2018 steampunk SF, second of the Signal Airship series. The war
continues, and Josette Dupre, captain of the scouting airship
Mistral, will go on fighting it… if she can survive the politics of
her own side.
There's rather less airshipping going on in this second volume;
the first part is largely politics and refitting, with occasional
moments of shiphandling, and the second largely deals with a
resistance movement inside an enemy-held town, and the fight on the
ground to take that town back. Neither of these is bad; indeed,
they're very effective. But they're not airship action.
"Let's give the crew leave to enjoy the city. You too, Ensign. I'd
say you've earned a day off."
Kember looked back at Mistral's crew, already tending toward the
rowdy side, and they hadn't even been given leave yet. "How, uh, how
much should they enjoy themselves, sir?"
Josette considered it, and said, "Let's keep it to wanton
drunkenness and petty vandalism. No fights. We start repairs as soon
as the surveyors finish cataloging the damage, so we want everyone
intact."
On the people side, it's great. There are no simple answers to
questions of relationships or politics (and both of those seem to
involve a certain amount of abuse of power too), and everyone has to
think about what they're doing. There's even a welcome poke at the
Dead Lesbians trope.
A few new characters bring new viewpoints and opportunities, but
mostly the cast feels rather smaller than in the first book; there's
less mention of the airship's crew. And one secondary character's key
moment of traumatic decision is written with a curious inclarity, so
that one can't work out just what is happening where or just what form
her decision takes – only the result.
"But sir! We never tested it!"
"Ensign?" Josette asked.
"Yes, sir?"
"I'll have less pessimism on the hurricane deck, please."
"Yes, sir."
Definitely don't start the series here, especially if you came for the
airships, but it's enjoyable as a continuation of the first book's
story. No sequel has been announced at the time of writing, but
there's clearly scope for one, with little resolution of the major
arcs.
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