Book One in The Sentience Trilogy opens in the year 3854, with an inquiry being held on the planet Troxia into the military manoeuvre which destroyed a fleet. Indeed we can see STORM CLOUDS GATHERING. The people present are furred, whiskered and clawed; they behave in a formal manner and wear jewelled adornments on their badge of rank. They call themselves the Raknii; as predators, they are not accustomed to losing.

Dietrich is apartment hunting in a society more like our own, when he is directed to an underground apartment where a computer personality welcomes him. Dietrich is told by Halbert, the biocomputer, that as a result of having a physicist mother and a computer scientist father, he has inherited the home and Halbert. He can use this sentient computer to explore other computer systems - including the United Stellar Alliance's Fleet Defence Command. He's also suddenly wealthy.

I liked the way in which we explore the mindset of the Raknii, something like lions, who respect their prey, such as the meek Trakaan people, as a source of life for them - but kill it. All their warships are identical so that only the skills of the crew give each any advantage. Innovation has been stifled. Raan, an adult officer, considers his juniors as cubs, and believes that predators maintain a natural balance in the universe. His male-dominated people have forgotten, though, that there might be other predators out among the stars. Drik, an unusual blue-eyed male, survived the surprise attack and might be the leader that his people will need.

Oddly, I enjoyed less the interactions between Dietrich and Halbert as the man teaches the computer social skills and the computer teaches him world politics. I would rather see for myself how the economy affects people's lives than to see people sitting down discussing processes and trade treaties. Halbert is connected to similar computers on other planets, making him able to manipulate bank accounts. Alliance Planets south of the galactic plane want to secede from a union with better-resourced planets to the north.

I had to wait until Chapter twelve before a woman entered the scene, Lt. Marilyn Fredricks. She's a secretary. I was getting impatient with this male-populated future but in Chapter twenty-three we meet Jeannine Franks, Secretary of Defense and Admiral Arlene McAllister, Chief of Fleet Operations. Unfortunately these ladies are busy directing operations so we don't get to see anything of their lives. There's plenty of action for fans of space warfare though I thought this book a little light on astrophysics compared to others I've read.

With chapter-heading quotes by anyone from Benjamin Franklin to Princess Diana, and well-written settings, including planets called Tensee, Bama and Ginia, the book clearly reveals that author Gibson Michaels had a great time writing this complex story and doesn't take his world too seriously. Mainly I enjoyed his lion-tribe and could just see them behaving as he describes. STORM CLOUDS GATHERING is a fun mix for cat-loving space-warriors and leaves us excited about what is yet to come.