Like its predecessors, this latest entry in the Dark Wing series (The Dark Wing
, etc.) expands the bounds of military SF to touch on the philosophy and morality of war. Weaving between the sailors and marines of the Solar Empire, the cultists of the Blazing Star movement and the monklike imperial bodyguards of the Guardian Order, Hunt examines the motivations that lead to success and failure in a 25-year campaign against a series of alien foes. Honorable folks like Adm. Barbara MacEwan and glory hounds like Adm. Sir Erich Anderson must both deal with a new psychic weapon in the war against the insectoid vuhl. Hunt continues numerous plot lines from earlier volumes, but he never tangles them. His prose stays transparent, even as it shifts to metaphysical planes where the war against the true enemy is being waged. The work shows a strong affection for the military profession, while still being aware of its tendency to slip from honorable combat to heedless slaughter. In places, new readers may find the complicated mythology a bit hard to follow, but all should look forward to new entries in this thoughtful series. Agent, Donald Maas
. (Aug.)
