It's book five of the series and the Alliance fleet is within spitting distance of home territory, if anyone in the fleet could spit several dozen light years away. This was the first time I really felt that the fleet was in dire straits in terms of resources; they're limping along on 35% fuel reserves, the auxiliaries are having trouble keeping up with the weapons needs, and at this point I began to wonder if Jack Geary was going to come into Alliance territory with a fleet at all. (view spoiler)[Yes, he does. (hide spoiler)] Despite this shortage, the story's tension comes more from rooting out the remaining traitors within the fleet and dealing with further revelations about the unseen alien enemy. Overall I'm satisfied with this book, though I didn't care for it as much as the earlier volumes, because....

(view spoiler)[As much as I enjoyed the plot in the abstract, I didn't think it was as well executed as it should have been. We got hints that the treason coming from within the fleet was being directed by someone who was lurking in the shadows, but when those people are revealed, they're small potatoes compared to people like Falco or Numos or even that slack-jawed yokel Yin. It was anticlimactic. I'd half expected the last traitor to be someone Geary trusted, specifically Duellos, which would have made me sad, but would have been suitably dramatic.

And the Geary-Rione-Desjani relationship has the marks of something Campbell changed his mind about over time. Desjani has turned into a completely different character--don't get me wrong, I like her just fine as the assertive non-starry-eyed equal to Geary, but I would have preferred to see her be that person from the beginning. I'd also bet that Rione started out as a more serious possibility for Geary's true companion, but was simply too brass-balled and outside the military mindset; by the third book there was simply no way they could have stayed together. Again, I'm liking the way it's turning out, but I like even better a series that has better continuity. (hide spoiler)]

Rione is still one of my favorite characters, though I have the feeling I'm not supposed to like her. She's a good contrast to the officers and their concept of honor, because she sees things differently but still has her own honor, and the fact that most of the fleet doesn't believe she does makes me sympathetic to her. When it comes to the final battle in this book, she plays a crucial role that finally makes the officers realize that maybe a politician doesn't have to be a back-stabbing, conniving, two-faced liability to the cause; to paraphrase another famous captain, if Rione is going to stab you in the back she'll have the decency to do it to your face.

I am so impressed with the religiosity that pervades the series. This volume isn't any more or less an example of that, but this is as good a place as any to talk about it. The idea of an entire culture that is unashamed of its spirituality, a culture in which believing in an outside Power is not incompatible with being scientifically minded, is sort of refreshing. I'm also surprised that Campbell allows his characters not only to worship, but to receive guidance from their ancestors. I don't know how this would look to a non-religious person, but I thought it was clever and heartwarming.

The final book will be a different kind of battle, and I'm interested to see what happens next.