Commitment Hour

My rating system: I begin with one star being equivalent to a rating of "C-". Progressing upwards, I add ½ star for each step, up to the maximum 5 stars, which is equivalent to a rating of "A+". I reserve ½ star for BOMBS, there being no option of zero or negative stars. As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't squander half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.

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Thus my rating of 2 1/2 stars for "Commitment Hour" is equivalent to "B-", which I think is accurate. It is perhaps even marginally generous, but 2 stars strikes me as too low. Despite this rating of 2 1/2 stars = B-, the novel does have a great deal of depth, and some truly fascinating ideas, and well-developed characters. There is a well-developed plot, and even an interesting murder mystery. Recommended - but my favourites in this series (so far - I am only in the middle of the 5th in the series - "Ascending") are "Expendable" (the first novel) and "Vigilant" (the third in the series).

The series is "The League of Peoples" - and "Commitment Hour" is the most loosely connected of these novels to the series. (This is rather like the way, for example, that "Inversions" in Iain M. Banks "Culture" series - they are part of the series, but only in a sort-of fashion).