Good book but lots of side stories that did not advance the main story. Not sure if it's setting up background for the next book in the series but it was not what anyone would call seamless. I did enjoy the book and will look for the next one.

"Valiant Dust" eBook was published in 2017 and was written by Richard Baker (https://richardbakerauthor.com/). Mr. Baker has published 10 novels. This is the first in his "Breaker of Empires" series.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence, Mature Situations and Mature Language. The story is set in the far future. The primary character is Lieutenant Sikander North of Kashmir.

Sikander is the only Kashmiri serving aboard the Aquilan Commonwealth cruiser Hector. As an outsider, he must prove himself at every turn. The Hector is sent to project Aquilan influence at a somewhat backward planet, Gadira II, that is suffering from growing unrest.

They arrive to find a cruiser from a rival government, the Dremark Empire, in orbit. The situation is tense but the two adversaries tolerate one another - for a while. On the planet, the situation deteriorates with violent uprisings. Sikander is introduced to Crown Princess Ranya el-Nasir, who is assisting her uncle, Sultan Rashid, who is the planetary leader.

Sikander and Ranya share more than merely an interest in the local government and military. While not strictly complying with diplomatic norms, they develop a romantic relationship. They get little time to see where their relationship will go as open civil war envelops the planet. At the same time, the tense standoff between the orbiting cruisers deteriorates into a battle.

I thoroughly enjoyed the 9 hours I spent reading this 342 page science fiction novel. I liked the character of both Sikander and Ranya. I also liked the world the story is set in. It reminds me a lot of the world of "Honor Harrington". I look forward to future novels in this series. The cover art is OK. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

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Published by Tor Books on November 7, 2017

Valiant Dust is a military space opera. It does nothing unexpected, so it suffers from a lack of freshness, but it also generates excitement as it tells an entertaining, albeit familiar, story.

Sikander North joined the Commonwealth Naval Academy earlier than expected because his father wants no other family members to remain in the Kashmir system, where they are subject to attack. Rather than assuming his duties as the son of a prince on his homeworld of Jaipur, Sikander is now a lieutenant in Aquila’s Navy, an alliance having been formed between the Aquilans and the Kashmiri. So we have a young officer from a royal family who needs to prove himself despite his aristocratic background, a fairly standard character in military/adventure fiction.

Ranya Meriam el-Nasir is a princess on Gadira, a planet founded by the Terran Caliphate that takes a temperate view of the teachings of the Quran. Gadira is troubled by isolationist groups that resent the sultanate’s growing dependency on offworld trade. The Gadirans are allied with the Republic of Montreal, which supplies military aid to the sultanate to assist its battle against tribal chieftains and urban radicals, particularly the tribes that would like to close Gadira’s spaceports to all contact with non-Islamic powers.

Salem al-Fasi, an old family friend of the Sultan, introduces Ranya to Otto Bleindel, a businessman from Dremark whose employer purports to have an interest in suppressing unrest on Gadira. What Ranya does not know is that Bleindel is an intelligence agent who is providing arms to opponents of the Sultan. But how, the reader asks, will Bleindel benefit from overthrowing the Sultan? The answer to that question is predictable but satisfying.

Sikander and his ship travel to Gadira to protect Aquilans in the midst of all the chaos. Conflict ensues, both on the ground and in orbit (more or less) as the Aquilan ship takes on a couple of Dremel ships. The battle scenes are familiar but they are well executed.

Some parts of Valiant Dust are unbearably predictable. Our valiant hero challenges another officer to a fight over a point of honor and, although the unlikable officer is a three-time kickboxing champion, Sikander defeats him. Gosh, did you see that coming? Of course you did, because that scene has been done countless times. Our valiant hero also meets Ranya, and it is a rule of romance novels that two attractive people with royal blood must commence a romance regardless of the drama that surrounds them. Romance novel rules shouldn’t apply to science fiction novels, but predictably enough, it does. And our valiant hero must disobey orders, more or less, in order to do the right thing. Pretty much every fictional military officer in history has done that.

The one thing that struck me as being different about Valiant Dust is the spread of Islam by the Terran Caliphate before its decline. The Islamic religion is still fractured in its varying interpretations of the Quran, both in terms of conflict on planets dominated by Islam and planets that take varying approaches to Islam. There otherwise doesn’t seem to be much religious conflict among the non-Islamic powers. Of course, the absence of conflict changes during the course of the novel, which may establish the background for the next novel.

Although the plot and characters don’t stand out, I did like the novel’s pace and its detailed creation of the framework in which the story is told. Coupled with the story’s ability to build excitement, I have to recommend Valiant Dust to science fiction fans, and particularly to fans of military sf. It’s doesn’t do anything new, but it does old things pretty well.

RECOMMENDED

So yes, this being my first attempt at reviewing a military science fiction novel I cannot claim to have any kind of expertise. If you're looking for a review of how accurate Baker's descriptions of the potential of torpedo's in the physics of space are...you might need to find someone else (does anyone do those kind of reviews? I want to meet them.) 

What I can say is, though I skim read a lot of the descriptions of that sort, I enjoyed the rest of the book! The science is hung on an interesting plot in a fascinating interplanetary setting. There are a good number of women who do all kinds of jobs from captains to princesses and all of them are wonderfully written. The main character Sikander is fun to read without getting too perfect. It's a well written book.

There's a surprising amount of religion brought into this, which I'll admit I wasn't expecting. But it seemed to be handled quite well and I don't know how many people tackle putting modern religions in a science fiction setting so perhaps that's a unique selling point? 

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. Against all my expectations I found myself caring about these characters, I even found myself caring about the descriptions of the flaws of various kinds of torpedoes. That's a testament to how gripping Baker's writing is, because that isn't like me at all. He draws you into this setting with likeable, approachable characters that the reader gets to know quite quickly. It's a war story, but it's a also a story of revolution, and of finding oneself amongst new people. There are so many different stories being told as one that I think anyone could find some element to relate to. 

Put simply, if Baker could get this hardcore fantasy lover to enjoy a book which charts the main character's military career - then he must be pretty damn good.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

By the way, I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This one just did not catch me. I tries it several times and kept putting it down and picking up something out to read.

A new star on the space opera map.

An interesting reworking of space opera themes. Recontact by more developed interstellar powers with isolated frontier worlds from Terra and how that plays out. In this case the two major powers are the Aquilan Commonwealth and the Dremark Empire.
The world that is in question, Gadira II, is populated by those of Islamic leanings, adhering to moderate Quranist understandings of that faith.
It seems an agent of the Dremark Empire is setting up Gadira, for planetary unrest and thereby being able to install a puppet government aligned with Dremark's self interest. (Is it all sounding familiar?)
The main character, Lieutenant Sikander Singh North, a gunner officer, is from a similar frontier world, Kashmir. This system has been able to escalate its development under the more moderate Aquilan Commonwealth.
He's not only a member of the star fleet forces but akin to a prince in his own nation, hence his valet, Darvesh Reza who 'functions as Sikander's security detail, secretary, and general minder as well as his body servant.' I am sure Darvesh is going to join the renowned list of select sidekicks so enjoyed in other space operas.
For some reason Sikander's character is reminding me of Roger Ramius Sergei Chiang MacClintock from David Weber and John Ringo's series, Empire of Man. I know completely different characters and situations, still ... I'm intuiting some similarities.
There is a slight romantic interest for Sikander's with the intelligent, astute niece of the Sultan, Amira Ranya Meriem el-Nasir, Crown Princess of Gadir. A romance destined not to be.
Captain Markham, captain of the CSS Hector reminds me of some of the stalwart and fearless female captains from the Honor Harrington series.
The battles are all well orchestrated and described by Baker. It's in these situations of course we see further development of major and secondary characters, as they react under fire.
I look forward to the next in this series.

A NetGalley ARC
(November 2017)

Valiant Dust is a military sci-fi novel, and the first of Richard Baker’s “Breaker of Empires” series.
Sikander North is a prince. Well, close enough. His family rules a world, and, as he at one point indicates, he’s the at least nominal suzerain of a continent. Sikander also has the slightly less glamorous job of being a Lieutenant in the space navy of another power. Because whilst Sikander is a prince, he’s a prince of a minor world in the scheme of things, one which is dependent on the patronage of greater powers to survive intact. In order to help maintain that patronage, he’s now serving as an officer on a ship largely crewed by his patrons.

Sikander is an individual of several facets. Perhaps the largest, from the point of view of the book, is his role as a naval officer. He’s smart, honourable, determined to make a good impression on his new colleagues. That he has unarmed combat training probably doesn’t hurt either. In his moral outlook, Sikander feels like an uncomplicated hero: a good man, struggling againt those with a less ethical view of the world. In some ways, it’s a relief to read about a straightforward good guy, doing the righ thing because he believes in it On the other hand, the antagonists feel a bit more nuanced, willing to cut deals, mislead and politick in order to achieve their goals. It’d be nice to give Sikander a little more room in his character for this sort of thing. On the other hand, he does have some issues all his own, including some deep-rooted trauma explored in flashbacks. It’s not all sweetness and light for Sikander North – he bleeds, sweats and worries as much as the rest of us, which helps bring him a more attainable sense of humanity.

There’s a sense of the iceberg about Sikander – with a great deal going on beneath the surface. His supporting cast, including the officers and crew of the ship on which he serves, are given less time to shine on the page, which is a shame. Several have visible edges which would reward exploration; the officer who seems to struggle with reporting to Sikander after an incident in her past, for example, or the one with a prejudice against client kingdoms. These feel like spaces ripe for exploration; in the meantime, they serve as solid foils to Sikander, driving the plot whilst exposing more of his character to the reader.

The plot – well, I enjoyed it. The ship containing Sikander and crew is sent to a world which is also a client state, this time of another of the larger colonial powers. There’s unrest bubbling away under the surface, and they’re sent to keep a largely-disinterested eye on things. This lets the reader follow Sikander as an observer in another culture, looking at the legacy and effects of colonialism, as well as other social factors – religion and gender roles are both touched upon. That gives us a nuanced backdrop, and emotional investment in the world when everything (inevitably) kicks off.

When things kick into high gear, Baker shines. His space combat has enough of the abstract to let the reader grasp the strategy, whilst carrying enough visceral weight to let the (sometimes bloody) consequences feel real. The battles are both a ballet of radar lights and fast-acting kinetic weapons, and brutal, unflinching affairs where bulkheads blow out and lives are lost in an instant. It’s almost a poetry of war. The ground combats are more immediate, but have a grit and grace of their own; in both cases, the tension builds and cracks with equal intensity – and makes for a page-turning read.

In the end, is it worth reading? If you’re looking for something new in military sci-fi, I’d say yes.
The battles are elegantly done, but they’re wrapped in a world which carries greater depths (and explores them further) than might be the usual, and characters who can, given the chance, pour their feelings off the page. It’s definitely a compelling story, and a fun read – and the series has a lot of potential.