Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron

Command Decision - Elizabeth Moon

Publisher:	Orbit
Date:	2007
Size:	453 Pages
Format:	Paperback
Price:	£6.99
ISBN:	978-1-84149-379-4
Reviewed by:	Rod Cameron
Review Date:	May 2007

Command Decision is the fourth in the Vatta’s War series which started with Trading in Danger, Moving Target and then Engaging the Enemy. The main protagonist is Ky(lara) Vatta who was forced to leave a military career and join the family’s cut throat world of interplanetary trading. Following on from a largely successful assassination attempt against the whole family, Ky and her few remaining cousins and friends attempt to survive and then, in later books, to seek revenge against their unknown enemies.

Command Decision takes up the story from the end of the previous book. The three main protagonists are now completely separated in the fourth book. Rafe has returned to his home planet of Nexus II to find that his family have been kidnapped and must be rescued before he can sort out the misfortunes of his family business of ISC and ansible communications. Stella and Toby continue to redevelop the trading arm of Vatta Enterprises at Cascadia Station. Grace Vatta continues to resurrect the Vattas in Slotter Key. And Ky Vatta continues to build her space fleet. But it is never fast enough, and there is always another larger space battle looming just around the corner.

This could have been a very weak book – the old middle book in a trilogy syndrome. Characters have to be developed and move on, but to Elizabeth Moon’s credit, she has gone to a lot of trouble to make even the mundane interesting. Command Decision is just as good as previous books in the series. I have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who has read the previous ones – but please don’t start with this one, you really need to have read the earlier ones first. Give yourself a treat on the beach this summer, buy all four and have a go with Trading in Danger!