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tomasthanes's review
5.0
"I wanted to be the good guy, to do the right thing. ... That's the soldier's dilemma."
An excellent trilogy on near future warfare with soldiers enhanced with skullnets, dead sisters, squads of soldiers linked together, and drones overhead.
Highly recommended.
An excellent trilogy on near future warfare with soldiers enhanced with skullnets, dead sisters, squads of soldiers linked together, and drones overhead.
Highly recommended.
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this series, but #3 was a bit of a letdown.
The action scenes have to be there, because they are part of the Brand of this series, but I found myself skimming them. Gencom, gencom, AI lights up targets, bam, repeat. Someone gets hurt and we drag them out. Repeat.
What makes it work this time is the repeated way it all works until it doesn't, and Nagata is careful not to tell us why. Is the the Red? Local AIs? Someone (everyone?) up the chain of command?
One gets perhaps a little tired of the old "tough soldier ain't gonna let no brass hats tell HIM what to do," and it almost wanders into "You're Off This Case! Give me your gun!" - but Nagata saves it with an examination of the squad deciding who they should be loyal to and why.
The themes of non-linear war and the-AI-genie-can't-be-put-back-in-the-bottle are very good.
The ending? Meh. OK with what happens re Shelley, but I figure that after some 1400 pages we should get to know what Nagata thinks the Red is and what it's up to.
Also I want to know who decided it would be a good idea to let the Red have a way to influence soldiers' thinking. Was Shelley really the first to think "Wai-ai-ait a minute ..." I have a growing feeling that Nagata had no choice but to leave it unresolved, because all the resolutions I can think of are in the painting-oneself-into-a-corner variety.
I may have missed something, but for me Leonid wasn't credible as the benevolent uncle, given what he was before, but it's possible, so OK.
Also not sure about the local AIs being philosophically capable of realizing that the Red exists and needs to be (and can be) deked out.
But in the end, the whole story arc of Shelley-theRed-the higher officers was an interesting and effective choice.
The action scenes have to be there, because they are part of the Brand of this series, but I found myself skimming them. Gencom, gencom, AI lights up targets, bam, repeat. Someone gets hurt and we drag them out. Repeat.
What makes it work this time is the repeated way it all works until it doesn't, and Nagata is careful not to tell us why. Is the the Red? Local AIs? Someone (everyone?) up the chain of command?
One gets perhaps a little tired of the old "tough soldier ain't gonna let no brass hats tell HIM what to do," and it almost wanders into "You're Off This Case! Give me your gun!" - but Nagata saves it with an examination of the squad deciding who they should be loyal to and why.
The themes of non-linear war and the-AI-genie-can't-be-put-back-in-the-bottle are very good.
The ending? Meh. OK with what happens re Shelley, but I figure that after some 1400 pages we should get to know what Nagata thinks the Red is and what it's up to.
Also I want to know who decided it would be a good idea to let the Red have a way to influence soldiers' thinking. Was Shelley really the first to think "Wai-ai-ait a minute ..." I have a growing feeling that Nagata had no choice but to leave it unresolved, because all the resolutions I can think of are in the painting-oneself-into-a-corner variety.
I may have missed something, but for me Leonid wasn't credible as the benevolent uncle, given what he was before, but it's possible, so OK.
Also not sure about the local AIs being philosophically capable of realizing that the Red exists and needs to be (and can be) deked out.
But in the end, the whole story arc of Shelley-theRed-the higher officers was an interesting and effective choice.
mnyberg's review against another edition
5.0
Five stars overall for this trilogy. I enjoyed the advance of the plot and how the main character adapted and changed throughout. The battle sequences were played out well and the violence was described well without going over the top in blood and gore. The technology was cool also. Will read again somewhere down the line.
eososray's review against another edition
3.0
I should maybe not have read all three of this trilogy back to back, by the time I got to this book I was feeling a little bored with the story and the hero.
Still, it was a good conclusion to the story.
Still, it was a good conclusion to the story.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty good ending to the trilogy. Definitely too much non-stop war, but done pretty well. Though in the end it's not real clear what gets resolved. Not a happy book, this is not a pretty future. And it remains a very different take on emerging AIs. 3.5 of 5.
jercox's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this a little more than the first two. Felt like it had more character arc, somewhat more coherence, and tied up a lot of loose ends.
laci's review against another edition
3.0
A good enough ending to the trilogy, even though I liked it less than the previous installments. It still was split into three separate sub-arcs, just like the previous books, and there were a few intersting twists. But alas, it was a lot longer than it needed to be. It felt drawn out and lost a lot of the impact it could have had.
corrompido's review against another edition
4.0
Although the writing is still a bit hit or miss, in the end this trilogy was rather enjoyable. Still schlocky, but in a fun way that made for an enjoyable read.
claudia_is_reading's review against another edition
3.0
The one I liked the least in the trilogy.
It's not bad, per se. Very action-oriented, and entertaining, but there is nothing to be looking forward once we knew, at the very beginning, about The Red. Except, maybe, to learn what would be the fate of Shelley once The Red was done with him.
And, as he has been slowly getting less and less attractive as a character for me, that wasn't a big incentive.
Still, not a bad story, just less than what I was expecting.
It's not bad, per se. Very action-oriented, and entertaining, but there is nothing to be looking forward once we knew, at the very beginning, about The Red. Except, maybe, to learn what would be the fate of Shelley once The Red was done with him.
And, as he has been slowly getting less and less attractive as a character for me, that wasn't a big incentive.
Still, not a bad story, just less than what I was expecting.