Into the Fire

It is seldom I encounter a series midway through that snares me as completely as a stand-alone. This did. And while recommending it as intriguing reading by itself, as an honest reviewer I must urge readers to look up and buy the whole lead-up story. I’m going to have to.

Ky Vatta and her fiancé are taking a retirement vacation after a long period of strife. But that is cut short by sudden accusations of murder and seizure of the funds that were to have launched them into their chosen adventure.

The world we are projected into contains several sometimes conflicting regional or island governments. It also contains what to me felt like an almost Socratic yielding to authority/law. Positions of power are anything but gender-restricted, nor is there gender discrimination beyond simple recognition. There are clan affiliations to complicate loyalties. There is powerful femininity and almost ceaseless action. I was reminded of Sarah Hoyt’s Darkship series in that.

Military and tactical immersion is consistently good. A familiarity with the undertone, the hierarchical structures portrayed, and the fighting intensity niggled at me throughout the book. And then I read the author’s bio and understood why those things had actually been an underlying comfort. Semper Fi, Marine lady.