Dalton's Daughter follows a girl who
has a very dysfunctional home. Soon we see her heart-wrenching
motivations for getting off of Dalton, a polluted, backwater excuse
for a mining planet. I won't spoil anything, but her escape is
personal and messy. I skipped a lot of critical points here, but
they're such pivotal early spoilers, I don't even dare hint.
The only way to get off-world (at least
in her tax bracket) is to join the military. She soon ends up on an
orbital station for training.
Hollywood formula would dictate at this
point that the book ends with her leading a brigade to defeat some
epic enemy stronghold. Well, stuff that notion. The meat and potatoes
of Dalton's Daughter is the training itself. Getting through, not
breaking down, learning some of the little political garbage that
she'd never been exposed to. There's a point where she can stop and
think, and really look at the path she had to take to get so far. And
she realizes that it was messy, and a little horrifying at points.
The girl we started with is now a
mature woman, left with a lot on her plate, and adventures ahead.
This brings me to a point of caution-
She is a character from a literary world that has well established
entities and organizations. The preface reflects this; so much so
that when I started the book, the preface intimidated me with many
ideas and acronyms which I was entirely ignorant of. “Hoo boy, I'm
going to have to learn all this stuff by figuring out in context
through the book, and that sounds irritating.” But no. After the
preface (which admittedly made a lot more sense after I finished the
book) the story begins from a fresh perspective, a relatively naïve
protagonist, who learns most of this stuff with us.
If the preface turns you off, finish it
knowing that it doesn't end with a quiz. Skim, or skip if you're so
inclined. A wonderful story awaits. Early on I was expecting an
eventual massive fire-fight, but what I got was some pretty gripping
drama, played both on, and off the varied training environments
simulated on the station.
Oh, and if anyone asks, and I need to
raise money for functioning weaponry, my vote is for the bake sale.
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