Velocity Weapon

The start of an epic space opera, this book has left me hungry for more. A sweeping tale of rogue spaceships, altered humans, alien technology and politics. The universe built for Velocity Weapon is an intriguing one, the Primes (descendant from Prime Inventive, a corporation that first discovered faster than light travel) are a haughtily superior bunch who have come into conflict with another group of settlers (The Icarions) in one of the more backwater planetary systems. These Icarions have developed weapons to try and counter the technological advantage that the primes have. Add into this mix the mysteries behind how Prime Inventive came to discover their key technologies and you have the set up for an epic space opera that I am excited to follow further.

Ada Prime is a distant outpost of the Prime empire, and this book focuses on a brother and sister from this system, Sanda and Biran, along with a few other minor characters. Sanda is a Gunnery Sergeant and Biran is a Keeper, one of a mysterious group who guard Prime's secrets. When Sanda goes missing after a disastrous battle with Icarion this kicks Biran into action politicking his way to try and recover the missing and the dead from the battle. Sanda meanwhile is rescued by a strange ship with a powerful AI.

This book is epic in scope, with engaging characters and a vast and intriguing universe set up, of which we have only just brushed the surface in this book. There are a few pacing issues (the book is quite slow in places) but the set up is worth it and the ending definitely leaves you hungry for more!

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S VELOCITY WEAPON ABOUT?
There are two primary storylines—either one of them would have been a decent basis for a novel on their own. Combine them and you've got something special.

Sergeant Sanda Greeve is flying a fairly routine patrol when she's attacked—a rare burst of heat in a long Cold War. She wakes up in a ship from the fleet that attacked her. Alone. Except for the AI that runs the ship (is the ship?). Bero, the AI, shows Sanda footage and evidence that the Icarions that build him wiped out all life in the system except Sanda 230 years ago.

The second primary storyline features her brother, Biran. Biran's speaking at his graduation ceremony when his sister (and others) are attacked. The news disrupts the ceremony, and Biran uses finds himself in the position of having to calm those who are watching (live or on the news). In the days and weeks following, he rises to a prominent position—becoming the government's spokesman, reassuring and leading the populace through this time.

We bounce back and forth as Biran tries to stave off a war, and to Sanda dealing with its results. It's a great concept and you just don't know what to expect even though Bero has told Sanda what's happening.

And then another escape pod shows up and all bets are off.

THE STUFF I SHOULD'VE PAID MORE ATTENTION TO
There were some flashbacks to the invention of the Gate technology that makes interstellar travel possible, which was pretty interesting, but there was something about it that I just couldn't focus on for very long.

Similarly, there was a tertiary story to the main two. This one focused on a street gang involved in some pretty petty crimes, but they stumbled onto something pretty big. This was interesting, but I couldn't keep most of the characters straight and had a hard time following it. This was solely due to my focus, and as many times as I told myself to pay attention, I didn't. I predict that this is going to come back pretty significantly in the sequel—I'm just hoping I can play catch up. If you read and/or listen to this book—learn from my mistake and pay attention.

HOW WAS THE NARRATION?
I liked it. Bero in particular is hard to get right—and vital to get right. Jameson does it. Everything else came out good, too, don't get me wrong, but for this, the AI is essential. He captured the tones, flavors, and diverse set of characters in an engaging and convincing way.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT VELOCITY WEAPON?
When this came out, it looked intriguing. When I started seeing it show up on my Goodreads feed and book blogs I follow, I really became interested. But I didn't follow up on it. I spent pretty much e the entire time listening to Velocity Weapon berating myself for that.

This is the kind of thing I like in SF. A clever story, compelling characters, and great tech in space. I liked the humans, I really enjoyed the AI (I sort of figured this would be a variation on the AI in Rockwell's Serengeti books, and wow, I was wrong). It was a SF adventure, but it was also a straightforward thriller (with SF frills). I had a blast with this and am looking forward to the sequel.

I found the book to be a quite enjoyable sci-fi political action space opera yarn full of twists and surprises. Just what I needed to push the Covid blahs away for a while. My only gripe is that the end of the book doesn't really wrap up anything. Rather, it pretty much ends setting up book 2. That said, major thumbs up!

The full review is available at The Gray Planet.

Velocity Weapon by Megan E. O'Keefe is an interesting and fun space opera with a little bit of everything, including some irritating style quirks.

Sanda Greeve is a gunship pilot in the Ada Prime military. After being on defensive patrol near Icarion space, she suddenly finds herself awakened after being preserved in an evacuation pod, apparently after a space battle she doesn't remember. She has lost part of one leg. She finds herself aboard an Icarion (the enemy) AI Class Cruiser, The Light of Berossus The ship AI introduces himself as Bero. Bero tells Sanda that 230 years have passed after the Battle of Dralee in which Sanda's gunship was destroyed. As part of the battle, Ada Prime, Sanda's home planet was destroyed by a special weapon deployed by the Icarions.

230 years before, at the time of the Battle of Dralee, Sanda's younger brother, Biran, is a newly graduated Keeper. The Keepers are specially trained leaders of Ada Prime and have computer chips implanted in their skulls. The chips don't give them any special abilities, but rather contain encrypted data on the construction of Casimir Gates, the interstellar jump points that tie together the Prime Universe. This secret data allows the Primes to maintain control of interstellar space.

The remainder of the novel is written in chapters that alternate between Sanda's point of view and Biran's point of view, 230 years apart. We are also introduced to another group of characters, led by Jules, a young woman from the lower cast in the Prime Universe who works with a criminal gang living in lower class neighborhoods.

There are also interludes that give us two other points of view. The first is that of Alexandra Halston, an historical character who was the businesswoman who led Prime Corporation, which developed space commercially and built the first Casimir Gate. The history of the Prime Universe is dated from the development of the first Gate.

The second Interlude point of view is that of Callie Mera, Ada Prime's favorite newscaster. Callie does have an important role to play, but unless that role is significantly increased in sequels, Callie seems superfluous.

The velocity weapon of the title is Bero, who is an interstellar capable ramscoop ship. As a weapon, Bero can accelerate masses to relativistic velocities, thereby increasing their mass and making them dangerous projectiles. This is the edge Icarion uses in their opposition to the Gate monopoly the Primes hold.

The story hinges on Sanda's struggle for survival after being awakened on Bero, and on Biran's struggle to find his sister and save her, if she is still alive.

Sanda's struggle is the stuff of science fiction adventure–she is faced with lots of problems and has to be clever to solve them. But O'Keefe also provides a lot of twists and turns for Sanda, most of them interesting at least, and many of them pretty surprising. After being alone for some time, she is joined in her struggle for survival by another rescued soldier, Tomas. Tomas is an enigma and Sanda is not sure if she should trust him. Their relationship is well-developed and interesting.

Biran's story is a political one where he must work within the existing power structure of Ada Prime's ruling Protectorate of Keepers to be sure the possibility of Sanda's survival and her rescue is a high priority. Biran also fights against what he thinks is the Protectorate's mismanaged approach to the war with Icarion. As he seeks information about Sanda, Biran uncovers a variety of deep and significant secrets within the political power structure of the Protectorate.

Velocity Weapon is an enjoyable ride, although at times I found myself aware of the writer's manipulative ways. There are 80 chapters and six interludes in the book, and maybe they don't all end with cliffhangers, but most of them do, particularly in the last half. This is a bit overdone, but it is effective. O'Keefe keeps giving us more and more as the story goes on, but she effectively handles the complications (albeit with a few deus ex machinas thrown in) and uses most of her surprises to complicate and deepen the story.

O'Keefe adds interesting and well thought out plot twists and science fiction elements that kept me interested. She has constructed a universe where the science fiction elements (her space travel technology and where it came from, the Keepers and their secrets, what Jules and her fellow criminals discover and are caught up in) are an integral part of the plot. This gives the book a depth that most space opera no longer has for me. As a space opera, this book is a big success.

O'Keefe is good enough with her characters that I care about Sanda and Tomas and Biran. The motivations of their antagonists are subtle and complex and serve to expand the action and provide interest.

I want to follow the adventures of Sanda and Brian and others as they figure out what's really going on in their world and how to control it.

Much of this novel contains major surprises which I won't reveal as they would ruin the story. There are also myriad minor surprises and cliffhanger moments along the way, sometimes too many. But O'Keefe manages make it all hang together and and keeps the story coherent.

I really liked the book and am ready for volume two.