In the The Better Part Of Valor the circumstances are different, as Sergeant Kerr must take individuals from various units and form them into a working team for the mission. The easiest way for a group of people to come together is to unite against a common enemy and in this case it is the Captain who has been given the assignment of leading their mission.
His desire for publicity and to appear heroic has ensured the deaths of far too many soldiers for any foot soldier to like him. When they find out that one of the purposes of this mission is to add more lustre to his public image in order to ensure a political promotion for him, it only makes the team even unhappier with him being in charge.
The ship that they have been sent to investigate turns out to be investigating them. First it traps them on board by destroying the shuttlecraft that carried them there, and then it takes out the air lock they had parked at. To leave the ship they have to make their way to another air lock nearly five kilometres from their initial position.
That would be difficult enough in the first place as they have to carry wounded (including the captain who took a head injury and is thankfully unconscious) and shepherd civilian scientists, two reporters, and the salvage operator who discovered the ship and has come along to ensure nobody messes with his claim. But additionally, Kerr and her group find that a platoon of "Others" are in similar circumstances.
As Torin bitterly remarks to herself, if it was a movie this would be the moment the two opposing sides joined forces to combat the mutual enemy. But since the team is under fire from snipers at the moment, she knows there's not much chance of that happening.
Huff's willingness to not be satisfied with just writing a really good space war story, but her ability to poke fun of the conventions and stereotypes of the genres, as she makes free use of some of them herself, is what makes these two books such a success. Having one character openly complain that they might as well paint a target on another character, because he's such a friendly, likable guy who's always smiling, and they're the ones who always get killed, is one of the better pokes at convention.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!