Review: Terminal Alliance by Jim C Hines

Hey all, Dani here.

It is the start of my book review backlog! This particular book I was approved for by NetGalley in August 2017, with the book set to be released November 7, 2017. I actually finally got around to reading this book in July 2018, and the review is coming up now. Why did it take me so long to do all of this? I don’t know. Jim C. Hines is an author who I really enjoy, and the concept for this book sounded really fun. Oh, and the sequel is expected to come out in 2019, so I guess I’m posting at the perfect time for that.

Anyway, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for approving me for this book. I actually ended up reading my hardcover copy.

Let’s jump into the review.

Summary

When the Krakau came to Earth, they planned to invite humanity into a growing alliance of sentient species.

This would have worked out better for all involved if they hadn’t arrived after a mutated plague wiped out half the planet, turned the rest into shambling, near-unstoppable animals, and basically destroyed human civilization. You know—your standard apocalypse.

The Krakau’s first impulse was to turn their ships around and go home. After all, it’s hard to establish diplomatic relations with mindless savages who eat your diplomats.

Their second impulse was to try to fix us.

A century later, human beings might not be what they once were, but at least they’re no longer trying to eat everyone. Mostly.

Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos is surprisingly bright (for a human). As a Lieutenant on the Earth Mercenary Corps Ship Pufferfish, she’s in charge of the Shipboard Hygiene and Sanitation team. When a bioweapon attack by an alien race wipes out the Krakau command crew and reverts the rest of the humans to their feral state, only Mops and her team are left with their minds intact.

Escaping the attacking aliens—not to mention her shambling crewmates—is only the beginning. Sure, Mops and her assortment of space janitors and plumbers can clean the ship, but flying the damn thing is another matter. As they struggle to keep the Pufferfish functioning and find a cure for their crew, they stumble onto a conspiracy that could threaten the entire alliance.

A conspiracy born from the truth of what happened on Earth all those years ago… 

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

Let me start off by saying one thing: Space Janitors.

Seriously, that alone makes the concept of this story super entertaining. And speaking of Space Janitors, that was a really fun web-series picked up by Geek & Sundry, so I can recommend going to check that out too. It is sort of a Star Wars parody following janitors for the Empire.

This was a pretty entertaining read, and I especially love some of the pieced together details for the human race. A lot of it was really wrong, but that only made it more amusing. Like, the ships are named for feared creatures from earth…you know, like the fierce and deadly pufferfish. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the rest of the story, but seeing these details like what history of the human race these aliens put together was the highlight of this book for me.

Honestly, even though it made me super super late on my ARC review for NetGalley, I’m glad I waited until now to read this one, because the sequel will be out…early next year, I think…so I don’t have to wait as long to read that one. It will make all the details a little more fresh in my mind, which is nice.

I love Jim C. Hines as an author, and I think he makes awesome characters that I am compelled to care about or want to know more about them. This is no less true when it comes to the alien characters in this one. There was action galore, and a crew who is a little out of their league when it comes to running a ship…or fighting…or doing most things that aren’t focused on keeping the ship clean. But I think they did a pretty good job considering.

So I can’t wait to see where the sequel takes this janitorial squad next.

Where to Buy

You can pick up Terminal Alliance from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local indie bookstore.