Bold

by Mike Shepherd

Book, 2017

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Shepherd

Publication

Penguin Publishing Group

Description

Despite her role as a fleet Admiral and protector of a planetary system, Kris is still beholden to her great grandfather King Raymond's commands. She has been personally selected for a mission that, should she succeed, will save millions of lives. The Peterwald Empire is in the midst of civil war. On one side is the tyrannical Empress, on the other is the last person Kris ever wants to see again--Grand Duchess Vicky Peterwald. Due to their shared history, the Emperor believes Kris can mediate between the factions and bring about peace. But before Kris even begins her mission, she survives multiple assassination attempts on her family home world. Someone doesn't want her interfering in the Empire's affairs. Kris immediately suspects Vicky or the Empress, only to learn that it could also be a traitor among her own people.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

Very different situation for Kris - back home, and doing a negotiation...between Peterwalds! Henry Peterwald asks her for help with the civil war. Vicky's doing her best to fix what's been broken, which has put her on a collision course with her father and stepmother. Kris gets to find out how

negotiations work - not so much with the blowing things up (though there's some of that, too). And extra fun dealing with a nursing baby through all this. It's a switch in situation, but still a fun story watching Kris (and Vicky) deal with this. There are a few short scenes from Vicky's point of view - and several references that I suspect would make more sense to me if I'd read her books. Still looking for those. One major arc in Kris' life is done...but she's still got stories to tell (but now I have to wait until the next book comes out!).

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LibraryThing member kmartin802

Kris has been called home from Alwah because her kingdom, in the person of her great-grandfather King Ray, has a problem for her to solve. The Greenfeld Empire is undergoing a civil war and the emperor has asked for assistance. Since Kris knows the players having met both the Emperor and the Grand

Duchess, she's the right person to send in to try to broker a peace.

However, the Empress who is really the power behind the rather clueless Emperor isn't ready to give up power. It was repeated assassination attempts on Grand Duchess Victoria that led her to fleeing the heart of the empire. With Vicky out of the way, it is now Kris and her team who are fending off the assassination attempts.

With many of her former colleagues deciding to stay and build their lives on Alwah, Kris has to assemble a new team. This one consists of negotiators from various fields and their associates because finding a way for the civil war to end with take more than Kris's usual gunboat diplomacy.

Conditions in the Greenfeld empire are awful. Trade and business have been disrupted, planets are facing starvation, and piracy is rampant. The Empress and her faction are willing to ruin everything if it means that she will have the power at the end of it all.

Kris is sent in with a small fleet, but her fleet is the most up to date in space. She doesn't mind that her force will be underestimated. She knows that if needed she can wield her big stick and it will be needed. As her payment, she has demanded a desk job for herself and her husband Jack after this task has been completed. She feels that it is time that someone else becomes the point of the spear for her home planet.

This episode reconnects Kris with Vicky Peterwald who has done a lot of growing up since they were last together. It was an entertaining episode in a long-running series.

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