This seemed to be a short book. It is the start of another series that could turn out to be pretty good. I was kind of hesitant to read it because of how good the previous books about Rick Lysander turn out and I couldn’t see how something about his twin kids could be just as good. So, this book starts by telling us some things about the twins and where they were when their father was making himself famous by taking control of the Federation and putting it back the way it was. Now as adults, they have to decide how they want to spend their life. The female of the two, Esther, is more like her father than she knows. She definitely has her own way of looking at things and wants to take direct action when necessary. On the other hand, Noah, is more studious and reserved. He likes to think things through and make sure he’s doing the right thing before charging off. The two deeply love each other as brother and sister and have to go through the terrible ordeal of having both their parents killed in an apparent assassination. They don’t know the truth.
So, Esther has her mind set on becoming a Marine. She almost knew that from day one. She wants to follow in her father’s footsteps as far as they will take her, but she also wants to do it on her own merits. She does get some counsel from a senior Marine General that was and still is a close friend. He tells her to get a couple of years in college and then enlist if that’s what she want. Noah, doesn’t appear to want to be a Marine, so he opts to go back to Prosperity and help the people there. He wants to get to know the family his father and mother came from.
A year passes and sure enough, Ester is ready to enlist. She comes to Prosperity so that her brother, Noah, can be there when she is sworn in. Surprisingly, Noah decides to enlist along side her. So now, they are both enlisted trainees off to boot camp. Of course this doesn’t get missed by the media. The press is thoroughly excited about two new Lysanders becoming Marines. So, the Marine Corp now has a problem. How do you handle two very special boot camp trainees without making anything special about it? Additionally, neither Esther or Noah crave the media attention and want to be treated just like everyone else. So, off they go on their new careers. I wonder if this will last. It’s not easy being a Marine and both of these twins have a huge legacy to live up to. What if they fail in basic training?
This book seems to have been written in a little bit of haste. I noticed several passages where they were missing words or pronouns mis-used. I also caught that Esther called a Marine Master Sergeant, “Sir”, while they were getting ready to enlist and he didn’t say a thing about it. You’d think that a kid growing up in the Lysander household would know not to call an NCO, “Sir”, on any occasion. Still, the book was pretty good about getting the military stuff correct. It just seemed like the story was just short. Noah, kind of goes through the motions of being a good Marine recruit, but there’s nothing really told about him. Esther does have a lot more going on with her, but she’s more vocal of the two anyway.
Then the story ends. Just when I though we’d be getting into some really good missions after basic training, the end of the books comes up. I felt it was pretty abrupt. That could just be me, but I hope the future books in the series last a little longer.