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leons1701's review
3.0
As omnibus editions go, this one is a little bit odd, comprised of the fifth and final book of The General and the first book of whatever the heck the follow on series is called. So the big climax is kind of in the middle.
Raj Whitehall (an expy of Bellisarius) has beaten everyone he faced, except the Colony's most able commander, Tewfik. So guess who's back for a rematch? The Colony has arguably better military technology than the Civil Government (repeaters vs single shot breech loading rifles, quick firing artillery, etc) and a commander just as able as Whitehall, if not better. So when they invade in force, the Civil Government is in real danger, leaving Governor Barnholm no choice but to trust in Raj one more time. Raj must beat Tewfik to save the progress already made to unite the planet, but if he does, it is almost certain the paranoid Governor will have him executed.
The follow on series turns from the planet Bellvue to the wider galaxy. Center has launched probes to troubled worlds with a downloaded version of Raj's personality in them. In The Chosen, one of these probes lands on Visager, where the the Chosen are making a fair bid at reprising the roles of both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in a setting with some strong parallels to WWII, although the tech base is closer to an early WWI. How bad are The Chosen? Let's just say it's pretty obvious Stirling was feeling a bit nostalgic for the Draka. This one feels a bit rushed and compressed, years of setup for the war, intrigue, a Spanish Civil War expy (complete with Hemmingway reference) and the main war in one volume. There's also a somewhat silly sense of humor, if I told you the Wong brothers were bicycle manufacturers, could you guess what they invent? And various historical quotes show up in a different context, which isn't quite as funny as the authors probably thought it was.
I'd probably give The Sword 4 stars on it's own, but as an omnibus, it's dragged down slightly by the rushed feel of The Chosen. Still not a bad choice for fans of military SF (and who the heck else is going to be reading a Drake/Stirling collaboration anyhow?)
Raj Whitehall (an expy of Bellisarius) has beaten everyone he faced, except the Colony's most able commander, Tewfik. So guess who's back for a rematch? The Colony has arguably better military technology than the Civil Government (repeaters vs single shot breech loading rifles, quick firing artillery, etc) and a commander just as able as Whitehall, if not better. So when they invade in force, the Civil Government is in real danger, leaving Governor Barnholm no choice but to trust in Raj one more time. Raj must beat Tewfik to save the progress already made to unite the planet, but if he does, it is almost certain the paranoid Governor will have him executed.
The follow on series turns from the planet Bellvue to the wider galaxy. Center has launched probes to troubled worlds with a downloaded version of Raj's personality in them. In The Chosen, one of these probes lands on Visager, where the the Chosen are making a fair bid at reprising the roles of both Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in a setting with some strong parallels to WWII, although the tech base is closer to an early WWI. How bad are The Chosen? Let's just say it's pretty obvious Stirling was feeling a bit nostalgic for the Draka. This one feels a bit rushed and compressed, years of setup for the war, intrigue, a Spanish Civil War expy (complete with Hemmingway reference) and the main war in one volume. There's also a somewhat silly sense of humor, if I told you the Wong brothers were bicycle manufacturers, could you guess what they invent? And various historical quotes show up in a different context, which isn't quite as funny as the authors probably thought it was.
I'd probably give The Sword 4 stars on it's own, but as an omnibus, it's dragged down slightly by the rushed feel of The Chosen. Still not a bad choice for fans of military SF (and who the heck else is going to be reading a Drake/Stirling collaboration anyhow?)
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