The Military Form

The Vang #2

by Christopher Rowley

Eons ago, a war was fought to the death between the parasitic and ferocious Vang and a gifted but doomed race. As a last resort, these gentle beings were forced to use the Starhammer to smash the Vang spacefleets and homeworld, leaving only a handful of survivors. For a billion years a silvery shape drifted through space. More than three thousand years after humanity first went to the stars, an asteroid miner named Seed of Hope was illegally prospecting for radioactives in the Forbidden Areas of the saskatch star system. There it chanced across an alluring silvery object which looked like it would fetch a good price in the market for alien antiques. It was an encounter most of the crew would never remember.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Horror, Fiction, Aliens, Novels

369 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Christopher Rowley is a prolific writer of both science fiction and fantasy novels. He was born in 1948 in Lynn, Massachusetts to an American mother and an English father. Educated for the most part at Brentwood School, Essex, England, he became a London-based journalist in the 1970s. In 1977 he moved to New York City and began work on The War For Eternity, his first science fiction novel. He currently lives in upstate New York.

Reviews

[Mark Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, the best book of the trilogy (followed by #1 then #3). More hard-edged violent and pretty gruesome Sci-Fi. Can be read as a stand-alone (It was the first of the three that I read.)

Here we get to meet the race that the star hammer in the previous book was designed to deal with. A relentless parasitic alien species that will rapidly destroy man's empire and any other they can reach. The Vang are a quality antagonist and I had great fun reading about their efforts to reassert themselves from a single long-dormant seed while humanity does its best to eliminate them. Like the alien from the Alien/s films the Vang are a species for whom the "take off and nuke the planet from orbit" strategy was invented.

The way the military form (the version of the parasite that conquers worlds) operates by infecting and taking over humans is inventive and unpleasant. It's the sort of alien that makes you glad that flying saucers fly right by Earth without stopping.



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[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vang books by Rowley are something I reread every 5 years or so; I love these pulpy masterpieces! The Military Form is something of an alien invasion novel set in a grim colony on the edge of human space and takes place roughly 1000 years after the events in Starhammer. Humanity has cast off laowon rule (a brutal alien race) and expanded its colonization via the FTL baada drives. Most of the action here takes place on the colony world Saskatch, a fairly young colony with the main export being a highly illegal drug distilled from some of the local flora. Due to its pleasant high, it is in huge demand, leading to numerous groups obtaining it and smuggling it off planet (corrupting the local police force and politics accordingly). There are a few honest cops, however, and one of the main POVs is just such a man, along with a few trusted associates. He and some captured smugglers are trying to work out a deal to bag the 'big man', and thereby call in the military for assistance in cleaning house. The imagery surrounding the production and smuggling of the drug are amazing.

Another POV develops far off the planet in the meteor belt, where a small crew is illegally searching for radioactives. It is illegal due to the belt being the 'proscribed zone'; an area where relics of an ancient war may be located. The ancient war pitted the 'Vang', a parasitic life form that once dominated local space against the 'frogs'; the final battle killed almost everyone in both civilizations. Well, the mining spaceship discovers a strange object and sets off to investigate...

This is really a run read-- an action filled alien invasion novel set in a gritty colonial outpost. Rowley really captured the human element here (warts and all)! The pacing ebbed and flowed in places but the Vang make up for it. 4.5 stars.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was billed to me as brutally gross and violent so I had to check it out.

After a standard “alien” style beginning with a mining ship discovering an alien object in space there’s a huge amount of preamble.
Most of the action takes place on a colony world full of drug dealers, dirty cops and corrupt politicians. They spend almost 200 pages developing this world and all it’s selfish, unlikable characters. However, once this thing gets going it definitely delivers on the action and gore. Are you into slimy, tentacle/bug aliens ramming a throbbing proboscis up dudes asses and implanting their alien seed waaaay up and around the corner? If you are you’re in luck because it happens over and over again.
Personally my kink is the friends I make along the way but if you like gross, alien rape and some consensual alien on alien action then you better put some plastic over the pages.
Seriously though, the action hardly lets up in the second half of this right to the end.

Not the best thing I’ve read but some judicious editing in the first half would have mad it a five star read for me but not in the weird way that you’re thinking, I just love 80s space horror, ok….please don’t tell my mom.

[Empress · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book is good and I like the writer style. From all the reviews I read I was expecting more horror and battles but the first half of the book is just introduction to the characters, not less interesting of course. I find the way he portrays the Vang just beautiful, it made me feel empathetic toward "it".

Edit: 27/07/2017. Just watched Oats Studios - Volume 1 - Zygote and thought of this book. The creature reminds of the Military Form.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the second in "The Vang" series. The Vang is an aggressive militaristic species that was supposed to have been exterminated by a race, now long dead. This story starts some thousands of years after the last Vang sighting. They are almost considered a myth by this time and so an illegal prospector is unprepared for what he finds on an old derelict in a remote asteroid belt. The Vang is a race of "Omni-Parasite" capable of taking over any human host. Naturally he (the illegal prospector) becomes the Vang's first host. The Vang's ability to conquer (and exterminate) is equaled only by its unequaled vileness. Death would be far preferable to capture if facing the Vang. I could not put this book down. As soon as it was finished I started reading the sequel, "The Vang: The Battlemaster". I highly recommend this book to fans of Space Opera and fans of Christopher Rowley.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so good my supply of superlatives is insufficient to do it justice. I've probably read this thing 20 times or more over the last 30 years. And I should qualify this statement, it's hard core science fiction, so only those who indulge in SF would get a similar impact from it. Rowley wrote mostly sword & sorcery stuff, dragons, etc. I dunno what his inspiration was for this but I am eternally thankful that the creative forces of the universe compelled him to produce it. I'm not going to go into detail because the wonderful unfolding of the story is a great joy for first time readers. Once you have been introduced to the Vang Oormlikoowl you'll never forget them.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The middle book of a very loose trilogy (Starhammer, The Vang: The Military Form, The Vang: The Battlemaster), and also the best of the three. Crazy alien infestation runs wild from a single mistake. Intense, quick read.

[Alex Stockdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in my teens, and found it both terrifying and gripping. Reread it recently, and it's still amazing. If you liked the film "Alien", try this book. The sequel (The Vang: The Battlemaster) is also good, but I didn't find it as scary as this one.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holds the distinction of being the only book to induce nausea as I was reading it. To parse these words is to undergo a form of PTSD, I'm certain. Afterwards, I slept with the light on. That's not a joke. That happened.

I really just wanted to flag this with a content warning; it's super difficult to find a copy (at least in Australia) Amazon has a few, but it's otherwise out of print; I needed to hunt through countless second-hand bookstores. Regardless, I'm sure other people share my fetish for pulpy sci-fi; I could find camaraderie somewhere amongst 8 billion other denizens - 4chan if nowhere else - but I should be upfront that this book features an overwhelming number of scenes where aliens rape and violate human beings. That's essentially one of the main hooks of the entire series ('theme' feels a little too highbrow to use in association here) Proceed with caution.

[Brett's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to believe I read this pulpy and extremely violent book as a child. I enjoyed it again a second time, but was shocked as I reread it that I had been allowed to read this book at all; I need to provide better oversight to my kids for sure.

[S. A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seriously, the alien invasion book to end all alien invasion books. It is awesome. I rec it to everyone who likes SF.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent novel. Much better than the first book. This trilogy inspired the Halo universe, which inspired me to read it. I'm very happy that I did as it's absolutely terrifying buildup leads to a nail-biting finale. The imagery the author provides is stunningly good. The world he creates is well fleshed out and the characters are crafted perfectly! This very realistic space horror at its finest. I highly recommend this book to anybody that stumbles across it and is debating whether or not to invest the time and energy into reading it. If you love Halo, The Thing, or the Invasion of the Body Snatchers, then this book is 100% for you. I'm thrilled there's a third one in the series and I'm going to start that immediately.

[Leif · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think "the Vang" is a great name for a malevolent species. For me, that name was the best part of this book.

Not really much more than your standard airplane read. The bad guys are truly a disgusting bunch, and I imagine that it is the only reason this book is still talked about at all. There is some connection here to the Halo video game series, but I am not familiar with Halo so I don't really care about how the Vang resembles an antagonist from that franchise.

Oddly enough, I may read the other books in this series. The writer is so-so, the characters were all kind of dicks, and I didn't care who died. But "Vang"... I just like that word.

Vang.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative and horrifying!
Love this series! Right there on the same shelf as Saberhagen's "Berzerkers".

[Rytis Ašmiaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best sci-fi books I've read. Original story, a lot of action. Must read for every sci-fi fan.

[Domas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the series and one of most favorite SciFi top 5!

[Adam Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well paced, properly gruesome alien thriller.

[Tony Hinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh boy, this is one scary story. I remember having some fabulous nightmares after reading this book for the first time. "The Vang: The military form" is fast-paced, graphic and horrifically personal. Rowley wrote it nearly ten years after the movie "Alien" was released, so he must have been aware that comparisons would be made. In reality, the similarities are more in feel than in format.
The Vang is an aggressive militaristic species that was supposed to have been exterminated by another alien race, now long dead. The evidence of this is found in archaeological records as well as a large number of post nova solar systems. It seems that the only way this ancient race found to eradicate the Vang, once it had a foothold on a planet, was to destroy the solar system with a special "Star Hammer" weapon. Such a high price was deemed necessary because the Vang's method of expansion was always at the expense of the species around it. In fact, the Vang were quite happy to utilize the bodies of any other life form as a temporary source of mobility and food. Overall, the Vang are not pleasant neighbors.
The story starts some thousands of years after the last Vang sighting. They are almost considered a myth by this time and so an illegal prospector is unprepared for what he finds on an old derelict in a remote asteroid belt. Naturally, he becomes the Vang's first host and as the story progresses we find that this species has many forms, like bees or ants. The genetic codes for each form are contained in each individual and will only be expressed under certain conditions. For example when a beehive loses it's queen some of the new hatchlings will automatically become queens.
The horror of the story is always generated from a human's point of view as the Vang manage to infest one of the outer worlds, undetected. We are allowed to follow their take-over from multiple viewpoints; the as yet uncaptured humans, the Vang's victims (who are impotent spectators to their body's horrific actions) and the Vang themselves. The Vang are intelligent. They have individual desires and perspectives but are ruled by a hive mentality. It is fascinating and creepy to get into the mind of such a powerfully destructive life form.
I could not put this book down. As soon as it was finished I went straight on to read "The Vang: The Battlemaster" which shows us a new twist on the Vang and what drives them. If you're not afraid of nightmares and you love a book that will not let you go, then consider this novel a must-read.

[Jason Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This weird, pulpy little book is the kind of sci-fi "action-horror in space" that was popular in movies in the '80s but not so much in prose. Several thousand years in the future, asteroid miners discover an ancient alien probe containing one of the Vang, a race of deadly parasites capable of reshaping their hosts into various monstrous, tentacled, clawed forms to better spread the contagion. After most of the crew are killed, the invasion spreads to a nearby frontier planet (possibly modeled on the Seattle area), where the story changes from "Alien" to a something like a zombie-outbreak novel... if by "zombies" you mean intelligent, super-fast, gun-wielding, hostile, uncommunicative mutants who reproduce by shoving eggs up the victims' anus. The female victim whose womb is used to produce doglike mini-aliens is another especially nasty bit of body horror.

While it has strong horror elements, "The Vang" isn't quite a pure horror novel. Despite a definite fascination with men anally penetrated by aliens, and lots of other disgusting occurrences, it doesn't linger on the gory details as much as it could. There's also many scenes from the perspective of the Vang Military Form, which while it sees humans as nothing but hosts and food, has a bit of personality and even philosophy after floating in space alone for thousands of years... and it even gets a bit sympathetic in the final 1/3rd of the book when we meet its boss, the Higher Form, which proves that incompetent, arrogant leadership exists not just among humans, but among wormlike genocidal parasite-m0nsters. These satirical scenes are an amusing counterpoint to the rest of the book, in which assorted human characters struggle to survive and flee as the Vang ruthlessly overtakes the planet. Competent prose, good action scenes and really imaginative monsters make this fun pulp SF.

Technically the 2nd in a series, the book was written to stand on its own and doesn't require any knowledge of "Starhammer."

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a loose sequel to Starhammer. A worthy addition to SF Horror on par with A. E. van Vogt's 'The Black Destroyer.' Also, the inspiration for the Halo game's 'The Flood.'

It's a full on bloody horror, like Alien/Aliens taken up to eleven and breaking the knob off in the process. But, there's also humour in the Military Form's observations, real psychological insight into where 'alien,' alien thoughts would lead.

NB: Just re-read this, and boy does it stand-up as one of the most provocative and interesting takes on how a rapacious alien parasite would view any world as its oyster.

[Sean E Britten · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's great! I wrote a super unnecessarily long review about it!
https://seanebritten.wordpress.com/20...

[Andy]

A BRILLIANT, GRIPPING BOOK, FIND OTHER STUFF BY THIS AUTHOR!!!

[Danath01 · Rating 1 out of 5]

bad

[Nhat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty scary and brutal. A great scifi novel. Reminds me of Aliens and the things.

[Ein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Затея интригующая: тварь из The Thing подминает планету. Если прорваться через ненужную первую треть, то затянет своей отвратительностью. Но в целом написано плохо, а перевод вообще ниже плинтуса.

[Hotrats · Rating 2 out of 5]

gratuitous violence

[Phil On The Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly fun bit of science fiction. The middle book in a trilogy, I find out 20 years later!

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

1991 grade C+

series book S2

Note = Too Violent