Burden of Proof

The second book in a series, this space naval courtroom drama nonetheless contains sufficient explanation of what happened in the prior book that it can be read without leaving the reader lost. Lt. JG Paul Sinclair, legal officer on the starship USS Michaelson by dint of a 2-week elective Academy course, is experiencing some ups and downs. A close friend is being promoted off of his ship, and the too-slick officer who replaces him (who happens to be a high-ranking Admiral's son) is not pulling his own weight. His relationship with his girlfriend's father gets off to a rocky start. And then there's a fatal accident onboard the ship with some questions remaining as to its cause, and Sinclair cannot in good conscience stay silent when he finds some evidence that the investigation into it missed. There are plenty of space-naval dramas out there, David Weber's Honor Harrington being the best-known example. There are also many realistic courtroom dramas. What's rare is to find a book combining the two genres. In Burden of Proof, Hemry does an excellent job. Of course, there is nothing really requiring this book to be set in space; it could just as easily have been transposed to modern-day Earth in almost every respect, right down to replacing the "Greenspacers" who interfere in a military weapons test with modern-day Greenpeace protesters doing the same thing. But the SF elements are handled ably and well, and do not feel like window-dressing the way they could have in such a book. The courtroom drama, though it only occurs relatively late in the book, is also handled well. By presenting it from the point of view of the inexperienced Sinclair, the reader gets to learn about elements of legal strategy as Sinclair learns, rather than simply being presented with them as in the average Matlock or Perry Mason episode. Although Sinclair insists that he does not want to become a lawyer, there are signs that his fascination with matters of law may lead him down that path despite himself. Of all the books I read on the bus on the way to and from GenCon a couple of weeks ago, I think this is the only one for which I will actively seek out other books in the series (which currently contains four books in all). I'm glad that I bothered to pick it up in the dollar store after all.

With Burden of Proof, the follow-up novel to A Just Determination, John G. Hemry cements his position as the best writer of legalistic military science fiction working today. Drawing on his own Naval career, Hemry brings the world of the United States Space Navy of 2100 to vivid life, populating it with some of the most human, realistic, vibrant characters I've ever been introduced to. Paul Sinclair, recently promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant Junior Grade, is a remarkable hero. Committed and hard-working, he cares only about doing his job to the best of his ability and he constantly chides himself for his own small mistakes. While he struggles to live up to the expectations of some of his senior officers, he is on the best of terms with most of his fellow junior officers and the ranks of enlisted men and women, actively seeking the advice of those around him and always acting in the most thoughtful, ethical of ways. Things are going pretty well for Paul. His relationship with Jen Shen remains strong, even though she now serves on a different ship, and he has finally witnessed a return to normalcy after his critical involvement in the court-martial trial of his previous captain. Unfortunately for Paul, that two-week legal training course he took early in his career is about to come back and bite him once again. I love the opening of this novel, as it features the disruption of a test firing mission by protestors. In a remarkable scene, Greenspacers fly in and launch themselves in to the target zone in individual pods, forcing Sinclair's ship, the Michaelson, to pick them up one by one and take them back to port. Soon thereafter, most unexpectedly, an explosion rocks the ship and takes out most of Forward Engineering. With the chief engineer missing in action and the fire suppression system not working, Sinclair takes it upon himself to lead the dangerous fire-fighting mission in to the affected area. It soon becomes clear that Chief Asher died in the explosion, and an investigation concludes that Asher caused the disaster by working on a critical piece of equipment alone - a clear violation of Navy policy. The man in charge of that investigation just so happens to be the father of Jen Shen, a man who has already made it clear that he finds Sinclair unworthy of his daughter's affection. The official report actually blames Paul - indirectly - for the tragedy, but the most galling thing of all is the awarding of a medal to Lieutenant Silver, the new replacement for Paul's best buddy on the ship. Anyone with eyes can see that Silver gets by on his personal charm alone while foisting all of his work on his subordinates (including Sinclair), and Silver was particularly useless at the time of the explosion. Soon, information reaches Paul's ears that casts the official report's conclusions in doubt, and Sinclair is anxious to clear the name of Chief Asher and see that justice is done. The focus of attention quickly becomes Lieutena

I devoured this book and its predecessor (_A Just Determination_) in one weekend. They're both excellent. As I said in my review of the earlier book, John G. Hemry may not have personally invented the genre 'military-SF legal drama', but there can't be too many examples of it out there. And reading these two superbly crafted novels will show you why: if you pay attention to the details, you'll see a lot of expertise lurking unobtrusively in the background. There can't be all that many authors who can write with confidence about the US Navy, the physics of space travel and spaceships, _and_ military law -- let alone keep all that stuff in the background while competently _telling an interesting story_ that doesn't bog down into technical exposition. I'm not going to tell you a great deal about that story itself, and as with the earlier book, I strongly advise you _not_ to read the cover blurb and other book information if you haven't done so already. In each case, Ace has seen fit to promote the book by giving away things that happen well over a hundred pages in, and I would have enjoyed each of them more if I hadn't known in advance what was going to happen. I can safely tell you that as this one opens, Paul Sinclair has just made Lieutenant Junior Grade and is still serving aboard the USS _Michaelson_. Again, the first hundred or so pages follow him through his shipboard experiences as we watch him grow and mature as a naval officer. I can also tell you that early on, there's an extremely well thought out (and, incidentally, extremely funny) sequence involving a protest by an organization called 'Greenspace', who apparently do much the same sorts of things in space as their present-day predecessors do at sea. Hemry's portrayal of the Space Navy's personal and professional responses to these 'hippies' is both hilarious (this is where the meat of the humor is) and accurate (as a measure of Sinclair's assimilation to Navy life); his portrayal of the Greenspacers themselves is a _little_ bit of a caricature, but no one will have any trouble recognizing their real-life counterparts. One of my complaints about Heinlein's mostly-excellent _Starship Troopers_ is that Heinlein sets up and shoots down way too many straw men; Hemry doesn't make that mistake. (Any actual hippies who read this book should read the narrative and dialogue very carefully. Hemry isn't taking sides at the authorial level; if he's making a sociopolitical point here, it's the one Commander Sykes makes: by all means question assumptions and challenge beliefs -- every society needs people who will do that -- but don't, don't, don't do foolish things that put lives in danger. And if anybody out there is still under the illusion that people in military service are 'fascists', Hemry's books should help to disabuse them of such silliness.) Otherwise I won't give anything away. This is some of the best recent SF I've read, and I'm looking forward to reading the next Paul Sinclair bo

An explosion occurs on the galactic cruiser USS Michaelson, killing Chief Petty Officer Asher and destroying much of the Forward Engineering section. While repairs are made, an inquiry into the accident occurs. The investigation team concludes that Asher violated regulations by working solo.However, legal officer Lieutenant Junior Grade Paul Sinclair hears rumors from distraught sailors that they not only mourn the loss of a peer, but they have lost confidence in the leadership as it seems to the crew that a big cover-up happened. Everyone insists that Asher followed orders given by rising superstar Lieutenant Scott Silver the son of a very powerful Rear Admiral. Paul knows that the BURDEN OF PROOF is on him. However, all the JUST DETERMINATION in the galaxy could lead to the destruction of his own career and the end of his relationship with the woman he loves, the daughter of the head of the investigation team because if Paul succeeds it will embarrass the officer he wants as a father-in-law.John G. Henry has pioneered a new sub-genre with his superb space ship military legal thrillers. As with the first tale (JUST DETERMINATION), BURDEN OF PROOF is more a tour of duty than an action packed tale as the plot focuses on relationships on an outer space vessel. The story line cleverly enables the audience to ride along with the crew and taste the pressure of the vastness of space inside relatively tight quarters, the seemingly endless stretches of time, and the protocol of rank. The legal aspects are brilliantly intertwined within a fantastic relationship military science fiction drama that should promote Mr. Hemry to a best selling admiral.Harriet Klausner

Burden of Proof is the second novel in this series, following Just Determination. In the previous volume, the USS Michaelson destroyed a SASAL ship as ordered by Captain Peter Wakeman when he perceived that the other ship had powered up its weapons in preparation for a firing run, but onsite investigation determined that the other ship had no major weapons. The subsequent court-martial was ready to slam the captain, but Ensign Paul Sinclair, the ship's legal officer, testified that the ship's orders were vague, emphasizing the possibility of Q-ships, and thus set up the possibility of such a confrontation. The court found Wakeman guilty only of minor charges and sentenced him to receive a letter of reprimand, but otherwise exonerated him of all other wrong doing. Of course, he had already been relieved of command and would probably never receive another command, nor would he ever be promoted again, but he might retire without a major blot on his career.In this novel, about a year later, Sinclair has just been promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. Captain Gonzalez, who received interim command after Wakeman, is being replaced by Captain Hayes. Lieutenant Carl Meadows, who is Command Duty Officer on the Sinclair's watch, has completed his third year aboard and is being replaced by Lieutenant Scott Silver. Lieutenant Colleen Kilgary is taking over Meadows' job as Weapons Officer and Silver will take her job as Main Propulsion Assistant. However, Silver will replace Meadows as Command Duty Officer on the second watch.Silver soon impresses Sinclair as a charming individual, but also a slacker who lets everybody else do his work. Then an explosion and fire occur one Saturday just before the second watch. When Sinclair arrives on the bridge, it becomes obvious that Chief Asher, the Damage Control Officer, is not available, so he asks permission of the Officer of the Deck, Silver, to lead the damage control team in fighting the fire. Silver okays his request and the damage control party goes in and cools down the fuel, which contains its own oxidizer, enough to flicker out. The damage control party is then ordered out and replaced by a team from another ship.The body of Chief Asher is found in the damaged compartment. Although the fire suppression equipment was nonfunctional and the engineering log was damaged, the investigating officer did not find enough evidence to determine the cause of the destruction. However, Petty Officer Sharpe, the ship's Master-at-Arms, requests permission to bring an expert onboard to examine the logs. When Chief Warrant Officer Rose arrives, Sinclair provides him with physical access to a terminal and Rose looks for, and finds, evidence of computer cracking which occurred a few hours after the fire. Sinclair reports this information to the Captain.In this story, Sinclair once again sticks his neck out to serve justice as he sees it. Despite his lack of desire to become a lawyer, Sinclair is becoming very f