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39th out of 197 books
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Victory Conditions (Vatta's War #5)
Elizabeth Moon’s thrilling Vatta’s War series, featuring the no-holds-barred space-faring heroine Kylara Vatta, has secured her reputation as a master of first-rate military science fiction. Now Commander Vatta is back–locked and loaded and ready to win the fight against the marauding forces of ruthless space pirate Gammis Turek.
For Ky, it’s not just about liberating the s...more
For Ky, it’s not just about liberating the s...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
February 19th 2008
by Del Rey
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This is so like me--to read the last book in a series first. This novel totally rocks; no one writes action sequences--eg battles, stuff blowing up, etc.--better than Moon. I mean that literally; if I didn't think she'd find it insulting, I'd dub her the Tom Clancy of hard SF; she may be even better at action sequences than he. I read this book embarrassingly fast, getting into the war, the political instrigue, and the great battle scenes.
It's vintage Moon. You have a galactic so...more
It's vintage Moon. You have a galactic so...more
The final installment to the Vatta's War series is one of the best books of the series. I found the ending satisfying, if a bit heartbreaking.
Ky has earned quite a reputations as a commander of a space force, yet it hasn't come without some tragedy. She's also been dealing with grief from family death, the loss of a way of life and being the cause of death of others - even though they may have been enemies, it doesn't feel that great to know she's the cause of so many deaths. She'...more
Ky has earned quite a reputations as a commander of a space force, yet it hasn't come without some tragedy. She's also been dealing with grief from family death, the loss of a way of life and being the cause of death of others - even though they may have been enemies, it doesn't feel that great to know she's the cause of so many deaths. She'...more
Benjamin Thomas
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
military-science-fiction
No, this isn't a blog entry about my Swedish campaign game in Empire Total War. Rather "Victory Conditions" is the name of the 5th and final book in Elizabeth Moon's "Vatta's War" series. This is a science fiction series that I started unexpectedly last year. You see, I was on a business trip and had run out of reading material. Now that's not a bad thing in my brain because it means I get to go to the bookstore and buy something that looks good to me right then and there. Si...more
A remarkably fast read, with all the ends tied up nicely. Moon is the first author I've read whose space battles include discussions of debris fields and how shields help with that. I was also intrigued by the idea that the brain implants could become overloaded with unmaleable memories that, over time, become a problem for regular human consciousness. The very end seemed a bit sparse, but I'm probably just being greedy.
Genre: Space Opera/Military Sci Fi
This is probably the weakest book of the Vatta’s War series, it wrapped everything up all neat and tidy but it took too many short-cuts. Despite the relationship between Gammis Turek (pirate leader) and Lew Parmina (former head of ISC, biggest company in the known universe) being critical to the success of the pirates in earlier books, it’s never explained WHY they were working together, or even that they WERE directly working together. It’s hinted a...more
This is probably the weakest book of the Vatta’s War series, it wrapped everything up all neat and tidy but it took too many short-cuts. Despite the relationship between Gammis Turek (pirate leader) and Lew Parmina (former head of ISC, biggest company in the known universe) being critical to the success of the pirates in earlier books, it’s never explained WHY they were working together, or even that they WERE directly working together. It’s hinted a...more
I've finally finished the Vatta's war series with this novel. Overall, I enjoyed the series, though I like other books by Elizabeth Moon much better. Its strong points are that it is well crafted, and fans of RPGs and RTS games will enjoy the way the protagonist builds up a powerful war fleet from the modest beginnings of a single, obsolete tramp freighter. Less appealingly, it is a rather formulaic military space opera. Many of the characters are two-dimensional and the villains exist only to p...more
This book concludes the Vatta’s War series. Moon rather predictably ties up the loose threads and (not really a spoiler) the good guys win.
I enjoyed reading it, but nothing really surprising jumped up at me. While the series is worthwhile entertainment, it will never be remembered as groundbreaking or fantastic. The universe Moon has crafted is a bit too cute, a bit too orderly. The idiosyncrasies of the various cultures are a bit too manufactured and corny and the series suffers from ...more
I enjoyed reading it, but nothing really surprising jumped up at me. While the series is worthwhile entertainment, it will never be remembered as groundbreaking or fantastic. The universe Moon has crafted is a bit too cute, a bit too orderly. The idiosyncrasies of the various cultures are a bit too manufactured and corny and the series suffers from ...more
Book 5 of 5 in the Vatta space-opera is not as strong as the rest, but it does tie-up all the loose ends and finish off everything. Really, the book is fairly lackluster, but I liked books 2 and 3 so much that I was just looking for closure here. For those who don't remember, this series starts out as a YA coming-of-age-r for our heroine (Kylara Vatta) who has been thrown out of the Space Defense Force Academy for being gullibly nice, ends up on one of her family's trading ships (they're a big m...more
As a whole, the series was fantastic. Solid characterizations, good plot lines, and cohesive story elements. However, this final book was a bit of a let down. The entire series was spent building up to a final confrontation, with the tension of that pending confrontation shaping this final book. Regrettably, that final confrontation felt more like a whimper than a bang once I finally reached it. What should have felt like a moment of triumph instead felt somewhat contrived and secondary. What ca...more
Another good ride just finished, as Elizabeth Moon wrapped up her Vatta’s War series with ‘Victory Conditions’ (Del Rey, $26, 398 pages). Beginning at the beginning (‘Trading in Danger’) is pretty much mandatory, as the characters and plot transform and deepen through the five-book process.
The setup is that a young merchant’s daughter gets booted out of the space academy for reasons unclear, and then there’s a sudden spate of violence throughout the galaxy. This isn’t particularly su...more
The setup is that a young merchant’s daughter gets booted out of the space academy for reasons unclear, and then there’s a sudden spate of violence throughout the galaxy. This isn’t particularly su...more
While I liked this book, I realized after reading a book I really loved last night that overall, the series was just mediocre for me. I thought the first book was the best. I enjoyed this as a wrap-up to the series but I didn't find myself wishing the series would continue, but instead found I was a bit glad there weren't more, as I would have wanted to read them to see where the story went, but was never fully immersed in the series or driven to get them read and stay up late to find out what h...more
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Victory Conditions is the final book of the Vatta's War series.
Elizabeth Moon deftly pulls all the plots together in a plausible trajectory in a high-stakes battle for Nexus, the communication center for humanity.
While the battle ends, and it's clear that the war is about over, enough hooks were left in place so that the series could be carried on if Elizabeth chooses to do so. It would be interesting to see how the next generation learned from the mistakes of their pare...more
Elizabeth Moon deftly pulls all the plots together in a plausible trajectory in a high-stakes battle for Nexus, the communication center for humanity.
While the battle ends, and it's clear that the war is about over, enough hooks were left in place so that the series could be carried on if Elizabeth chooses to do so. It would be interesting to see how the next generation learned from the mistakes of their pare...more
This is the final book in the Vatta's War Series.
Overall this is solid sci-fi action. Nothing exceptional, just fine. It would probably be hard to follow if I hadn't read the previous books, but all the characters are growing nicely into their roles, and the plot rolls along to a satisfying conclusion. It's a quick read, and I enjoyed it.
Except for one thing.
The very end is just terrible. The end of the plot about a pirate fleet taking over systems and disrupting co...more
Overall this is solid sci-fi action. Nothing exceptional, just fine. It would probably be hard to follow if I hadn't read the previous books, but all the characters are growing nicely into their roles, and the plot rolls along to a satisfying conclusion. It's a quick read, and I enjoyed it.
Except for one thing.
The very end is just terrible. The end of the plot about a pirate fleet taking over systems and disrupting co...more
In this last book of the series, I felt the characters came into their own, growing and maturing with the series, into their final mature forms.
They felt very real as everything didn't always go their way and also finally paid back some emotional debt they have been accruing from past books.
This is a great series if you like space opera. And as I've said before, if you find you like the first book, just but all the rest as you'll want to jump into the next as soon as you ...more
They felt very real as everything didn't always go their way and also finally paid back some emotional debt they have been accruing from past books.
This is a great series if you like space opera. And as I've said before, if you find you like the first book, just but all the rest as you'll want to jump into the next as soon as you ...more
The moment Ky Vatta has been preparing for has finally arrived. Her ships may not be up to spec, but the support of warships and crew from several systems has enabled her to feel more confident than she might otherwise be about the inevitable confrontation with pirate Gammis Turek. There is one problem: ISC is still extraordinarily suspicious of the Vatta family, fearing their connections with traitor Lew Parmina.
The company isn’t ready to back temporary CEO Rafe Dunbarger, especia...more
The company isn’t ready to back temporary CEO Rafe Dunbarger, especia...more
I read this entire series over the past week, and, until the final volume, it was acceptably mediocre. Victory Conditions, however, is just terrible.
Space Opera inevitably descends into munchkin power gaming, and this is a prime example of how not to do it. Dei ex machina, painfully predictable plot coupons, and, when a whole bunch of minor characters who had spanned much of the series die violently, a three page gesture towards sorrow in an attempt to give the lead character some de...more
Space Opera inevitably descends into munchkin power gaming, and this is a prime example of how not to do it. Dei ex machina, painfully predictable plot coupons, and, when a whole bunch of minor characters who had spanned much of the series die violently, a three page gesture towards sorrow in an attempt to give the lead character some de...more
This book was definitely a let down after the 4th. The 'discovered' romance was weak and annoying. The final space battle felt sluggish and lacked any sense of real danger or momentum. There was just no epic quality.
And this book really fell prey to some of Moon's strongest failings as a writer - she visualizes characters as amazing/strong and *exceptional* - but we never see it. Instead, we see a lot of secondary characters talking over and over about how exceptional/wonderful...more
And this book really fell prey to some of Moon's strongest failings as a writer - she visualizes characters as amazing/strong and *exceptional* - but we never see it. Instead, we see a lot of secondary characters talking over and over about how exceptional/wonderful...more
A neatly written book in a neatly written series. I know other people have raved about the Vatta series but it is not my favorite Elizabeth Moon story. It's the work of a mature writer who executes well, but it doesn't have the passion of earlier books,(my favorites being the Deeds of Paksenarrion).
What I do like about Elizabeth Moon's work (and these things are in this series as well), is that people don't magically recover from their past experiences. They have to recognize the pr...more
What I do like about Elizabeth Moon's work (and these things are in this series as well), is that people don't magically recover from their past experiences. They have to recognize the pr...more
Having read the other instalments over the previous couple of years, I was awaiting this anxiously.
The book didn't disappoint. I won't spoil it for others. Just go and read the whole series, starting with Trading in Danger. So long as you don't mind a female kick-ass hero, you will like it.
The book didn't disappoint. I won't spoil it for others. Just go and read the whole series, starting with Trading in Danger. So long as you don't mind a female kick-ass hero, you will like it.
It's not worth summarizing the plot here, because let's face it, that's not why we read these books anyway. If we did, we'd have to reread the whole series every time one of them came out, and who wants that?
No, we read these books because military SF is fun. And Elizabeth Moon's military anything is fun (see also, all her other military SF, and The Deed of Pakesnarrion--realistic miltiary medieval fantasy.) Moon's characters are fun to read about, her space battles are fun to rea...more
No, we read these books because military SF is fun. And Elizabeth Moon's military anything is fun (see also, all her other military SF, and The Deed of Pakesnarrion--realistic miltiary medieval fantasy.) Moon's characters are fun to read about, her space battles are fun to rea...more
While I loved the book I honestly think that Moon was getting tired of the series at this point. While 90% of the loose ends are tied up satisfactorily, the remaining 10% are either not tied up at all or tied up in a very lackluster way. I don't want to spoil anything so I will just say that if you enjoyed the rest of the series you have to read it, but don't be too disappointed by the ending.
Victory Conditions By Elizabeth Moon
Arrgghh, the series is over. I loved this series. My only complaint is there doesn’t appear to be any sequels scheduled. Ky Vatta and Rafe wrap up the action in this book.
Things come together in a big way in this book. Ky gets her ships, Rafe discovers unplumbed depths to a family member and Aunt Grace stops making fruitcakes. The character interaction is what allows Elizabeth Moon’s books to excel. You find yourself capt...more
Arrgghh, the series is over. I loved this series. My only complaint is there doesn’t appear to be any sequels scheduled. Ky Vatta and Rafe wrap up the action in this book.
Things come together in a big way in this book. Ky gets her ships, Rafe discovers unplumbed depths to a family member and Aunt Grace stops making fruitcakes. The character interaction is what allows Elizabeth Moon’s books to excel. You find yourself capt...more
This certainly isn't my favourite of her series - I don't think it's a patch on the Serrano Legacy - but it does do some interesting things. Sometimes too many, in fact. I wasn't at all sold on the romance, the resolution was a bit... unresolved, but it was a fun read. I'll have to read again at some point, and see if my opinion changes when I know where the story's going.
A good end to a good series. Though it was a bit pat around the very end. And I didn't really care for the romance between the main characters. It just seemed to contrived and striving for a perfect "happy ending". Other than that, it was really good. I wouldn't mind her writing more about the beginnings of the Space Defense Force.
Conclusion of the Vatta's War series, wraps everything up neatly. A little too much combat for my taste, but it is always fun to read an action-packed book full of intelligent, capable, strong women in various roles. My one complaint about this series, and pretty much most of her books, is the idea that her good characters are always super-capable and hardworking and that being born into a capable family almost always makes you capable, too. I really hate the whole idea of birthright, like being...more
I thought this was a pretty good wrap-up for the 5-book series (assuming it's the wrap-up), in all respects except one. The space battles were well done, and I enjoyed the insights Moon gave into military culture & lifestyle. The clarity provided by having orders & a chain of command was something I'd really never seen in a military book before. I'd only seen the oppressiveness of it.
The part of the book that fell short was the wrap-up of the romance. Moon built up the intensity of em...more
The part of the book that fell short was the wrap-up of the romance. Moon built up the intensity of em...more
Hilary
rated it
To preface: I have very bad experiences with end-of-series novels.
Unfortunately, this book is no different. While Moon's prose is neither overly embellished nor embarrassingly bad, her book's readability cannot save itself from its trite plot and ending.
Unfortunately, this book is no different. While Moon's prose is neither overly embellished nor embarrassingly bad, her book's readability cannot save itself from its trite plot and ending.
JParsons1974 Parsons
added it
Get this one from the library. 389 pages. It an OK but not good conclusion to the series. I felt a bit unhappy with the ending. I wish that Moon had done a better job of fleshing out Turek's motivation.
Awesome conclusion to the series! Not quite the ending I was hoping for perhaps, but still really great book. But now it's all over. :( Now to figure out what to read next. At least I've got lots of choices. :D
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Elizabeth Moon was born March 7, 1945, and grew up in McAllen, Texas, graduating from McAllen High School in 1963. She has a B.A. in History from Rice University (1968) and another in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin (1975) with graduate work in Biology at the University of Texas, San Antonio.
She served in the USMC from 1968 to 1971, first at MCB Quantico and then at HQMC...more
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She served in the USMC from 1968 to 1971, first at MCB Quantico and then at HQMC...more
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