Book Review: A Confederation Of Valor by Tanya Huff

In spite of all the transformations that the science fiction novel has undergone since its early days of rockets, aliens, and interplanetary space travel, one of the original sub-genres has traveled through the years relatively intact. Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers may not have been the first of the interplanetary war stories, but its influence on subsequent books of a similar kind can't be underestimated.

Not only did it set the standard for "space military" novels, it also served as a catalyst for books that refuted his view of the noble warrior. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman from the early 1970s was as much a reaction to Viet Nam as it was to Starship Troopers but it was one of the first overtly anti–war science fiction books in which the main characters are soldiers.

Haldeman's story prompted a revision in the way the space-war novel was written, turning the characters into real people instead of clichés from the Cold War era. The lines between them and us were blurred and the morality of war was more openly questioned. Squads of homogenous humans have been replaced by multi-species confederations that has allowed authors to have fun with creating character traits both amusing and alarming in the humans in their novels.

The sign of a good author is how matter-of-fact he or she can make the interspecies relationships. If we can be dropped into the story and feel like we've walked in on the middle of a conversation, it's that much easier for the reader to get to know the characters without the distractions of species differences. In turn this allows the camaraderie in a unit of soldiers, so important to these types of books, to be developed quickly, easily, and with believability.

Tanya Huff has proven in her previous books that she is no slouch when it comes to creating unique, interesting, and believable characters. From werewolves and vampires, to princesses, wizards, and adventurers, she's peopled the pages of enough books, set in a variety of worlds, to know her way around all the obstacles a space war story can offer.

The fact that Tanya's father was in the Canadian Navy and she served in the Navel reserve means that she is familiar enough with the reality of military life to be able to write about it with an air of authenticity. If anyone has any doubts about her ability to write in this genre they will be dispelled by picking up an omnibus edition of Valor's Choice and The Better Part Of Valor, just released under the title of A Confederation Of Valor.

Article Author: Richard Marcus

Richard Marcus is the author of the What Will Happen In Eragon IV? and The Unofficial Heroes Of Olympus Companion, both published by Ulysses Press. He has had his work published in print and online all over the world including the German edition of Rolling Stone Magazine and www.Qantara.de. …

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