Jennifer Rodriguez has served the Solar Republic for twenty years and lead its spacers in a dozen battles. Now the war with the Ozaergothe has hit a lull and the Solar Republic may soon vote to separate into smaller nations. With her ship in dry dock and doubts about her last battle, Jennifer has a little too much time on her hands.

But the Admiralty has a job for its best captain. Their allies, the Bo’laer Alliance are excellent in battle but their war with the Ozaergothe has dragged on for centuries. By comparison the humans have made huge progress in a short amount of time. So Jennifer Rodriguez is sent alone to an alien world where she must teach several Alliance misfits the human ways of war. But the veteran soldier has her own doubts about humanity and wonders if spreading that knowledge is the right thing to do.

Welcome to the Solar Republic Navy! Mankind has not, after all, left war behind forever when we went out into the stars. Almost against our own will the human race has found itself embroiled in a war with an domain known as the Ozaergothe. These one meter tall three legged mammals resemble an Earth dachshund and are obsessed with bullying other sentient races. Four years into the war, the humans have driven the Ozaergothe back and inflicted heavy losses, but the war has not been cheap for mankind either.

This is the universe where Jennifer Rodriguez lives. Captain Rodriguez is a career officer and the senior captain in the SRN. Commanding the battle cruiser Indefatigable she has lead squadrons into battle against an intractable foe and until recently never questioned her self or her mission. Now with a new mission from the Admiralty that seems like pure madness, Jennifer has more questions than answers.

I love military science fiction and the way a writer can take the struggles from our own past and present as a species and project it forward. The technology is fun and the battles visceral, but war is never pretty and to those on the front lines it is a very personal affair. Many great authors capture this beautifully and I aim to do the same with The Gardens of Oroborous.

As in many novels however, the struggles are not simply against the enemy but against one self. Jennifer Rodriguez won’t be fighting a physical battle on every page, but she will be fighting her own doubts and she will be fighting to gain understanding and respect of her non human allies. It is in the mirror of their alien mind sets that Rodriguez will see herself and ultimately her internal struggle will be decided.

Character in military science fiction is very important, but so is the science. I am no physicist (though perhaps not too old to get that degree lol) but I do try and keep things as realistic as possible. You won’t find hyperspace and zipping around life atmospheric fighters here, but traveling great distances in a short amount of time is possible. Time dilation is also present in the story and may have an effect on Rodriguez throughout the course of the novel.

All in all if you enjoy a solid plot and character driven stories then you should enjoy The Garden of Oroborous. I do not write military stories that are either pro or anti war as that is for the reader to decide on their own. I do write pro - soldier stories and do my best to empathize with the brave but often imperfect men and women who for whatever reason chose that path in life. I hope you enjoy the tales I tell.

~SMH