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"After nearly a decade away, Nebula Award-winning author Elizabeth Moon makes a triumphant return to science fiction with a thrilling new series featuring the daring hero of her acclaimed Vatta's War sequence. Summoned to the home planet of her family's business empire, space-fleet commander Kylara Vatta is told to expect a hero's welcome. But instead, she is thrown into danger unlike any other she has faced and finds herself isolated, unable to communicate with the outside world, commanding a motley group of unfamiliar troops, and struggling day by day to survive in a deadly environment with sabotaged gear. Only her undeniable talent for command can give her ragtag band a fighting chance. Yet even as Ky leads her team from one crisis to another, her family and friends refuse to give up hope, endeavoring to mount a rescue from halfway around the planet--a task that is complicated as Ky and her supporters find secrets others will kill to protect: a conspiracy infecting both government and military that threatens not only her own group's survival but her entire home planet. Praise for Elizabeth Moon Trading in Danger "A mix of space opera, military science fiction and human drama, this is an exciting and often touching novel."--RT Book Reviews Marque and Reprisal "Excellent plotting and characters support the utterly realistic action sequences: swift, jolting, confusing, and merciless. It's a corker!"--Kirkus Reviews Engaging the Enemy "Moon has created a richly imagined universe of different cultures, replete with intriguing characters and the sense of unlimited possibility that characterizes the most appealing science fiction."--School Library Journal Command Decision "One of scifi's best military space series. confirms Moon's place with Lois McMaster Bujold and David Weber in the top tier of turn-of-the-millennium military SF writers."--Syfy Victory Conditions "Rip-roaring action and intriguing science and tactics distinguish Nebula-winner Moon's fifth and final Vatta's War installment. A fine and fitting conclusion to Moon's grand space opera tour de force."--Publishers Weekly"-- "Kylara Vatta is summoned back to the world of Slotter Key, the home planet of the Vatta empire. Ky had never meant to return ... but sometimes family summons cannot be ignored. Yet nothing about this trip will go as planned. When her shuttle is sabotaged, she ends up crashed in arctic waters along with a desperate handful of strangers. It falls to Ky, as ranking officer, to help them survive and find land, but when they arrive on a frozen island that, until now, has always been known as a terraforming failure, what she discovers there is shocking. And now she must not only solve the mystery of who sabotaged her ship, but what it has to do with the secrets a shadowy government faction seems more than willing to kill to keep hidden"--… (more)
User reviews
In "Cold Welcome" Ky, now Admiral of the confederation space-force, has returned home to conduct family business and to be honored as the planetary and confederation savior. A malfunction while en route from her flagship to the planet forces an emergency landing in the frigid ocean off the coast of a barren, arctic continent. All of the officers aboard the shuttle died except Ky and her Executive Officer. The shuttle had been sabotaged and the officers' survival suits had been rigged to inject a lethal poison.
Readers of the earlier novels in this series will recognize Ky, Rafe, Aunt Grace, MacRoberts, and Stella among others. All make brief appearances for the most part but the extraordinary skill and cunning they displayed in the previous volumes are absent. All seem impotent to mount the relatively routine rescue.
"Cold Welcome" varies between boring and senseless. The story is only marginally interesting and the plot has a number of holes. For example, once Rafe learns the location of Ky the Vattas do not initiate a rescue attempt. Aunt Grace, the Rector of Defense, tells Rafe that it's not that simple but Moon never explains why it's not that simple. Why didn't they contact Ky's flagship and ask for help rescuing her? Why is the Rector of Defense so powerless? Someone ordered supplies and transport for a small army of 100-200 troops. Why can't the Rector and the former CEO of interplanetary communications figure out who placed the order? Why can't the Rector countermand the order?
After plodding through a rather uninteresting book I at least hoped for a convincing climax. Ky had discovered and took shelter in a large underground facility on the deserted continent. As the arrival of a mercenary force hired to kill the surviving spacemen approaches Ky discovers an underground highway. Then they spent innumerable days driving at slow speed while nothing happens. When the tunnel, purpose unexplained, ends abruptly, Ky discovers a foot passage that eventually ends on a mountain ledge. None of that makes sense.
Finally, instead of celebrating a miraculous survival, the story takes a 180 degree turn and renders these supposedly competent protagonists as impotent pawns of unforeseen forces. Ugh!
I was delighted to see another entry featuring Ky and the Vatta family "Cold Welcome" is little more than a "cash grab," much like the endless sequences we see in the movie business. Moon apparently did not have a compelling idea for an addition to the series but that did not stop her.
My one gripe is that the ending felt abrupt... but then, I could probably gripe that the book ended at all. I'm ready and eager to read more!
A Robinson Crusoe themed adventure results from a failed, by shuttle sabotage,