Book Review: Kris Longknife: Admiral by Mike Shepherd

Kris Longknife: Admiral
Author: Mike Shepherd
Series: Kris Longknife (Book 16)
Publication: KL & MM Books (November 1, 2017)

Description: Admiral Kris Longknife should have known the job offer was too good. Really, she knew by now that what was too good to be true really, really isn't. Still, she jumped at the chance to be the first human emissary to the Iteeche Empire.

Only when she got there, and met the Emperor, a teenage kid swamped by his throne, did Kris find out that there was a little civil war going on in the Iteeche Empire. The loyal forces were losing, and they needed the best fighting admiral they could get. So they got Kris Longknife.

Now Kris is sweating out collecting a fighting force -- that won't make her their first target. Now she's trying to figure out how to fight ships identical to hers, that outnumber her four to one or worse. Oh, and she's got to keep the merchant princes in her embassy from making a mess of everything.

A whole lot of people are hoping this Longknife can pull a grizzly bear out of her hat. A whole lot of other Iteeche are hoping the bear takes off her arm.

This continuation of the Longknife Saga is 112,000 words of battle, intrigue and assassinations including a few wrong turns on Kris's part. Enjoy!

My Thoughts: Admiral Kris Longknife was sent to the seat of the Iteeche Empire as an emissary from humanity but finds herself dragooned into becoming the Admiral of the loyal fleet who must fight against rebel forces to keep the teenaged Emperor on his throne. 

She has 36 battlecruisers, the enemy has thousands. She needs to build a force using Iteeche forces and forge them into a fighting force that can win against three-to-one odds. However, all the rebels aren't away from the seat of power, and she has to face attempts against her life and her people right under the Emperor's nose.

Just as she's getting her troops trained to fight in the human way, news comes in that one of her strongest supporters among the Iteeche needs immediate help. His planetary seat is being taken over by the rebels. It would normally take a month to get there, but Kris can use the fuzzy jumps that humans have discovered which will cut the time drastically. So, the combined fleet is gathered and dispatched only to find that the revolt on that planet was a feint to clear her and her forces away from the Imperial seat. 

There are no direct fuzzy jumps into the Emperor's planet and when Kris and crew wind up one jump short, they discover a rebel force that outnumbers them five-to-one that they have to keep from making the jump and capturing the Emperor's planet.

The story is filled with space battles and strategies and constant reminders that the Iteeche are aliens and don't think at all the same way that humans do. 

It was an exciting story that carries on nicely from Emissary and leads neatly into Commander because it will take more than one battle, no matter how horrendous, to put down the rebellion. 

Favorite Quote:

"Ah, the old ways were never so good, though they are now much beloved and held onto so tightly even as they pass from our lives. How well I know that trait."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.