My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Will the Federation Navy meet its match going up against the mysterious and secretive "Collective?"
Falcon Pilot is the third full-length novel in author Jack Heape's exciting military science fiction adventure series, the Orion Federation, and readers should be prepared to face heart-pounding space battles and aerial action sequences, breathtaking danger, and overwhelming odds. Main characters from the previous books in the series return to share the spotlight as part of a stellar ensemble cast as their storylines converge when the Federation Navy takes on the mysterious pirates known as "The Collective."
Commander Jake Van de Harvey is a strong, decisive leader, but after the events on Sable, he struggles with feelings of guilt over the death of his cousin Stefan and second-guessing his tactical choices. Thankfully, he and his sister, Anna, Stefan's lover, can come together to grieve their losses. He eventually accepts that he made his decisions based on the best information he had at the time. Lt. Emma Dixon, Dixie to her colleagues and friends, proves pivotal to the effective incorporation of the Falcon assault ships into the Navy's space fleet. She's smart, funny, and genuinely one of the series' most down-to-earth characters. Readers learn a bit more of her backstory, which motivated her rather than turned her into a victim. Ensign Charline "CJ" Jacquier (the main character in the novella "To Die a Hero") appears among the new Falcon pilots. Her story is seamlessly inserted into this longer work. Hence, we understand how her first combat missions and the action on the planet Lille fit into the series' bigger picture.Much of the novel is about the Federation Navy preparing to engage The Collective, who, in partnership with local rebels, have taken over the planet Lille. Readers learn firsthand how crew members experience transfers and changes of duty, the chain of command, shipboard routines, and outfitting a new vessel for service. There are several exciting and harrowing space battles that this author writes so well. However, the story is much more emotion-filled than previous volumes, with a moving awards ceremony, the Cygni's retrieval of fallen comrades, the loss of Falcon pilots and crew, as well as entire crews from larger ships. The author has introduced characters in such a way that they have become real people, and each loss is felt. The story is not over yet, and I look forward to the next chapter in this highly satisfying saga.
I recommend FALCON PILOT to readers of military science fiction adventure stories, especially fans of the previous books in the series.