Better to Beg Forgiveness

Freehold #3

by Michael Z. Williamson

THEY WERE THE TOUGHEST, DEADLIEST MERCENARIES IN THAT PART OF THE GALAXY...AND THEY'D BEEN DOUBLE-CROSSED!Celadon, a poor nation on a poor planet, engaged in civil war and a haven for every type of villainy in space, is ripe for cleanup. The military could pacify it handily, but it would take a statesman to fix it.But statesmen have ethics, which politicians and megacorps find inconvenient. Celadon's President Bishwanath compounded the sin by being astute, ambitious and capable. Something had to be done, because a working nation isn't much use for pork and graft.When the word comes down to replace him, the politicians move on with a new plan, reallocating resources, and finding a more pliable president to put in place.There are three problems with this solution. Bishwanath does not want to be replaced. His mercenary bodyguards are more loyal than the politicians. And if they're not on contract—there are no rules.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).Michael Z. Williamson was born in Birkenhead, England and raised in Liverpool, and Toronto, Canada, before moving to Newark, Ohio. A 22-year veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, he is a state-ranked competitive shooter in combat rifle and combat pistol. His other books include Freehold and The Weapon for Baen, the Target Terror series for HarperCollins, (Targets of Opportunity, The Scope of Justice, Confirmed Kill) and The Hero, a collaboration with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo for Baen. He currently lives near Indianapolis with his wife Gail, also a veteran, their two children, and various cats that are not to be trusted.

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Space Opera, War, Space

640 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2007

Reviews

[Lianne Burwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd enjoyed the writer's previous two books, although I find his Liberatarian utopia to be laughable in terms of workability (it would collapse. Sorry, but it would). Still, they were enjoyable military SF.

However, in this book the author unloads so much vitriol that I barely finished it. He hates reporters, bureaucrats, the UN, military chain of command, most politicians, anyone on television, and so on. He also insults Candians, and the only gay character is a disgusting, overweight asshole who is as close as there is to a villain in the book.

But the thing that probably had his publishers furious when they found out was the incredibly insulting description of a piece of wildlife that he named after the screen name of a feminist blogger. She's abrasive, and not very well known, so the number of readers of this book who would recognize the name is probably small, but I nearly saw red when I first ran into the creature.

I won't bother saying anything about the book's plot, since what I've said so far should tell people that this book is nearly 600 pages of personal agenda designed to insult a wide swathe of book readers. Do yourself a favor and skip it.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Better To Beg Forgiveness is a mess because the author is a loser. Not only a bad writer with suspect military credentials, but a hate-filled agenda where everyone is to be mistrusted, from the UN to the military chain of command to the regular army to the police to civilians in general and so on. In fact, this book is something like Somalia in space. The featureless bad guys are called "skinnies." I thought I was watching Black Hawk Down. Hey, this book was published in 2007. Somalia was long over by then. Which begs the next question. Why does the author use the phrase "property stealing communists" to describe some people? That’s even more out of date. Um, right wing much, Williamson? Watch a lot of Fox News? Are you sure your name isn’t John Ringo?

The only “science fiction” aspect to this book is the action takes place on another planet and the mercenaries have to travel through space to get there. How they accomplish that really isn’t described. Of course not. It’s only sci fi. Is it a spaceship? A flying saucer? A rocket? How the hell do they get there, Williamson? Otherwise, they ride in Volvos, shoot H&K guns and AKs, use regular explosive devices, etc. Where’s the “science fiction” in that scenario? What exactly is sci fi about this book? Frankly, this book is a fraud and it’s utter bullshit! To make matters worse, the author is so caught up in detail and in proving that ex-military contractors are “obviously” superior to military, regular army, police, etc., that he spends what seems like about 15 pages having his team execute a ballet-like dance of epic proportions in guarding their principle as he walks from his building to his vehicle, while they move in carefully choreographed steps, two at a time, each moving up to replace the next. It’s fucking beautiful, man. I bet he could fill a 900-page book with just these descriptions. Shit. What a pile of horseshit.

I got about 100 pages into this book and found that I just couldn’t get into it, obviously, no matter how much I tried. I like mercenary books. I love sci fi. I like huge odds. I hate stupidity and boredom and this book has plenty of that. I also hate feeling like I’m being manipulated by some right wing, Fox loving asshat with a political agenda for no good reason, ie, not to advance the story line. Don’t misunderstand. Sure, I’m a liberal, but I’m a gun loving liberal and that’s not an oxymoron. My wife and I are Democratic voters who own lots of guns and like to go to the range, etc. We just don’t like Fox News and the ilk who preach its gospel. So sure, I could have given this book more of a chance, but why? One hundred pages is more than enough to sell me on a book. If you haven’t done it by then, that’s all you get – I’m moving on to something better. If I want good military sci fi, I’ll read David Weber or Chris Bunch. As for me, Michael Z. Williamson will be permanently avoided from here on out. Lousy writer.

[Elecampane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this more readable than "Freehold" (by the same author), mainly because it's not 200 pages of Libertarian manifesto with some novel thrown in. However, it still isn't up to the standard of "On Basilisk Station", "The Heart of Valor", or other excellent works of military sci-fi; I read "Better To Beg Forgiveness" quickly enough, but probably won't re-read it the way I do with Weber's and Huff's works.

The main problems I had with it were the female characters (of the entire bodyguard team, one is female) and their treatment (she's the demolitions expert rather than primarily combat; her teammates treat her somewhat awkwardly because of her gender; and subject to jokes about unnatural sexual attraction to explosives, from a team of men who are all but sleeping with their own weaponry). It left a very 'backward' taste in my mouth, as though the humanity of "Better To Beg Forgiveness" had somehow spread throughout the stars without ever rethinking their 20th-century gender-mindsets or military gender ratios. (Not the sort of future I want to live in... even for a few hours of imagination.) I was unaware, while reading, that Williamson has also apparently used a minor character as a snide put-down of a female reviewer; which pushes the issue of female portrayal uncomfortably into the here-and-now instead of the hypothetical future...

For the most part, though, the plot keeps you busy enough that such things can almost slide by unnoticed; Williamson keeps the challenges and explosions coming, as the team fight their way out of the city, sneak through the countryside, and hijack a ship to get their charge to safety. There's even some character development for a number of the crew, from the rookie who develops skill and confidence as the challenges go on, to the team-wide shift from an initially strictly financial motivation to a genuine belief in the goodness of their charge.

Overall, I recommend picking up "Better To Beg Forgiveness" from a library or secondhand shop if you're willing to put aside subtly problematic portrayals of women, and an author with a massive and immature habit of grudgeholding, for the sake of buckets of action and a somewhat original approach to the "military sci-fi" convention of duty-bound servicemembers as heroes.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

If FOX News wrote SF military fiction, it would read like this. Having read Mr. Williamson's first two books, I expected discussion of a Heinlein-esque individualistic society and it's superiority to the welfare society that would be the other possiblity. However, it was far more "conservative-toned" than that.
The story itself was interesting, if a bit formulaic: a small band of well trained soldiers fighting against impossible odds with only their honor and lots of weapons. The events in the story could have happened anywhere and in any modern times (or at most within the next 10 years) with a bit of star travel thrown in almost as an afterthought. Fun battles, interesting tactics, and action that would look good in a sequel to the Expendables.
The philosophy espoused, however, detracted from the book. The characters all seemed to have an axe to grind with the UN controlled military, the incompetents they were forced to work with, and anyone who wasn't at their same level of expertise in their fields. Stating these ideas once and letting everyone agree would have been fine, but since the book constantly switched perspective we got to hear the same philosophies from EVERY major character. It got old fast.
While I have enjoyed Williamson's work in the past, if this is going to be his direction from now on, I think I will pass on his future novels.

[JW · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow, what a piece of crap. I didn't even finish this book.

For starters, it's Somalia in space. Literally. The faceless bad guys are called "skinnies" (OMFG). I'm all for mining history for ideas, but I don't know if 1993 is history yet, and you've got ADAPT the ideas you steal in any event.

I abandoned this book when I read the dialogue "property stealing communists". This book was written in 2007, someone doesn't realize we won the cold war, so the Reagan era propaganda is really stupid.

But Baen isn't one to, well, EVER edit their books, so political diatribe is perfectly welcome, especially when it's of the Fox News variety (I've never understood how a former labor agitator like Eric Flint would have stood to work for Jim Baen).

This story was slow, and boring and written from the griping soldier's gripe familiar to anyone who's slogged through John Ringo's stuff (except Ringo has a fantastic imagination and a wicked sense of humor, this guy, none of the above).

Maybe it picked up, but I'll never know until someone comes out with an abridged version.

[Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only after reaching the half-way point did the thought occur to me that the title - "Better to Beg Forgiveness" - was not actually about the story.

Rather, it's the author's attempt to "beg forgiveness" for inflicting such a horrid piece of writing on readers.

Mr. Williamson continues to demonstrate his complete lack of regard for anything remotely recognizable or useful as "transition" when moving from one time period to the next - even within the same paragraph!

I gave the book one star because, frankly, there were some definitely amusing moments in the story, and I'll give credit where it's due. The characters could've done with a lot more development - they're with you through out the story, but every interaction feels like the author is discussing cardboard cut-outs - not exactly engaging.

In short - if you're a fan of Mr. Williamson, read the book - if you're not, don't, because you certainly won't be after the fact!

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not Williamson's best. He's got characters running all over the place to no end whatsoever. Most of the book is a seemingly endless stream of scenarios in which the heroes yet again save their protected principal from a mindless attack.

This had the potential to become a novel of political intrigue, but several potential story lines were unceremoniously dropped, never to be heard from again. One of the big mysteries -- who was behind all the attacks -- is never answered. Instead, we get a mindless story of our heroes showing "restraint" as they leave death and destruction in their wake.

Rather than a central story arc with side stories furthering the main plot, we get pointless meandering and trips down blind alleys.

[R. Michael Litchfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, I like milsf, even milsf that is more milfic than milsf like this. But because of the territory it tends to attract a lot of annoyingly right wing jingoistic fans, let alone authors. Williams bumps into that area few times but not so much it annoyed me. The book is over all a secret service procedural, how to go about protecting a head of state of a brink tottering state from the point of view of the private contractor (mercenary) bodyguard team. Found that in all I didn't give a damn about any of the characters and wouldn't have minded seeing them all shot but somehow they managed to avoid that (which was a shame, would have been better if someone on the team had died).

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent branch of the "Freehold" world, good plot and the book flows nicely, the protagonists are well-developed and both multicultural, but also a mix of male and female. The antagonists appropriately detestable and generally French, which makes them easy to dislike. Some definite allusions to the Black Water Security company and U.N. country building, but very well done.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys military sci-fi.

[Andrew Hasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The hits just keep coming

The entire Freehold series is just awesome. Nail biting action in an entirely new direction. I highly recommend all of Michael Williamson’s books.

[Jon]

Loosely tied to the Freehold stories, Better to Beg Forgiveness is the tale of a band of mercenaries tasked with protecting the president of a backward, "third world" planet. The leader of the executive protection detail is Alex Marlowe, a former captain in the USMC. Rounding out the group, we have Aramis, a young, brash, and slightly insecure Army vet, Elke, the lone female on the team, an explosives expert - who seems to get almost an orgasmic pleasure from blowing things up, Jason Vaughn, Marlowe's deputy and sidekick, Horace "Shaman" Mbuto, the team medic, and Bart, their heavy weapons thug and German wet Navy vet.

One of the things that keeps this novel interesting is the interplay between these characters as they get to know each other - their employer, RippleCreek, has formed the team ad hoc for this assignment, and only a few of them have worked together before. Aside from a little bit of maturing on the part of Aramis, the youngster, there's really no change in their basic natures throughout the novel, however.

When they begin to guard Balaji Bishwanath, in the nation of Celadon on the planet Salin, they find a situation that is definitely fubar. The scenario is eerily similar to that obtaining in many sub Saharan nations, where the UN forces, the military and the State Department are allegedly working towards the same goal, a stable nation, but where their actual goals are widely divergent.

The detail soon comes to respect Balaji for his integrity, intelligence and honor, and when he is inevitably abandoned by the multinational forces, they undertake a quest to get him off planet to safety, and to a place where he can also communicate to the galaxy at large the truth about what's happening on Salin. The journey is long and fraught with difficulty, and the group fights a series of engagements along the way.

Unfortunately, I didn't find this book as entertaining as Freehold, Contact with Chaos and The Weapon, and it seemed to end rather abruptly, as if Williamson had simply stopped when he fulfilled his contractual page count obligation.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun novel about a team of mercenaries who are hired to serve as bodyguards for the new president of a country in a futuristic earth with colonies in other solar systems. The whole government is run by the United Nations and its corrupt bureaucracies. Nobody likes the mercenaries because they work for the president who is refusing to be the puppet the UN envisioned. When the mercenaries are told that the president who is sitting in the room with them died that morning and their services are no longer needed, they are forced to decide whether or not they will continue guarding him. The title refers to their decision not to seek instructions from their superiors in their company. I hope no one considers it a spoiler when I say they decide to do the moral thing and continue to protect a man they have all come to respect.

There is a lot of really good action and the ending is fantastic.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild Ride!!

Williamson hits another home run with this book. I enjoy his thoughtful work, clear delineation of what is hoped, spouted off and the real world applications. His clean crisp writing style and vivid characters make an excellent story!!

[Robert Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better to beg forgiveness

Ripple creek , it is a predictable story , the characters are standard and read like a standard set of skill sets, there is little development over the pages ... nota bad story just not a great one either

[Lance · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. Have to admit though I found myself skipping pages of action because at time it did not add any thing to the story.

[Eric Hersh · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent book. Like most I have read so fasr in the freehold series it starts out slow but ends up being action packed.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in the same universe as Freehold but preceding it chronologically, this novel follows a group of bodyguards tasked with protecting the president of a nation wracked by civil war. The setting is very much inspired by present day Afghanistan and Iraq. Clan warfare and a lacking sense of national identity make the task of unification and pacification very difficult. To make it worse, the bureaucrats and military organizations of the UN (now a world and multiplanetary government) don’t care one way or another. They simply want their own agendas pushed. When it all hits the fan, the bureaucrats choose to simply “remove” the president, but the bodyguards have other ideas.

From the excellent action scenes to the realistic character studies, Williamson displays his impressive knowledge of military matters. The plot is a bit slow and perhaps even unfocused in the first half, but then picks up speed to end in a huge climax. If you are a fan of Williamson’s other work, you’ll like this one, but it is only really for the hardcore military fiction buff. That’s right, I didn’t say science fiction. In fact, this book could have been set in the present day Middle East with very few changes.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1516

[Lynnda Ell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first line of the book, "Basically, I'm in it for the money." provided the basis for the story of how professional bodyguards do their job. The difference between soldiers and bodyguards was one I had not considered, so I enjoyed learning what being a bodyguard entails.

The book has a cynical tone that belies the loyality displayed by the bodyguards as the story progresses. It contains plenty of action and plot twists. I would have given it more stars - and have kept it for my library except for two things, the use of vulgar language and profanity, and the inclusion of some sections that were sexually explicit. (Yes, I know that soldiers are crude, but I don't want to read about it.) I keep no books in my library if I have had to skip pages, so this one goes.

[Arylin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first book following the Ripple Creek crew but I am not suprised about this, I enjoyed the second novel, which was the one that I read first. I look forward to reading the third novel (which I have in my mount TBR) and can't wait to see what the RC contractors get into in that book. With this book... I enjoyed the whole thing but I did find the part with Elke (one of my favorite characters aside from Marlow) in her room alone to be a bit awkward and not really adding anything to the story or the character. Other than that one thing, the rest of the book was masterfully done, fun, fast paced and well executed. I highly recomend not only this book but all the book in this series to fans of Military Fiction and Military Scifi.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a chore to finish this book. I enjoyed Williamson's Freehold and Weapon; and this book takes place in the same universe although at an earlier time (before Grainne gains independence). The universe is still interesting, but the characters and plodding manner of story telling are most certainly not.

I almost quit the book twice in the almost 100 pages covering the evacuation of the palace from seven different perspectives! Really a three km trip even through a raging mob takes THAT long to describe? The over attention to detail and then having it repeated several times over so that each perspective was examined was just too, too much.

I might read more from Williamson, but I will stay far away from the 'Ripple Creek' portion of his universe.

[steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent, hard-line story about a group of mercenaries who believe the spirit of the job is more important than the money or politics involved. The characters are a little flat, and the action slap-dash, but all in all it's a fun, light read. While the end-goal is stated early and often, I still found it sudden and complete a little too quickly. This is somewhat, but not quite, balanced by the fact that the whole story is by and large a little too long. This mix works well at first - the story jumps in with both feet - but perhaps continues swimming in the same spot a little too long before the inevitable is set in motion.

[Annette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm only 70 pages in, but I really don't know that I'll finish. Doesn't help that I'm reading it simultaneously w/ Stephen King's "11/22/63"...
On the plus side: free, ebook, mostly readable sci-fi.
On the minus side: only Mostly readable. All tell and no show. Characters difficult to distinguish from one another, difficult to care. Stilted dialog and story telling: written more like a report than a novel. I was far more impressed by "Freehold," 'though even there Williamson's limitations as a writer were in evidence.

Update: A few months later, I've No urge whatsoever to return. I care nothing for the characters, and it's just not interesting enough to waste time on.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another very good read in the "Freehold" series. Others have pointed out that these books aren't up to David Weber's level in Military Science Fiction. David Weber is my favorite all round author and I must agree. That being said, these books are quite enjoyable to read. Even though they are Military Science Fiction they are written in a different style than Weber and that is fine with me. As much as I like Weber I don't want everything to be a clone of his books!

[Chuck Springer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting another sci-fi novel that would further explore the Libertarian society found in his other 2 books. Sadly, I was disappointed. This book focused on a group of bodyguards, and a tale of extreme government (U.N.) corruption on a small backwater planet. At times you are on the edge of your seat, other times the situations are just too convenient. The book seemed to take some current world events and just place them on another planet...

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while deployed to Iraq in 2009. What immediately struck me about was the authenticity of the characters - of course there's archetypes and exaggerations built into any fiction, but good military fiction should show you characters and situations that immediately strike you with the "holy smoke, I know that guy!" "I was deployed with her, yup." Mad Mike strikes that note perfectly with his "Blackwater in space" series.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Distant future, many non-earth worlds, same old problems of civil war and corrupt governments. The story is a 5, but the actual telling is just a solid 4. Workmanlike, steady, good detail with good characters, but just a little flat. Lots of action and danger, and lots of weapons and tactics, but you're not totally caught up in it. Still, a solid book, as are all his books, and I would recommend it, and him.

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not my favorite of the Freehold universe, but that said, still a fun read. Follows around a group of hyper-competent contract security workers protecting a 3rd-world-ish president who *actually* is competent and cares. Predictable overall plot (people don't like competent leader, try to get him out of the picture, plucky team says screw the contract and keeps protecting him out of a sense of duty), but keeps you reading well enough.

[Shuvom Ghose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Nothing of the premise really pans out. The President doesn't matter, the political situation doesn't matter, it's just all excuses to let the heroic soldiers we're supposed to love do their future soldier thing. And even the action scenes were just okay.

Loved his other work, Freehold, but this one isn't in the same league.

[Henning · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get past page 12 of this book before I threw it away. It was not engaging in the slightest. The author filled the pages will irrelevant details and started the book with nothing of interest. I just couldn't keep reading it anymore.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It's action-packed, the good guys aren't perfect, but they also aren't cringe inducing with their faults. The story arc is complete and satisfying, but there are enough tangential issues left unresolved that I'm going to go check for a sequel.