I came in with such low expectations from the previous book that I actually found myself liking this.

I am still not a fan of Zahn turning the Cobra's into a series. By that I mean I like the previous format of 1 book, 1 story, 1 generation. I understand that having a series allows him greater play, but the ability to write a single novel seems to be fading and I have to admit, I like a nice tight...story ;-)

Still wouldn't recommend this to anyone but a diehard Cobra fan though. ( )

Second part; must be read together for understanding. Reading the first 3 in the Cobra series would help, but they are not necessary to understand the action in this pair. ( )

296 pages Science fiction. I was not impressed by this book. I'm glad I got the book from my public library. It tells the story of the invasion of Caelian seen through the eyes Lorne Broom and his attempt escort 5 government officials to a spaceport on the other side of his city. Unfortunately for the reader this takes 200. There is not much that makes you care about characters. The threats encountered during the journey are boring. The plot twist at the end of the journey marks the beginning of the interesting (by comparison to the 1st part of the book )part of the story. Unfortunately for the reader that is only 96 pages,and its not that well done.

The story can be read as a standalone novel, but prior experience with Zahn's other Cobra novels is suggested. Hopefully the final book in this trilogy will be better. ( )

It is pretty much the same calibre as book one in the series... with perhaps a bit more jumping between characters as there are 3 different groups involved here. Otherwise, it is a military sci-fi book where the military action is all "on-planet" (no space ship battling). There is probably a bit less personal drama (i.e. less about Mom's health, or about the family being apart) and a bit more interaction with alien species. Though, to be honest, the aliens aren't really very alien... they are occassionally described in a manner that makes them seem alien, but for the most part, their vehicles, weapons, doors, stairs, ships, etc, are all human-familiar or human-usable.

I did like the story as much as the first one, even with the jumps between the different main characters, but I disliked the ending a bit more - it felt like it was just stopped. I know there is another book in the series, but the ending still felt abrupt... ( )