Seemed like not a lot happened or got resolved but it was enjoyable. Going to get book 2 soon. ( )

This is not literature. This is not high quality fiction, to be discussed in parlor's while sipping brandy. Not even during an afternoon respite, perhaps with some mint juleps or even just a cup of tea and biscuits.

For the record, I also didn't agree that this was a successor to the likes of Asimov (I've seen that reference).

So what *was* it, and why did I give it 4 stars? Bara's book was in line with Dickson's Childe Cycle, starting at Dorsai!, and that's not too shabby (Dorsai! will always be ranked in my top favorite books of all time). Impulse is a military space opera. Big events, big stakes, some big curtain tugs and waving of hands, and some big dumb objects. While I don't know if any one element of the story stood out for me (though it did remind me a bit of another guilty pleasure, Terry Nixon's Empire of Bones books), I found myself unable to put the book down. Maybe it helped that in this rare case, I was actually carting around a paperback copy of the book, but I found myself reading the entire book in just three days. In a week where I've been sick and missing all of my regular cadences, that says something.

With summer starting up here in the Northern Hemisphere, Impulse makes a great beach read. You're not reading a book like this because you want to explore the human condition - you're reading it for some fun adventure, and it delivers. ( )

If you haven’t read much military SF then this book is going to seem really great. If you have read several books then you know what will happen in the book. I could see every plot twist as it came along. All the women love our hero, he has loyal friends that he co-ops into his secret mission without bothering to tell them, yet he is clueless about his friends backgrounds even though they have been friends for years in the academy. There is advanced technology that is doled out to the planets by the wise Historians. And yet they are in search of the ancient artifacts that give them access to the Founders technology that they use. The book ends with winning the battle but you can see the long war ahead of them.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley ( )

childishly written ( )

For this to be a series, Mr. Bara needed to do a much better job of character development, scene setting, pacing, basically everything. Even the science was bad (geosynchronous orbit at 300 miles?!) ( )

Read 3/16

I enjoyed this but probably not as much as the sequel. Clearly the author was still developing his writing skills and this book is less fluent and less excisting than its successor. Stiil, I was glad to have answers to some of the basic questions about the background to his universe which had not been covered in the sequel. Good, solid space opera, and I still love the fact that FTL travel in this story is a difficult, dangerous process rather than the Star Trek/Star Wars, flick a switch, hey we're cruising in hyperspace approach. Great stuff. ( )

This was one of those books you are happy to find. I couldn't put it down. I will be recommending this to my sci fi book group. ( )

I was prepared to like this book much more than I did. Unfortunately, the writing and particularly the character development was somewhat amateurish. The early part of the book was quite interesting but the story bogged down when the Lightship arrived in the Lavant system and Cochrane was suddenly converted into a diplomat instead of an officer. The entire sequence with Cochrane in the palace was rather pedestrian and boring.

The author failed to provide a plausible scenario for some of Cochrane's situations. For example, we are expected to believe that two very accomplished women fell in love with him almost at first sight. The author failed to describe any behavior on the part of Cochrane or any interactions with either woman that makes their infatuation seem realistic. One begins as an arranged marriage but in a couple of pages seems to have morphed into genuine, heart-breaking love. The other is partially explained very late in the book as some sort of transference from Cochrane's dead brother. Meanwhile, Cochrane seems to have no lasting feelings for his "love" who died off-sceen before the story begins.

The story ends rather abruptly with the amateurish attempt to create concern that Cochrane might have been blinded. It seemed almost like the author had reached his page limit and figured he better end it somehow.

This story is similar in many ways to Elizabeth Moon's excellent 5-volume Vatta series, which I recommend enthusiastically. Another fun read is David Drake's Lt. Leary/RCN series, now at 10 volumes.

I had hoped that Impulse would be somewhat comparable to Moon's and Drake's efforts, but it falls far short. Still, this is apparently Bara's first book while Moon and Drake have decades of experience. Perhaps his writing will improve. I am planning to read the next book in the series but if it is not better it will be my last. ( )

Was ready to read the next book in the series, but it is not released yet. ( )