Book Review: White Ops by Declan Finn

Star Wars, but with more explosions and enough political intrigue to make the Sith green with envy.

Black moves second in chess, but in the real world, white is usually a step behind.

This time, though, the heroes plan to be quick on the uptake.

Welcome to White Ops, the team of special operatives so secretive and so far off the books, they aren’t black. They’re white.

The story

Like any good space opera, White Ops starts off with a bar brawl. Sean Patrick Ryan and his friend Peter Sierra arrive before evening falls, and Sierra instantly knows something is off. People at the bar are way too casual and relaxed, as if they know that entertainment is coming. Given that the place hosts bar brawls as local theater (provided the contestants pay in advance), this is disconcerting.

So Sierra does the natural thing. He asks who is the star of tonight’s floor show.

The patron next to him reveals it will be, as Sierra suspected, Sean Patrick Ryan. What Sierra doesn’t learn until the opposing player shows up is that his antagonist will be a Touri – an alien lizard that looks like nothing so much as a Velociraptor on steroids. His talons can cut through ship hallways like knives through craft paper.

Oops.

Except it isn’t a mistake, or a case of an enemy coming to hunt down and deal with Ryan. Most of Ryan’s enemies don’t live long enough to plot ways to take him down. Sierra, Ryan, and Fe’eshar Straczyn – the Touri – are on a mission to investigate the owner of the bar. Turns out he’s been smuggling weapons on the side, and that’s not good…

But when they blow his operation sky high, the three learn that their target was selling Pharmakoi weapons. What the rest of the galaxy doesn’t know yet is that the Pharmakoi’s ordinance is more advanced than that of any other species in the galaxy. If they decide to go to war – and they do – then the rest of the Milky Way is going to have a hard time keeping up.

Ryan knows this. He also knows, when the dust from the Pharmakoi War settles, that the Pharmakoi aren’t capable of creating weapons like those they used to slaughter millions of soldiers in the war. Someone else gave them these weapons for the express purpose of testing humanity and the rest of the civilized Milky Way. Which means the Pharmakoi’s weapons were the least advanced ones in the enemy’s arsenal.

That means that the enemy has learned humanity and the other species’ strengths. Given how many people were killed in the Pharmakoi War, if the original owners of those weapons are allowed purchase in the galaxy, it will be utter Armageddon.

So it’s time for a group of special operatives so secret they’re white to be assembled so they can go hunting. Before humanity and the rest of the galaxy become prey for these creatures.

The characters

The characters are all fully realized and sassy. Whether it is Sean Patrick Ryan being a human wrecking ball and nuclear explosion, Peter Sierra being a Badass Normal, or Fe’eshar being a perfectly terrifying and yet exceptionally friendly Velociraptor on steroids, the heroes are all people the reader wants to root for and see succeed.

Their supporting cast is equally vigorous, interesting, and entertaining as they blast, shoot, and sometimes stab their way toward hoped-for victory in a war that hasn’t happened yet.

The world

Declan Finn’s worldbuilding goes to a new level in White Ops. The world of the series is deep enough that the first few chapters could spawn short stories in and of themselves, and a reader could be excused for wanting to just explore the galaxy the author has built.

From the meticulous detail for the weapons the heroes use to the politics to the biology of the aliens, White Ops is an all-one-can-eat buffet for those who want serious worldbuilding. Finn takes the novel approach of recognizing that there is an entire galaxy in which to play here.

So he invites the reader to play – and please stand clear when the pretty explosions go off. Remaining on a planet about to be nuked is very bad for one’s health!

The politics

There are references to modern politics scattered throughout the novel. A few of these are rather on the nose, but the story is not affected by them. If anything, modern politics affects the story more than the other way around by giving the writer material to inspire his work.

Content warning

The enemy aliens are cannibals. A secondary war is begun, and there are atrocities alluded to and discussed, even if they occur off-screen. Beyond that, there is nothing objectionable in this book, and nothing overtly gory or disgusting described at all.

Who is it for?

Anyone who loves space opera and sci-fi, but cannot find a universe that satisfies the desire to just get lost in a galaxy far, far away. Those who like thrill-a-minute plots and political intrigue will find White Ops has plenty of both to spare, and for anyone who just wants to see the bad guys get what is coming to them, this will be a very fulfilling read.

To get lost in a book is a treat, and this is one book it is easy to get lost in. It is a space opera with a lot of meat on the bone, and it barely scratches the surface!

Why read it?

This is how space opera and sci-fi should be written. Isn’t that enough reason to buy a copy and start reading today?