Jon Lusty

Many instances in this series of disasters boil down to common sense and safety. While her father's bi-polar disorder coupled with his survivalist tendencies contributed to not only mental abuse - mental neglect? – it also led to him to not educate his family on ideas of simple safety. He placed productivity and preparedness ahead of valuing his family and children.

I grew up on a farm where we operated and maintained many dangerous pieces of equipment. Swathers, combines, choppers, blowers, PTO shafts spinning, hydraulic lines pumping and squidging, snow mobiles, 500 gallon fuel storage units on-site, welders, acetylene torches, electric fences, augurs, elevators, poisonous herbicides, livestock capable of trampling, cultivators, feed grinders, 80' silo ladders, grain bin vacuums, and so on. Before any of us kids were allowed to touch, mount, drive, or operate ANY of it, we were carefully trained, and taught to listen and learn as grandpa Vernor, uncle Freeman, older cousin Randy, and even cousin Nancy taught us their proper use and operation, and warned us of every way something could go wrong that would put us in danger or cause a costly breakdown. Reading this book has caused me to look back on my farm days with a new appreciation for my family.

Heart-wrenching tale of deep space, abandonment, loss, betrayal and the human spirit. Excellent story. Nick Seafort is our inscrutable protagonist, one who's moods can swing faster than a misaligned N wave. He fails to recognize who his friends are, even though his command would be strengthened by building upon relationships. Instead he's a hard disciplinarian, resorting to torture and cruelty for even the most minor infractions of protocol. Really hoping he gets a clue into how human relationships work, even with those under his command. He's got a lot of potential but little life experience. At the beginning of book one he was just a 17 yo midi. At the end of book two he's a 23 yo Captain, and has had to command his crews in isolation all that time. He needs an extended break to learn how to be a human being, and I hope his opportunity comes in subsequent books.

So, onward to book 3 of this 7 book series. Unfortunately I learned while reading book two that the author passed away some time ago, so 7 volumes is it.

A promising start to what to becomes an excellent hard scifi series. The moment Jack Geary says to the Syndic commander simply, “No.” is the embodiment of this kick-off volume. I've gone back to that bookmark and number of times for a re-visit into this universe. Beyond this book it only gets better as the series continues and even splits into three Series. Highly recommended.