Pirate Sun: Book Three of Virga

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Imprisoned by the rigid Falcon nation he saved his own home nation from, Admiral Chaison Fanning is unexpectedly rescued - but not by anyone he knows. As he tries to find his way back home to his wife, he has to contend with the secret purposes of his rescuer and many others.

Review
Three books in and this series is still going strong. Schroeder has done an admirable job of exploring his unusual setting but not letting it overwhelm a character-based story. Plus, he's kept the tension high not just within the world, but with a well-measured trickle of information about what's outside. Nominally, those external forces are what's driving the plot here, but in fact it's an adventure story following the third of the key characters introduced in the first book.

While Schroeder does well in keeping the sequencing clear, the characterization is weakened a bit by some continuity failures. In Sun of Suns, Venera Fanning is introduced as something of a sociopath. In Queen of Candesce, she's substantially humanized. In this third book, her imprisoned husband, Chaison, is anxious to get back to her – but he hasn't met the new Venera. For this reason, his insistence on returning to the woman he loves is puzzling – last we saw them together, she was clearly manipulating him, he knew it, and relations were quite cold between them. There's no very good reason he should care about her – as she was in book 1. I found that difficult to get past, since he brings up his desire for her frequently.

The book is also a little heavier on the desire than it needs to be – there are a lot of references to breasts. I wouldn't have noticed it in an older book, but in a modern novel it stands out. It's also the case that all the key characters seem to be good looking and attract admirers easily, but that's par for the course with many adventures.

Schroeder brings in the intriguing Virga Home Guard, which is interesting, but I felt he didn't do a great job of staying within what we know of them. They become just one of many factions contending for power for obscure reasons.

This middle book isn't quite as strong as its predecessors, but it's still a lot of fun, and very well constructed. I look forward to the next in line, which promises to bring the key actors together again. If you haven't read these books, I recommend them.