Teaser

Plagued by visions of a future disaster, Ia decides that the only way to mitigate the galaxy’s suffering is to enlist in the military. Joining the Terran marines, Ia discovers that the path she has chosen is as difficult as it is necessary. Yet if anyone can rise to the challenge, it’s Ia . . .

Review

One of the many things I enjoyed about my recent US expedition was the opportunity to see what authors are on their shelves. Now, a lot of the big names are the same on both sides of the Atalntic. The Sandersons, the Kings, and the Asimovs of the world are fairly universal. It was in the used bookstores that I found the unfamiliar names, one of which was Jean Johnson. First up, this woman has written a lot of books, so I am incredibly grateful to Ace Books for noting *on the front cover* that A Soldier’s Duty is the first book in its series. Honestly, I don’t know why this isn’t mandatory. I mean, at least put the number on the spine. Anyway, since had never heard of the author, I was drawn in by the genre. If in doubt, go for military SF.

This is military SF, through and through. We follow a young solider through her recruitment, into boot camp, and then into active service. It couldn’t be more military if it tried. Though it does try. It tries very hard. Pretty much every military SF trope you can think of is thrown onto the pages. It’s always entertaining, but at the same time it’s the sort of book you can read with half your brain turned off. Nothing in here feels particularly deep, and even the science fictional elements are stripped back. Most of the training montages could take place in the present day without any significant changes. It’s well-delivered, but not all that innovative.

One of the things we often say about books is that they feel cinematic. Usually this is a compliment, referring to great imagery on some epic sense of scope. A Soldier’s Duty feels cinematic in a different sense. That sense being that it feels like the sort of action film you might catch late night on Channel 5, or a Netflix original. The action is superb, and you can picture it all very easily. However, it feels very routine. The characters and events are drawn from a familiar well of stereotypes, and that extends to Ia herself.

Ia is written as an essentially flawless protagonist. Skilled at everything, as beautiful as she is strong, and with the miraculous ability to talk back to her superiors without too many consequences. Sure enough, the medals soon rack up. The thing that should raise her above the standard heroine is her ability to foresee the future, and yet that aspect seems underutilised. Maybe that changes later in the series, but here it just seems like a way for Ia to be unsurprised by anything that happens around her.

All of this probably make sit sound like I disliked the book, but that’s not true. I had a good time with it. The problem is that the elements that separate it from my other military SF reading are drawbacks rather than successes. I may have enjoyed it while reading, but looking back all i can think of are the shortcomings.

Book Stats

• Theirs Not To Reason Why (#1)
• Published by Ace
• First published in 2011
• Military SF
• 398 pages