Published by DAW on February 12, 2019
Terminal Uprising is the sequel to Terminal Alliance, in which we learned that humans have gone feral, not to say zombie-like. An alien race called the Krakau admitted Earth into its alliance after restoring some humans to a relatively normal condition. The process renders humans resistant to pain, which makes them useful as soldiers. Humans are feared on other worlds because they are hard to kill.
Marian “Mops” Adamopolous is a restored human who, in Terminal Alliance, was placed in charge of a team of janitors that maintained a Krakau military vessel. The mix of humans and nonhumans under Mops’ command are skilled cleaners and adept at repairing plumbing clogs. They used those skills in Terminal Alliance to overcome aliens who were plotting against them, but found themselves at odds with the Krakau, in part because they took command of a Krakau starship, the Pufferfish.
Having apparently committed treason against the Krakau, Mops and her team begin Terminal Uprising on the run. Mops is soon working with a Prodryan, a member of race that is at war with the Krakau and everyone else. The Prodryan delivers a message from one of Mops’ few remaining friends among the Krakau, an Admiral who tells her about a location on Earth that seems to be curing feral humans. Mops decides to go to Earth and investigate. Political intrigue ensues, followed by chases, explosions, and chaos.
Like the first novel, Terminal Uprising employs action and humor to tell a fun, fast-moving story. Much of the humor comes from the fact that Mops and her crew were originally assigned to sanitation. They rely on cleaning supplies rather than weapons to solve their problems. That joke threatens to wear thin in Terminal Uprising, but Jim C. Hines manages not to wear it out. Hines creates amusing aliens and finds humor in both human and alien behavior.
The novel ends on a hopeful note for the human race and sets up Mops for her next adventure. I don’t know that the premise would sustain a long series of novels, but Hines’ success with the second novel suggests that there is room for one more if Hines chooses to write it.
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