Fire with Fire

Fire With Fire by Charles E. Gannon

3.0 Stars

This book was nominated for the Nebula Award, so of course it made it quickly onto my reading list. Its main character, Caine Riordan, finds himself in the employ of a clandestine organization after being awoken from an involuntary cryosleep. This character is very smart and finds solutions to problems in an almost MacGyver-like way, despite being displaced in time and having little military training. The story is action packed, but a bit choppy, with Riordan finding an intelligent species on a colony world, going to Earth to be embroiled in politics, running off to Mars, and then acting as a diplomat at a conference of exosapients. The author seems to dislike large oil/petrochemical companies with his derogatory Exxon comments, which really seem out of place in this futuristic society that doesn't seem to depend so much on oil as an energy source. Sadly, the women in the book, although set up to be strong characters, fall to pieces in the presence of Riordan. Despite the flaws, the latter half of the book sets up the sequel well. Hopefully, readers will find out why humans were on Delta Pavonis prior to the colony, the difficulties with the exosapients will be resolved in a clever, action packed manner, and the female characters won't simper and whine in the presence of Riordan.