Book Review: Valentine's Resolve

Valentine's Resolve by E. E. Knight
Genre: Post Apocalyptic Action Series
Bob's Thoughts:"The Perfect Next Chapter in the story of David Valentine"
Grade: A-
Available at your local bookseller.








Series frustrate me. Typically, when you get to the fifth or sixth installment of a series, you want to bang your head against the wall. Either, you're basically, going on the same trip, yet this time you're heading north instead of south, or your fighting an even "eviler" bad guy, the way you fought the less evil bad guy. Then there is the attempt to breathe new life into the series, basically, by throwing out everything fans loved about the series, and just writing a new book, which happens to take place in the same world, with a few cameo appearances from lesser known characters.

So, when I plunked down my 20 some odd dollars, and bought Valentine's Resolve, I was worried. Not only was this the sixth book in the series, but after the events, and excellent ending to Valentine's Exile, I was worried about the series and our main character. I mean, his best friend was missing, he's been kicked in the ass repeatedly by those who he was fighting for, and he now had a whole new added responsibility of having to care for a very strange child. This could be a recipe for disaster.

So, when I tore through the pages and got to the end, all I could think of was, "Thank God for Mr. Knight." Ok, maybe I am stretching it, but, Valentine's Resolve was, for me at least, the perfect next chapter in Valentine's saga. Instead of prettying out hero up, and glossing over all the ways our hero has been screwed with, Knight piles the bad times on. From the opening moments of the book, we see Val in a downward spiral, falling apart in many levels, fighting a campaign steeped in moral ambiguities, and when that is finished, we are left barely more than an empty shell. So, when someone was needed for what could very well be a suicide missions, well, Val's the man.

Once again having a mission, Val heads off, in search of earth's most important allies. Along the way, he meets people on the other side that remind him of what he is fighting for. A hero pilot, even if he is an enemy pilot, shows him there is courage on both sides, and also a devaluing of life. A sultry singer/hooker who may is an example of the untapped potential of devalued humanity. All this leads him to another resistance group, being leads by a man, whose own moral ambiguity shows that both sides of the good/evil of this series, has serious issues.

While Knight excels in the action sequences and dark moments of conflict, what I enjoy is the black comedy and frustrations of the political side to the series. Val trip to the isolated remnants of the American Government is a comic highpoint in the book, and compliments instead of distracts from the overall story.

With a lot of terrifying moments and a thrilling ending, Valentine's Resolve is a great action book. Yet, even more so, Valentine's Resolve shows is that the human spirit can not be restored through faith in institutions, but through the value of personal interactions. In this way, one person can make a difference.