Valor's Trial

by Tanya Huff

Reviewed by Ruby

Finally Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr gets what she wants; to go back to her unit and fight the war she was trained to fight. Only her first mission back out is a total failure and she is caught in a deadly air strike and is thought to be killed. Since her body isn’t recovered her lover, Civilian Salvage Operator Craig Ryder, refuses to believe that and teams up with a fearless (and annoying) reporter to head out to the where the battle had been in the hopes of finding a clue to where she is.

The military thinks he is in denial because The Others don’t take prisoners so there is no possible way for her to be alive. As it turns out the military was wrong and Torin is alive, in a POW camp deep inside a labyrinth of caves.

Now Torin must figure out a way to escape from the camp, while trying to figure out what exactly is going on. Because if The Others don’t take prisoners than who has brought over three hundred marines to the camp and for what reason.

I have to admit I did not enjoy this book as much as I have the other ones in the series. Although Torin is just as awesome as she is in all the other books, I find that it is played up too much in this one. I don’t want to say that she is becoming a Mary Sue, because she isn’t, not in the least, but as everything she says is coming true it is just one step past believable. Even if the author recognizes it and does it in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way it is still a bit too much for me.

Also the normal wit felt a bit too forced in this book. It was still present but -and I know books aren’t supposed to be comedies, but they were still very funny at times- this one wasn’t as funny as the earlier ones.

It was still an enjoyable read, but it didn’t live up to the rest of the series and was a bit too predictable.

Grade: C