ISBN: 0-671-31940-X Order from: Amazon.com
A shallow, but fun romp of war, romance, perfidy and stupidity, with comic-like aliens but pleasantly roguish allies.
Reviewed by David on November 10, 2000
Genre: Science Fiction (War, Aliens, Romance)
Synopsis: The starship could not carry much industrial equipment. Therefore, the Terran colony had to be largely self-sufficient. While quickly stratifying into rich but idle share-holders and serf-like clones, the existence of the colony was not in danger with its fairly low-level technology until the Magh came. The alien Magh were aggressive, acquisitive, and very hard to kill. If it weren't for another alien species, the friendly Korozhet, the planet would have been overrun by the invaders.
The Korozhet, fleeing the brutal Magh, has given the humans defenses against the Magh—as well as uplift technology to fashion soldiers out of bats and rats, augmenting human armies.
And so it happened, that while the share-holder generals partied in luxury, the vat-grown clones, along with uplifted rats and bats, fought and died in the Magh labytinths.
However, when a conscripted human with a bunch of randy, alcohol-loving rats and revolutionary, rebellious bats fall behind enemy lines, the team was certainly not willing to become dead heroes. To avoid this, they embarked on a journey of digging, drinking, demolition and fighting that may lead them to survival—and the enemy to confusion.
Full Review: While there is a solid market for gritty, realistic military science fiction, this novel goes for comic relief. And, to a large extent, gets there.
With the tongue planted firmly in cheek, the crew of misfits, including a Hagel-quoting rat, faux-Irish bats and a former sous chef take on the endless hordes of aliens, the perfidy of allies, incompetence of officers, booby-trapped maidens in distress, and malfunctioning farm equipment. Overloaded with puns and occasionally quite funny repartee, the romp is fun, while having almost no resemblance to real combat.
While hardly memorable, the novel provides entertainment for a few hours, and reading it makes for an excellent break in weightier tasks.
Overall: 5.5; Plot: 5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 4; Originality: 4;
Copyright date 2000, Baen Publishing Enterprises (Baen), September 2000, Cloth, 388 pages
ISBN: 0-671-31940-X Order from: Amazon.com