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A Soldier's Duty

(Theirs Not to Reason Why #1)

Jean Johnson (Goodreads Author)

3.99 · Rating details · 4,275 ratings · 351 reviews

Ia is a precog, tormented by visions of the future where her home galaxy has been devastated. To prevent this vision from coming true, Ia enlists in the Terran United Planets military with a plan to become a soldier who will inspire generations for the next three hundred years-a soldier history will call Bloody Mary.

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Mass Market Paperback, 1st Edition, 432 pages

Published July 26th 2011 by Ace

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Nov 25, 2014 ☘Misericordia☘ ~ The Serendipity Aegis ~ ⚡ϟ⚡ϟ⚡⛈ ✺❂❤❣ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, featured

Have I told how descriptive this book was? If so, let me reiterate: it is extremely rich in descriptions of the minute details!

A future world. Space marines, huh-huh.
A lot of Time and its rivers. And of course, our paranormal gal, a marine and a priestess, who is a self-appointed superhero. Aaand her 2 mothers.

Q:
This will take more than a lifetime to make happen (c)
Q:
You may struggle to turn your Fate into your Destiny, but the Future is inescapable; it will drag you forward ...more

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Sep 02, 2013 Dirk Grobbelaar rated it really liked it

Shelves: wife-books, ces-recommends, science-fiction, must-read-in-2014

“No. I am not Death. I am merely Her herald.”

After a prophetic vision of the destruction of our galaxy, a young girl decides to set events into motion that will have far reaching effects, with the hope of averting the future disaster. This is book 1 in a series.

All I have left are the nightmares, and the slim chance I can help save the universe.

As derivative as this premise sounds, don’t shoot it down just yet. For one thing, despite the rather suspicious cover art, this is an actual bona fi/>All ...more

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Nov 30, 2013 Gail Carriger rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi

First in the Theirs Not to Reason Why series. This is high-end far-future space opera featuring a main character whot is a psi future seer heavy worlder, best at everything physical and mental. Ia is a pompous Cassandra prophetess figure orchestrating the future of the galaxy. Despite Mary Sue components, repetitive language, info dumping, and various other concerns and issues I found this whole series utterly addicting and hypnotic. (Insert ARGH of frustration here.) I could not put them down a ...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Tamora Pierce rated it it was ok

Shelves: adult, sf

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was all jacked up--a female science fiction soldier hero!--but found this book flawed. One of my greatest complaints about men's science fiction is the plague of "info dumps"--great chunks of science/engineering/military tech/space tech/time explanation dumped into and getting in the way of the story. Even Robert Heinlein's juveniles have their share of info dumps. I expect women writers to be more sensible and, generally, they are, but this book makes Tom Clancy's use of info dumps seem spari ...more

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Nov 26, 2011 Bryan Thomas Schmidt rated it liked it

I so wanted to love this. It was nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award and I like the writer and her style a lot, but there were three flaws that kept me from enjoying it. One, pacing. The first half of the book is boot camp and it's pretty cliche and dragged out. It's nothing we haven't seen in Full Metal Jacket, etc. It even includes Clancy-esque expositional sequences like six pages describing 13 different kinds of bullets in detail. Yes, the author is clever to have thought of it in detail an I so wanted to love this. It was nominated for a Philip K. Dick Award and I like the writer and her style a lot, but there were three flaws that kept me from enjoying it. One, pacing. The first half of the book is boot camp and it's pretty cliche and dragged out. It's nothing we haven't seen in Full Metal Jacket, etc. It even includes Clancy-esque expositional sequences like six pages describing 13 different kinds of bullets in detail. Yes, the author is clever to have thought of it in detail and researched ammo enough to make it convincing, but we only need to know it when the ammo is used. Many of the kinds never come into the story, plus, by the time the ones that are do show up, it's far enough past we won't remember most of these descriptions. This is one example of a few such expositional drains that just slow down the pace, make you want to skip pages, and delay the story.

But these two are minor compared to the bigger issue: the protagonist is incapable of failure. She is never in jeapordy because Johnson gifts her with the gifts she needs to conquer any obstacle. Whenever a problem arises, Johnson just gifts Ia with a psi ability or precog revelation that gives her a solution. So there's never really any doubt about the outcome. She can read the future and thus predict it and be prepared for anything. It makes is hard to maintain suspense when you know she won't die and that she'll win. For me, that just ruined the story. And she's basically invulnerable, so she never meets her match.

It's unfortunate, because Johnson's writing is strong and her character building is not just well done but her characters are interesting. So is the delimma/premise and the world. It's future Earth, basically, with marines out amongst the stars. And while the action packed second have is much better paced and keeps you turning pages, the character flaw issue becomes more bothersome here and really gets in the way. At least it did for me. There are good supporting characters, Ia herself is interesting but her lack of vulnerability derailed it for me.

Good for military scifi fans and part of an expected 4 book series with duology follow up. ...more

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May 29, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it liked it

Shelves: action, military-science-fiction

Well crap....

Will I follow this book up? Probably.

BUT early on, through about the first 2/3 of the book I'd have said definitely. So, let's discuss the up and down, good and bad...plus and minus of the novel.

First the book opens well. The writer reports she hasn't been in the military but on the whole the "military feel" of the book is okay. There are some things that don't ring true and people who've been in the military will note a few problems. They aren't Well crap....

Will I follow this book up? Probably.

BUT early on, through about the first 2/3 of the book I'd have said definitely. So, let's discuss the up and down, good and bad...plus and minus of the novel.

First the book opens well. The writer reports she hasn't been in the military but on the whole the "military feel" of the book is okay. There are some things that don't ring true and people who've been in the military will note a few problems. They aren't bad however and my thought was that it could have been accounted for simply in "science fiction license" (okay...many Marines hate to be called "soldiers" but...there you are).

We follow our protagonist through her "planned" getting into the "right service", her training and then into service. The book doesn't flag much. The time "we" spend on leave or whatever doesn't really bog down the book. The story holds up (sort of) and the author knows where she wants to go. All in all plot is okay and characters "aren't bad".

Okay that was the molasses...now for the sulfur.

First...the plot of this book is sort of a "story within a story". Our hero (and this isn't a spoiler as you find it out in the synopsis and going into the novel) is a psychic. The world/universe the story takes place in knows of psychics. Psychics end up in "Special Forces" Ia (our hero's name..by the way it's pronounced "I-E" rather than "I-A")....Ia must not end up in Special Forces. If she is to save our galaxy and the human species (and other species) then she must work out her life in a specific way to set up even a narrow chance....

The problem here is that occasionally that part of the story and the "currently happening" part of the story trip over each other. This is a minor problem and only shows up when we have to put up with Ia having a vision at strange times or doing things that would seem so badly off.

But then as the story goes on and Ia begins to more overtly work toward her goal she also begins to exhibit new "powers"...I mean lots of new powers. She could probably take on the Avengers and the JLA single handed by the time we tie things in this novel. (view spoiler).

There came a point when I had to double check just to be sure her name was Ia and not Mary Sue...

Oh well. This was as noted about the last third of the book and I wonder what went down there. I think I'll go ahead and buy the second paperback...hope springs eternal. I do hope the character works a little better in the next book. Or I should say I hope the character is as good in the next book as she was in the first two thirds of this one. ...more

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Jan 24, 2015 Lizzy rated it really liked it

Shelves: military, stars-4, read-2015, space-opera, scifi, part-of-series

I loved A Soldier's Duty, the fist of Jean Johnson’s future military series. Why? Although not a romance novel but pure sci-fi, the plot creative and I could fully understand and grasp with ease Ia and her choices.

I found it fascinating from the first pages: Ia herself and her family, Earth and the other worlds that are immersed in a galactic war and how the existence of precognition in itself can change events.

Even the perplexity of the military, of how it operates in the future, can be crucial as a framew ...more

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Apr 25, 2018 Jen Davis rated it liked it

I have read some fantastic sci-fi romance is lately and I am always on the hunt for another one. This book was one recommended to me by Goodreads because of the Linnea Sinclair books I’ve read. With its four star average and library availability, I did not hesitate to snatch it up. But while it is futuristic and science fiction-y, be warned, there is no romance here. Not even a little. None.

This is military science fiction. The heroine is precognitive and knows the world is on a deva I have read some fantastic sci-fi romance is lately and I am always on the hunt for another one. This book was one recommended to me by Goodreads because of the Linnea Sinclair books I’ve read. With its four star average and library availability, I did not hesitate to snatch it up. But while it is futuristic and science fiction-y, be warned, there is no romance here. Not even a little. None.

This is military science fiction. The heroine is precognitive and knows the world is on a devastating trajectory. The only way she can save it is to become a marine and affect the course of events.

The first half of the book follows her training. It is pretty much like the basic training you would find in any modern day movie. Her body is pushed to its physical limits. There is the whole thing about breaking her down and building her back up again. There’s even a hell week. The second half of the book follows her through two years of service on a ship and the missions she undertakes.

It wasn’t a bad book. If you dig marine stuff or you’re really into sci-fi action sequences, this book will be golden for you. For me, I’m not sure if I will continue with the series. Yes, I would have loved a romantic interest, but it’s more than that. Ia, the heroine, essentially can’t fail. With her ability to see the future, she knows almost every outcome to every decision. As a result, almost the entire book reads like a grocery list. Ia recognizes she has to do something, fight someone, or be in a particular place at a particular time, in order to create the future she wants. We see it play out. Nothing ever really goes awry and I get the impression that it can’t. Because she's psychic. Sure, she might get a little beat up from time to time, but think about the implications in the heroine knowing everything that is going to happen and just executing her plan to perfection over and over and over again. It’s hard to drum up any fear or concern or really any feeling for her at all.

Another problem I had was the fact there was way too much detail. I remember at one point the author spent several pages detailing different types of ammunition and their abilities. I don’t really care that much about that. I don’t care what 1000 different metals are for. And sadly, I didn’t care about the dozens of characters that came in and out of Ia's life with no emotional connections. I’m not just talking about romance, I’m talking about interpersonal stuff even among friends. Ia has to view everyone as a chess piece. And they come and go from her life with very little fanfare.

And finally, there wasn’t really a clear story arc. This was essentially a linear progression of her journey to get to become a lieutenant. No big foe was conquered. No master plan revealed. Just Ia doing one thing on her list, then the next thing, then the next thing. And then it was over.

I don’t know if this book did enough for me to make me care what happens next. I have to think about whether I want to continue with this series. ...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Kara-karina rated it it was amazing

UPD: On a 2nd re-read, Ia's constant over explanation of things is slightly annoying. But I've still enjoyed it.

Guys, gals, this book is AWESOME. The scope, the sheer complexity of it all is on par with Dune.

I have to admit straight away, this is not a book for everyone and my 10 out of 10 is highly subjective because I personally grew up with reading and rereading Dune, and gobbling up extremely popular military sci-fi in Russia for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This is l UPD: On a 2nd re-read, Ia's constant over explanation of things is slightly annoying. But I've still enjoyed it.

Guys, gals, this book is AWESOME. The scope, the sheer complexity of it all is on par with Dune.

I have to admit straight away, this is not a book for everyone and my 10 out of 10 is highly subjective because I personally grew up with reading and rereading Dune, and gobbling up extremely popular military sci-fi in Russia for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This is like a blast from the past.

A Soldier's Duty has been on my shelves for about 7-8 months, and then this Sunday I suddenly fancied some sci-fi and picked it up. Next thing I know it's 1.30 in the morning and I'm 3/4 of the way through the book and have to force myself to stop.

I finished it the next day and ordered book #2 straight away. Now I have a bookish hangover which happens when the book was so good you are not quite ready to turn your attention to some other read. You probably know exactly what I mean! ;)

Ia is such a complex, interesting, intense and incredibly driven character. There is always a barrier, am inner detachment in her which comes from seeing everyone's future all the time, the numerous probabilities in time currents. The things this woman has to keep in her head would drive an average person mad, but she perseveres because failure is not an option. Failure means the annihilation of her galaxy.

Ia as a recruit and then as a Marine is always at the front of all action because it's the only way she can control the outcome. Because she knows how to drive the events for the desirable outcome, her actions become incredible, even legendary feats of bravery, and the whole book is one total non-stop fest of action, fights and battles while each of the event serves as another chess piece in Ia's Game.

It's really hard to describe this book, and I don't really want to give any spoilers to those who think they would appreciate the genre. However, what I can say is that Jean Johnson as a paranormal romance author only got a DNF from me, I just couldn't read the book. Jean Johnson as a sci-fi author is a pure evil genius. I couldn't stop reading. Weird, huh?

Highly recommended, but not for sci-fi beginners I think :) ...more

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Dec 01, 2011 Libby rated it liked it

Shelves: year-of-women, sci-fi

I rarely read military sci-fi because it tends to glorify the things I find least admirable about humanity and there are rarely well-developed female characters. That's why I found the premise of "A Soldier's Duty," the first in a new series, to be so refreshing. It features a smart, strong female protagonist who enters the military in an attempt to stave off the cataclysmic war that she has foreseen with her precognitive abilities. She must hide her gifts and tread the narrow, precipitous path ...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Karl rated it it was ok

Well, if copying is truly the most sincere form of flattery, Jean Johnson is a very adept flatterer. But as much as I enjoy the genere, this book is the cafeteria lunch of military sci-fi.

I don't think I can count the tropes that are borrowed. It's literally impossible. And they're not even very well mixed -- it's like they were plunked into a bowl and barely stirred, much less baked down. There are lightsabers that return laser bolts. There's precognition that gives the protagonist superhero p ...more

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Jan 12, 2014 Gwen (The Gwendolyn Reading Method) rated it really liked it

Shelves: best-science-fiction

First of all, this is not a romance novel. Unless you count the entire chapter long ode to the specs of military guns of the far future as a love poem, there is not a spec of romance in this book. It is straight up sci-fi. But because it's written by a woman, with a female main character and was given a, granted, kinda misleading cover, some people on Goodreads classify it as a romance. I repeat, not a romance.

With that out of the way, this book is WAY more fascinating than a book th ...more

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Mar 15, 2014 Jack +Books & Bourbon+ rated it it was ok

Well, that was unexpected. I honestly can't remember the last time a book gave me such divisive opinions. Starting at about the halfway point, I truly thought something was wrong with me. That I was maybe a little off (or more off than usual), and just wasn't reading the book with a clear head. Or wasn't in the mood for a this genre of book. Upon finishing it and reading other Goodreads reviews, however, I realize that other people had the same issues as myself. Sanity validated...yay.
Well, that was unexpected. I honestly can't remember the last time a book gave me such divisive opinions. Starting at about the halfway point, I truly thought something was wrong with me. That I was maybe a little off (or more off than usual), and just wasn't reading the book with a clear head. Or wasn't in the mood for a this genre of book. Upon finishing it and reading other Goodreads reviews, however, I realize that other people had the same issues as myself. Sanity validated...yay.

First and foremost, there's a lot going on in this first book. We obviously need to be introduced to our main character and the universe in which our tale will take place. On the world-building and tech side, this is where Jean Johnson really excels. Technology is well thought out and practical, and the world has that "lived in" feel that makes it that much more real. The ships, weapons, and other military gear is handled well, as are the various skirmishes and conflicts that arise. Military training isn't easy, and that is conveyed well. The various factions, forces, and political entities make sense, and are given their proper dues.

But...all the world building and fancy tech won't get you very far without a well-written main character, or characters, to wrap the tale around. And that's where A Soldier's Duty suffers some missteps. The first issue is that there's only one person (in this first book at least) carrying the burden of a universe sized dilemma. With so much at stake, I was hoping for more characters to help try and help to make things right. A tale this size really needs more viewpoints to help flesh out the details and give us more investment into the struggles. Not that Ia isn't a capable person, because she is. Extremely capable. But that leads directly to issue number two...

Which is Ia herself. She is a precog, and aside from a few places in her timeline, can pretty much see the different "futures" that could happen, depending on how things are handled in the present. However, by having her "see" nearly everything in advance, she doesn't have that traditional character arc of growth and learning by trial and error (and mistakes). Instead we get a character who learns through visions and then just has to carry out the most optimal response, almost like accomplishing by copying. It's hard to invest in that. And she has other powerful abilities that seem to crop up "just at the very moment they are needed", leaving us to wonder why we hadn't heard of these powers before. It's a little exasperating to have a main character who, without any kind of explanation or preamble, just happens to have new powers, immunities, and super powerful allies, right when they are needed most. Where did these allies come from, and how does she know them? Why can she do this super powerful thing, but also the opposite super powerful thing that she shouldn't be able to do? And some of the physical skills she has, which crop up out of the blue having NEVER been mentioned before and that would take years and years of constant practice to pull off, are explained away with a little throwaway sentence like "which she had been practicing on her own every night for the past year". Ummmm...when was she doing this? It wasn't mentioned with her other practices earlier in the book. In fact, it was never even hinted at until just this very moment. And between being in the military and all other stuff she has to deal with, when does she have time to practice ALL this stuff, let alone master it? I liken her character to how my son likes to imagine himself as a superhero, one who "has every other superhero's powers, cuz that would be cool!". Yeah...ok...so he would basically be God, but as a superhero. Which totally kills any sense of danger or any buildup of suspense, and that's essentially what happens here. Oh...and she has a voice like a cross between Fergie and Jesus. But of course she does. I honestly kept expecting her to also be a classically trained violinist and an award winning pastry chef too, because why not? "Would you like me to play you some Mozart while you enjoy your freshly prepared linzer torte, Commander?"

And that's where the divisive feeling comes from. I feel bad. I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. And I must give credit where credit is due. Writing a novel AND having it published is no easy feat. Plus, you can tell this was a labor of love for Jean Johnson, who truly possesses talent and a neverending supply of good ideas. But...in the end, a "too perfect" main character, and the significant lack of engaging supporting characters, really dampened my enjoyment of the book. Some deus ex machina is acceptable, a whole book's worth is simply too much. Ia, you white-haired minx you. You are stonger than an ox, more graceful than an Olympic figure skater, more humble than Ghandi, and are a better shot than Chris Kyle, but I just don't know if I can see you anymore. But you probably saw that coming...didn't you? ...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Lyndi W. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 5-star, series-finished

I did it again. This time, I had a little difficulty - I kept remembering moments from books 2-5 and getting choked up.

I've read this 7 times now, so we're quickly catching up to Harry Potter. There's no greater compliment I could give this book, so this is my entire review.

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Apr 16, 2012 The Abibliophobic Guy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction

This was an amazing book. Amazing.

What really got me was the uniqueness of it; of having a pre-cognitive protagonist who is aware of everything that will happen except for a few grey spots. Jean Johnson really brought a new set of problems to the table with this characterisation and in my humble opinion, blew me away with them. This could easily have turned into a mary-sue fest of the main character kicking butt from dawn to sunset, and while Ia certainly flourished and succeeded she was still This was an amazing book. Amazing.

What really got me was the uniqueness of it; of having a pre-cognitive protagonist who is aware of everything that will happen except for a few grey spots. Jean Johnson really brought a new set of problems to the table with this characterisation and in my humble opinion, blew me away with them. This could easily have turned into a mary-sue fest of the main character kicking butt from dawn to sunset, and while Ia certainly flourished and succeeded she was still challenged to her very core. And the stakes that were at risk really brought a new flavour to the genre, as while you know it is horrible you are never truly, fully aware of what it is that she is fighting to defeat. Only that it is the worst possible thing ever to happen to man kind. Simply amazing.

Characters: Five Stars
Everyone in this book was beyond amazing. Everyone. They were all so amazingly developed and deep and real, that they really struck a cord with me. Every single one. I have already talked about how Ia blew me away, and how the challenges that faced her were handled expertly and molded her character not only brilliantly, but accurately. The back up cast, and the hints about their past/future/both mixed in with their characterisitcs and the amazing plot line was something to behold. I cannot wait to see how she and the galaxy of amazing people that orbit her progress. Some of the best characters in the genre.

Plot: Five stars
I'm forcing myself to be as short as I can, because if I let myself have a free reign I will go on and on and on about how great this book was, and in the end the review will simply be too much for you to read. So I will be short. This plot was unique as I have already mentioned, the challenges that it brought for the character, the reader and the author were brilliant and amazingly well met. The aliens were created wonderfully, including the game playing energy creatures, pirate aliens and psuedo-monk leaders. I loved every moment of this. Every moment. One of the best plot lines in the genre ever, and one of the best plot lines I have read in the last five years. Period. .

Writing: Five Stars
Once again. Amazing. It kept me captivated throughout. What I thought was particularly skillful was the way that she tempted us and teased us with hints of the future without giving anything away; her balance was perfect giving you just enough to want more but not enough to spoil it. I was at first confused at the time jumps, but soon they came to fit the storyline and were an integral part in the whole process. Loved every moment of it. I aspire to write this well, she has few equals

Overview: Five Stars
I loved this book. I loved the plot. I loved the characters. I loved the writing. I loved it. If you are in any doubt about my thoughts on this book you are an idiot. You should be reading this now. Right now. Get yourself a copy. It is amazing. One of the best in the genre, right here. I cannot wait for the next installment. I can only hope my own writing - if I ever do anything with it - can reach just a tenth of this quality. Loved it.

Have Fun Reading. ...more

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Sep 26, 2018 Ron rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, ebook

[A Solier's Duty] “… is to place his or her skills, weapons, body and life between all that can harm and all that could be harmed.”

A space opera centered on a superhuman heavy-world half-breed of a super race. Think: all the Avengers in one body, and she’s a Jedi who sees the future. And most of the book she’s still a teen. Good fun, if you ignore the blood and guts, but too easy.

“You are a pawn, little half-child. You are a Game piece we have set in motion.” “Sometimes t ...more

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Feb 26, 2019 Strix rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed, sci-fi, lady-protagonist

This series is the epitome of flawed but fun - a military sci-fi with a deliberate mary sue as the protagonist. It's deliberate because if the main character weren't a mary sue, the plot couldn't happen. The entire story hinges around the fact that Ia is the most powerful psychic in the entire universe.

The premise is, in a future where humans coexist peacefully with most of the aliens around them, it's basically Star Trek. Peace and utopia and the world's kindest military organizatio This series is the epitome of flawed but fun - a military sci-fi with a deliberate mary sue as the protagonist. It's deliberate because if the main character weren't a mary sue, the plot couldn't happen. The entire story hinges around the fact that Ia is the most powerful psychic in the entire universe.

The premise is, in a future where humans coexist peacefully with most of the aliens around them, it's basically Star Trek. Peace and utopia and the world's kindest military organization, where everyone gets a personal therapist. Into this universe, Ia is born: she's a girl raised on a far-flung colony world, and in her mid-teens she has a vision as her psychic powers blossom.

If she doesn't devote her entire life to shaping the future, an alien threat will arrive and destroy everything. And she has to get started immediately. She changes her name, joins the military as a prodigy, begins to write thousands of letters to be sent to people at the appropriate times so they'll follow her instructions at the right times, and more.

This book picks up with her basic training as she joins the military, and the entire series follows her career and desperate attempts to get every single duck lined up properly so the universe won't be destroyed centuries down the line.

Does the premise interest you? Good, give this book a shot. If you like it, the rest of the series mostly maintains this quality and you'll have a good time. If you don't like it, stop.

But okay, details. The first half of the book is a training montage, essentially. Ia is the world's best soldier and her instructors hate it and it's hilarious watching them try to fail her while she sails through with flying colors through basically everything.

The second half is her first assignment on a starship, and it's a collection of vignettes as Ia has various adventures, most of them fun. Ia's getting her nickname, building her reputation, being the world's most badass to ever badass, and everyone around her is all "what" and it's great!

So why is this three stars instead of five, if it sounds so fun? Because the writing falls down. The training montage can get boring to read and has a godawful multi-page segment where you get told about every single ammo type in their space military. Spoilers: these ammo types literally never come up again.

Second, the character writing is kinda flat. Ia works, but everyone else, ehh. I didn't get very invested, and basically this book lives on its premise and how hilariously fun Ia is to read. This character writing will become a recurring problem in future books, too.

But hey: I enjoyed this. You might too. ...more

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Aug 22, 2013 Helen rated it did not like it

Shelves: lost-interest, unfinishable, military, sci-fi, ebook

This books was really disapointing. It was well written and put together, but I just didn't find enough in it to keep reading.

The premise was interesting: a precog has a vision of the "end of the world" (so to speak), but sees a way to stop it and save millions (billions?) of lives. So Ia enlists in the marines and hilarity ensures. No, wait. That's the problem: Ia is overpowered. She has such a grip on both the near and long term futures that there is no dramatic tension. She gets i ...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Blodeuedd Finland rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

I always have a hard time remembering what people are named in books. Of course I keep track of who is who, even if there are lots of characters. But as soon as the book ends names slip my mind. Well not this time, Ia is an easy name to remember ;) That and the fact she was totally kick-ass.

Anyway, I did not end up liking the book as much as I wanted to. As always do not get me wrong. That does not mean the book is bad. No, it was well-written, thrilling and interesting. Will she sav ...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Linda rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal

I LOVED this book! I really enjoyed her other books and was so excited to find out about this series. This is more of a Sci-Fi book than romance but it was really good. Ia (that is her name) is a futuristic colonist on a world with more gravity than earth which makes the people who live there very strong, she is also precognitive (sees the future). As a young girl she has a vision so horrifying that she must put aside all of her dreams in order to keep it from happening. She joins the Marines ( ...more

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Sep 28, 2012 E. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi

4 3/4 stars!

15 year old Ia already knew that she was different as she grew up but matters coalesced when she realized that an apocalypse was inevitable unless she followed the single pathway that she could discern amongst infinite possibilities. She determined that she would need a military background to supplement the physical advantages conferred to her by her beginnings on a 'heavyworld' and joins the Marines, excelling in her service and honing her skills. The dichotomy of being ...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Chris rated it really liked it

If you like military science fiction, you'd like this book. It had a good pace, without completely bogging you down with details. Unfortunately, that is also a downside. Johnson throws a lot of stuff at you, and while the immersion is good by just mentioning things like you should know, it takes her a while to find a way to explain things.

The main character of Ia is amazing. She's witty, talented, powerful....everything that a perfect mary-sue should be. At times she seems far too overpowered, ...more

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Apr 28, 2012 Mitchell rated it liked it

Shelves: series, endeavour, liked-reviews, published-2011, fiction, science-fiction, esp, military-sf

3.5 of 5. An endeavour read and not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Straight out military combat fiction that in some ways reminded me of Piers Anthony's Mercenary series. The main character was a ridiculous super-powered Mary Sue out to save the future. And yet the conceit of a battle precog with short-term lookahead (and lots of other powers) as well as a manipulating spider with long-term lookahead was interesting. The actual combat dragged a bit. I was interested enough to read the preview ...more

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Jul 20, 2016 Megalion rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: year-read-2016, genre-science-fiction, series, genre-military-thriller, pub-ace, ccc-2016-countdown, theme-mental-powers, first-book

A promising start to a military science fiction series starring a woman who takes no guff.

Not as sharp as Ann Aguirre's Sarantha Jax series but a good start indeed.

Apologies for the vagueness, I left this review too long. Check the various other reviews on GR. Many good ones.

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Jul 26, 2018 Evelyn Swift (Featherbrained Books) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-books, borrowed-from-library, books-i-have-reviewed, pleasantly-surprised, love-the-heroine, science-fiction, bad-ass-females, strong-minded-heroine, great-world-building

Wow what a surprise read! I really don’t know what possessed me to pick up this military sci-fi novel but I really enjoyed it. I don’t like anything war/military, I hate guns, and it didn’t have any romance (I generally like a story with at least a tiny bit of romance) but somehow I fell in love with reading page after page of detailed description of ammo and guns.

??

Who am I?

Ia was a really loveable character. She was brave and strong, and even in moments when it seemed ...more

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May 22, 2011 April rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc

(Originally posted @ CSI:Librarian)

For me, A Soldier's Duty was like a much needed breath of fresh air. Not only because it was a fun, character-driven series opener with a strong, vivid female lead, but because it lacked romance of any kind. Romance is fine and good, of course, but sometimes I just want to read about someone saving their world and/or universe.

The best parts of the book were the details and the way the future was set up as a far more open-minded, complex place, which I apprec (Originally posted @ CSI:Librarian)

For me, A Soldier's Duty was like a much needed breath of fresh air. Not only because it was a fun, character-driven series opener with a strong, vivid female lead, but because it lacked romance of any kind. Romance is fine and good, of course, but sometimes I just want to read about someone saving their world and/or universe.

The best parts of the book were the details and the way the future was set up as a far more open-minded, complex place, which I appreciated. Too often Science Fiction becomes preachy or dated because it tries to so closely mimic or parallel current events. A Soldier's Duty does its own thing, not bothering to hone in on Earth in terms of politics or culture, but to expand beyond that. This feat is easily accomplished because although Ia is human, she is not from Earth and hails instead on a world called Sanctuary. She is also a second generation first-worlder as well as a heavyworlder which means she's capable of more than most when on planets, stations, etc. with lighter gravity. She also has mothers, so basically Ia is pretty awesome.

While training and at her first few assignments, Ia is surrounded, for the most part, by other humans hailing from Terran United Planets, but there are plenty of aliens around as well. I am especially intrigued by the Feyori who are responsible for creating humans with precognitive abilities and who view everyone as part of an elaborate game of Chess crossed with Risk that they're playing against one another. I cannot wait to learn more about them or to see how Ia continues to prove herself worthy of having her own faction.

Following Ia's career as she moved from soldier all the way to officer was a pleasure although some sections worked better for me than others and the first half of the book was a bit more enjoyable for me. The second half covered a larger span of time though so a lot had to be packed into not necessarily enough pages. And even when I wasn't sure I agreed with her approach to superior officers or crisis situations, I never stopped liking Ia though or caring about what would happen to her. The journey she's taking is certainly an interesting one. and the way Ia's own precognitive abilities played out was really intriguing as well as her other physical attributes. She definitely teeters on the edge of being overwhelmingly, blindingly special, but Johnson never quite throws her over it.

Johnson also does a great job of sharing Ia's motivations as well as actual reasons for why Ia does certain things the way she does them, which I thought was fascinating. She has to keep quiet because the events she sees playing out can change based on the slightest alteration and she doesn't exactly know all the points she has to hit along the way to get to her main objective. She doesn't always feel the need to explain herself the few times she does share her visions or her abilities, which is a bit annoying, but she also lives in a universe where people can have precognitive abilities, telekinetic powers, and telepathy so the skepticism is not as hard to overcome as it might be in a different setting. I think what also helps balance things out is Johnson's approach to Ia's abilities. Yes, she can see the future, but time is constantly changing and evolving. She's definitely not the most gifted precious precog snowflake out there either, and even when she's certain of how to get from Point A to Point B, Ia still has to do whatever it takes to get there. That journey isn't always pleasant and often requires a lot of fortitude, conviction, and inner strength.

Due to being a precog and aware of future events, it does make sense for Ia to shy away from people, especially in the instances where she can get a good, solid sense of what will happen to them further down the road. Or what might happen if she interferes and/or they live long enough. Since A Soldier's Duty acts as Ia's origin story, I think that loner vibe worked for the most part because all heroes tend to start off on their own and some even stay that way. Moving forward though, this might become problematic. I'm glad that, based on the excerpt for An Officer's Duty in the back of my ARC, it does look like she will go home to at least talk with her family and that will probably help. But at some point it gets ridiculous for Ia to do everything on her own. I would certainly not object to her getting someone to be the Samwise Gamgee to her Frodo Baggins or I guess maybe something more along the lines of the sensible William Bush to her precognitive Horatio Hornblower, but I digress.

Only two aspects of the book really irked me and both of these are pretty minor things. The first was Ia's singing at various intervals and even making up a song about herself on the spot in a bar after one battle. I imagine it will work for other readers, but for me it came across as sort of awkward particularly in the middle of her trying to torture information out of someone. I was also really disappointed by the way Ia earned her nickname, not just because it was so easy but because it wasn't for doing anything really chilling that a moniker like Bloody Mary would suggest. Similarly, the more I think about it, the weirder it is to me that she would even get a nickname like that because I have a hard time believing anyone would remember Bloody Mary in 2491. Unless they were naming her about the alcoholic beverage, which would just be sad.

In conclusion, really, really good and definitely the start of something awesome! If you've tried other Science Fiction series with female leads only to find them to be dated or not be very progressive in one way or another, I would suggest moving on to the Theirs Not to Reason Why series. Or if you simply want a book where a female character sinks and swims based on her own insights and courage as well as precognitive powers all the while knowing that the fate of a galaxy will be determined by her actions, this is the book for you. And now I'm off to pine for the sequel. ...more

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Oct 04, 2017 Elfe rated it liked it

Generous 2.5 stars

Well... I really like the idea. And the story isn't too bad, the characters acceptable. But the writing isn't good. It's mostly telling and information dumbs. I found myself reading exceptionally fast and skimming over paragraphs when it was clear that it wasn't crucial information.

I'd say this book has a lot of potential, but you'd have to rewrite it. Focus more on the action, the characters and the conflict created by Ia's gifts, and not telling stuff ...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Marlene rated it it was amazing

A Soldier's Duty is the opening title in the new military science fiction series, Theirs Not to Reason Why, by Jean Johnson.

We first meet Ia as a 15-year-old on the Terran colony of Sanctuary as she navigates the time-streams after a horrifying vision of the future annihilation of human civilization. Through her frantic search of the possible futures for one tiny glimmer of hope, we catch a glimpse of our heroine as well. Her precognition is a recognized fact, and this future accepts A Soldier's Duty is the opening title in the new military science fiction series, Theirs Not to Reason Why, by Jean Johnson.

We first meet Ia as a 15-year-old on the Terran colony of Sanctuary as she navigates the time-streams after a horrifying vision of the future annihilation of human civilization. Through her frantic search of the possible futures for one tiny glimmer of hope, we catch a glimpse of our heroine as well. Her precognition is a recognized fact, and this future accepts psi-powers, at least to some extent. She is a determined, even driven individual, who will sacrifice her dreams, even her very definition of her self, to salvage everyone who can be saved.

Three years later, the moment she reaches legal majority, Ia joins the military. She gets herself a berth as a recruit of the Terran Space Force Marines. It is here that the story truly begins.

The future she has seen tells her that she must be a "boots on the ground" Marine. Not an officer, and not the member of Special Forces her precognitive powers entitle her to be. Also, she must walk a fine line between displaying exactly how much she knows of future events, and being promoted too quickly, and knowing just enough to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. She can never get too close to anyone, because she knows the fate of each person she meets--she has already seen it in the time-streams.

Spock said, but Ia lives it, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or of the one." Everyone Ia meets must be nudged in the direction that will save the most people at the best time, even if the individual must be sacrificed in Ia's here and now.

This book could easily have been titled Young Woman's War, as it bears many parallels to John Scalzi's Old Man's War. In both stories, a person without military experience but a lot of knowledge is thrust into the military at the entry level and applies their full intellect to the problem at hand to provide a new solution to old problems. All the while providing interesting observations in a unique voice to their superiors and to the audience.

Ia also reminds me a lot of Sgt. Torin Kerr in Tanya Huff's Valor Confederation series. Kerr is also a woman in the Space Marines, although Kerr remains a noncom and proudly so.

A Soldier's Duty ends, appropriately, with Ia being promoted to Lieutenant. The next book in the series is An Officer's Duty, and it unfortunately will not be out until sometime in 2012.

The series title is very apt in some ways, but not in others. It is a quote from The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

"Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die."

Ia knows why. That is the point of the story. She will do and do and do, and will die before her task is done. Some of her tools also know, but some don't. Those have served the future, and done, and died. But unlike the poor sods in the Light Brigade, their commander seems to know what she is doing. It is well worth reading her story to find out what she will do next. ...more

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Jan 12, 2014 Per Gunnar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-military, 1-science-fiction

This is the first book in a new series that I have started to read. Well, it is not new in the sense that the first edition was published in 2011 but it is new for me in that I just started to read it.

This is not the usual marine grunt story. Sure there is the marine training followed by plenty of violent action as one would expect when one brings in the marines. But behind all of this runs the story of Ia which is what makes this book interesting.

As the book blurb tells This is the first book in a new series that I have started to read. Well, it is not new in the sense that the first edition was published in 2011 but it is new for me in that I just started to read it.

This is not the usual marine grunt story. Sure there is the marine training followed by plenty of violent action as one would expect when one brings in the marines. But behind all of this runs the story of Ia which is what makes this book interesting.

As the book blurb tells us Ia is a precog, an unusually powerful one, who knows that if the flow of future events is not guided to be the right one then the Galaxy will be devastated. During the course of the story it is revealed that Ia is also more than a “just” a precog. She has a few more abilities and somewhat of a special story behind her. The marine part and the action in the book is quite okay. Nothing fantastic but okay. If it was not for Ia, her abilities and her quest, then the book would be a rather average one.

The book does not really start off with very much background and much is simply thrown in the face of the reader as the story progresses. Sometimes this is a bit annoying. I would have liked a bit better world building and background story in general. Given that the author goes to great lengths in some places to describe things, like the ten different types of ammunition that the standard marine projectile rifle can fire, the book feels a bit unbalanced in that sense.

As I wrote before, it is Ia and her quest that makes the book so interesting. Not only does she have to succeed in her military training and her later marine objectives but she also have to manoeuver through the possible future events and ensure that the right ones are chosen at key points in the future. There is plenty of action along the line and she does definitely earn herself her nickname of Bloody Mary.

Sometimes Ia’s abilities to know what the future have in store as well as her other abilities causes suspicion on the part of her superiors and then frequently we get long-winded and perfectly laid out speeches about how she does things not for herself but for her fellow man etc. etc. bla. bla. After the first couple of times these perfect speeches became a bit tiresome.

The flaws that I have mentioned is relatively minor though and on the whole I enjoyed following Ia on her quest. I will definitely continue reading since I really want to know where everything leads. After all, the book really gives no clue as to what exactly is expected to happen in the future to cause this devastation that we are told will happen.
...more

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Feb 10, 2012 G33z3r rated it did not like it

Shelves: science-fiction, scifi-aliens, space-opera, military-sf

An intriguing fantasy premise sadly devolves by the end.

Ia is "a strange visitor for another planet, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal women". The world is a human colony on a heavy gravity planet at the cutting edge of human space. She's born with some interesting abilities. She has psychic precognition, and she's foreseen a disaster that will destroy all the civilizations in the galaxy, humans included. She's devised a long plan to set the future onto a better co ...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Girls, Guns and G...: A Soldier's Duty July 2016 BOM	28	68	Jul 30, 2016 11:58AM
Action Heroine Fans: A Soldier's Duty, by Jean Johnson	10	17	Jul 05, 2015 04:45PM
Sci-Fi & Fantasy ...: January/February 2015 Group Read: A Soldier's Duty	19	24	Feb 23, 2015 08:12PM
No audiobook?	2	23	Sep 08, 2014 07:41AM

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About Jean Johnson

Jean Johnson

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Berkley/Jove Authors Bio

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)romance author, science fiction author

Jean Johnson currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, has played in the SCA for 25 years, sings a lot, and argues with her cat about territorial rights to her office chair. She loves hearing from her readers, and has a distinct sense of humor/>Librarian ...more