Cobra Bargain, by Timothy Zahn
The version of Cobra Bargain reviewed is the one that appeared in the collection, The Cobra Trilogy.
The first two Cobra novels were different thematically, and this one is the same in its...er...difference. While Cobra was about the politics of creating super soldiers and having some of them actually survive the war into peacetime, and Cobra Strike was more traditional military adventure, solving the problem of a lost colony that threatened the Cobra Worlds, Cobra Bargain is about one individual Cobra finding common ground with the enemy.
Jasmine Moreau, granddaughter of Jonny Moreau, is the first female Cobra. She's recruited for a specific mission to spy on the lost human colony of Qasama. Satellite photos seem to indicate something big and potentially nasty going on (missile development is the most popular guess, but the specter of star drive development is always present).
On the way down from orbit, Jasmine's shuttle crashes, resulting in the loss of her entire team. Left alone on an enemy planet, without support, she nevertheless tries to complete her mission and find out just what the Qasamans are up to. In the course of her investigation, she befriends a local and learns that the threat is more to the rest of Qasama than to her own worlds.
Ultimately, Jasmine's choices during her interactions with the Qasamans will determine if future contact between her people and the lost colony continue to be confrontational, or if they begin moving toward cooperation.
While exploring a different theme from the other Cobra novels, Cobra Bargain has the familiar elements of the others and is just as enjoyable to read.
The first two Cobra novels were different thematically, and this one is the same in its...er...difference. While Cobra was about the politics of creating super soldiers and having some of them actually survive the war into peacetime, and Cobra Strike was more traditional military adventure, solving the problem of a lost colony that threatened the Cobra Worlds, Cobra Bargain is about one individual Cobra finding common ground with the enemy.
Jasmine Moreau, granddaughter of Jonny Moreau, is the first female Cobra. She's recruited for a specific mission to spy on the lost human colony of Qasama. Satellite photos seem to indicate something big and potentially nasty going on (missile development is the most popular guess, but the specter of star drive development is always present).
On the way down from orbit, Jasmine's shuttle crashes, resulting in the loss of her entire team. Left alone on an enemy planet, without support, she nevertheless tries to complete her mission and find out just what the Qasamans are up to. In the course of her investigation, she befriends a local and learns that the threat is more to the rest of Qasama than to her own worlds.
Ultimately, Jasmine's choices during her interactions with the Qasamans will determine if future contact between her people and the lost colony continue to be confrontational, or if they begin moving toward cooperation.
While exploring a different theme from the other Cobra novels, Cobra Bargain has the familiar elements of the others and is just as enjoyable to read.
posted by Jay | 5:34 AM
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