REVIEW: Unbreakable by WC Bauers

Unbreakable by WC Bauers
Publishing information: Hardback; 368pgs
Publisher: Tor; 13 Jan 2015
ISBN: 9780765375421
Series: Chronicles of Promise Paen #1
Copy: Provided by Publisher
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "The colonists of the planet Montana are accustomed to being ignored. Situated in the buffer zone between two rival human empires, their world is a backwater: remote, provincial, independently minded. Even as a provisional member of the Republic of Aligned Worlds, Montana merits little consideration--until it becomes the flashpoint in an impending interstellar war.

When pirate raids threaten to destabilize the region, the RAW deploys its mechanized armored infantry to deal with the situation. Leading the assault is Marine Corps Lieutenant and Montanan expatriate Promise Paen of Victor Company. Years earlier, Promise was driven to join the Marines after her father was killed by such a raid. Payback is sweet, but it comes at a tremendous and devastating cost. And Promise is in no way happy to be back on her birthworld, not even when she is hailed as a hero by the planet's populace, including its colorful president. Making matters even worse: Promise is persistently haunted by the voice of her dead mother.

Meanwhile, the RAW's most bitter rival, the Lusitanian Empire, has been watching events unfold in the Montana system with interest. Their forces have been awaiting the right moment to gain a beachhead in Republic territory, and with Promise's Marines decimated, they believe the time to strike is now."

When Tor sent me a review copy of Unbreakable I had it on my wishlist so I was excited to see if it was going to live up to my expectations.

Unbreakable tells the story of Promise Paen a young woman who loses her family to raiders and vows never to look back on her home planet of Montana by joining the Marines. Promise is an intelligent woman who does her job and does her best to keep her head down and moving forward. She is also visited by the "memory" of her mother who comes to her in visions that help her solve problems she is having by reminding her of her upbringing. I liked and hated this aspect of Promise. On one hand it was a way of showing her values and upbringing but on the other side of the coin, I thought it held her back as she doesn't need her mother's memory in order to find her way. If the character receives a field promotion due to her ability, why have her seem slightly less than sane by having her hallucinate her mother? I would have found another way to symbolize her internal thought process. Even though Promise has this crazy apparition help guide her, I found myself enjoying the character and the adventure she was on.

The world-building is decent, I wouldn't say Bauers went out of his way to show us how the two factions got they way they did. He simply states that they are at odds and that there are a few planets that are buffers and both organizations fight over them in order to guarantee the safety of their core worlds. At one point in the book he does include some insight into the Lusitanian Empire and how they maintain their hold on newly acquired planets and I think it would have been great had he expanded on this idea.

The pacing of Unbreakable is fairly quick. There a few pauses in-between all of the action but Bauers doesn't care for lulls and once the story plateaus he ratchets up the action to keep the reader amped up. Make no mistake this is a military science fiction novel and he does a great job of writing his action scenes.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book but it didn't take too long before I found myself immersed in the world and I found myself buying in to the story. Tor was kind enough to send me the second book in the series and I will more than likely jump back into the world of Promise Paen before too long. Recommended.

Overall 7.5/10