Trinity’s Children

The sequel to Bara’s Trinity doesn’t live up to the fun of the first volume. Hero Jared Clement, now a Fleet Admiral, is tasked with resettling 30,000 migrants from the exhausted Rim worlds to Bellus, part of the lush Trinity System. The small armada of the settlers’ transports is protected by only the powerful new warship, the Agamemnon, and a few refitted warships. They’re threatened by a vastly superior force belonging to the Solar League and commanded by Clements’s former lover and betrayer, Adm. Elara DeVore, who’s bent on taking the Trinity System for herself and enslaving both migrants and Bellus’s humanoid alien natives. Bara wears his obsession with Napoleonic War–era naval history on his sleeve in the highly detailed spaceship battles. Less successful is the characterization of female characters, as Clement is surrounded by women who hope to smother him: the untrustworthy DeVore, his own grandchild-thirsting mother, and various subordinate female Navy officers—including his eventual soulmate, Capt. Tanitha Yan. Military SF fans will enjoy Clement’s daring tactics but may not be able to get past the poorly rendered interpersonal relationships. (Nov.)