An Unconventional Admiral in a Critical Assignment

 

Rear Admiral Terrence Murphy is the son of a famous admiral who died winning a critical battle in a decades-long war between the Terran Federation and the Terran League. Recently Terrence Murphy won his own battle. That minor success does not erase his reputation as a clothes’ horse and a fop. It is enough to win him an appointment as military governor of a backwater stellar system, though.

So opens “Governor,” a new science fiction novel by David Weber and Richard Fox. It is set in a future where humans occupy thousands of planetary systems scattered across the galaxy.

Human planets are split into several polities. The largest is the Terran Federation, centered on Earth. The Terran League is its main rival. The two have been locked in a stalemated war for decades.  Part of the reason for the stalemate is the Federation is unwilling to commit the resources to win the war.

The Five Hundred, the social elite who run the Federation’s Heart Worlds, see to that. They get much of their profit and power from war expenditures. The cost of the war falls on the Fringe Worlds on the Federation’s periphery. Outnumbered in population and power by the Heart Worlds, they serve as the unwilling buffer protecting the Heart Worlds.

Murphy is a Heart Worlder, married into a Five Hundred family. Wishing to advance his career, they need for him to serve a term as military governor at a Fringe System. They pick one well away from the combat theater. Somewhere harmless.

Murphy has a sense of honor. He is not the innocuous nonentity he carefully presents to those in power. He has his own agenda as governor of New Dublin, revealing secrets long hidden by Heart World conventional wisdom. He gets more of an opportunity than he sought after an unexpected League offensive pushes into his territory.

His response to that incursion unleashes an avalanche of consequences – for both Federation and League. It upsets the stalemate, offering the Federation an opportunity of victory. It also overturns Federation rulers’ equilibrium, threatening their political existence.

“Governor” offers readers a tautly written and exciting adventure. The pairing of David Weber and Richard Fox works superbly. It delivers a book that will keep readers turning the pages to the end. The political and military situation framing the story has roots in Ancient Roman history, but resonates with twenty-first century America as well.

“Governor,” by David Weber and Richard Fox, Baen Books, 2021, 496 pages,  $27.00 (hardcover) $9.99 (ebook)

This review was written by Mark Lardas who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.

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There are 8 comments.

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  1. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter: Murphy has a sense of honor. He is not the innocuous nonentity he carefully presents to those in power. He has his own agenda as governor of New Dublin, revealing secrets long hidden by Heart World conventional wisdom. He gets more of an opportunity than he sought after an unexpected League offensive pushes into his territory.

    Don’t believe it. It’s all just incredible luck. 😜

    • #1
  2. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Seawriter: Murphy has a sense of honor. He is not the innocuous nonentity he carefully presents to those in power. He has his own agenda as governor of New Dublin, revealing secrets long hidden by Heart World conventional wisdom. He gets more of an opportunity than he sought after an unexpected League offensive pushes into his territory.

    Don’t believe it. It’s all just incredible luck. 😜

    Trust me. It’s not luck, Not unless the equivalent of wrestling an alligator bare-handed is your definition of luck.

    • #2
  3. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter (View Comment):
    Trust me. It’s not luck, Not unless the equivalent of wrestling an alligator bare-handed is your definition of luck.

    Couldn’t resist.

    • #3
  4. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Arahant (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):
    Trust me. It’s not luck, Not unless the equivalent of wrestling an alligator bare-handed is your definition of luck.

    Couldn’t resist.

    That’s okay. You won’t be able to stop reading once you start, too.

    • #4
  5. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    You won’t be able to stop reading once you start, too.

    An honest promise every review should contain.

    • #5
  6. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    This description sounds like the same ground that Weber has covered in book after book. Core vs. Fringe. 

    He writes like a Red Stater

    • #6
  7. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):
    He writes like a Red Stater

    You say that like it is a bad thing.

    • #7
  8. Bryan G. Stephens Thatcher
    Bryan G. Stephens
    @BryanGStephens

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    Bryan G. Stephens (View Comment):
    He writes like a Red Stater

    You say that like it is a bad thing.

    I just grow tired of the same thing over and over. 

    Oh, and does this one have another strong female lead? Are we going to be shown that the best form of government is by an exceptionally moral leader that the people don’t really deserve? And will this series take him 17 books where 3 would have done?

    Weber needed Baen to edit him to be great. 

    • #8
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