Command Decision

Vatta’s War Book 4

Orbit (2007)
ISBN: 978 1 84149 379 4
$19.95
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Reviewed by Lorraine Cormack, May 2007

Elizabeth Moon is one of a small number of writers capable of producing excellent science fiction with a strong military bent, while still developing characters the reader cares about and a plot that sweeps you up. This novel is the fourth of a series, and clearly not the last. It is the only one I’ve read from this series, although I’ve read most of Moon’s other work. By the time I was a third of the way into it, I was eager both to go back and read the first three books in the series, and for the next one to be published so I can read that too.

The general shape of the series and what happened in earlier novels was fairly easy to work out, although Moon makes sure not to repeat many of the details. Interstellar pirates have been marauding around the galaxy, and among their crimes, they attacked and murdered most of the Vatta family. It appears that they may have been aided by people who envied the Vatta wealth and trading empire. However, the pirates have certainly not stopped there. They are attacking more and more systems, aided by the breakdown of the ansibles that allow communication between systems. The ansibles can’t be fixed because the company that owns them has protected their technology and monopoly fiercely – to the extent of sending armed space fleets to attack anyone who dares to repair a broken one. And the company – ISC – has internal power struggles to deal with, including the sabotage that may be behind so many simultaneous breakdowns. That means ISC isn’t exactly on the ball when it comes to repairing ansibles, and communication is accordingly crippled. One effect of this is that many systems don’t realise how dangerous the pirates are becoming.

This volume focuses on two main story strands within that broad framework. It follows Kylara Vatta as she seeks to destroy the pirates. Motivated in part by revenge, and in part by a genuine belief that the pirates must be eliminated before they destroy the lives of more innocents, Ky is struggling to build up a fleet that actually has a fighting chance against the pirates. Her youth is against her, as is the fact that she has no backing from a government or major corporation. But on her side is a fierce self-belief, and a growing capacity for command.

At the same time, Rafe Dunbarger has returned to his home planet to find out what is wrong within ISC. His father is CEO of the company, but has not been responding to Rafe’s attempts to communicate, and the problems with the ansibles suggest challenges that go beyond a simple internal problem. Rafe not only discovers what has happened to his family and ISC, he also discovers why his life was effectively trashed when he was little more than a child. Now he is confronted with the challenges of rebuilding ISC, rebuilding his shaky relationships with his family – and perhaps finding a way to help Ky Vatta destroy the pirates. A strong subplot is the efforts of Ky’s cousin, Stella Vatta, to rebuild the Vatta trading empire. Stella’s efforts provide some pivotal links between Ky’s struggles in space, and Rafe’s struggles on Nexus II.

The world is an easy one to step into for anyone who’s read much science fiction. Moon doesn’t bother to explain the workings of much of her technology, but most people won’t find concepts such Faster Than Light (FTL) drives, ansibles for communication, and lasers particularly difficult to deal with. It all makes sense, and it builds a convincing science fiction world. It isn’t a particularly strange world, because one of Moon’s strongest qualities is her ability to develop real and absorbing characters. Despite the technologically advanced worlds that surround them, these are people you feel you could be friends with.

Readers of earlier novels by Moon may find that this one has less emphasis on the military than those earlier novels. Unusually for Moon, none of her major characters are actually in the military. However, it’s clear that Ky has had earlier training in the military (although I get the impression from this novel that it was cut short), and there are several compelling and well portrayed space battles to satisfy fans of that aspect of Moon’s work. Readers with less interest in battles are also likely to find these interesting; there’s an emphasis on the impact of different levels of technology, and on the feelings of the people charged with leading these battles.

Although I undoubtedly missed some subtleties and a good deal of background, including character development, I found it perfectly possible to read and enjoy this novel without having read the earlier three novels. Moon has found a good balance between providing the general shape of the overall story and repeating too much of it. Reading this as (effectively) a stand alone novel, it was a strong story of two very different individuals who look past their own self-interest and struggle to do what they believe is right for their broader society. Uptight as that may sound, neither Ky nor Rafe were at all uptight. Their dilemmas and challenges were completely absorbing. The story was also well balanced; unlike some novels which switch between two major threads, I didn’t find one significantly more interesting than the other. Both were interesting, and Moon tied them together in important but sometimes subtle ways. Both characters grow and change in the course of this novel, and I have the impression that in the series as a whole there is even more growth and change in the characters.

This novel will be enjoyed by fans of hard, adventurous science fiction, particularly those who look for strong and interesting characters. Readers of military science fiction will probably also find a great deal to enjoy here; and in fact readers who are simply looking for an absorbing story will generally be satisfied. Command Decision is a well balanced novel likely to appeal to many people.