bellisk's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book, but it failed to hold my attention and I can’t figure out why.
ishouldreadthat's review
4.0
Originally posted to I Should Read That
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
The Bastard Legion was published in eBook format in January 2017 under the name The Hangman’s Daughter.
This is the first book by Gavin Smith that I’ve read, and I’m so happy to say that The Bastard Legion lived up to my hopes and expectations. It has so many things that I absolutely love: a dark and gritty world, cool and complex technology, morally grey characters, and a butt-kicking leading lady. This is a tough one to review because I feel like you should really dive in and discover for yourself, but I’ll do my best.
A thrilling new down-and-dirty military SF series set in a world of mercenary actions and covert operations… The ultimate Suicide Squad for lovers of Aliens.
Four hundred years in the future, the most dangerous criminals are kept in suspended animation aboard prison ships and “rehabilitated” in a shared virtual reality environment. But Miska Corbin, a thief and hacker with a background in black ops, has stolen one of these ships, the Hangman’s Daughter, and made it her own. Controlled by explosive collars and trained in virtual reality by the electronic ghost of a dead marine sergeant, the thieves, gangsters, murderers, and worse are transformed into Miska’s own private indentured army: the Bastard Legion. Are the mercenaries just for fun and profit, or does Miska have a hidden purpose connected to her covert past?
World Building and Plot
When the books opens, you’re very much thrown directly into the action and need some time to sort out what is going on. To be honest, when this is done well it is one of my favourite approaches to sci-fi. Concepts that seem confusing at first are clarified as the world is slowly revealed to the reader. Smith’s exquisite world-building makes this one of the most fascinating sci-fi worlds I’ve read in a long time. There are so many layers to the world and plot of The Bastard Legion, and it is an absolute delight to watch everything unfold.
Pretty much the entirety of The Bastard Legion takes place off-planet. We spend a great deal of time inside ships, asteroids, and virtual reality. I particularly loved how pervasive the virtual reality was. In order to rehabilitate the prisoners, they’re kept in suspended animation but kept mentally active in virtual reality. When Miska takes over, she uses the VR to train up the prisoners as soldiers. VR is everywhere in this book, but remains unique. They train in VR, they fight in VR, they communicate in VR, and they hack in VR. Characters dip in and out of the virtual world, gaining new perspectives and uncovering secrets about their current location and who they interact with.
Characters
So the character I’m going to focus on here is Miska. Not only is she the person we see the most of, but she’s also just so incredibly cool. I personally love a good morally grey character. Miska is not a villain, despite what some of the prisoners and her employers might say. She is also not really a hero — she commits some horrible crimes. She lies somewhere in the murky, greyish realm of ‘antihero’, which honestly makes her so much more believable and cool in her role. She’s an ex-marine who is obviously incredibly capable, but has a whole bucket of issues.
In the beginning, she aims to present herself to her new, unwilling mercenary force as a psychopath, and she doesn’t really need to act much. I personally don’t fully buy that Miska is a psychopath – she’s someone who knows what needs to get done and will do anything to fulfill her personal mission – but she has moments of humanity and emotion. She does, however, have no issue setting off the explosive collars around her ‘soldiers’ necks in order to establish dominance and discipline. Like I said, she’s pretty morally grey.
She’s a fascinating character because you never really know what she’ll do next, especially as her motivations are revealed. I loved the slow reveal of her back story, which explains so much of why she does what she does. Her interactions with various prisoners shows the difference between the Miska she presents to others and who she truly is.
The Bastard Legion is a book that’s best discovered by the reader. It’s filled with incredibly cool and unique twists on familiar concepts and morally grey characters. While I wouldn’t recommend it to sci-fi newcomers – simply because it is a little more on the complex side – military sci-fi enthusiasts must pick this one up. If you’re looking for an action-packed thrill ride that will sweep you far away from the ordinary, The Bastard Legion is the book for you. It’s easily one of the best sci-fi books I’ve picked up this year.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.
The Bastard Legion was published in eBook format in January 2017 under the name The Hangman’s Daughter.
This is the first book by Gavin Smith that I’ve read, and I’m so happy to say that The Bastard Legion lived up to my hopes and expectations. It has so many things that I absolutely love: a dark and gritty world, cool and complex technology, morally grey characters, and a butt-kicking leading lady. This is a tough one to review because I feel like you should really dive in and discover for yourself, but I’ll do my best.
A thrilling new down-and-dirty military SF series set in a world of mercenary actions and covert operations… The ultimate Suicide Squad for lovers of Aliens.
Four hundred years in the future, the most dangerous criminals are kept in suspended animation aboard prison ships and “rehabilitated” in a shared virtual reality environment. But Miska Corbin, a thief and hacker with a background in black ops, has stolen one of these ships, the Hangman’s Daughter, and made it her own. Controlled by explosive collars and trained in virtual reality by the electronic ghost of a dead marine sergeant, the thieves, gangsters, murderers, and worse are transformed into Miska’s own private indentured army: the Bastard Legion. Are the mercenaries just for fun and profit, or does Miska have a hidden purpose connected to her covert past?
When the books opens, you’re very much thrown directly into the action and need some time to sort out what is going on. To be honest, when this is done well it is one of my favourite approaches to sci-fi. Concepts that seem confusing at first are clarified as the world is slowly revealed to the reader. Smith’s exquisite world-building makes this one of the most fascinating sci-fi worlds I’ve read in a long time. There are so many layers to the world and plot of The Bastard Legion, and it is an absolute delight to watch everything unfold.
Pretty much the entirety of The Bastard Legion takes place off-planet. We spend a great deal of time inside ships, asteroids, and virtual reality. I particularly loved how pervasive the virtual reality was. In order to rehabilitate the prisoners, they’re kept in suspended animation but kept mentally active in virtual reality. When Miska takes over, she uses the VR to train up the prisoners as soldiers. VR is everywhere in this book, but remains unique. They train in VR, they fight in VR, they communicate in VR, and they hack in VR. Characters dip in and out of the virtual world, gaining new perspectives and uncovering secrets about their current location and who they interact with.
So the character I’m going to focus on here is Miska. Not only is she the person we see the most of, but she’s also just so incredibly cool. I personally love a good morally grey character. Miska is not a villain, despite what some of the prisoners and her employers might say. She is also not really a hero — she commits some horrible crimes. She lies somewhere in the murky, greyish realm of ‘antihero’, which honestly makes her so much more believable and cool in her role. She’s an ex-marine who is obviously incredibly capable, but has a whole bucket of issues.
In the beginning, she aims to present herself to her new, unwilling mercenary force as a psychopath, and she doesn’t really need to act much. I personally don’t fully buy that Miska is a psychopath – she’s someone who knows what needs to get done and will do anything to fulfill her personal mission – but she has moments of humanity and emotion. She does, however, have no issue setting off the explosive collars around her ‘soldiers’ necks in order to establish dominance and discipline. Like I said, she’s pretty morally grey.
She’s a fascinating character because you never really know what she’ll do next, especially as her motivations are revealed. I loved the slow reveal of her back story, which explains so much of why she does what she does. Her interactions with various prisoners shows the difference between the Miska she presents to others and who she truly is.
The Bastard Legion is a book that’s best discovered by the reader. It’s filled with incredibly cool and unique twists on familiar concepts and morally grey characters. While I wouldn’t recommend it to sci-fi newcomers – simply because it is a little more on the complex side – military sci-fi enthusiasts must pick this one up. If you’re looking for an action-packed thrill ride that will sweep you far away from the ordinary, The Bastard Legion is the book for you. It’s easily one of the best sci-fi books I’ve picked up this year.
trike's review
3.0
Entertaining MilSF/Space Opera about a disgraced marine who takes over a roving supermax prison spaceship, forcing the murderous psychopaths imprisoned there to become a mercenary force. Problem is, she might just be the most psychotic person of the bunch. It definitely felt like Smith was channeling Harley Quinn for the main character.
There are a lot of references to previous stories, such as The Dirty Dozen (Smith even references Lee Marvin directly) as well as the Sylvester Stallone/Wesley Snipes film Demolition Man, plus various cyberpunk and MilSF tropes employed, most of it fairly well integrated.
The opening scene sees our protagonist, Miska Corbin, in outer space approaching their target, but she’s grown bored with the waiting so she’s cranked the classic rock and is doing her best Pete Townshend imitation, using her laser rifle as an ersatz guitar. That’s pretty much the flavor of the entire book.
There are twists and doublecrosses, of course, in addition to hidden agendas on every side. Ultimately I felt it didn’t quite stick the landing but it was a decent actioner. Smith doesn’t answer all the questions raised, but the story itself is complete despite being the first in a series.
There are a lot of references to previous stories, such as The Dirty Dozen (Smith even references Lee Marvin directly) as well as the Sylvester Stallone/Wesley Snipes film Demolition Man, plus various cyberpunk and MilSF tropes employed, most of it fairly well integrated.
The opening scene sees our protagonist, Miska Corbin, in outer space approaching their target, but she’s grown bored with the waiting so she’s cranked the classic rock and is doing her best Pete Townshend imitation, using her laser rifle as an ersatz guitar. That’s pretty much the flavor of the entire book.
There are twists and doublecrosses, of course, in addition to hidden agendas on every side. Ultimately I felt it didn’t quite stick the landing but it was a decent actioner. Smith doesn’t answer all the questions raised, but the story itself is complete despite being the first in a series.
nightresplendent's review
1.0
I hate to give a one star review to this book because I love the idea of it so much.
When reading the synopsis I thought I had found a book that I would love but sadly, this was not the case. For some reason, I just couldn't immerse myself in the writing and I can't exactly put my finger on why. I just know that I repeatedly found my mind drifting with boredom as I was reading.
This review is my opinion and my opinion alone so while I may not have enjoyed it, anyone else reading it may love it, and based on the other reviews, they have.
Thank you to the publisher, Gollancz for gifting me a free copy of The Bastard Legion.
When reading the synopsis I thought I had found a book that I would love but sadly, this was not the case. For some reason, I just couldn't immerse myself in the writing and I can't exactly put my finger on why. I just know that I repeatedly found my mind drifting with boredom as I was reading.
This review is my opinion and my opinion alone so while I may not have enjoyed it, anyone else reading it may love it, and based on the other reviews, they have.
Thank you to the publisher, Gollancz for gifting me a free copy of The Bastard Legion.
sarah42783's review against another edition
2.0
This book sounded Super Extra Luscious (SEL™) at first:
✔ Military Sci-Fi
✔ Prison ship type thingie
✔ Virtual reality
✔ Strong female lead
✔ A whole bunch of vile, vicious, bloodthirsty mercenary types
✔ Explosive collars that make people’s little heads go boom
So, quite naturally, I started reading the book feeling a little like this:
Onechapter third of the book in and I was like:
Okay, so the setting and premise are pretty cool. I mean, I can’t complain about the military stuff or the prison ship stuff or the virtual reality stuff. Although I can’t say the military stuff is super exciting. There is action and people shooting at things and stuff, but it’s all boring as fish, to be despicably honest. The virtual reality stuff isn’t that titillating either, come to think of it. Apart from the bit where Ghost Drill Sergeant Daddy (don’t ask) trains the convicts/mercenaries/whatever in VR. Only we don’t really see any of that, so you have to wonder what the shrimp the point of it all is. And I guess this leaves us with the prison ship stuff. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Only that the abominably savage criminals are “sleeping” in suspended animation 99% of the time (they air them out once in a while to keep them crisp and fresh), so, well, you know, blah and stuff.
So far so good! (This might or might not be a slightly sarcastic comment.)
The female lead could have been interesting and complex and kick-ass and stuff, but she spends her time a) pretending to be a slightly unbalanced psychopath
✔ Military Sci-Fi
✔ Prison ship type thingie
✔ Virtual reality
✔ Strong female lead
✔ A whole bunch of vile, vicious, bloodthirsty mercenary types
✔ Explosive collars that make people’s little heads go boom
So, quite naturally, I started reading the book feeling a little like this:
One
Okay, so the setting and premise are pretty cool. I mean, I can’t complain about the military stuff or the prison ship stuff or the virtual reality stuff. Although I can’t say the military stuff is super exciting. There is action and people shooting at things and stuff, but it’s all boring as fish, to be despicably honest. The virtual reality stuff isn’t that titillating either, come to think of it. Apart from the bit where Ghost Drill Sergeant Daddy (don’t ask) trains the convicts/mercenaries/whatever in VR. Only we don’t really see any of that, so you have to wonder what the shrimp the point of it all is. And I guess this leaves us with the prison ship stuff. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. Only that the abominably savage criminals are “sleeping” in suspended animation 99% of the time (they air them out once in a while to keep them crisp and fresh), so, well, you know, blah and stuff.
So far so good! (This might or might not be a slightly sarcastic comment.)
The female lead could have been interesting and complex and kick-ass and stuff, but she spends her time a) pretending to be a slightly unbalanced psychopath
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