‘Dreadnoughts Book Two: The March of Progress’ – Michael Carroll, John Higgins (Rebellion)

It took me a little longer than planned to get to ‘Dreadnoughts Book Two’ but, well… *Gestures hopelessly at everything* ;o) Last night suddenly ended up being a good time to do something about that so I didn’t hang around, just settled down for a couple of hours reading instead. And there were no surprises here (which was great, I wasn't after surprises in last nights reading), ‘The March of Progress’ is a very solid follow up to ‘Breaking Ground’ and I think I’m more or less following this series for the duration now.

After a crime blitz in Boulder leads to riots against the Judges’ excessive use of force and violation of human rights, the Hemlock Cartel takes advantage of the chaos to declare all-out war against the Justice Department. It is up to Judge Glover to eradicate their threat – even if her crusade could risk revealing the long-buried secrets of her past.

‘The March of Progress’ keeps a little of the social commentary, of its predecessor, and what better way to do this than by looking at the consequences of one of the first Crime Blitzes in action. It looks awesome on the page and Carroll really takes the time to put his reader in the middle of the debate. Is it a justified action if nine innocents lose their lives but the deterrent works? We all know the answer but I think Carroll does really well to get us thinking about the question in the first place. This is the question that this fictional ‘near future America’ is asking of itself and as spectators who know how it all ends (the ‘March of Progress’ is inevitable), we’ve got a little extra to think about.

‘The March of Progress’ is more of a police procedural at heart with the Crime Blitz giving rise to consequences that Judge Glover must work through in order to uphold the law and safeguard her own past at the same time. As far as the former goes, I loved how fragile Carroll makes the law at this point. It’s very early days for the Judge’s system and so the stakes are high. If the Judges can’t face down this threat, do they even deserve to be in charge? That’s what we’re here to find out.

What I was here for though were the further insights into the character of Judge Glover and the urgency these added to the plot, especially the stand off right at the end. I don’t know if there will be more books, I hope so, as Glover’s dedication to upholding the law makes for a great plot as well as pushing the story forward in all the best ways. Maybe the plot is a little bit predictable but when you’re in the middle of it, you wouldn’t think it is and that’s pretty much the whole point from where I’m sat. I had a great time reading this book.

And there’s still room for a quick short story before the book ends with ‘Nothing to Fear’ showing the Judge’s control spreading and hinting at another character that I wouldn’t mind seeing more of. Fingers crossed and all that ;o)

I’m glad I finally got round to reading ‘The March of Progress’. I didn’t think it was perhaps as thoughtful as ‘Breaking Ground’ but there’s still plenty to chew on and it’s a hell of a lot of fun to read, two things that I wanted in last nights reading.