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Alliance

(Linesman #2)

S.K. Dunstall (Goodreads Author)

4.13 · Rating details · 1,464 ratings · 115 reviews

As the Linesman series continues, linesman Ean Lambert finds himself facing an alien ship he doesn’t understand—and a terrifying political threat he cannot fight…

The lines. The soul of every ship. It was once thought there were only ten, but that was before an alien vessel appeared at the edge of space—before Ean Lambert heard more lines singing. Ean’s ways of ...more

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Paperback, 389 pages

Published February 23rd 2016 by Ace

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· 1,464 ratings · 115 reviews

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Jan 25, 2018 ✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, favourite-series, audio, 2018, i-used-to-hate-space, luscious-audios-inc

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

Who knew lines could be so cool and exciting and awesome and stuff?!

Err...That's not really the type of line I had in mind, but I guess this looks kind of fun, too. Perhaps. Maybe. A little. In a non-Sci-Fi, non-space opera, non-devious plotting galore, 100% retirement home-approved way. But hey, there seems to be music involved in that line up there , so that means there might be singing as well, right? And if there's singing, then it means the lines I'm actually ...more

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Apr 17, 2017 Lindsay rated it it was amazing

A great second book in this brilliant space opera series.

Ean Lambert finds himself as the chief Linesman of the New Alliance, a new political entity rising out of the events of the previous book. The New Alliance is also at war with the Gate Union, a conflict that it is bound to lose because of the GU's monopoly over galactic trade and the Gates required for safe travel. What stops the war from being over before it's begun are the alien ships that Lambert and his friends now have control over, ...more

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Apr 10, 2017 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: favourites-2017, 2017-read

4.5 stars

So, so good. A completely satisfying follow-up to Linesman.

Always the worry with a second book is whether it will meet the expectations set out by the first. Alliance completely met those expectations. The story picks up right from where Linesman left off, continuing a story of complex political machinations mixed nicely with interpersonal stories. The multilayered world created by the Dunstall sisters continues to reveal itself, while characters (both new and returning) remain as ...more

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Apr 22, 2017 Veronique rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, r2017, r2018, r2019

4.5

Couldn’t resist carrying on :0) Third read and I still rushed through the pages, totally engrossed in the story!

——-
Having loved the first instalment in the series, I had high expectations for this novel, and fears. Would it be as compelling??? Short answer - YES!

Once more we follow the extremely likeable Ean in his tribulations. The narration is this time shared between him, Captain Kari Wang, a complex protagonist dealing with loss in all its shapes, and an assassin contracted to kidnap ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 Hank rated it really liked it

Well bummer. The flaws are starting to glare a bit more. The writing is truly atrocious, I am not sure who to blame, the writers, the seemingly missing editor or Aunt Sally the proofreader. Miss-spellings (of course who am I to talk), whole paragraphs and even an entire chapter that makes no sense. There was one part where a spy was listening in to two different conversations at the same time and the authors clearly wanted to do something clever, switching back and forth between the two creating ...more

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Mar 25, 2016 Kathleen rated it really liked it

Shelves: space-opera, fantasy-scifi, audio, series-in-development, nonhuman-intelligence, space-op-military

Another fun space opera, told in 3rd person POV. The story includes sentient power "lines" and humans who've colonized dozens of planets. Also there's some alien technology, some military maneuvering, espionage, and murderous treachery. The science is soft and glossed over.

The story is interesting and heartwarming, with some humor and some dangerous, suspenseful scenes. I was expecting more action in the second book in the series, and I expected to learn more about the alien spaceships, but ...more

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Mar 08, 2016 Mei rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf

Great!!! As much as the first book!
I loved, loved the mix of SF, with politics!
I'm so looking forward to reading what happens next!!!!

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Jul 23, 2016 Ben Babcock rated it liked it

Shelves: from-library, 2016-read, own, space-opera, science-fiction

Oh my god give me all these books I want this entire series on my shelf right now. Alliance builds on the exciting promise made by S.K. Dunstall in Linesman to bring us a new space opera series that is bold both in its vision of interstellar politics and its cool SF technology. After a long time avoiding space opera (except to catch up on the good stuff I’ve missed) because of the overgrown weeds of nanotech posthumanism, I’m so happy to be enthusiastic about a brand new entry into this ...more

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Jan 08, 2016 Cathy rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2016, science-fiction, space-opera

FYI for anyone with vision issues: the font in the printed edition is very small. If you're buying the book, it would be worth spending the extra money for the ebook edition for this one. I was frequently tempted to pop for the $7.99 myself (I hate publishers that charge more for ebooks than print, the print was only $6.37 at the time of this review) even though I had the library book in hand.

I definitely recommend reading the first book first with this one, don't jump into this second book FYI for anyone with vision issues: the font in the printed edition is very small. If you're buying the book, it would be worth spending the extra money for the ebook edition for this one. I was frequently tempted to pop for the $7.99 myself (I hate publishers that charge more for ebooks than print, the print was only $6.37 at the time of this review) even though I had the library book in hand.

I definitely recommend reading the first book first with this one, don't jump into this second book cold. It gets right into singing the lines and it never really explains what that is or what the lines are, it won't make much sense to you without the background. There isn't any recap about who the people are as well, you have to try and pick up who Fergus, Michelle, Katida, Orsaya, etc., are, and more importantly who they are to Ean. But for me, having read the first book, it felt like they did an OK job of refreshing things without coming anywhere close to recaps. I have a terrible memory but as it went along it all was came back to me even though they never said something like, this lady is this admiral that Ean always has breakfast with, don't you remember? And that other woman is the admiral who likes to sleep with all of the high level linesman, everyone knows that, don't you remember, dear reader? That one was hinted at but not stated outright, they talked about her reputation but didn't say what it was, so new readers would totally miss it. It all came back to me eventually, but a bit of recap would have been helpful instead of just forging straight ahead. They did explain the political situation sufficiently, that would have been too much for me to recall. They did a good job of working that into the story, no infodumps. But I'd have liked to see more of Ean recalling his relationships with the people or something that indicated who they were. And new readers would miss so much. They'd probably enjoy the story well enough, it could be complete in and of itself to a certain degree. But they wouldn't understand the significance of the battle for Ean's contract with the cartel, anything about how amazing discovering the Eleven was, how the fleet got tied together and what that meant, why Ean being a twelve means so much, and so many other things.

As for the story, I enjoyed the book a lot, as I did with the first one. I think they (the authors are sisters) have a lot of great ideas and I'm excited to see where their careers go. It's not perfect though, I think they're still learning this craft. Ean is still too naive and idealistic for a slum kid, all wrapped up in his lines, seemingly much younger than his years would indicate. And it was a little scattered. Was it about people trying to kill Ean? Or kidnap Ean? Or kill the new captain? Or line seven? Or the new crew members? Or the Eleven and needing a crew? And the new head of security? She's a peach. Or the cartel wanting Ean back? Or the war? Or so many other things that were going on. That doesn't even include the politics. The complexity is good on one hand, it's a realistic universe that isn't over-simplified. There wasn't any storyline that felt fake or out of place. It felt like a space opera should, a rich and complex interstellar story. But it was a bit scattered. And it ended with a real whimper, the last few pages stunk. It was just a tiny bit of political maneuvering, nothing dramatic, nothing that left an impression or made me excited for the next book. There was a bit of foreshadowing that a super minor character that I don't care about at all is going to cause trouble in the future. But compared to the interplanetary war brewing, I'm sure she'll be a pain in the neck but it isn't the thing that's going to get me to rush out to get the next book. Something wild about the lines or the ships, something poignant about the great new captain Kari Wang (who didn't even get a wrap up/lead into the next book), anything else would have been better. I'm excited for the next book, don't get me wrong, but it's not because of the last couple of pages. It was a good book and it's an exciting series. But I think this book suffered a bit more for the authors being new writers than the first one did. Or maybe they had a harder time working together, and trying to include all of both of their ideas was part of the problem. I don't know, but it was a little bit rougher than the first one. But still really interesting and fun and highly recommended. ...more

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Oct 22, 2015 Ivan rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016

Alliance is a bit slower and less interesting read than the previous novel in the series, but it still manages to capture both old-school space opera and humanistic approach to science fiction and fantasy that is sorely lacking in the fields of space opera and military sf.

This one is, perhaps unfortunately, all about the world building - or perhaps the space ship building, so the characters are put firmly in the second place, although the new character of captain Kari Wang has her moments to ...more

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Nov 04, 2017 Suz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio, scifi, space_opera

4.5 stars
This is a wonderful story that I'm enjoying immensely. It's not heart stopping or wrenching, just an entertaining and engaging space opera with an interesting premise and likeable characters, read by a competent and easy to lose yourself in narrator.

I'm going to jump right into book 3.

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Feb 19, 2016 Anne - Books of My Heart rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 2016, ng-pub-author

Review at The Book Nympho:

http://thebooknympho.com/2016/02/alli...

I waited about 5 minutes to start Alliance after finishing Linesman. (My review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) I had already requested the arc after starting Linesman because I knew right away. I HAD to know more. About 92% of the way into this book, I already felt the terror of it ending and not knowing when the next book would be available so I went to the Internet. After much reading, I found the possible title of ...more

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May 31, 2017 Minh rated it liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

The Linesman series manages to maintain a delicate balance between varying POV, it's usually a tactic that usually annoys me as inevitably you end up stuck with one character who no one cares about. In this case Kari Wang swept me off my feet and I raced through the novel to keep up with both her and Ean.

Captain of the Kari Wang and sole survivor of a mysterious attack which sliced her ship in half (taking her legs with it), Kari is caught up in the scheming of the New Alliance and is assigned ...more

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Jun 08, 2017 Jorid Sørli rated it liked it

Wish there was more on the LINES!

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Jan 13, 2019 Michelle rated it really liked it

Shelves: to-buy, scifi, borrowed

Not as good as the first book. Suffered from second book syndrome but still kept me interested and surprised. I can’t wait to read the next one.

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Jul 27, 2015 Erin Burns rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: pre-ordered, owned-kindle, read-2016, science-fiction

Linesman (much like Dark Horse) was a breakout surprise for me last year. It just blew me away and I can't count how many times I have re-read it since. So seeing the next one on Amazon was an immediate pre-order.

I jumped in as soon as I got home from work, and I was quite surprised we didn't start with Ean Lambert. All of the last book was from his perspective, so I just wasn't ready for Captain Selma Kari Wang. Fortunately she completely rocks, a completely in charge woman, and it was a hell ...more

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May 12, 2016 Kim rated it liked it

I was very excited to read Alliance. Linesman had set such a wonderful stage and story, and I was looking forward to the building of that story.

Unfortunately, Alliance is a somewhat disappointing sophomore effort. It’s not that the book is bad, it’s rather decent, but it’s lacks the momentum and page turning excitement of Linesman.

I think the heart of the issue with Alliance is that it should have been a novella or short story instead of a full blown novel, or, as a novel, it should have had ...more

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Feb 02, 2019 Ju Transcendancing rated it it was amazing

Shelves: aurealis-award-2018, friendship, pub-2016, science_fiction, beat-the-backlist-2019, space_opera, awwc-2019, best-of-2019

I loved this book, a great follow up to the first book in the series. The political intrigue with the background of having a key protagnonist be highly empathic and not very good at fighting is fantasitc. I'm loving the largely female supporting cast and they're getting to be awesome and different in command ways, fighting and strength ways and various other things. The interpersonal storylines as well as the epic space opera is very satisfying here. I'm reminded of McCaffrey's 'Crystal Singer' ...more

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Jun 17, 2016 Gena rated it really liked it

Shelves: keepers, sci-fi

Awesome addition to the series. It did add a lot of new characters and there was a lot of plot which I enjoyed. I wish the book had been longer to include some character development for Ean and the other main ones. I felt like they stayed stagnant. Hopefully the next book combines both.

Re-read today. It just keeps getting better each time I read it :)

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Jan 11, 2016 Paula rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, science-fiction, series

I have been looking forward to this book since I finished the first one. This had lots of action and lots of discoveries but over all didn't move the plot forward as much as I was hoping for. That being said I still loved the story, world building and the characters. Now I'm waiting for the next one.

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Jul 28, 2015 Sense361 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, sci-fi, several-pov, special-power

Amazing. It ended up being one of my favorites. I really love the story and characters. It won my undivided attention from the page one. I wish there were more books like that.

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Jul 29, 2015 Debrac2014 rated it really liked it

I loved it! Love Ean and his singing linesmen! Captain Song got what she deserved!

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Mar 09, 2017 Martha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a strong, engaging installment continuing from The Linesman. My rating 4.5.

Ean is busy building his relationship with the alien lines while training Rossi, Fergus and other linesmen how to communicate through singing rather than thought manipulation. Abram has been promoted and required to leave the Lancastrian Princess. The new bodyguard for Michelle sees Ean as a dangerous weapon and a major risk. She is intent on getting him off Michelle’s ship and it looks like Ean will be sent as This is a strong, engaging installment continuing from The Linesman. My rating 4.5.

Ean is busy building his relationship with the alien lines while training Rossi, Fergus and other linesmen how to communicate through singing rather than thought manipulation. Abram has been promoted and required to leave the Lancastrian Princess. The new bodyguard for Michelle sees Ean as a dangerous weapon and a major risk. She is intent on getting him off Michelle’s ship and it looks like Ean will be sent as the primary linesman on the alien ship known as the Eleven.

The New Alliance leadership has recruited a mixed crew from all the allies to learn to operate the Eleven. Although not everyone supports the assignment, Captain Selma Kari Wang, a traumatically wounded officer, has been chosen as the captain. Selma is the sole survivor of an attack that destroyed her former ship. Suffering from survivor’s guilt, she doesn’t want a new ship. But Eleven, and its powerful lines, are ready to accept Selma as Captain and have already begun to respond to her even though she doesn’t ‘sing’ to the lines. The ship and those working on it are endangered when Selma’s negativity impacts the lines. Ean and friends recognize new abilities in the Eleven and ask to make some dangerous tests.

While the linesmen and new crew are training, Selma faces some unusual mishaps. It appears that someone, in addition to Selma, does not want her to become the new captain of Eleven. Two ‘odd’ members of the new crew, an old salt linesman and a young, passionate woman, who could be his daughter (granddaughter?), come to the rescue of Captain Selma and adopt her as theirs to protect.

An assassin still lurks in the shadows and Ean is almost kidnapped again. Other leaders stage a coup to gain back some control and a powerful enemy is exposed. It’s all part of the intrigue and danger that Ean deals with on a regular basis.

I loved book two as much as book one and stayed glued listening whenever I could. I really like Ean and his close companions, including the new quirky crew members. This book did not have as much action and suspense as book one but it had enough that added to the character developments to keep it interesting and to keep me fully engaged.

I do recommend reading the series in order as this book would lose a lot if a reader hasn’t read The Linesman. I am really looking forward to book three, The Confluence, even as I fear I will be sorry when it ends.

Audio Notes: Once again, Brian Hutchinson does a very good job with the narration. Once or twice I think I noted a missed character voice but for the most part he kept them all straight. He also kept good pacing even through the slower scenes in this installment. I love this series on audio and have already picked up book three.

I received this audio book from the publisher for an honest review. ...more

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Dec 27, 2016 John B. rated it it was ok

1.7 stars, rounding up to a 2 star rating. There were times when reading this felt like a school assignment. Class meets three days a week. It has been so long since I have been to class that I forget which room it is in, and when I finally arrive in class I am under dressed and there is an important test on the last ten chapters of this book, which was a chore to read. I wake from my dream and realize that I have finally finished the book and can now get on with life.

I liked S.K. Dunstall's 1.7 stars, rounding up to a 2 star rating. There were times when reading this felt like a school assignment. Class meets three days a week. It has been so long since I have been to class that I forget which room it is in, and when I finally arrive in class I am under dressed and there is an important test on the last ten chapters of this book, which was a chore to read. I wake from my dream and realize that I have finally finished the book and can now get on with life.

I liked S.K. Dunstall's Linesman, giving it three stars in Goodreads and looked forward to reading Alliance. There is writing and there is story telling, and I prefer my fiction books use writing in propelling the story along. The writing takes on the feel of a character study, a collection of vignettes that loosely carry the story and at intervals the action. It reads, as one reviewer stated, as "a somewhat disappointing sophomore effort. It’s not that the book is bad, ... but it lacks the momentum and page turning excitement of Linesman." Reading this book felt like eating my vegetables... I know there are nutrients to nourish and satisfy the mind's need to process stories, but I might have preferred this particular vegy roasted instead of boiled. And to mix metaphors, boiler plate comes to mind. Were the authors getting paid by the word?

The writing often draws attention to itself at the expense of the story and the reader's attention. Based on the high review ratings on Goodreads, I must conclude that the story and focus the author's wanted to share wasn't the story I was expecting based on reading the first Linesman book. Early in the book we meet Selma Kari Wang who will become a major character. Her slow recovery and healing, both physical and mental, feature outsize roles in the narrative.

Much has changed between the writing of Linesman and Alliance, both in the Linesman universe and in the contemporary SF reading market. The concept of sentient ship has become popular in the 2016 SF genre and the content of Alliance seems to have been shaped and bent by what I will call the Ann Leckie effect. The book companies want to tap into the SF genre flavor of he month, and in doing so have [allowed, encouraged, mandated] aspects be included in the story that in many ways are derivative of concepts woven into Ann Leckie's Ancilliary books.

I found it incredibly difficult to get into this book. It should not take the authors more than 100 pages to hook the reader into the story, especially when the reader enjoyed the first book in this series. Because the storyline is moving slowly and haltingly, I find myself having time to note the "scenery and props" that, on many occasions, overshadow or distract from the storytelling. A key scene, where Admiral MacClennan needs to sell Captain Selma Kari Wang on her next assignment, should have snapped and crackled as two highly driven, successful soldiers clash. The admiral, seeking to ensure the success of his latest ambition, attempting to persuade the broken captain to rise up and get back in the saddle has tremendous potential. Consider the background noise that bleeds away the energy and life of what structurally seems like a sound approach for the two characters. The key dialog is "You're telling me this is a life-or-death situation." with the response "No, Captain, this is politics, pure and simple. I can't tell you much about this mission." What comes through makes me wonder what the authors are trying to achieve.

He pressed something on his comms, and, a moment later, an aide came in with two glasses of tea--which he couldn't possibly have had time to make in between the order and delivery. The tea was hot. [She] left hers on the desk to cool. Like most spacers, she preferred her tea lukewarm, where if something untoward happened -like an unexpected gravity fluctuation--it wouldn't burn you if it slopped out of the glass. The admiral drank his hot. He'd been a long time out of space. Her tea wasn't cool enough yet, but she drank it anyway. It burned her tongue. "This isn't about decency. It's about politics." He finished his tea in one long draught although it must have been hot...

After reading through this scene a couple of times I shake my head in disappointment...their last book was better. To help the reader understand my level of ennui with this book, what I find most interesting in the above scene is the author's word choice. Glasses for hot tea instead of cups. In my review of Ancilliary Mercy I discounted the complaints from others on the overuse of tea in the story. Here I find myself being distracted as tea inserts itself into the scene and in some cases pulls focus away from the character interaction. For all the sentences that invoke tea, neither the story nor the character benefits. Where is a good editor when you need one? Can it be the Australian word choice and spelling used by the writers is more interesting than this installment of the Linesman series?

The concept of 'the lines' has morphed in this book. Now lines are everywhere. Lines are the focus of cursing. Lines are omniscient. And yet lines are subservient like a pet horse. No not even like a pet horse. A horse would exhibit personality and the lines are stripped of personality. Lines are fashionable. Everyone agrees lines don't work that way, and yet in the next sentence the character proceeds to do exactly that with the lines.

Captain Kari Wang has issues with communication devices. Every time she drops her comm device it breaks and she needs to borrow a loaner to call for support. One begins to suspect that Apple iPhones have been provided to New Alliance personnel. It may be natural for readers to desire more technology in their SF stories and author attempts to please their readers on this point can be seen as a fast-acting elixir that has many side effects. Too often in this book I found myself responding to characters using their comms with the thought 'this is exactly how we use cell phones today.' I don't expect SF authors to forecast the future, nor do I expect the future to be painted in great detail. What I prefer, is that the author paint their story scenes and props with a broad brush that gives just enough detail to push the story along, and yet leave room for the reader's imagination to fill in the detail. Here, detail was provided in abundance and the future looks, and feels, like a naval port city in the first decade of the twenty-first century with a long history of hosting ships (and tourists) from many disparate nations. As a creative writing assignment, this has some level of interest, but in terms of story telling it becomes a burden that imparts a hefty dose of inertia to the narrative.
...more

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May 09, 2017 John Purvis rated it really liked it

“Alliance” eBook was published in 2016 and was written by S. K. Dunstall (http://www.skdunstall.com). This is the pseudonym for Sherylyn and Karen Dunstall. Together they have published three novels in their “Linesman” series. This is the second in the series.

I received an ARC of this novel through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in the far future with humanity spread out ...more

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Jun 22, 2018 Raj rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi, space-opera

Ean Lambert is trying hard to unravel the mysteries of the lines, now that he's discovered that they're actually sentient, and the New Alliance is trying hard to to keep their alliance together and find and train crew for the fleet of new alien ships that Lambert uncovered at the end of Linesman. Into this comes Captain Selma Kari Wang, broken and grieving, who is thrust, unwilling, into the limelight and given command of one of the new ships.

Although Linesman was pretty political, this book ...more

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Sep 22, 2018 Mike rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction-1

As I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, _Linesman_, I was looking forward to the continuation of the story. For me, the authors deliver more of what made the first book a wonderful read.

Ean and Radko are the center, but so does Captain Kari Wang. Her path to self redemption is what much of the story hangs off of & it worked for me. A lot of space opera political intrigue develops, but it doesn't overpower the characters or their interactions.

The best parts are around the ...more

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May 07, 2017 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1audio, 2fiction, 3series, scifi

A good sequel, definitely should be read in order. Nothing too flashy, so maybe this should be only 3 stars, but it kept me hooked without resorting to romance or anything else that wouldn't fit well. It delves more into the mysteries of the lines & still doesn't solve anything. A lot of realism in that. Why haven't they investigated this or that aspect? No time! A lot going on, but much is just mentioned since it's mundane stuff. Still, it fills all their days as they scramble to deal with ...more

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Sep 02, 2017 Barbara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I loved Linesman so much that I started reading Alliance immediately after I finished. It was a fantastic continuation on the story, where Ean continues to learn more about the alien ships and communicating with all the lines, and teaching other linesmen to do the same. A captain is finally chosen for the Eleven, Captain Selma Kari Wang, who lost her ship, her crew and her legs in an attack by ships using alien technology. She isn’t sure she wants another ship, since she should have died along ...more

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Nov 09, 2017 Diane Gronas rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-books

A great trilogy that hints at a 4th book! In this intriguing world, Linesmen have psychic connections to the power lines of alien ships. A likeable cast grows familiar, trusting bonds as they battle a shifting sea of multi-world alliances amid power grabbing schemers. The attention to behavior and environmental details instill life to make it real. Lies, deception, and numerous characters used as pawns were a challenge to keep straight and had me snoozing often, but I would plow on through until ...more

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