Engaging the Enemy, Elizabeth Moon

This is the third story in the Vatta's War series. These are dense books, where almost nothing happens. I mean, things HAPPEN, in dramatic, deadly fashion, but a great deal of time is also given to the hazards of not knowing local manners in a new port, and side stories about racism which don't have much to do with the MAIN plot. And I love them. *huggles*

I, uh, can't really talk much about the plot without giving away spoilers for the first two books. *I ponder this* Let's see. Well, in the first book, everyone was just reacting. In the second one, they were scrambling to stay alive. In this one, they've finally got some time to think about what the heck just happened. So of course, everyone starts to distrust each other. Communications are still out, and with interstellar travel taking weeks, that means everyone has plenty of time to become suspicious of the insane suggestions everyone else is coming up with.

Oh, and Aunt Grace comes fully onto the stage. Before, she was just the devious old aunt who appears somewhat like Miss Marple. SHe seemed fluffy and pink to hide her incisive mind- and that's cool, right? Miss Marple is Cool! Aunt Grace is not like Miss Marple. She is honestly frightening, in a way that Kylara, with all her soul-searching, isn't. If there's an overarching character theme of this series, it's how to deal with being a natural-born-killer. There are three people in series so far who have this trait, and they all react to it a little bit differently.

Wow, this was rambling. Sheesh, I need coffee. I WAS a little bit disappointed by the Court scene, that seemed too easy. Everything else in the story has been hard, why does this obstacle just give up and die? But overall, I really enjoyed it. I gave it four stars out of five.