A Soldier's Duty (Theirs Not to Reason Why) by Jean Johnson

I read this fairly recently - that is within the last couple of years, I think - almost certainly within the period of this record - but I didn't remember it well enough to read the next two in the series which my sister recently purchased. It was worth the reread. I'm certainly not an expert, but the military setting seemed fairly plausible, with the possible exception of the rapid advancement of our heroine, Ia ("just Ia, no more, no less"). Certainly the heartburn her name (or lack thereof) causes with the military resonates with anyone who has ever dealt with bureaucracy at any level.

Ia is a precog and has as her mission nothing less than saving the galaxy from a predatory species due to arrive in three hundred years. In the meantime she is working at saving the good guys from the Salik, a really nasty bunch of amphibians who prefer to eat their meat alive, kicking, and screaming, and who find humans particularly tasty.

Her vehicle for galactic salvation is the TUPSF (Terran United Planets Space Force) Marine Corps. Having been born and raised a heavy-worlder, she has obvious advantages as a Marine - faster, stronger, etc. But none of that compares with the advantage of her wide range of psi talents. Precognition is the strongest, but it is only the first in a long list of of talents.

So, is this space opera? It has some of the elements, but it also has strong characters - strong, well-developed characters. There are also at least two levels of plot and thereby motiving forces. Not characteristics of space opera in general. On the other hand, there is a great abundance of action and heroics and blood and gore. Then there is the scene at the end of boot camp when the DI orders her to tow the bus with the remainder of her class back to camp ...