Tanya Huff says that "The Privilege of Peace" will be the last Torin Kerr book, I've followed Torin Kerr through the five Confederation novels, which I think are some of the best and most innovative military SF novels ever written and then on to the three Peacekeeper novels, which show how Torin, having helped end a galactic war hundreds of years long, handles the peace.
"The Privilege of Peace" was the perfect goodbye to the series. It moved the story arc on, engaging most of my favourite characters but didn't make the mistake of tidying everything up.
As I left the book, I could see that Torin had grown and, in the process, had helped me understand how much more difficult the maintenance of peace can be than the fighting of a war.
I'd love there to be another Torin Kerr book, but if there isn't I'll look on this as nine great novels, set in a universe I believe in, with people I care about, which never took the most obvious path and always placed accountability above expedience. I real life was like that, I'd enjoy living there. It isn't, but at least I have Tanya Huff to show me that it could be.
Margurite Gavin's narration has always increased my enjoyment of the Torin Kerr books. Her voices are so well thought through that I could immediately recognise who was speaking, regardless of sex or species.
If you haven't read this series yet, you have a lot of pleasure ahead of you. Take a look at my reviews below
The first three books in the Confederation series were fast-moving, trope-twisting, emotionally taxing military SF novels that established the Confederation universe from Torin's point of view.
"Valor's Trial"(every time I see these titles, I want to add a U) was the game changer for me. The universe expanded and Torin became someone even more interesting.Va
There's a lot of sadness and a lot of hope in this book. It's probably the most anti-war pro-soldier military SF book I've read.
"The Truth of Valor" brought the Confederation series to an end in an unexpected but enjoyable way and I thought it was the last I'd see of Torin Kerr.
What more could be asked of her?
Well, it turns out that she was going to be asked the question: "What do non-violent Elder Races do with the we've-been-fighting-a-war-for-so-long-it's-all-we-know Younger Races?"
When Torin considered that question, she did what she always does. She set about bringing her people home. She also started to rethink what everyone thought the knew about the Elder Races.
"An Ancient Peace", the first Peacekeeper novel had Torin in transition, no longer in the Corps but not really equipped to be a civilian and kept me guessing all the way through to the surprising outcome.
It reset the situation completely, especially with regard to the Elder Races
In "A Peace Divided" Torin leads a Peace Keeper Strike Force, dealing with violent people churning through civilian space in the wake of an unexpected peace. Torin’s not a soldier anymore. Winning now involved more than getting in, killing the enemy and getting her people home. Now she has to uphold the law and make sure as few people as possible, on either side, die while she’s doing it.
She also starts to question how the Confederacy she's always defended, works and whether she might have to find a way of changing it to protect her people.
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