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Beyond Enemies
An assignment on a backwater world turns deadly for a combat vet and her AI tank. Military SF with heart and humor from up-and-coming author Marisa Wolf.
Sometimes the only way forward is to burn it all down.
Talinn Reaze and Bee serve as “Breezy,” part of the United Colonial Force’s elite Artificial Intelligence Troops. Trained for full integration since before Talinn’s birth, they exceeded expectations and became one of the premier heavy tanks, leading assaults on several fronts of the long war against the Interstellar Defense Corps.
When they’re thrown to a backwater base without cause, boredom becomes their main enemy—until the world falls out from under their treads and they begin to question everything they’ve ever known.
As they orient to their new reality, they have a decision to Uphold the status quo, or risk burning civilization to the ground?
Talinn and Bee always did have a fondness for fire.
Sometimes the only way forward is to burn it all down.
Talinn Reaze and Bee serve as “Breezy,” part of the United Colonial Force’s elite Artificial Intelligence Troops. Trained for full integration since before Talinn’s birth, they exceeded expectations and became one of the premier heavy tanks, leading assaults on several fronts of the long war against the Interstellar Defense Corps.
When they’re thrown to a backwater base without cause, boredom becomes their main enemy—until the world falls out from under their treads and they begin to question everything they’ve ever known.
As they orient to their new reality, they have a decision to Uphold the status quo, or risk burning civilization to the ground?
Talinn and Bee always did have a fondness for fire.
- GenresScience Fiction
416 pages, Paperback
Published February 6, 2024
14 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 31, 2024
I was told about this book at DragonCon in 2023 when I met and interviewed the author, Marisa Wolf and saw the gorgeous cover art from Sam Kennedy. Truly spectacular cover art here. I will probably nominate this cover art for the Dragon awards unless something better comes in the future.
This book is pitched as "A Girl and Her Tank", and based on the opening act of the book I can certainly understand why the book is pitched as thus. However, I would pitch the book as "A Girl and Her AI", as that is really the crux of the book. We follow Talinn Reaze, a human bred from birth to be an elite soldier for the UCF, and her AI counterpart "Bee". Talinn loves being in a tank, as does "Bee", and they love blowing stuff up (so you can see why the book is pitched as "A Girl and her Tank").
That being said, fans of "Bolo" and David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" will enjoy this book!
The dynamic between Talinn and Bee is definitely the strongest part of the book. Their humor and back and forths were really interesting throughout the book. I also appreciated that Wolf didn't go for the easy route of making the story a Pro vs Anti AI story, but rather made the crux of the book about government training children from birth to fight for them, and not giving them all of the necessary information. This makes the book stand out in a field of Military SF focusing on AI that I really appreciated.
The book is a little too long. I think Marisa and Baen could have easily cut 100-150 pages of the book, particularly a few sequences in the middle to make it flow better and be more readable. There was a time in the middle of the book where I just wanted to speed through it.
The book ramps up its ending pretty fast, and I think it is an emotional ending that works well for the book. Wolf smartly made the book about certain character dynamics, and the ending is intense because of it.
I did enjoy some of the minor characters in the book, such as "Jeena" and "Oti".
There are a few great twists in the book, one near the beginning and one near the end of the book that I thought were well executed and really worked well for the story.
Overall, I did enjoy the book. The middle of the book was really bloated and frustrating, but the opening and ending of the book were really well done, and I enjoyed some of the themes explored, as well as the central dynamic of Talinn and Bee. I'll give the book a 7 out of 10! Very good solo Debut from Marisa Wolf!
This book is pitched as "A Girl and Her Tank", and based on the opening act of the book I can certainly understand why the book is pitched as thus. However, I would pitch the book as "A Girl and Her AI", as that is really the crux of the book. We follow Talinn Reaze, a human bred from birth to be an elite soldier for the UCF, and her AI counterpart "Bee". Talinn loves being in a tank, as does "Bee", and they love blowing stuff up (so you can see why the book is pitched as "A Girl and her Tank").
That being said, fans of "Bolo" and David Drake's "Hammer's Slammers" will enjoy this book!
The dynamic between Talinn and Bee is definitely the strongest part of the book. Their humor and back and forths were really interesting throughout the book. I also appreciated that Wolf didn't go for the easy route of making the story a Pro vs Anti AI story, but rather made the crux of the book about government training children from birth to fight for them, and not giving them all of the necessary information. This makes the book stand out in a field of Military SF focusing on AI that I really appreciated.
The book is a little too long. I think Marisa and Baen could have easily cut 100-150 pages of the book, particularly a few sequences in the middle to make it flow better and be more readable. There was a time in the middle of the book where I just wanted to speed through it.
The book ramps up its ending pretty fast, and I think it is an emotional ending that works well for the book. Wolf smartly made the book about certain character dynamics, and the ending is intense because of it.
I did enjoy some of the minor characters in the book, such as "Jeena" and "Oti".
There are a few great twists in the book, one near the beginning and one near the end of the book that I thought were well executed and really worked well for the story.
Overall, I did enjoy the book. The middle of the book was really bloated and frustrating, but the opening and ending of the book were really well done, and I enjoyed some of the themes explored, as well as the central dynamic of Talinn and Bee. I'll give the book a 7 out of 10! Very good solo Debut from Marisa Wolf!
February 2, 2024
I read this book in ARC format. Marisa Wolf is a refreshing new voice in military science fiction. Her deep POV and world-class character development hearken back to some of the greats. Fans of David Weber, Joe Haldeman, and Anne McCaffrey alike will enjoy this twisty tale of partnership and loyalty...and the urge to burn it all down.
August 30, 2024
An exploration of the relationship of an AI and human raised together from the human's birth. It seemed to be a military scifi/girl and her tank, but quickly became a somewhat confusing intellectual exploration, with much of the "action" taking place internally. The AI/ human integration is portrayed positively; I happened to watch the movie Atlas, in which a similar integration is viewed very negatively.
February 2, 2024
Yes. Yes, this book can be judged by its cover...Outstanding.
April 1, 2024
There are times when I need a couple of sci-fi books to help my head make it through the evening headaches. I picked this book off of the Baen site as it sounded interesting, with human/ai melding to run a tank and a mystery that has them thinking of burning down all they know.
It starts interesting, with Talinn & Bee human/ai combination. We are introduced to her classmates that drive tanks, run the base defense or fly jets. Bee is fun to follow, as the ai has a lot of fun commentary.
But the world building doesn’t make a lot of sense. Only three habitable systems, with all containing multiple human habitable worlds. The movement of people & machines on a war footing doesn’t work. Some of it is waved away later in the book, except it still doesn’t fit into place.
For a book about tanks & ai, there isn’t much for action scenes. A lot of it is handled in the background. Or it is fuzzily explained. Instead there is a lot of talking. Talinn & Bee, them with other characters. Machine hacking to learn bits of info that is then talked about. The first revelation happens early and our main characters have to process it, which is what the blurb states. Then later there is another revelation that is supposed to be even bigger, yet is rushed. I could figure out what was probably happening once the first twist happened early & they had hints of the second twist. I kept at it to see if it was true, but I really didn’t care much about the characters. They were just there.
After a time, it became annoying the author has the main character pass out / black out / be knocked out to move to the next chapter. Even Bee comments at one point if Talinn is ticked off at losing consciousness at a regular interval. It kept my interest in Talinn & Bee at arms length. Each of the human/ai pairs were seen as embodying a particular set of personality traits (they are clones, which is mentioned early). It felt forced in order to demonstrate the bonding the kid cohort built up during their training.
In the end, the story didn’t hang together for me. Lots of fuzzy edges, lots of questions about how the whole place is mapped out (the economy that supports the war is just.... there). The characters had potential, but beyond Bee and her snark, we don’t really get to know anyone else.
It starts interesting, with Talinn & Bee human/ai combination. We are introduced to her classmates that drive tanks, run the base defense or fly jets. Bee is fun to follow, as the ai has a lot of fun commentary.
But the world building doesn’t make a lot of sense. Only three habitable systems, with all containing multiple human habitable worlds. The movement of people & machines on a war footing doesn’t work. Some of it is waved away later in the book, except it still doesn’t fit into place.
For a book about tanks & ai, there isn’t much for action scenes. A lot of it is handled in the background. Or it is fuzzily explained. Instead there is a lot of talking. Talinn & Bee, them with other characters. Machine hacking to learn bits of info that is then talked about. The first revelation happens early and our main characters have to process it, which is what the blurb states. Then later there is another revelation that is supposed to be even bigger, yet is rushed. I could figure out what was probably happening once the first twist happened early & they had hints of the second twist. I kept at it to see if it was true, but I really didn’t care much about the characters. They were just there.
After a time, it became annoying the author has the main character pass out / black out / be knocked out to move to the next chapter. Even Bee comments at one point if Talinn is ticked off at losing consciousness at a regular interval. It kept my interest in Talinn & Bee at arms length. Each of the human/ai pairs were seen as embodying a particular set of personality traits (they are clones, which is mentioned early). It felt forced in order to demonstrate the bonding the kid cohort built up during their training.
In the end, the story didn’t hang together for me. Lots of fuzzy edges, lots of questions about how the whole place is mapped out (the economy that supports the war is just.... there). The characters had potential, but beyond Bee and her snark, we don’t really get to know anyone else.
February 2, 2024
I cannot say enough good things about Beyond Enemies! Marisa Wolf more than knocked it out of the park - she knocked it out of the galaxy. The story grabs you from the beginning and refuses to let you go until the last word, and then you find yourself frantically scrolling, wondering why there aren't any more words! And then if you're like me, you sit there for awhile and wonder what you're supposed to do with your life now. While not a military veteran, she absolutely nails her military characters from their mannerisms down to the dark humor and bantering. More than that, she has a knack for not only making her characters feel real, but making you care about them. Combine that with a delightful new scifi setting and a plot that's more than twisty enough to keep you guessing until the very end, and you've got one of my favorite stories ever.
Beyond Enemies broke my brain in the best way possible. I need a sequel, I demand a sequel. I need to know what happens next, because team Breezy for the absolute win!!
Beyond Enemies broke my brain in the best way possible. I need a sequel, I demand a sequel. I need to know what happens next, because team Breezy for the absolute win!!
April 1, 2024
Usually an AI connected to a person is small enough to be out of the way. In Marisa Wolf’s version the AI needs a large device, though it can use the mind/body of their modified human clone, imposing difficulty for the human to move and think. Humanity has spread to three systems and two organizations have been fighting for decades. Talinn Reaze along with her AI Bee have been running a tank from a backwater part of the war, when Talinn meets a broken tank with an older version of herself. It turns out that she has to think Beyond Enemies (trade paper from Baen) along with the survivors of her team and older versions of them. Everything she knows is wrong, and the more she learns her journey, upends her view again and again. This is a fascinating tale and highly recommended.
February 2, 2024
An exciting read. The world building here is excellent and she's built well-developed characters that are relatable and understandable. You care about these characters and you care what happens to them. Often, when non-veterans write military, they miss some of the aspects of the relationships that are so vital. Wolf does not fall into that trap. The graveyard humor, the bantering, the human aspects of military service. It's all here, and it's all well done. Hope to see more from Wolf and soon.
February 2, 2024
What a brilliant book! Read this and be happy!
February 23, 2024
Sleep? Who needs sleep? You could put this book down - but you won't want to!
March 24, 2024
Well written story with an interesting spin on embedded AI/human constructs combined with excellent characters. I hope this is the start of a series.
March 29, 2024
Who's 'really' in charge of this 'forever' war? Good work from Wolf.
April 27, 2024
Although science fiction novels aren't in my comfort zone, the reputation Marisa Wolf has built made me eager for her first solo novel, "Beyond Enemies." The book captured me from the start: anyone who doesn't immediately take to Talinn Reaze, her AI partner Bee, joined as one in their military tank, assigned to the butt-end of nowhere but trying to make the most of it--well, if you don't connect with the workplace boredom they're experiencing, you're a lucky one.
Things don't stay dull for long and soon Breezy (as Talinn and Bee are jointly known) is (are?!? What a neat world that puts everything I've known sideways) in the midst of an existential crisis--her own, and that of the world she's always known.
I'm not sure I can summarize the plot any better than another reviewer or the book jacket, but let's say Breezy gets a world tour she never expected, didn't sign up for, and can't abandon.
As I said, I'm not a regular reader of sci-fi, so I was out of my element in this book, but I was rarely lost (though probably about the same time Talinn was experiencing the same thing, so perhaps I was right with the narrative anyway). Quirky and sullen characters, witty conversations, and mayhem galore kept me reading, eager to find out where they would all end up.
Wolf's writing is wonderful. The internal workings of a human "augmented" with an AI implant is completely believable; her ability to keep various characters (and the cast list is long) distinctive from one another is admirable. Her turn of phrase often made me smile, especially with the profanity these characters use. Here's one I happened to mark: "This is a clusterbugged shitpipe of a day." (Perhaps I marked it to memorize it for my own use on such a day.)
If you doubt me, read her acknowledgements, which is the best-written set of thank yous I've ever seen.
Wolf has made me appreciate sci-fi more than I thought I would, and I guess I have her to blame as well for my TBR list which has exploded because of the sci-fi titles I've added since reading this one. Her next book will be on it, for sure.
Things don't stay dull for long and soon Breezy (as Talinn and Bee are jointly known) is (are?!? What a neat world that puts everything I've known sideways) in the midst of an existential crisis--her own, and that of the world she's always known.
I'm not sure I can summarize the plot any better than another reviewer or the book jacket, but let's say Breezy gets a world tour she never expected, didn't sign up for, and can't abandon.
As I said, I'm not a regular reader of sci-fi, so I was out of my element in this book, but I was rarely lost (though probably about the same time Talinn was experiencing the same thing, so perhaps I was right with the narrative anyway). Quirky and sullen characters, witty conversations, and mayhem galore kept me reading, eager to find out where they would all end up.
Wolf's writing is wonderful. The internal workings of a human "augmented" with an AI implant is completely believable; her ability to keep various characters (and the cast list is long) distinctive from one another is admirable. Her turn of phrase often made me smile, especially with the profanity these characters use. Here's one I happened to mark: "This is a clusterbugged shitpipe of a day." (Perhaps I marked it to memorize it for my own use on such a day.)
If you doubt me, read her acknowledgements, which is the best-written set of thank yous I've ever seen.
Wolf has made me appreciate sci-fi more than I thought I would, and I guess I have her to blame as well for my TBR list which has exploded because of the sci-fi titles I've added since reading this one. Her next book will be on it, for sure.
December 20, 2024
I tried, and made it over half way through, but it didn't grip me and I found I was prioritising other novels. DNF.
January 5, 2026
Do you wanna build a Snowman?
If so, this is not the book for you and you may want to consider watching Frozen. However, if you're in the mood for a well-paced, exciting and enjoyable sci-fi story, then you should probably stop what you're doing right now and buy this book. Seriously, my review will be here when you return from buying this book.
I'll wait...
Welcome back, gentle reader, I will strive to not give any spoilers. The only thing I would change about this book is the addition of 3-4 chapters that delve into the complexities of Identity and Access Management and the challenges of implementing an effective and extensible solution in the ever evolving world of cybersecurity. Maybe another chapter or two on how to prioritize threat vectors and a partial chapter that really digs into a proper SSO solution that includes risk-based MFA.
No spoilers at all!
Now, go read your newly purchased book and if you don't like it, I will offer a 100% money back guarantee*.
*Money back guarantee only applies to any money I spent on your book, which would subsequently be returned to me. You are only entitled to my assurance that I received that money back and possibly, if you're really nice and I'm in a good mood, a jaunty toss of my head and a saucy wink.
If so, this is not the book for you and you may want to consider watching Frozen. However, if you're in the mood for a well-paced, exciting and enjoyable sci-fi story, then you should probably stop what you're doing right now and buy this book. Seriously, my review will be here when you return from buying this book.
I'll wait...
Welcome back, gentle reader, I will strive to not give any spoilers. The only thing I would change about this book is the addition of 3-4 chapters that delve into the complexities of Identity and Access Management and the challenges of implementing an effective and extensible solution in the ever evolving world of cybersecurity. Maybe another chapter or two on how to prioritize threat vectors and a partial chapter that really digs into a proper SSO solution that includes risk-based MFA.
No spoilers at all!
Now, go read your newly purchased book and if you don't like it, I will offer a 100% money back guarantee*.
*Money back guarantee only applies to any money I spent on your book, which would subsequently be returned to me. You are only entitled to my assurance that I received that money back and possibly, if you're really nice and I'm in a good mood, a jaunty toss of my head and a saucy wink.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews