James Review -- Guardian of Night

This week I decided to review Guardian of the Night by Tony Daniel. 

While this is the second book by this author that I’ve read, it’s the first that wasn’t in a long- established setting, so I was curious about just what I was getting into. The main focus of the book is an alien captain who is member of a race who humanity calls the Sceeves, who has just been given command of the Guardian of Night, a ship equipped with a one-of-a-kind super weapon, and Earth and its forces who are preparing for a second invasion by the Sceeves, the first having ended when they pulled back to put down an ideological movement in their ranks which their rulers viewed as a threat. 

In the process of the purges, the captain of the Guardian of Night lost his wife and children and now wishes to defect, hoping that humanity can defeat the rulers of his people with the super weapon. Meanwhile, humanity’s fleet is being pushed back by the Sceeves, and it's clear that the main battle will reach the Sol system soon. Having received word of the Guardian of Night’s intention to defect, Earth sends a newly-commissioned frigate to bring her in with the mission eventually leading to a massive battle inside the Sol system.

I give the book a 7.5 out of 10. It definitely has a "Red October in space" feel to it. But some of the difficulties in communication between the two main species are fascinating, and while I wish there were more space battles in the book, I’ll admit that I’m not sure where they would fit in, and the technology used by both sides--especially in the creation of ships--is like nothing I’ve ever read before. Still, there are some points I feel deserve more explanation. For example, the first Sceeve invasion utterly devastated Earth, leaving only roughly 180 million humans alive when the book takes place several years later. It is stated that the United States military was the only military which managed to significantly hurt the invasion force but doesn’t explain why the US Military was so much more effective than every other military force in the world. Still, overall, it was a lot of fun, and hopefully sequels or prequels will be coming in the future.