Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsOld -vs- New Frame of Reference
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 28, 2019
Earlier books in the cycle have dealt with the search for 'Dignity Vessels' and their strange power sources. We followed Boss and her divers to new discoveries, clues of the old humans who made up a whole fleet of them. And we met Coop, who with his crew, was pulled out of foldspace 5,000 years after entry. Seems that is a risk of travel by Anacapa.
But consider the effect on people who must adjust to politics and standards of living of a foreign civilization: BAM! 'Howya doin? We're spacers from the Nine Planets Alliance! Want to Join?'
Coop is a man who has been called 'Tightass' by a previous Captain:
'“So I monitor captain candidates. I wash out the ones who would strand their crews in foldspace because the rules are too important.” She was staring at him.
“And that’s what you think I am,” he said.
“Hell, no,” she said. “You could be, if you don’t fix that ass of yours. But you’re also bright, and you’ll listen. You know how to conquer your fear—don’t think I didn’t see it in your face this afternoon—and get the job done. And you only question your assumptions when it’s worthwhile to do so, not in the middle of the work.”
He sat stiffly.
“Which makes you,” she said, “the first captain candidate in eight years that I didn’t send back for more training, keep on this ship in a different capacity, or wash out entirely.
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. Searching for the Fleet: A Diving Novel (Diving Series Book 7) (pp. 123-124). WMG Publishing Inc.. Kindle Edition.
Rusch misleads readers- it did not happen because of Coop. It was battle damage. The book examines the time-travelers as they battle dissociative disorders. Characterization- 5 stars; imagery & writing- 4 stars; plot & pacing- 3 stars.
