reviews_and_ramblings | 2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Makepeace (Taking Shield #3) by Anna Butler (293-08-17-2016)

1) I enjoyed this story and want to go and read book 1: Gyrfalcon & book 2: Heart Scarab to read more of this world.

2) This series really caught me in the first book. Things are going well for Shield Captain Bennet. In the second book, things go awry, and the third book, Makepeace, any hope of the main character getting out of a situation unscathed is not in the cards for Shield Captain Bennet. The political intrigue, missions gone wrong, and the recovery physically and mentally of Bennet in Makepeace is excruciating at times. I am hopeful there is a resolution in the next book.

3) Strong and interesting plot. Slow buildup with a mix of character-driven elements and plot-driven elements. Also thoroughly enjoyed the science fiction setting and the amount of vagueness so we readers can use our imagination to fill in blanks. Really great setting. Enough details when needed and imagination for the rest. A good balance; not perfect, but very good. They don't linger on minutae and know when to concentrate on the little things v. showing the big things. Each character feels like they stand on their own two feet and have their own voice, which is something I've found lacking in a number of entries. Clear, intelligible, easy to consume writing style. Really loved the slow burn on the plot and how casual some of the conversation feels. While there are a lot of moments spent in character's heads, they're balanced out by the action and by the transition. Recommended for award consideration.

Makepeace (Taking Shield #3) by Anna Butler
Gay Sci-fi / Futuristic
Series: Taking Shield (Book 3)
Paperback: 330 pages
Publisher: Wilde City Press, LLC (July 29, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 192550624X
ISBN-13: 978-1925506242
Amazon: Makepeace (Taking Shield #3)
Amazon Kindle: Makepeace (Taking Shield #3)

Returning to duty following his long recovery from the injuries he sustained during the events recounted in Heart Scarab, Shield Captain Bennet accepts a tour of duty in Fleet as flight captain on a dreadnought. The one saving grace is that it isn't his father's ship--bad enough that he can't yet return to the Shield Regiment, at least he doesn't have the added stress of commanding former lover, Fleet Lieutenant Flynn and knowing the fraternization regulations will keep them apart. Working on the material he collected himself on T18 three years before, Bennet decodes enough Maess data to send him behind the lines to Makepeace, once a human colony but under Maess control for more than a century. The mission goes belly up, costing Albion one of her precious, irreplaceable dreadnoughts and bringing political upheaval, acrimony and the threat of public unrest in its wake. But for Bennet, the real nightmare is discovering what the Maess have in store for humanity. It's not good. It's not good at all.

Rainbow Awards Guidelines: http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/rainbow_awards_2016.html