Thursday, January 5, 2012

Cobra Gamble-Timothy Zahn

Cobra Gamble


Timothy Zahn

Baen, Jan 3 2012, $25.00

ISBN: 9781439134061



Jasmine “Jin” Moreau Broom awakens on the ship of Warrior the Troft heading to Qasaman with her injured husband Paul nearby; she knows her leaders consider him a traitor for giving the ISIS system to the adversarial Djinn but she also believes that is the last hope to save humanity. The female Cobra warrior meets up with her son Lorne as Qasaman Djinn delegates Siraj Akim and Carsh Zoshak conduct a combat exercise.



Warrior asks the Troft in Sollas for permission to land; they agree to allow him to put down his vessel near Milika instead. He escorts the Cobra and Djinn delegation along with their ISIS cargo to a secure military station before disembarking from the planet. At the same time Milika Qasaman patrol leader Gama Yithtra assigns Jin’s oldest son Merrick the cobra and villager Nalis Kinsta to scout Troft activity. Time is running out for the uneasy Cobra and Qasaman Djinn allies as war with the mutual enemy has led to strange bedfellows.



This Cobra War science fiction thriller (See Cobra Guardian and Cobra Alliance) is a well written entertaining tale that can be divided into two sections. The first half of the storyline focuses on the relationships between the various parties as trust is a rare commodity in spite of a mutual enemy. This political segue is fascinating as Timothy Zahn drills deep into the strange bedfellows generalization as well as make the alien races seem real, but is also somewhat slow as action is limited. The latter half of the novel turns into a fast-paced military sci fi thriller as the war ignites. With the key threads tied up, readers will enjoy Mr. Zahn’s exciting Cobra War saga.



Harriet Klausner

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