Hope Reborn

The General #1-2

by S.M. Stirling, David Drake

Contains Raj Whitehall series opening novels The Forge and The Hammer together in one volume. 

Raj Whitehall was a young noble of the Civil Government, the last remnant of galactic civilization on the planet Bellevue, when he came across an ancient but still functioning Fleet Battle Computer named Center. With Center's vast fund of knowledge and strategic calculating abilities, Raj could defeat the barbarians threatening to engulf the Civil Government, and start Bellevue on the road back to the stars. But the Governor, to whom Raj has sworn absolute loyalty, nourishes a paranoid envy and mistrust that grows with every victory. Can even a battle computer of the Galactic Age be enough to counter the fury of Raj's enemies . . . and the treachery of his ""friends""?

A young hero overcomes implacable foes to lead a planet fallen into a dark age back to the high point of its lost technological civilization.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Military Fiction

592 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 14, 2013

About the author

Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.

MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)

I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Reviews

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volym 1 är bättre än volym 2. Detta är ytterligare en Belisarius-version så långt, men mindre osympatisk än de flesta. Det finns en del riktigt underhållande formuleringar. Bonuspoäng för att den refererar legenden om att Belisarius slutade sina dagar som en bländad tiggare.

[Georgina Brandt]

A time travel novel series set in the time of the decline of the Roman Empire, with the general Belisarius trying to conquer India with the aid of a computer that can look into the future guiding his every step.

[Leons1701 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on an expy of Belisarius. I love the image of the dog cavalry, but I wonder if Stirling really thought through the implications of the tech level chosen for the setting. Cased ammo breechloaders are going to swing the power to infantry eventually, no matter what the cavalry is riding, I'm hoping that starts showing up in the later books or I'll be very disappointed. In fact, the dominance of the cavalry seems to be purely a construct of the social setting and the way infantry is raised and trained rather than any military advantage, which is fair enough, just hoping that with the advent of properly trained infantry (already seen in action), that things begin to swing the other way. Fire density is just too much of an advantage.

The story itself is interesting if relatively familiar in general structure for anyone with a passing familiarity with the period. Some interesting twists (the religion is clever) make for a reasonably pleasant read that triggers a bit of pondering, which is really about all one should expect from a book like this.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed the story. It's a great alternative take on large military engagements with civil war era weapons and a few interesting twists given that it's on an alien planet.

I likely would have given the book a 4 or better if it were not for the author's jarring writing style. Numerous times in the story, you will be reading one sentence and literally the next sentence is in a different place or from a different perspective or from a time in the future. There is not real indication that this shift has happened such as a gap, a line, a large first capital letter or italics. This lead to me rereading several pages to figure out if I had completely missed something only to realize that the author had simply completely changed perspective and scene with out indicating it. Eventually i got used to this writing style but it significantly decreased my enjoyment of the story and more importantly my ability to get lots in the narrative.

[Elizabeth Harless · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enduring pleasure to read!

This is the third time I have read these books, and I still enjoy them as much as the first time. Nobody does military science fiction and alternative future history better than Drake and Stirling. There are a few who might be as good, but there are none better!

[Doug Fulgham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The original General series

The work of Drake and Stirling is some of the best alternative history written fiction you can find. The race to see the action,tactics and details are second to none.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

neckerchiefs

Sometimes timesRaj is wearing the traditional red and black checked scarves of the 5th Descott. Sometimes they are red, orange and black, and yet other times red and orange only. Kind of odd, but don’t distract from the story!

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite series. Alternative history of conquest.

Note that this is a omnibus edition of 2 novels within the series.

[Barbara Ghylin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished the first half last night. I will come back to it in a few days. I find the idea of riding dogs that have been bred to size AMAZING. So far I have read about alstien, whippett, wolfhound, greyhound, and besenji.
March 7
I just got back to the second half of the this book. Let's see where it goes. I really enjoyed Raj Whitehall's sense of fairplay. I would to read the rest of the series but am having hard time finding them.

[Howard Anders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third iteration of this that I've read, which is the first two books in "The General" series. I keep coming back to them for a reason: they're darn good military science fiction. The main character is based on the historical Byzantine General Belisarius, and the plot of the five novels in the series loosely follows his life and career, albeit in a futuristic way. Very enjoyable, and highly recommended.

[Del Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story. Lots of battle story. Moves along very quickly.