Judgment at Proteus (Quadrail #5) by Timothy Zahn

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Mystery, Space Opera
Content: Strong language

 

A dozen sentient species occupy the galaxy, and the Quadrail connects them all. Arriving at Proteus Station under a cloud of suspicion, ex-government agent Frank Compton finds he must answer for the death of six members of the Filly elite, a crime for which he has been falsely accused. Filiaelian captivity, however, is the least of Compton’s worries, for his horse-faced alien accusers are guarding a terrible secret that dates back centuries: the Shonkla-raa, a race of super-soldiers believed to be extinct.
 
Invincible fighters bred for conquest and dedicated to the destruction of the Quadrail, as well as the annihilation of the unsuspecting billions who oppose them, the Shonkla-raa must be stopped at all cost. But to do so, Compton and his beautiful, enigmatic half-human partner, Bayta, will have to ally themselves with the insidious, mind-enslaving Mohdri, the malevolent group intelligence they have sworn to destroy.

 

I've been reading this series for a few months and really enjoying it! It's by the same author as The Icarus Hunt, and I really love Timothy Zahn's writing style. I haven't been this enthusiastic about an author in a while, and I wish it hadn't taken me so long to discover his books! I really like the way his stories are fun and easy to read, with plot twists that surprise me. I also appreciate the way he blends in the different alien species in his books. I highly recommend this author if you like space opera-type books.

After book four, I wasn't sure how things were going to get resolved in just one more book, especially after that huge twist, but I thought this was a good wrap up to the series. There were yet again, more surprises, and I liked the way things ended up with the different alien species, and also for Frank and Bayta. I love the whole concept of the space train, but there is a good portion of this book not spent on the train, which made sense for the story and the overall plot of the series. Plus, after the whole of book four being on the train, it was kind of refreshing to have a different environment.

There were a few repetitious things in this book, that kept me from giving it a higher rating, otherwise I probably would have given it a 4.5. In general, I would say this series is a 4.5 as a whole though. I'm really going to miss this series, but I'm looking forward to starting something else by this author as well.

I've started to add these to my library bookshelves.