Did not finish this book in time for its publication. This was some years ago. I'm sorry. Please send my regrets to the author.

James

I enjoyed Danker's previous book, and looked forward to going on more adventures with the Admiral. This had a different feel to it, but it was still a lot of fun.

I really, really liked the prequel to this... but I had trouble getting into this second installment. Sad to say I wound up bailing after about eight chapters. I felt like the plot and its twists plodded along and got stuck in forced complications, and wasn't invested in the mystery, even with the added time elements. Disappointing!

Talk about a disastrous first date.

Salmagard is on a date with the Admiral when this all begins. But lets backtrack just a bit. In the first book in this series (Admiral), Salmagard and the Admiral shared a kiss. Because of what they went through that hellish planet, there is already an intensity to their relationship, even if they don’t know each other well yet. So in Free Space, the possibility of a deeper relationship is explored – just a little – before all hell breaks loose.

Before the date even beings, there is an assassination attempt against the admiral. Poison. So, he is already trying to avoid pursuers and is in a weakened state. Meaning he is going to have to use his brains instead of his muscles. This is not a surprise for this character. He is a thinker.

Then, the date begins with a kidnapping. Salmagard, the Admiral and another couple. Dianna and Sei, are all kidnapped to be turned into slaves. Throughout the ordeal, not only are they trying to escape from multiple captors, there is always the possibility that the Admiral will be found. Why is there someone after the Admiral? The reasons are murky, but that just seems to add interest.

Things go from on a date, to in trouble and then from bad to worse. This constant state of decaying status adds the same type of intensity to the story that I appreciated in Admiral. Each character handles the struggles in their own way, bringing their unique talents to bear when needed.

The Admiral. That is his only identity. Personal details about The Admiral are few and far between. After two books in the series, he is still an enigma. He may seem to be they kind of spy that will do whatever it takes to get the job done. Thankfully, to add interest to the story, Salmagard is a bit of a chink the Admiral’s armor.

Salmagard – lets just say she is more than everyone (except Admiral) thinks she is. She comes from the aristocracy of the Empire, so she is a bit unexpected. Dianna is another interesting character whose existence tells you a bit more about the empire and it’s technology, philosophy and ethics.

Free Space features multiple locations, each with it’s own special atmosphere to appreciate or cringe at. There are multiple human adversaries. Or are some of them on the same side?

The series title changed from Evargardian to Admiral. Now, this makes sense to me. The Admiral is most definitely the central character. And based on your opinion of him, you form opinions of the other characters. Is he a good guy or a bad guy? A lack of detail about the Admiral makes the nature of the other characters a bit ambiguous. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Normally I like a little bit of questionable character in my heroes and villains, but I am a reader that prefers to have those questions resolved eventually. It doesn’t really happen in this book/series.

The ending is quite abrupt. I don’t know if I would call it a cliffhanger, due to several plot lines being resolved, but it is abrupt and doesn’t so much as leave room for speculation as it does demand to know what will happen next. So, yes, I will call it a cliffhanger.

I did like that you have to work to get answers, but even then you may not get them. All the characters have very little history provided in the telling of the story. This is totally contrary to the types of characters I usually like reading about, but in Free Space, it really works.

Free Space is gritty, compelling science fiction, filled with plots, villains, politics, heroics and, oh, so many questions. If you are in the mood for a book that is not all wrapped up in a nice box, Free Space may be the book you are looking for.

I really had a lot of fun reading this book. The story was fast paced and imaginative and I found myself really wondering what could possibly happen next. This is the second book in Sean Danker's Evagardian series and I do think that this book will work the best for readers of the series since the history of the characters is such an important part of the overall story. It could possibly work as a stand alone but I don't think it would be quite as enjoyable.

The Admiral and Salmagard are going away together for the weekend. That should be a simple thing but it ends up being anything but simple. Before they can even get to their destination, they are kidnapped along with another pair, Diana and Sei. The kidnappers are quickly able to deal with the two women, Salmagard and Diana, but the men quickly prove to be a problem.

The Admiral and Sei are in a really bad situation. The kidnappers want to get rid of them but they keep running into obstacles. The men have no idea what is going to happen to them and they really don't have any kind of chance to fight back and free themselves. Meanwhile, the women are working to try to find them but always seem to be one step behind.

I really liked how this story was told. The alternating points of view worked incredibly well in this book. It was really exciting to learn what was going on with the Admiral and then to learn how Salmagard was doing in the next chapter. I kept wonder if they would ever be able to meet up with each other. I loved all of the imaginative settings in this story as they moved through space.

I really liked the characters in this book. The Admiral is still such a mystery but an interesting one. He is smart and resourceful but you never know what he might be hiding. Salmagard is loyal, tough, and refuses to give up. I really liked Diana in this story, maybe more than Salmagard. She is unusual but incredibly smart and works well under pressure. I didn't really get as much of a feel for Sei but since he couldn't speak for most of the book, I guess that is to be expected.

I would recommend this book to others. I had a whole lot of fun reading this book and ended up enjoying it just as much as Admiral if not a bit more. It was one of those books that really felt like it would make a great movie script. I can't wait to see what Sean Danker comes up with next!

I received an advance reader edition of this book from Berkley Publishing Group - Ace via NetGalley.

A stellar first book full of intense action, intrigue, survival on a hostile planet, and fab characters led me to delight in opening the sequel and diving right back in for more.
Review

As I said, Free Space is the second book after Admiral in the fast-paced sci-fi Evagardian series. I think a reader would feel rather lost jumping in with this book particularly when it comes to the galactic politics, cultures, and storyline.

So yes, Free Space picks up not long after the events of Admiral. The enigmatic Admiral and Salmagard are back on a new adventure joined by a new pair of colorful characters in the persons of military personnel, Diana and Sei. It all started when they just wanted to take an R&R trip together, but before you know it being poisoned, being kidnapped and sold, and a host of determined government types on their tails makes for quite the escapade across space. For much of the book, the pair are separated as Salmagard and Diana are trying to rescue the Admiral and Sei after the two women are underestimated and get away from their captors first. I do love how Salmagard is part aristocratic princess type and part warrioress paired with Admiral’s layers of complicated scheming.

And just like the previous book, there is nearly non-stop excitement, but also the underlayer of intrigue regarding who the Admiral is and what he is doing. Salmagard and the Admiral’s pasts are opened up and explored more. They don’t fit together on paper, but there is promise there if they can ever get their lives untangled and get through the galactic war going on.

The first book had more a do or die survival quality to it, but this one, though different, was a cover to cover good one. There is a cliffie, but it wasn’t out of the blue as the plot was steadily heading that way and the main storyline was wrapped up. Can’t wait to see what comes next.

Light Sci-fi/Space Opera fans are a good match up for this series and I can easily recommend it.

Free Space is the second installment in author Sean Danker's Evagardian series. The story once again dives into the life of a character who is being called Admiral by the author. The label was given to him while he and (3) others were abandoned on a dead ship on a planet filled with disasters just waiting to spring on them. Admiral had a helluva a time escaping with his life, but life isn't any easier this time out. What does change, a bit, is that we get more background information on how Admiral came to be. I do hope we get more in the next installment.

The Admiral knows things that others, most likely the Evagardians, would rather not get out. As the synopsis clearly states, he has survived more assassination attempts than anyone, and single-handedly brought two warring factions to the peace table. Which leads to some intriguing questions. So, as the story opens, and after the Admiral again faces another assassination attempt, this time with poison, we see another side to his character. It is his first date with Ensign Tessa Salmagard who is a trained negotiator, but really one of the characters who stood out in the Admiral, and once again in Free Space.

There is something different about this story from the Admiral. There are actually (4) key players in this story. They are Admiral, Salmagard, Diana, and Sei who are both combat veterans. As the Admiral and Salmagard travel to Free Trade Space for what he hopes is a romantic time at Red Yonder, the group are kidnapped and separated. The men are sold to one faction, while the women find themselves in a place where they need to act fast if they are going to save Admiral and Sei. While the Admiral is good at certain things, it is Tessa and Diana that holds this story up for all to see. Diana is something science fiction aficionados will take an interest in.

As with the previous book, there are underlying reasons for everything that that this author does. With yet another stunning ending, readers will have to wait another year to figure out what happens next. Can the Admiral once again escape a bad situation? Will Tessa be able to help him, or will she face even more disciplinary actions? One way or the others, I am looking forward to yet another wild ride filled with action, adventure and plenty of surprises. Bring it on, Danker!

This is not as intriguing as book one, but face-paced and enjoyable.
The Admiral, an assassin and disguise expert, and Salmagard, a highly trained, genetically engineered soldier, saved each other in their first adventure. Now they are hoping to enjoy some ‘down’ time. Unfortunately, the Admiral is poisoned even before they meet for their date. And that’s just the beginning of their troubles.

They pick up a carrier to do some sightseeing and meet two Imperials, Sei and Diana, when they share the ride. The car is diverted and the four end up kidnapped. Admiral and Sei are separated to be traded while the women are retained for other uses. But their captors do not know what they’ve gotten themselves into as Salmagard and Diana will find a way to escape and go after their dates.

The Admiral and Sei are sold at auction and shipped off site. They awaken on a planet where the people are living in an old earth style community. It appears to be a religious cult led by a man who clearly, to the Admiral’s view, has nefarious plans. The Admiral doesn’t know how he is going to get himself out of this predicament.

This sequel to Admiral kicks off with a good hook and keeps on moving at a fast pace. The cult world is a bit strange and confusing but it provides a backdrop of thought as Salmagard begins to see that her strict training may not have provided all she needs to know of reality and politics. Neither side is full of all the “right” as clearly there are those who abuse power no matter what side they supposedly serve. And in the end, most will serve their own purposes rather than honor the loyalty that may have been expected.

The intrigue and mystery in this was not as intense as in book one. This fills out more of the backstory for the Admiral and Salmagard and I liked the new characters, Sei and Diana. Although this story is almost completely focused on the kidnapping and escape, I did enjoy the fast-paced action and the continued irreverent and pragmatic attitude the Admiral displays even when facing death…again. This made for a fast, fun read. The rather abrupt ending leaves an opening for new intrigue which I hope would be more apparent in the next book.

I received the title through NetGalley.

What kind of story do you get when a completely unreliable narrator attempts to be at least semi-reliable? And when the rest of the story is from the perspective of someone who always plays it straight but in this case just doesn’t know what part or game she is playing?

It makes for one hell of a wild and crazy ride, in some ways even crazier than the ride in the first book in this series, Admiral.

We still don’t know the man’s real name. We know that he spent quite a few years pretending to be Prince Dalton of the Ganraen Empire. We know that he used to be an Evagardian Imperial Agent, and that now he is on the run from everyone on all sides. The Ganraens would execute him as a traitor. The Empire just wants to clean up their very loose end.

Whoever he is, he wants to live. But first, he wants one last chance with Jessica Salmagard, one of the three cadets he both bamboozled and helped rescue in Admiral.

But like so many of his plans, this one goes very, VERY “gang aft aglee”. Because the Admiral and Jessica get themselves kidnapped. By accident.

And that’s where all the fun and adventure really begins.

The story is one of those “out of the frying pan into the fire” and then into the oven and then into the blast furnace kinds of things. Events are always on the brink of disaster, it’s just that the disaster they are on the brink of gets bigger and bigger as they go along.

Until the disaster is so big that the only thing bigger is a black hole. And look, there one is, right on the event horizon!

And we’re left wondering who exactly ended up saving whom in this insane adventure. Not to mention, we still don’t know who the Admiral really is. And neither does Jessica. Possibly at this point neither does the Admiral himself.

We’re all left hoping that someday we’ll find out. If the Admiral can manage to escape, yet again, from whomever has captured him. This time.

Escape Rating A-: At the start of this book, there’s a brief portion where events seemed to take a bit to get going. And it takes the reader a bit to catch themselves back up on previous events. So much of Admiral was kind of a locked room (or locked ship) mystery, and it happened so much in isolation that we don’t get much of a handle on events in this universe.

And just like in Admiral, we pretty much get dropped into the middle of the story yet again.

But once this thing takes flight, meaning once they get kidnapped, the ever escalating sequence of perils keeps the reader hanging on tight until the very end.

Unlike in Admiral, the narrative here is split between the Admiral and Jessica Salmagard. The Admiral is a completely unreliable narrator. He never reveals what he’s thinking, what he’s doing, or who he is. He embodies the idea of wheels within wheels within wheels. He’s always playing a part. But in this book we start to get the sense that even he is no longer certain exactly what part he is playing.

But very early on in the story the Admiral and Salmagard are separated. This leaves part of the story tied to her separate actions and events. Unlike the Admiral himself, we don’t see Jessica’s story from inside her head, but rather in an omniscient third-person. We really don’t need to see inside her head, because she is much more of “what you see is what you get” kind of person. She’s mostly straightforward in her actions, even if she is starting to wonder about a whole lot of the things she’s been taught to believe.

The universe, and the people in it, do not conform to the simple stereotypes that she was trained to expect. The experience for her is both unsettling and eye-opening, often at the same time.

One of the great things about the way that Free Space progresses is that the separation works to throw some of the usual expectations on their heads.

Once they are separated, it’s Salmagard and another female soldier who break themselves out of captivity, shoot up a couple of space stations, steal a ship, and generally commit all the mayhem and badassery that is usually reserved for the male protagonists in this kind of story. The two women become the rescuers, and the Admiral and a male soldier kidnapped with them become the rescuees.

Also, it’s the men who suffer from the comedy of errors, falling from one bad situation to an even worse one, tied up, gagged and often drugged through the entire mess as they descend through what feels like, instead of a descent through the seven circles of hell, a descent through the seven circles of illegal intergalactic human trafficking as perpetrated by a pair of unprepared idiots.

This is an adventure where not only does the right hand not know what the left hand is doing, but all the participants are either incapacitated, incompetent, or just plain lying every step of the way. Including the hero and heroine.

At the end, we’re left gasping, wondering if this was a real rescue, or just a setup for even more (and probably worse) yet to come.

In the next book. May it be soon.

Idgie Says:
Free Space is described as a follow up to The Admiral that can be read as a stand alone, but I disagree. The Admiral really brought this mystery man to life and allowed you to come to understand and like him. Free Space jumps right into his antics, but I felt like there was something missing, a connection with him.

Saying that though, this is a fast paced, political intrigue hard science Sci-Fi novel with plenty of characters and situations to keep you absorbed in the story.

Whereas The Admiral was, to me, more about survival on a hostile planet, this novel veers into the political kingdoms that rule the universe.

I cannot believe how disappointing this book was. It just went on and on and on and I, hoping to find a glimmer of the excitement of the first book, continued to read and read and read. I read until the bitter and very confusing end, expecting to get a few answers. Nope, didn't happen. I no longer care what happens next to the Admiral.

Let me confess. I would have rated this book more highly, but I am angry with the author for the cliffhanger ending. Those who have read Admiral (book 1 of the series), will be happy to see the return of the titular character, as well as Tessa Salmagard - another survivor of the previous adventure. That happiness may be short-lived, when they are quite speedily dropped into another dangerous situation and battling for their lives. After all, they deserve a little vacation, don't they?

The Admiral, we still don't know his name, and Salmagard meet up for a brief R&R leave, but there is nothing restful or relaxing about the circumstances that develop. They are thrown together with two more Imperial soldiers, Sei and Diana, and have to use their varied skills to survive repeated hazards. Without spoiling things too much, let me just throw out some examples in no particular order - cults, indentured servitude, cryosleep, poisoning, free market economy, and tacky lingerie.

Fans of the series will recognize the Admiral's quick wits and general snarkiness when he's stressed. At one point he can't speak and needs some medical help. When he fails to communicate his distress to someone using only his facial expression, he thinks to himself, "Did she think I was making faces at her for my health? Because I was." There are also pop culture references for film fans. Diana quips, "Have you ever danced with an Everwing in the pale moonlight?" as she maneuvers a space craft while being pursued. Our hero tells an opponent, "You think I'm sitting here because I don't have the strength to stand." And the man replies, "I've seen that drama." (You gotta love a good "Princess Bride" line.)

For fans of SciFi/fantasy who enjoy intrigue, high speed chases, sarcastic quips, and the debate of what makes conduct honorable, this is a series not to miss. Even if I am mad about the ending leaving us all in suspense.

Admiral, the first book by Sean Danker left you wanting to read the sequel immediately but of course we've had to wait. I'd love to say this book is as good as the first but I cannot. However it does draw you further into the Admiral's world and it's a fun read that sets you up for a third book in this series. As far as Evagard is concerned he is dead (since they had him poisoned). Yet not long after the first book ends we find him having a date with the Private (Tessa Salmagard) at Red Yonder, a pricey, luxurious entertainment place in Free Space. Salmagard was killed in the first book but due to the wonderful Evagardian science she has been brought back to life. You're not surprised that they meet - you could tell that the Admiral was quite taken with her in the first book. Before you can find out how this date will go, they are both kidnapped as well as two other Evagardian citizens that they happen to share transportation with.
If there is one thing that the Admiral is good at, it's getting out of tight situations however for much of this book he and Sei,the other male character are effectively put out of action. This is when we find out how good Salmagard is at defending herself and Sei's female companion, Diana turns out to be in a class by herself. Perhaps my main criticism is that it seems as if there should be more to the story than the kidnapping and their escape. Once again this book seems to be the connection to the next book in this series and I look forward to reading it.

Epic! I love space odysseys and Sean Danker as brought another awesome drama to life. Free Space is full of suspense and OMG moments that will blow you away. The characters had depth and the story moved at a steady pace. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves Firefly.

A solid effort, well written and compelling. Perhaps not as riveting as Admiral but I'll still follow the series with interest.