I have recently finished the first two books of the "Tour of the Merrimack" series by R.M. Meluch, The Myriad and Wolf Star. The series follows the events of the U.S.S. Merrimack, an American navy space vessel. I had read some poor reviews of this series, and didn't have high expectations. The first book was a pleasant surprise. It's military science fiction, but beyond that the characters are interesting and the background is fascinating. There are some interesting comments about gender issues (with women in the military) that I don't feel qualified to comment on, but I thought Meluch did a good job of incorporating female characters without it being a politically correct gag job.

The first book is about the U.S. war against "The Hive" which is a mysterious creature with a group mind, and seems to have no purpose but to eat any organic thing it comes across. Earth is tentatively allied with the revived "Roman Empire" on the planet Palatine in this fight. At the end of the book, the Merrimack encounters a singularity that seems to change the events of the entire novel.

I was disappointed by this after becoming involved with the events/characters of the book, but the second book redeems it. It's a little confusing at first...following the new timeline, Earth is no longer at war with the Hive, but against the Romans of Palatine. However, it eventually becomes clear that the events of the second book are relating things that happened in the past of the first book. It's almost like a prequel, but it does clearly follow the events at the end of the first book, and the disparate timelines are tied together in a brilliant way.

I am getting ready to read the third book, The Sagittarius Command, and there is a fourth (Strength and Honor) I have yet to get. So far, though, I highly recommend this series.