Book Cover
Title Kris Longknife's Assassin
Author Mike Shepherd
Cover Art ---
Publisher KL & MM Books - 2014
First Printing KL & MM Books - 2014
Book Cover
Title Target
Author Mike Shepherd
Cover Art Scott Grimando
Publisher Ace - 2014
First Printing Ace - 2014
Book Cover
Title Survivor
Author Mike Shepherd
Cover Art Scott Grimando
Publisher Ace - 2015
First Printing Ace - 2015
Book Cover
Title Rebel
Author Mike Shepherd
Cover Art Scott Grimando
Publisher Ace - 2016
First Printing Ace - 2016
Book Cover
Title Dominator
Author Mike Shepherd
Cover Art Scott Grimando
Publisher KL & MM Books - 2018
First Printing KL & MM Books - 2018
Book Cover
Title Implacable
Author Mike Shepherd
Cover Art ---
Publisher ---
First Printing ---
Category Science Fiction
Warnings None
Main Characters Vicky Peterwald
Main Elements Military SF, Aliens
Website mikeshepherd.org




Click to read the summaryKris Longknife's Assassin

Click to read the summaryTarget

Click to read the summarySurvivor

Click to read the summaryRebel

Click to read the summaryDominator




I started with the eNovella which retells the first meeting of Kris and Vicky, but this time from Vicky's point of view. We see how she goes from being a spoiled brat that hates Kris, to being drafted into the navy as an ensign and starting to see Kris' point of view.

The first book picks up after the encounter with the alien mothership and the Wasp's escape across the galaxy. So you have to have read the Kris Longknife series to understand what is happening here you can't just jump into it fresh. Vicky is a very different character than Kris, while it took Kris about 11 books before the main topic of the novel was sex, Vicky takes multiple lovers and even allows someone to rape her to get him to drop his guard so she could kill him. Let's just say talking about her boobs probably takes up about one fifth of all the words in the novel (ok its probably not that bad but still). Its a bit like a romance novel where the protagonists have been chased and fought and whatever, but still have the energy to make out in random inappropriate places when they'd be better served trying to figure out how save their lives instead. Of course one thing to remember with this series is that while ships can move fast, it still takes hours and even days to travel through a solar system so there is a lot of down time to be filled so maybe I can give Vicky the benefit of the doubt. I guess if you wanted Military fiction this might not entirely appeal (though there's definitely that too) but just like Kris, Vicky is the daughter of someone who has now claimed to be Emperor thus making her a Duchess, so its more Game of Thrones / Dune kind of intrigue than it is military fiction, definitely Space Opera.

The stories do tend to cross-over with Kris' a little bit, so its probably advised to read them together and in the order of publication but its minor if you don't mind a tiny spoiler here and there. For the most part Vicky's adventures are her own. And as I approach the end of the series, her character arc was perhaps more interesting than that of Kris. Kris was the good guy (girl?) from the start, but Vicky was a villain, that became the hero, but still has a bit of a naughty side (much to her husband's delight).

This series share the same characteristics as those of Kris Longknife. The characters have a major problem to solve, and while plot and characters move forward a bit of course, its more about the problem solving. I'm an engineer, I love problem solving so I enjoy this well enough. But as I get to the end of both the Kris and Vicky series and already finished the Jump Universe books, there is no real end to the story in sight, in fact there is no particular end goal. As an overall arc they don't seem to be going anywhere. Vicky might take over her father's empire, but out there in the galaxy are the aliens set to wipe out every living thing that isn't their own species...hard to forgt that. And the Itichee and the Peterwalds aren't even involved in doing anything about that. So I feel that the author eventually got tired of solving problems and will just abandon the series (maybe I'm wrong, I'm not quite there yet). The Jump Universe books were left hanging, though we know more or less what happens since its a prequel series so we know who wins the war and what happens to Rita.

Thus my feelings remained the same, it was a fun read once through, there were parts I liked, but seeing as a read through takes a year, I'll never do it again, and I've sent the books out to a neighbourhood book exchange box to be enjoyed by someone else.




Posted: June 2024 - February 2025

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