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Summary: a new sci-fi reader's take...
Review: I thought this book was really well done. Granted I don't know a lot about sci-fi, but it made a believer out of me. I'll be reading more and more books like this one in the future because of this book. It has an intelligent plot, interesting and real characters that draw you in and get personal without wandering away from the heart of the story, and it was just a good book. I wasn't interested in doing anything else once I started to find out how Torin was fairing against the Silsviss. The only thing I might have changed is the romantic relationship that started to take place but never seemed to go anywhere. It was left dangling...something that can be easily solved in a sequel..hint...hint.
Rating: 
Summary: Well told story
Review: I've read Tanya's "Keeper" and "Blood" series and found them amusing, especially the "Keeper" books. I was curious how she would perform in harder sci-fi. Valor's Choice is, by her own words, essentially based on the Zulu wars of the late 1800's. The sci-fi is minimal, but the story carries well and holds your interest.
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Summary: A Great book For Sci-Fi and Military Buffs alike..
Review: If you like military history, you will like this book! Valors CHoice is a great story about a fighting unit chosen to "guard" a diplomatic mission to another world. The character development is good and the combat realistic. If you know your battles you will recognize the historical situation. I recommend this book.
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Summary: A pleasing change of pace
Review: My reading habits seem to go in cycles, and my most current cycle is military s/f - space opera. Therefore, I was very pleased to find that one of my favorite authors had broken new ground. While I most heartily wish that Ms Huff would continue with her vampire tales (I really don't think that the relationship between Vicky and Henry has been played out), a series of novels set in this world would be very welcome indeed.What I found very enjoyable about the novel was that the author placed far more emphasis on plot and character development than on detailing the weapons and military ranks (which seems to be a failing far more common in male authors than female). The battle scenes were realistic and well described, and the characters, both major and minor were fully drawn (not cartoonish, as an earlier reviewer noted). I highly recommend - and I hope Ms. Huff keeps true to her pattern of writing several books around a set of characters.
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Summary: Space Opera with a Twist
Review: Not just a new version of "marines in space," Huff clearly enjoys giving a whole host of genre cliches a delightful, and affectionate, send-up. If you like space opera, but have sometimes wondered how 20th century military idioms made it into space, this is the book for you.
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Summary: A look at the life of a single soldier in the future...
Review: One reviewer commented negatively on the tight focus Ms. Huff had on the main character of this book. The delight is in the details, I say.
Imagine being 'in the head' of a competent marine sergeant, being able to see the why and how of the decisions she makes. Imagine seeing her develop a new team out of individuals (all Marines) so that they can work together under extreme stress.
And "extreme stress" is an understatement. The team must explore a new area and deal with politics as well as scientific staff... while incorporating a freelancing reporter and a "junk dealer" who seems determined to work outside of the rules.
As with "The Better Side of Valor,' this book examines human motivation while the action is fast, intense, and often surprising.
Rating:
Summary: Dandy space opera with Huff's usual clear prose
Review: Tanya Huff long ago became one of my preferred authors. This space opera is a stretch from her past fantasies, but done with her characteristic tight, clear prose, quick plotting, and good characterization. The story follows a battle-weary platoon of space marines pulled from leave to escort a diplomatic mission. Their jobs are supposed to be merely ceremonial, but develop into deadly serious combat when the diplomatic mission goes awry. The main character is the female staff sergeant of the platoon, and follows her from the beginning of the mission to the end, with some digressions to develop several other interesting characters. There is a minor, though somewhat predictable, plot twist midway through the book, and a nice twist in the ending. my stars: 1, don't bother; 2, maybe from the library; 3, wait for the paperback; 4, read it; 5, a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable but Light
Review: Tanya Huff, generally a fantasy writer, tries her hand at military SF in this battle tale. The story is set at an unspecified time about two centuries into the future. Humans, along with two other species, the di'Tayka and the Krai, have become the military arm of a large Confederation dominated by species that are too evolved to dirty their hands (claws, paws, or appendages) with war, but need defense from the mysterious Others that are attacking the Confederation and refuse to engage in diplomacy.
The focal character in the series is Torin Kerr, a Staff Sergeant in the interstellar Marines. Kerr is the senior NCO for a unit of about 40 Marines sent to guard a diplomatic mission that seeks to bring a new warrior species, the Silsviss, into the Confederation. The mission is supposedly a break for a unit that just got back from some hard fighting, but it will, of course, not go that easily, and after some twists Torin finds herself taking her squadron and its green CO into a full scale battle against high odds.
The story and the main character are enjoyable. The other Marines aren't really developed as characters. They are given species traits - basically, the di'Tayka will have sex with anything that moves and the Krai will eat it - but lack individual personalities. There is a twist at the end which other reviewers seemed to have problems with, but I rather liked. Certainly it fit well with the overall theme of the story, celebrating the courage of the grunt soldier and dismissing the medal-bedecked officers who command them.
Since most of the characters are soldiers, the dialog is appropriately salty. Huff has sought to soften it by removing the silent 'c' from a popular Anglo-Saxon obscenity which appears roughly on every other page, but some readers or parents may find it inappropriate.
Military SF written by women generally dispenses with the excessive hardware specifications and right-wing political rants often indulged in by male writers in this sub-genre, usually to the betterment of the story. This is a good example: a pleasant novel, fairly short and easy to read, but not one you're likely to long remember.
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Summary: A good example of military sci-fi.
Review: The characters tend to run into each other, but the most important ones are, at least, noticable. The idea of more advanced races using the less advanced ones in the military has already been used, but I don't hold that against the book.
The staff sergant, who is the heroine is appropriately kick ..., and the alien cultures and interactions between them are almost as good as actual military action.
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Summary: a fun read
Review: This book really pulled me in. All the way through, I cared about Torin Kerr and what she thought and how she acted. I could barely put it down. Huff described the other species without going into long digressions, she wrote believable and snappy dialogue, and she worked from an unusual point of view and kept Kerr in character. This book captured my imagination, kept me riveted, and left me wanting more.
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