Sixth in the Class 5 Series sci-fi books by award-winning Michelle Diener, COLLISION COURSE is a fun science fiction read from one of my favorite sci-fi authors. The Class 5 vessels are spacecrafts that are sentient, also known as “Thinking Systems.” Sazo is the Class 5 battleship that started the series in Dark Horse, along with Rose, the kidnapped human who befriended him.
Here, pregnant Rose is traveling with Sazo and with her husband, Dav Jallan, who is captain of the Barrist. The two ships travel together on an outreach mission from the United Council. Since the defeat of the evil Tecran race who was looking to take over the universe, the UC now is reaching out to the Tecran’s victims to “extend the hand of friendship.” This peace-intending mission to meet the Fisone proves not to be without risks, however!
Rose is taken hostage by the Fisone and finds herself in the middle of a power struggle within the race. There are lots of double-crosses and misunderstandings which keep the reader guessing. I really like Rose- she’s intrepid and plucky. I don’t think I would be nearly as nonchalant about an interstellar coalition-seeking mission if I were pregnant like her!
COLLISION COURSE can be read on its own but makes more sense when read as part of the series. Sadly, there is less of the engaging snark of Sazo this time. I think my favorite part of this series is watching the awakened artificial intelligence spaceships figure out what it means to be thinking vessels and to interact with other beings, not just machines. Diener’s COLLISION COURSE sucks the reader in with alien abduction, artificial intelligence, and life on the other side of the galaxy.
Rose is looking forward to meeting the Fisone as part of the United Council’s outreach mission. Since the Tecran were defeated, and the full scope of their crimes were uncovered, the UC has wanted to find the Tecran’s victims and extend the hand of friendship. The fact that Rose is close to having her baby is just another element to the adventure of finding the Fisone’s planet and seeing if they could be potential allies.
An explorer’s dream . . .
Dav Jallan has been captain of the Barrist for a few years, but this is the first time he’s headed for a planet inhabited by advanced sentients. The Fisone exist—that is indisputable—and every part of this mission is why he became an explorer in the first place. The goal is to find them, form alliances, and make friends. The fact that he’s about to become a new father simply adds to his sense of excitement.
A collision course with reality . . .
When Sazo’s Class 5 and the Barrist enter the Fisone’s airspace, what they find is far from the uncomplicated meeting they had envisioned. The Fisone are divided, carrying a grudge, and are sure the Grih are no different from the Tecran they encountered the year before. When they take Rose as a hostage, both Dav and Sazo focus everything they have on finding her, and as the Fisone’s actions create more and more danger, ideas of alliances, friendship, and cooperation become less and less important.
The only comfort both Dav and Sazo have to draw from is that Rose has been taken by others before, underestimated before, and her abductors have lived to regret it.
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