Impulse

December 15, 2014
Enthusiasm reinvigorates familiar material in this lively space opera debut. Centuries after civil war shattered an interstellar civilization, planetary enclaves are beginning to reconnect, with the aid of tech-wizard Historians from Earth. Studly young Lt. Peter Cochrane of the Quantar Royal Navy is suddenly given huge responsibilities when he’s assigned to help investigate a mysterious assault on a lightship that was exploring close to the ruins of the old empire. Peter has plenty of concerns to keep him busy aboard the lightship Impulse, but he also finds himself increasingly attracted to his immediate superior officer, Cmdr. Dobrina Kierkopf. The action kicks in fast, as Peter, Dobrina, and a few others are stranded aboard a little landing craft when ancient machines attack, while a renegade Historian steals the Impulse. From that point, the plot gets complicated. This energetic mélange of tried-and-true elements—futuristic jargon, military and romantic tactics, and multiple levels of skullduggery—easily grabs the reader’s attention; more impressive is that Bara’s story holds that attention all the way to the end. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, Jabberwocky Literary Agency.

January 1, 2015

Peter Cochrane is disappointed when an emergency pulls him off what was supposed to be his first lightship posting to a new job on the HMS Impulse. The role comes with a promotion, but a hostile new captain from a rival culture and an attractive but prickly executive officer are just two early obstacles Peter must face. When they try to investigate the site where the Impulse was attacked by a strange hyperdimensional pulse wave, Peter and the crew are dragged into a diplomatic quagmire and a military mystery. VERDICT Debut author Bara sets a few too many pieces on his space opera chessboard with opposing military powers, quasi-religious historical orders, and remnants of imperial civilizations and ancient founders left offstage. The characters are shallow (especially inexplicable babe-magnet Peter), the plot is both overly complicated in places and suddenly paper thin, and Bara appears to believe that if he keeps the action fast enough readers won't notice that his story doesn't make any sense.

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