I read one of Nick Cole\u2019s earlier books (CTRL ALT Revolt!) last year and liked it.\u00a0 So, when I heard he was involved in a mil-sf series I figured I\u2019d check it out.\u00a0 It turns out it\u2019s a dual authorship arrangement with Jason Anspach.\u00a0 I ordered it (I like to read books on paper) and read it last week.<\/p>\n
I like well-written mil-sf.\u00a0 This is well-written.\u00a0 The story chronicles an elite military unit involved in a supposedly routine diplomatic mission that devolves into a catastrophe.\u00a0 It melds the feel of modern American military in the middle east (ala Black Hawk Down) with lineage going back to Rudyard Kipling\u2019s India stories and translates it into a futuristic landscape of alien creatures, energy weapons and space cruisers.\u00a0 But the technology is definitely beside the point.\u00a0 The story is the camaraderie of men attempting to complete their mission and keep each other alive in an environment where bureaucratic amateur officers are just as dangerous as the enemy.<\/p>\n
The protagonist (first person narrative for the most part) is an NCO in the \u201cLegion.\u201d\u00a0 Through his eyes we see his comrades display various strengths and weaknesses and we observe the \u201cregular army\u201d that are combined with the legionnaires on this mission attempting to adapt to a combat role they are unprepared for.\u00a0 And we observe non-combatants and the alien inhabitants of this planet at the \u201cgalaxy\u2019s edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you like military science fiction you\u2019ll probably like this book.\u00a0 If you even just like war stories you might like this book.\u00a0 It is volume one of a series but this book is sort of a stand-alone story.\u00a0 The series chronicles the saga of the Galactic Republic through the eyes of the Legion as an elite force cleaning up the messes being perpetrated by an increasingly autocratic state over its subject worlds at the periphery of the galaxy.\u00a0 Basically, it sounds like the Roman Republic devolving into the Roman Empire.\u00a0 Or is it the American Republic?<\/p>\n
As you can probably guess from my comparison with Black Hawk Down, it\u2019s not a happily ever after kind of tale.\u00a0 It\u2019s a down beat story but if you like mil-sf then that\u2019s probably no surprise.\u00a0 If not be warned.<\/p>\n
So, here\u2019s my opinion.\u00a0 This is a good stand-alone story.\u00a0 The story develops and the action and the sub-plots unfold in natural way.\u00a0 The characters are interesting and have enough development to allow you to cheer and boo the appropriate actors.\u00a0 I can definitely recommend it.\u00a0 For me the question is do I go forward with a longer series?\u00a0 From what I understand the individual books are separated in time.\u00a0 They document the history of this galactic civilization.\u00a0 Implicitly this means none of the characters will carry over to the next book.\u00a0 Can the authors generate enough new people to populate the series?\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll try the next book in the series and see how that works out.\u00a0 I\u2019ll report back on the next installment when I do.<\/p>\n
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