fathershawn's review
4.0
An engaging but at times disturbing story founded in the American ethic of war conducted as an all out righteous crusade...
thinde's review
DNF 2%
I'm not rating this book since I only read for 30 minutes. I'm not a fan of spending lots of time in an antagonist's head, even when it is lightly sprinkled throughout a book. In this case, the entire opening scene forces the reader to occupy the mind of a powerful, slave-running, misogynistic, entitled assh*le. I was repulsed so strongly that I just stopped reading.
I'm sure many readers, who possess greater tolerance or patience than I, managed to persevere and enjoyed the book in its entirety. For me though, I can't understand why the author would make this choice. It's the opposite of the usual writing advice, "Start with a hook." Kratman decided to start with a stroll through a sewer.
EDIT: Um... After reading some of the other reviews, it seems the antagonist that I was repulsed by was actually the protagonist. Oh my god! Run! Run for the hills!
I'm not rating this book since I only read for 30 minutes. I'm not a fan of spending lots of time in an antagonist's head, even when it is lightly sprinkled throughout a book. In this case, the entire opening scene forces the reader to occupy the mind of a powerful, slave-running, misogynistic, entitled assh*le. I was repulsed so strongly that I just stopped reading.
I'm sure many readers, who possess greater tolerance or patience than I, managed to persevere and enjoyed the book in its entirety. For me though, I can't understand why the author would make this choice. It's the opposite of the usual writing advice, "Start with a hook." Kratman decided to start with a stroll through a sewer.
EDIT: Um... After reading some of the other reviews, it seems the antagonist that I was repulsed by was actually the protagonist. Oh my god! Run! Run for the hills!
jmartindf's review
3.0
This is a story that mostly works. It’s a combination of a revenge fantasy and a polemical and Kratman does a very good job of pulling off both sides.
The story centers around Patricio Hennessey de Carrera, a retired military officer living on the planet Terra Nova. His world is turned upside down when his wife and 4 children (the youngest daughter still unborn) are killed in a terrorist attack. Fighting his way out of nearly suicidal grief, he comes out of retirement, builds an army, and uses it towards the goal of killing everyone who directly or indirectly had a hand in the terrorist attacks.
That’s, rather self-evidently, the revenge fantasy portion of the work. Those elements of the story really work and are done well.
The polemical bit comes when you consider who the various groups in the story are. Carrera is clearly a stand-in for a competent but too blunt American military officer. And the terrorists who killed his wife and children are clearly barbarian Islamic fanatics. And the building destroyed in the terrorist attack is clearly a stand-in for the World Trade Center towers. The story is best seen as a description of what happened to America on 9/11 and how we should have responded to it.
It’s also a look at how we will have to become (at least somewhat) more like our enemies, in order to win. It’s not always pleasant but Kratman doesn’t try to make us feel good about the changes. He just wants us to recognizes that victory won’t be easy and it will probably change us.
The polemical part of the story works fairly well and is well-integrated into the rest of the novel. It’s not forced and the explanations and and motivations that make it up are simply in the natural flow of the story.
So far, so good. But the book goes completely off the rails when it comes to the setting. I mentioned that the book takes place on another planet, Terra Nova. This is a planet that a robotic exploring ship just happened to find. It’s a planet that just happened to have been settled by every major nation and ethnic group on Earth. It’s a planet that just happened to have geography similar to Earth’s. It’s a planet where the settlers just happened to group themselves similarly to how people are grouped on Earth.
There is a clear and direct correlation between the countries of Terra Nova and the countries of Earth. It’s fairly easy to make a translation list.
Yes, you saw that right. Not only are individual countries represented by their oh so similarly named counterparts but so are political boundaries. In fact, it gets much worse. Not only the geography and politics are the same between Earth and Terra Nova but so is the history!
This planet, settled from Earth, had many of the same wars and conflicts Earth. For instance, there was a Great Global War that featured the same alliances and events as World Wars I and II. In fact, at the end of the Great Global War, the FSC dropped two nuclear bombs on Yamato. There was a Sumer-Farsia War that happened in the not too distant past. There was a recent “Petrol War” that sounded very similar to Desert Storm.
Much of the book takes place in and around the country of Balboa. Balboa, geographically and culturally, is very similar to Panama. In fact, the Balboans even have a “Balboa Transitway” that’s identical to the Panama Canal.
This level of correspondance is highly, highly frustrating. Why make the reader spend all of the effort to make a mental map between the nations and history of Terra Nova and the nations and history of Earth? Especially when the end result is Earth in everything but name? What is the point of all of that work? Why not just set the story in an alternate history version of this past decade?
Everytime I wanted to get lost in the world, I kept getting bludgeoned with the similarities between the world of the book and our world today. It totally destroyed my ability to immerse myself in the book and just enjoy it.
I liked the characters in the book (even if they were formulaic) and I liked the story. I really didn’t like the setting, so I can’t rate this book as highly as I would otherwise like too. I can only say that it was disappointing, overall.
Read for free, at the Baen Free Library
The story centers around Patricio Hennessey de Carrera, a retired military officer living on the planet Terra Nova. His world is turned upside down when his wife and 4 children (the youngest daughter still unborn) are killed in a terrorist attack. Fighting his way out of nearly suicidal grief, he comes out of retirement, builds an army, and uses it towards the goal of killing everyone who directly or indirectly had a hand in the terrorist attacks.
That’s, rather self-evidently, the revenge fantasy portion of the work. Those elements of the story really work and are done well.
The polemical bit comes when you consider who the various groups in the story are. Carrera is clearly a stand-in for a competent but too blunt American military officer. And the terrorists who killed his wife and children are clearly barbarian Islamic fanatics. And the building destroyed in the terrorist attack is clearly a stand-in for the World Trade Center towers. The story is best seen as a description of what happened to America on 9/11 and how we should have responded to it.
It’s also a look at how we will have to become (at least somewhat) more like our enemies, in order to win. It’s not always pleasant but Kratman doesn’t try to make us feel good about the changes. He just wants us to recognizes that victory won’t be easy and it will probably change us.
The polemical part of the story works fairly well and is well-integrated into the rest of the novel. It’s not forced and the explanations and and motivations that make it up are simply in the natural flow of the story.
So far, so good. But the book goes completely off the rails when it comes to the setting. I mentioned that the book takes place on another planet, Terra Nova. This is a planet that a robotic exploring ship just happened to find. It’s a planet that just happened to have been settled by every major nation and ethnic group on Earth. It’s a planet that just happened to have geography similar to Earth’s. It’s a planet where the settlers just happened to group themselves similarly to how people are grouped on Earth.
There is a clear and direct correlation between the countries of Terra Nova and the countries of Earth. It’s fairly easy to make a translation list.
- The USA is represented by the Federated States of Columbia (FSC).
- The United Kingdom is represented by the Kingdom of Anglia.
- France is represented by the Gallic Republic.
- Germany is represented by Sachsen.
- Iraq is represented by Sumer.
- Afghanistan is represented by Pashtia.
- Iran is represented by Farsia.
- Russia is represented by Volgon.
- Japan is represented by Yamato.
- Europe as a whole is represented by Taurus.
- The European Union is represented by the Tauran Union.
Yes, you saw that right. Not only are individual countries represented by their oh so similarly named counterparts but so are political boundaries. In fact, it gets much worse. Not only the geography and politics are the same between Earth and Terra Nova but so is the history!
This planet, settled from Earth, had many of the same wars and conflicts Earth. For instance, there was a Great Global War that featured the same alliances and events as World Wars I and II. In fact, at the end of the Great Global War, the FSC dropped two nuclear bombs on Yamato. There was a Sumer-Farsia War that happened in the not too distant past. There was a recent “Petrol War” that sounded very similar to Desert Storm.
Much of the book takes place in and around the country of Balboa. Balboa, geographically and culturally, is very similar to Panama. In fact, the Balboans even have a “Balboa Transitway” that’s identical to the Panama Canal.
This level of correspondance is highly, highly frustrating. Why make the reader spend all of the effort to make a mental map between the nations and history of Terra Nova and the nations and history of Earth? Especially when the end result is Earth in everything but name? What is the point of all of that work? Why not just set the story in an alternate history version of this past decade?
Everytime I wanted to get lost in the world, I kept getting bludgeoned with the similarities between the world of the book and our world today. It totally destroyed my ability to immerse myself in the book and just enjoy it.
I liked the characters in the book (even if they were formulaic) and I liked the story. I really didn’t like the setting, so I can’t rate this book as highly as I would otherwise like too. I can only say that it was disappointing, overall.
Read for free, at the Baen Free Library
bookstuff's review against another edition
3.0
This is basically an alt-history story pretending to be sf. It's a retelling of the first 9/11 to Iraq invasion on a what coulda-shoulda been response. The setting is a bit silly and you just have to suspend your disbelief - a colonized world that matches almost exactly with earth.
The military training / tactics, etc were too detailed for me, but I was interested in where the author was going with the argument that to defeat an enemy you have to, not only understand him, but to some extent become him.
The military training / tactics, etc were too detailed for me, but I was interested in where the author was going with the argument that to defeat an enemy you have to, not only understand him, but to some extent become him.
sgtbigg's review
2.0
During the mid 21st Century, a rift is discovered in the outer solar system. The rift leads to another solar system with an earth-like planet populated by animals from the end of earth's Ice Age. There are other plants and animals that appear to be from elsewhere and some that appear to have been artificially constructed. The governments of earth begin sending their malcontents and other unwanted population to the new world, imaginatively named Terra Nova. 400 years later Terra Nova is divided into nation states copied from earth - the United States/Federated States, Russia/Volga, Iraq/Sumer, and so on. So far so good. Then Muslim extremists crash three blimps into skyscrapers in the Federated States capital on 7/11 causing the destruction of the buildings and thousands of deaths, sound at all familiar? Just wait it gets better, the Federated States then invades Pashtia to drive out the terrorists and later invades Sumer over reports of WMDs. Kratman’s characters then proceed to fight the war the “right” way and by the right way I mean the way the most dedicated bomb them back to the Stone Age, water boarding hawk would want the war to be fought. I’m of two minds about this book, I liked the set-up but the repeat of the last 10 years doesn’t really do justice to it. This is the first of a projected eight book series, I might read the next one just to see where he goes with it and after that we’ll have to see.
jmoses's review
4.0
This was surprisingly good. I had no idea what to expect. I've only read Kratman before in company with [a:John Ringo|14219|John Ringo|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1324507839p2/14219.jpg], and Ringo's voice is so strong, I wasn't sure about Kratman.
Essentially he's a less deliberately offensive Ringo. I mean, there are points of difference of course, and he *does* have his own voice, and it's a good one. But he reminds me of Ringo strongly, just...dialed back. If you already like Ringo, I can say with a high probability that you'll like this book by Kratman. I can't say the reverse however. If you like Kratman, you _may_ like Ringo. You may not. 50/50.
Back to this book, it's good. There's a strong correlation (I assume, it feels like there is) with some recent-ish history, at least in broad strokes. The book is set in the far future, but on a 2nd "Earth" that's really just Earth now as a setting for a scifi book. I'm interested in seeing how the overall story plays out in the series, and how the Legion grows as well. Tons of potential for this to be a great series.
Essentially he's a less deliberately offensive Ringo. I mean, there are points of difference of course, and he *does* have his own voice, and it's a good one. But he reminds me of Ringo strongly, just...dialed back. If you already like Ringo, I can say with a high probability that you'll like this book by Kratman. I can't say the reverse however. If you like Kratman, you _may_ like Ringo. You may not. 50/50.
Back to this book, it's good. There's a strong correlation (I assume, it feels like there is) with some recent-ish history, at least in broad strokes. The book is set in the far future, but on a 2nd "Earth" that's really just Earth now as a setting for a scifi book. I'm interested in seeing how the overall story plays out in the series, and how the Legion grows as well. Tons of potential for this to be a great series.
vraper's review
I wasn't sure whether to review this book because I've been chatting to the author by email...
This is an divisive read. If you are intolerant of differing political views (and left-wing), you will loathe this. You may physically recoil. You may have to pick skull fragments off your carpet. Partly a polemic about the War on Terror, the author doesn't shy away from tackling extreme violence, political corruption, the ethics of torture or non-western cultures from a extremely right-wing American perspective. It's strong, opinionated and uncompromising and - yep - you may find it offensive.
It is, however, significantly smarter and more thoughtful than the 1* reviews would suggest. The action scenes are reminiscent of Tom Clancy and hauntingly world-weary. The social commentary has a dry, cynical sense of humour and hits target more than its opponents would like.
I liked it. It was a bit long, dragged in the middle and it's 'speculative' rather than 'science' fiction. It does have SF elements, but they're significantly weaker than the military sections, and the technology is mostly present day.
This is an divisive read. If you are intolerant of differing political views (and left-wing), you will loathe this. You may physically recoil. You may have to pick skull fragments off your carpet. Partly a polemic about the War on Terror, the author doesn't shy away from tackling extreme violence, political corruption, the ethics of torture or non-western cultures from a extremely right-wing American perspective. It's strong, opinionated and uncompromising and - yep - you may find it offensive.
It is, however, significantly smarter and more thoughtful than the 1* reviews would suggest. The action scenes are reminiscent of Tom Clancy and hauntingly world-weary. The social commentary has a dry, cynical sense of humour and hits target more than its opponents would like.
I liked it. It was a bit long, dragged in the middle and it's 'speculative' rather than 'science' fiction. It does have SF elements, but they're significantly weaker than the military sections, and the technology is mostly present day.
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