Cobra Outlaw (Cobra Rebellion #2) (ARC)

I received this copy from the publisher through Netgalley.com and that in no way has influenced my opinion in regards to this review.


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Title: Cobra Outlaw
Series: Cobra Rebellion
Author: Timothy Zahn
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: SFF
Pages: 320

Synopsis:
The Broom/Moreau family [don't get me started on this whole Broom thing. I know Zahn is doing this to keep it from becoming patriarchal, but blast it, I started this series with a Moreau and I want to stay with a Moreau] is pretty much all over the place.
Some are on Aventine dealing with the Dominion of Man take over of the Cobra Worlds.
Some are on Qasama trying to enlist their aid against the Dominion.
Some are in Troft space, trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
And some are just in space running all over.

My Thoughts:
First, lets get all the ARC crap out of the way, because that has nothing to do with the book itself.
Netgally ONLY allowed me to send this to my kindle. Not to download it to Kindleforpc or to Adobe. Nope. Email only to my kindle. That rather irked me because I really, really prefer to download, put into Calibre, use the count-page plugin and then sideload to my kindle. Using the countpage plugin allows me to get a page count based on number of characters and page breaks, thus allowing me to have a uniform way to compare the books I'm reading. Not having that is like using your hand while it is asleep; you can do it, but everything is just a bit off.

Ok, on to the review proper.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first one, Cobra Slave. I felt like there were too many threads running at the same time for such a small book [small only in comparison!] and hampered each thread in what was told.
I really just want one, maybe 2 points of view for these books. It feels like Zahn is trying to write "bigger" than he can. The original Cobra had one viewpoint and one continuous storyline. Given, we're 8 books in and 100 years later, but still, I LIKED the original formula.

On the plus side of things. This wasn't boring like the previous trilogy [Cobra War trilogy]. There are several great Cobra action scenes [building hopping is one of my favorite Cobra abilities]. Also, the Trofts are being introduced as real characters, with one from the Unknown Demesne taking a large role near the end of the book.

Overall, a good solid SFF book by Timothy Zahn. As a caveat, I do hope that he stops writing the Cobra books soon. Don't milk it because after reading what I have, I'd be satisfied now with the Original Trilogy.