Fleet of Knives

February 1, 2019
The second book in a three-part series (after Embers of War, 2018), Fleet of Knives explores the concept of the greater good in war with Powell's fondness for excessive collateral damage but also with resonant depth. Carnivore-class battlecruiser Trouble Dog has been refurbished and returned to duty with her conflicted crew haunted by the losses of their last mission. As they deal with saving a group of privateers stranded on a vast, alien generation ship, the Marble Armada recalls Ona Sudak from a firing squad to lead its million sentient ships on a crusade to prevent war among the human star systems of the Generality. Trouble Dog finds herself facing creatures who live in the higher dimensional void that starships use to move between star systems, while Ona Sudak and her armada deem the ship an enemy. Amid almost nonstop action, with a jarring Joss Whedon-esque momentum, Powell delves into the characters as well as the themes with authority, putting himself in a league with Iain Banks and Ann Leckie.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)