack of communication. Conflict is so easy to solve (as long as the characters are on the same side). It makes the books very readable. We have come across it with authors like Anne McCaffrey and even J. K Rowling.
Part of the story are all sorts of sub plots which I call tips of ice bergs. One gets to see a new character just for a brief period and is left to wonder what happens to them. Some of the activities lead to nothing apparent in the story. At the end of the book I wanted to read on but had nowhere to go. So I wondered, what happened with all these loose ends and with those characters with so much potential. This is the genius of it: the mind is free to imagine further. What a subtle replacement for suspending disbelieve. Of course, this is not just a trick of Elisabeth Moon, but apart from the plot twists it adds hugely to the readability.
This book concludes the series (So what's the next series?). It ends just before the complete clear up of the pirates with only the beginnings of the future for the hero's family's corporation - good news all round for the good side. This shouldn't be surprising.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, great fun
I wont give my version of the story but ...
Really great fun, good story well told. Nothing to make you think hard about new ideas. Read more
Really great fun, good story well told. Nothing to make you think hard about new ideas. Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2010 by Deimos
5.0 out of 5 stars
Victory Conditions
Once again Elizabeth Moon shares her talent for both writing and knowing what she's talking about. It makes for a satisfying read. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2009 by Anne deNize
3.0 out of 5 stars
Predictable
Whilst Elizabeth is carving a name for herself the one major problem is that her work is getting a bit too predictable and as such it does ruin my enjoyment. Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Gareth Wilson - Falcata Times Blog
4.0 out of 5 stars
space adventure continues
I have read over 1500 SF books, so one has to try out new authors continually. With mixed results
Well my introduction to Elizabeth Moon began 2 months ago with her Vatta's... Read more
Well my introduction to Elizabeth Moon began 2 months ago with her Vatta's... Read more
Published on 10 May 2008 by J. A. Kennedy
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