Books like Intrepid

As you can see, we finally broke the long four-star streak. You definitely want to read the others in the series first because this one has some excellent build on past storylines and the payoff is part of what made it so good.Most of this book is pretty standard for the series so far. Kris finds a pile of bad. Kris mines for gold. Kris finds some silver, a bit of fluff, and the odd trinket that needs further analysis. It's all good fun and the action builds nicely with a satisfying pace.This book does share the weakness of the others in that there are two distinct storylines that don't interact much. This is a bit different in that one of the stories bookends the other like a storyline sandwich. Which means you have two larger-than-usual action down beats rather than a big division in the book. I think that actually works better, frankly, as the pacing hit isn't as big on the second transition (going from the concluded middle to the continued first). Interesting storycraft and I wonder if Shepherd made it a light touch by his talent or if that's just an effect of the storyline sandwich...Anyway, craft musings aside, I really enjoyed this story. My favorite part is that the Peterwalds finally show some sense. Vicky shows up again and I'm not going to give away spoilers or anything, but I loved developments there. Finally someone on the "other side" that shows some sign of rationality and being able to learn. I liked even better where we left things at the end and for once I'm looking forward to a scion of Greenfeld space showing up occasionally. Well done!And yes, that's the development that pushed me over the four-star hump into five stars. Lovely developments and I can't wait to start the next. Only I'm going to have to wait because it's already late and starting one of these things so late would be madness. And I may be crazy but I'm not stupid...