Orphan's Alliance (Jason Wander, 4)

This was the last book I needed to complete my 5 book 'Orphans' series. All of Buettner's books in the series are a very good read. There were some gaps in the series between books that a person had to fill in.

After establishing an uneasy alliance with other human colonies on earth like wars in the previous installment (ORPHAN'S JOURNEY), Jason Wander finds himself playing the role of diplomat and warrior, a balance the Wander has had difficulty (and great success) doing in the past. Using interstellar travel methods similar to wormholes, Wander planet hops to build strengthen Earth's alliance against the never ending confrontation with the Slug armada that always seems to be knocking at the doorstep, leading to a beautifully thought out and wonderfully executed battle. Robert Buettner has created a world that is believable and has explored a new aspect of humanity in each installment of the Jason Wander series. In ORPHAN'S ALLIANCE he tackles the price of war and the alliances of humans with personal interests with a war that hinges loosely on one more battle. Buettner brings the cast of characters back that readers have grown fond of including Ord, Jude, Munchkin, and Howard. ORPHAN'S ALLIANCE brings a whole new element to his series with some true feeling, hard hitting emotions to the characters and their actions. As in every war, death strikes close to home and the emotional responses are touching to say the least. There are few books that I have had a true emotional response to, and Buettner achieved this with me not once, but twice toward the end of the book. Negating the rest of the other profound achievements in this book, these two moments alone are worth the time invested in reading this book. Highly recommended. Good reading, J.Stoner

I have really enjoyed the first three books in the "Orphan" series and "Orphan's Alliance" is a worthy sequal. Like the first three books, the story follows the exploits of Jason Wander as he, more often than not, bumbles his way from bad to worse conditions in his efforts to battle the "Slugs". This time he has more human problems and the "Slugs" are almost a secondary issue. We do see more of Jason developing as a real person, but we still do not see much in the way of "Slug" thinking. [...]

I loved all three of the first books in this series and was a bit concerned that the fourth might be "jerky" or not flow as smoothly as the first three did. No worries.... this was a great read and was over way before I was ready to see it end. Cannot wait for the fifth book!

I started this series early, then had to wait for each one to be published. It has really been enjoyable and I recommend it to anyone who likes military science fiction. It will seem a long time until the next in the series.