Cobra Outlaw-Timothy Zahn

Cobra Outlaw

Timothy Zahn

Baen, Feb 3 2015, $15.00

ISBN: 9781476780344

On Aventine, Dominion of Man Commodore Santeros abducts Paul Broom, patriarch of the Broom Cobra warriors.  Santeros plans to use the dangerous MindsEye technology on his prisoner’s brain to learn the location of Qasamaa, a planet allegedly containing the most advanced armaments known.  Believing the weapons will give his side the advantage in the next interstellar war with the Troft, Santeros will offer a deal that Qasama cannot refuse if they do not want annihilation on an extinction level.

At the same, freedom fighters revolt on several planets (to include Aventine Cobra warrior felons Lorne and Jody Broom) against the hated Dominion, who has committed massacres and other violent “crimes” against humanity.  On the other side of the upcoming war, Cobra warrior Jason Broom poses as an escaped slave on a Troft prison planet searching for allies who oppose war with the humans.

Although overly complex with several subplots besides the three above that at times decelerate the overall interesting storyline, Cobra Rebellion Book 2 (see Cobra Slave) remains a fine military science fiction thriller.  The prime overarching themes continue to be deftly developed as freedom fighters and peace in our time advocates struggle to keep two superpowers from a war that these third (and fourth) innocent parties will suffer consequences of mass destruction.

Harriet Klausner