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Tales of the Terran Republic #2
Trial by Fire
When reluctant interstellar diplomat and intelligence operative Caine Riordan returns from humanity's first encounter with alien races, sudden war clouds burst. With Earth's fleet shattered by a sneak attack and its survivors fighting for their lives, Caine must rely upon both his first contact and weaponry skills to contend with the non-humanoid enemy. And when the technologically-superior attackers sweep aside the solar system's last defenses, and traitorous corporations invite the invaders to land 'security forces,' humanity fights back with its best weapons: cunning, inventiveness, and guts.
But as Earth hurtles towards a final trial by fire that is certain to scar its collective memory, Caine discovers that there may also be large and disturbing gaps in that memory. Clues point to a much earlier inter-species apocalypse, buried in humanity's own prehistory. Which raises a terrifying possibility: what if the aliens' invasion of Earth is not one of conquest, but preemption? And what if their harrowing memories of a long-past cataclysmic war makes them willing to do anything to keep it from reigniting?
Even if that means exterminating the human race.
But as Earth hurtles towards a final trial by fire that is certain to scar its collective memory, Caine discovers that there may also be large and disturbing gaps in that memory. Clues point to a much earlier inter-species apocalypse, buried in humanity's own prehistory. Which raises a terrifying possibility: what if the aliens' invasion of Earth is not one of conquest, but preemption? And what if their harrowing memories of a long-past cataclysmic war makes them willing to do anything to keep it from reigniting?
Even if that means exterminating the human race.
640 pages, Paperback
First published July 15, 2014
73 people are currently reading
542 people want to read
About the author
Charles E. Gannon
78 books207 followersDr. Charles E. Gannon is a Distinguished Professor of English (St. Bonaventure U.) & Fulbright Senior Specialist (American Lit & Culture). He has had novellas in Analog and the War World series. His nonfiction book "Rumors of War and Infernal Machines" won the 2006 ALA Outstanding Text Award. He also worked as author and editor for GDW, and was a routine contributor to both the scientific/technical content and story-line in the award-winning games "Traveller," and "2300 AD." He has been awarded Fulbrights to England, Scotland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands, and worked 8 years as scriptwriter/producer in NYC.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
February 9, 2017
Even more so than the first novel in the series, you have to be in the right mood for it.
Unfortunately, this one made a huge departure from the first novel, where you have a square-jawed hero with a fairly strong supporting cast doing heroic things and generally keep a strong presence on the page throughout, only to be pushed pretty much to the sidelines in the second novel because the adventure novel turned into an all-out novel of WAR.
I'm deadly serious. This is a grand example of all-out war, rife with tactics AND strategy, full of space battles and ground battles, from the war's break-out to the Earth's occupation to the counter-attack to the hymnal of bloodshed, reversals, and eventual cease-fire and surprise-ending.
I can't stress it enough. This is a tight single novel encompassing an entirely epic war.
I appreciated how well it was written, how well thought-out the overall strategy, the clarity of the tactics, the heroism and the glorious deaths that so many characters had to suffer. As an example of this sub-genre, this novel managed to keep my attention better than most and I tip my hat to it.
Unfortunately for me, I've never really cared to war novels of any stripe. I've learned to enjoy strategy and tactics over the years, but it's a strain. There was still my favorite characters doing heroic things, although their parts were much reduced or sidelined to very specific categories, and that's fine because a whole damn war can't be fought by a single Caine, but unless you're a fan of military fiction, you might get either lost or simply not care about this novel.
This novel DOES follow a strong Military SF tradition and tributes the hell out of it.
It IS filled with interesting reveals and reversals for both the good and the evil peeps. There's also a more galactic importance associated with the events. It's GOOD.
It's also not for me.
I'm giving it a fairly high rating on all the things it does well, and it does practically everything well. I just wish it was a bit more like the previous novel.
Unfortunately, this one made a huge departure from the first novel, where you have a square-jawed hero with a fairly strong supporting cast doing heroic things and generally keep a strong presence on the page throughout, only to be pushed pretty much to the sidelines in the second novel because the adventure novel turned into an all-out novel of WAR.
I'm deadly serious. This is a grand example of all-out war, rife with tactics AND strategy, full of space battles and ground battles, from the war's break-out to the Earth's occupation to the counter-attack to the hymnal of bloodshed, reversals, and eventual cease-fire and surprise-ending.
I can't stress it enough. This is a tight single novel encompassing an entirely epic war.
I appreciated how well it was written, how well thought-out the overall strategy, the clarity of the tactics, the heroism and the glorious deaths that so many characters had to suffer. As an example of this sub-genre, this novel managed to keep my attention better than most and I tip my hat to it.
Unfortunately for me, I've never really cared to war novels of any stripe. I've learned to enjoy strategy and tactics over the years, but it's a strain. There was still my favorite characters doing heroic things, although their parts were much reduced or sidelined to very specific categories, and that's fine because a whole damn war can't be fought by a single Caine, but unless you're a fan of military fiction, you might get either lost or simply not care about this novel.
This novel DOES follow a strong Military SF tradition and tributes the hell out of it.
It IS filled with interesting reveals and reversals for both the good and the evil peeps. There's also a more galactic importance associated with the events. It's GOOD.
It's also not for me.
I'm giving it a fairly high rating on all the things it does well, and it does practically everything well. I just wish it was a bit more like the previous novel.
November 19, 2021
The second installment in the Terran Republic was definitely a bit of slog, not because it weighs in at almost 900 pages, but due to the seemingly endless info dumps often cached as dialogue. It had all the aspects of being a great story, and there are some good things to say about it, but Gannon really started to try my patience as the novel progressed.
We left the first volume shortly after humanity met several alien races as a conclave where humanity's membership was to be considered. The aliens have adopted as charter of sorts, a list of 21 rules that members must abide by and these are enforced by the 'custodians' of the charter/compact. The current (and as it turns out, the only custodians for the last 7000 years or so) seem to be in favor of human's membership, but the conclave broke down badly, with interstellar/racial war basically being on the short horizon.
Sure enough, was does come with aliens invading Earth. Can humanity find a way to win?
The basic plot is something of a retread of golden age science fiction tropes; aliens pretty much like us thinking wise, but shaped differently, etc. Gannon adds a lot of cloak and dagger intrigue into the mix, and Caine, our main protagonist, has something of a Laumer Retief! feel about him as he is forced in a way to become an ambassador to the 'exos'. Through his rather forced connections with IRIS (a covert and clandestine government agency founded to meet potential alien threats), he once again becomes the man of the hour.
Caine's former boss (now dead) build an amazingly complex plan to deal with an alien invasion and this volume starts off with it unfolding. How it would have been possible to detail such a plan against an unknown alien race is never discussed. We do have hints that the custodians played some role here (they did save his boss's life decades ago), but if so, then the custodians are the ones behind the incredibly complex set of events that constitute the plot here. It really begins to try the reader's patience after a while, especially as it is revealed in endless info dumps.
The fight for Earth was fun, however, and Gannon can write some great action sequences. Unfortunately, that was bookended by hundreds of pages of info dumps masquerading as dialogue. In short, a 'retro' sci-fi action thriller laced with intrigue that could have been great, but in the end, was just ok. 2.5 stars, rounding up for the battle for Earth.
We left the first volume shortly after humanity met several alien races as a conclave where humanity's membership was to be considered. The aliens have adopted as charter of sorts, a list of 21 rules that members must abide by and these are enforced by the 'custodians' of the charter/compact. The current (and as it turns out, the only custodians for the last 7000 years or so) seem to be in favor of human's membership, but the conclave broke down badly, with interstellar/racial war basically being on the short horizon.
Sure enough, was does come with aliens invading Earth. Can humanity find a way to win?
The basic plot is something of a retread of golden age science fiction tropes; aliens pretty much like us thinking wise, but shaped differently, etc. Gannon adds a lot of cloak and dagger intrigue into the mix, and Caine, our main protagonist, has something of a Laumer Retief! feel about him as he is forced in a way to become an ambassador to the 'exos'. Through his rather forced connections with IRIS (a covert and clandestine government agency founded to meet potential alien threats), he once again becomes the man of the hour.
Caine's former boss (now dead) build an amazingly complex plan to deal with an alien invasion and this volume starts off with it unfolding. How it would have been possible to detail such a plan against an unknown alien race is never discussed. We do have hints that the custodians played some role here (they did save his boss's life decades ago), but if so, then the custodians are the ones behind the incredibly complex set of events that constitute the plot here. It really begins to try the reader's patience after a while, especially as it is revealed in endless info dumps.
The fight for Earth was fun, however, and Gannon can write some great action sequences. Unfortunately, that was bookended by hundreds of pages of info dumps masquerading as dialogue. In short, a 'retro' sci-fi action thriller laced with intrigue that could have been great, but in the end, was just ok. 2.5 stars, rounding up for the battle for Earth.
July 26, 2015
It’s been a few months since I gave up reading Trial By Fire after trudging through the first quarter of the novel. Any antipathy I had toward the book has long since faded. Yeah, I could spend five hundred words snarking about the horrible prose, the constant need to info-dump (both the events of the previous novel and the observations, thoughts and reflections of each character) and the endless scenes of people and aliens talking plot to each other, even during action scenes.
But instead here is typical moment from the book*. To provide some background, a bunch of experts are providing a politician (or bureaucrat, I forget and can’t be bothered to check… ) a briefing on the fraught situation between Earth and the Accord (a Galactic Federation of aliens other than humans).
If that lengthy excerpt excites you than (a) you and I have very different views about what makes for good dialogue and good drama and (b) Charles E Gannon is waiting for your hard-earned cash, because that scene is only the tip of a massive 700 page iceberg.
And really, what more can I say?
—————————————————————————————-
*I’m not normally precise with my language, but my use of “moment” is deliberate. This “moment” is part of small section of a larger scene that goes on for pages and pages.
But instead here is typical moment from the book*. To provide some background, a bunch of experts are providing a politician (or bureaucrat, I forget and can’t be bothered to check… ) a briefing on the fraught situation between Earth and the Accord (a Galactic Federation of aliens other than humans).
Wasserman’s smile was wolfish. “Wrong—because even the Ktor, who are the second oldest members of the Accord and have had FTL capability for millennia, apparently, can’t pull off deep-space shifts, either.”
Downing blinked. “How can you be sure, Lemuel?”
Wasserman shrugged. “Simple logic. The Dornaani have assured us that they can prevent the Ktor from entering our space. But if the Ktor did have the capacity for deep space navigation, then they could get around the Dornaani by going from one prepositioned deep space fuel cache to another, and show up unannounced in our back yard. And if they did that, then we’d know the Dornaani are liars and wouldn’t support their interests anymore. So, if the Ktoran technology can’t handle deep space shift navigation, then we can be sure as hell that the less advanced races—like the Arat Kur—can’t pull it off, either.”
Downing was determined not to let his admiration for Wasserman’s swift deduction show in his face. “So what can you tell us about their shift range?”
“I’ve run all the stellar pairs that are joined by shift-lines. No distance is greater than nine point five light-years.”
“And what is the shortest distance between any two stars that are not joined by a shift-line?”
“Nine point seven. So their maximum shift range is someplace between nine point five and nine point seven light-years. And that confirms our suspicions that they’re operating at something like our level of technical ability. At least within the same order of magnitude.”
“Equally important,” Downing mused, “it allows us to predict their preferred strategic option.”
“What do you mean by that?” Gaspard asked.
“I am referring to the places they are most likely to attack first.”
“And given that shift range, what do you project as their most likely path of attack?”
“They’d start with Barnard’s Star.”
“And then?”
Downing shrugged. “Why, Earth. Of course.”
If that lengthy excerpt excites you than (a) you and I have very different views about what makes for good dialogue and good drama and (b) Charles E Gannon is waiting for your hard-earned cash, because that scene is only the tip of a massive 700 page iceberg.
And really, what more can I say?
—————————————————————————————-
*I’m not normally precise with my language, but my use of “moment” is deliberate. This “moment” is part of small section of a larger scene that goes on for pages and pages.
Read
April 14, 2021Trial By Fire is a big book. Six hundred and forty pages big. It’s chewy and complicated. Somewhere near the end, I decided the plot was something like a game of chess. Every page and every point of view represented a move and might hide a clue to next six moves planned by that player. The vast battle for Earth certainly reads that way and when that sixth move is finally played, it’s the sort that has mediocre players like me thumping their head against the edge of the board. I’m not much of a strategist, you see, but luckily, Charles Gannon is.
I mentioned a vast battle for Earth. That’s the bulk of Trial By Fire and wonderfully demonstrates the aptness of the title.
Recently returned from a convocation of exosapien species where humanity’s entry to an interspecies accord was hotly debated, Caine Riordan would be right in expecting a short vacation. He has been formally discharged from military service and currently occupies no role greater than ‘one of the dudes who went to meet all the aliens’. Unfortunately for him, that role will continue to define him throughout the course of the next four months and beyond. The opening sequence is fantastic. It’s a fast-paced and coherent way to both show the pressure Caine is under and to remind the reader of the events of the last book. With as much as I read, I sure appreciate the effort, even if Fire with Fire is quite memorable.
The action quickly escalates. Allied exosapien forces launch an attack on Barnard’s Star, apparently devastating the human forces. Caine is caught in the crossfire, of course, and with his ‘pal’ Trevor Corcoran, pulls of a daring self-rescue. They meet up with an Arat Kur diplomat and form a relationship of a sort that will remain important throughout the course of the book.
With a hole punched in the line of humanity’s defence, the exosapien fleet advances to Earth and quickly establishes a ground base in Indonesia, a target which is chosen for very specific and strategic purposes. What follows is pure military Science Fiction. If you love it, you’re going to love this book. If you don’t, you might have a hard time pushing through. Every battle is nailed down and examined from several angles and points of view. There are a lot of characters and voices to follow and a lot of strategy to absorb.
Thankfully, Gannon likes rewarding his readers, meaning the bulk of his teasers are followed up very quickly. More significant, however, is my chess analogy. Yep. On the surface of it, you think you know what is going on. But there is another game being played, one that drives the war between the Arat Kur and Hkh’Rkh (no, I can’t pronounce it neither, just grunt inside your head) and the humans. Overseeing proceedings are the Ktor and Dornaani and they are both inscrutable and ruthless in their methods.
Caine is the ultimate pawn. The reader should be prepared for this as he was used and abused in the first book. There is no better tool, however, than one willing to work. He weaves through the war, adopting one role after another until he is perfectly placed to strike, only to become ensnared in his own trap. The convergence of Caine and his companions, Trevor, Opal and Elena, is another thread of strategy that interlaces the story of the war and the greater plot.
The conclusion of the war might feel ‘foregone’. No one wants to read a book where humanity loses, right? Not many of us, anyway. We’d rather celebrate our ingenuity and uniqueness on the galactic stage. The conclusion of the war is not the conclusion of the story, however. It’s merely the end of a single match, and the revelations contained therein… WOW! They make the journey through every one of the previous six hundred pages more than worthwhile. I highlighted several revelations just so I could annotate my copy of the book with: aha! And later: AHA! A little later on: EEE!
As an aside, I highlighted many wonderful passages throughout the book, snippets of dialogue that I felt told the story ‘in a nutshell’, until I came across the next and amusing turns of phrase like: ‘warbling phlegm’, which described the voice of one of the exosapiens. I’ll take another second here to note how well Gannon writes his aliens. They’re separate and consistent with marvellously contrived speech and behaviour patterns.
The best part, though? The story isn’t done. Not by a long shot. There are so many new plotlines to follow, in fact, that I can imagine Mr. Gannon has several thick journals of notes, each tucked away under a gleeful smile. Really, my only complaint is that I’ll likely have to wait a year for the next book.
Written for SFCrownest.
I mentioned a vast battle for Earth. That’s the bulk of Trial By Fire and wonderfully demonstrates the aptness of the title.
Recently returned from a convocation of exosapien species where humanity’s entry to an interspecies accord was hotly debated, Caine Riordan would be right in expecting a short vacation. He has been formally discharged from military service and currently occupies no role greater than ‘one of the dudes who went to meet all the aliens’. Unfortunately for him, that role will continue to define him throughout the course of the next four months and beyond. The opening sequence is fantastic. It’s a fast-paced and coherent way to both show the pressure Caine is under and to remind the reader of the events of the last book. With as much as I read, I sure appreciate the effort, even if Fire with Fire is quite memorable.
The action quickly escalates. Allied exosapien forces launch an attack on Barnard’s Star, apparently devastating the human forces. Caine is caught in the crossfire, of course, and with his ‘pal’ Trevor Corcoran, pulls of a daring self-rescue. They meet up with an Arat Kur diplomat and form a relationship of a sort that will remain important throughout the course of the book.
With a hole punched in the line of humanity’s defence, the exosapien fleet advances to Earth and quickly establishes a ground base in Indonesia, a target which is chosen for very specific and strategic purposes. What follows is pure military Science Fiction. If you love it, you’re going to love this book. If you don’t, you might have a hard time pushing through. Every battle is nailed down and examined from several angles and points of view. There are a lot of characters and voices to follow and a lot of strategy to absorb.
Thankfully, Gannon likes rewarding his readers, meaning the bulk of his teasers are followed up very quickly. More significant, however, is my chess analogy. Yep. On the surface of it, you think you know what is going on. But there is another game being played, one that drives the war between the Arat Kur and Hkh’Rkh (no, I can’t pronounce it neither, just grunt inside your head) and the humans. Overseeing proceedings are the Ktor and Dornaani and they are both inscrutable and ruthless in their methods.
Caine is the ultimate pawn. The reader should be prepared for this as he was used and abused in the first book. There is no better tool, however, than one willing to work. He weaves through the war, adopting one role after another until he is perfectly placed to strike, only to become ensnared in his own trap. The convergence of Caine and his companions, Trevor, Opal and Elena, is another thread of strategy that interlaces the story of the war and the greater plot.
The conclusion of the war might feel ‘foregone’. No one wants to read a book where humanity loses, right? Not many of us, anyway. We’d rather celebrate our ingenuity and uniqueness on the galactic stage. The conclusion of the war is not the conclusion of the story, however. It’s merely the end of a single match, and the revelations contained therein… WOW! They make the journey through every one of the previous six hundred pages more than worthwhile. I highlighted several revelations just so I could annotate my copy of the book with: aha! And later: AHA! A little later on: EEE!
As an aside, I highlighted many wonderful passages throughout the book, snippets of dialogue that I felt told the story ‘in a nutshell’, until I came across the next and amusing turns of phrase like: ‘warbling phlegm’, which described the voice of one of the exosapiens. I’ll take another second here to note how well Gannon writes his aliens. They’re separate and consistent with marvellously contrived speech and behaviour patterns.
The best part, though? The story isn’t done. Not by a long shot. There are so many new plotlines to follow, in fact, that I can imagine Mr. Gannon has several thick journals of notes, each tucked away under a gleeful smile. Really, my only complaint is that I’ll likely have to wait a year for the next book.
Written for SFCrownest.
August 4, 2016
Starts to really drag on about halfway through. The author was obsessed with formatting most plot progress and background information as extremely long and unlikely dialogs between characters as a substitute for reader-directed exposition. Certainly a worthy technique for dealing with the show-not-tell problem, but it got utterly out of hand. In particular, this gave some characters vastly more knowledge and insight than they ought to have had, and had everyone babbling all their secrets and inner thoughts to each other, even their enemies.
I can't say I was particularly excited that the two main female characters spent the entire book AWOL and frittering military resources in ramshackle uncoordinated rescue attempts of our hero because they were just so darned in love with him. The fate that awaited the pregnant one was pretty offensive, really.
I was also disappointed as a sci-fi reader that all the aliens turned out to breathe Earth-normal atmosphere and were mostly human-shaped and capable of speaking English.
I can't say I was particularly excited that the two main female characters spent the entire book AWOL and frittering military resources in ramshackle uncoordinated rescue attempts of our hero because they were just so darned in love with him. The fate that awaited the pregnant one was pretty offensive, really.
I was also disappointed as a sci-fi reader that all the aliens turned out to breathe Earth-normal atmosphere and were mostly human-shaped and capable of speaking English.
December 7, 2014
Chuck Gannon's FIRE WITH FIRE was easily the best science fiction novel I read in 2013. The first book in the Tales of the Terran Republic series would be right at home on a shelf amongst the hallowed Golden Age classics. FIRE WITH FIRE is a cerebral thriller -- Caine makes his fair share of thrilling escapes -- but the real draw to the story is the depth and intellectual complexity that Gannon brings to a First Contact scenario. As a follow-up TRIAL BY FIRE is no disappointment.
This is a military science fiction novel that doesn't shy away from science. Science was never one of my strengths but Gannon is one of those people smart enough to break it down into digestible pieces for the less inclined. In this way he is able to please the hard science crowd without alienating the more casual reader.
Science isn't the only draw of this thoughtful thriller. Much as human/exosapient diplomacy was irresistible hook at the finale of FIRE WITH FIRE, diplomacy and realpolitik makes for some of the most exciting scenes of TRIAL BY FIRE. Gannon has created a variety of exosapient life that is alien, not just in appearance, but in psychology as well. Too often in science fiction you encounter aliens that act like simply reskinned humans. That is not the case with the Arat Kur, Hkh'Rkh, Dornani, Ktor, or Slaasriithi. Where a lesser author might consider writing one truly unique alien race a challenge Gannon tackles five simultaneously. And then one most consider the multifaceted ways in which such races would communicate and interact with each other...it's a daunting prospect, but I haven't had this much fun reading about alien diplomacy since THE COURSE OF EMPIRE by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth.
All this talk of science and diplomacy and a reader might suspect this book to be devoid of action and conflict. Boy would they be wrong. FIRE WITH FIRE set up a combustible scenario and with TRIAL BY FIRE Gannon doesn't dally long before igniting the fuse to a potentially galaxy spanning conflagration. Whereas the first book dealt with First Contact, this novel revolves around First Conflict. Diplomacy fails and Earth is faced with a fight for its very sovereignty against a coalition of exosapient forces with unknown motive.
Earth is technically "conquered" in short order but the insurgency that awaits the alien invaders is fiercer than they could have ever imagined. It's gripping material, reading about the struggle for Earth. There are numerous layers to the fight. Earth has had some time to prepare and so it isn't caught totally off guard but the aliens enjoy total air superiority. Factor in environmental factors, an insidious native population, alien forces restricted by their Rules of Engagement, and countless other factors and you have a truly complex war.
Readers get a glimpse of the war on the large scale and on a personal level. The final battle lasts several hundred pages and is sure to leave readers breathless. It's hard to continue with the responsibilities of everyday life when your book is embroiled in a massive futuristic D-Day but you'll have to find a way to preserve because it's unlikely you'll be able to finish it in one sitting.
I love TRIAL BY FIRE but I'm not without criticism. The first hundred or so pages is a struggle at times. Caine and Trevor spend a considerable amount of time in an escape capsule with their thinking caps on, trying to solve multiple problems, and while I do appreciate this I can't help but feel as though it's a little drawn out. It took longer to get through this section than it did the meat of the book, solely because of the pacing.
My other issue with TRIAL BY FIRE is that the stakes didn't always feel as high as they should have. The Earth is "conquered" early on but we learn this through discussion after the fact. Plenty of people die in the fight against the Arat Kur and the Hkh'Rkh but I never got the impression that humanity was going lose the fight. The humans trigger traps and ambushes on the alien forces who are continuously hampered by ROE and after a while it does feel a little one-sided. That's not to say that it is one-sided. The aliens have some serious hardware at their disposal (including awesome spider mechs) and the humans are left using a lot of outdated equipment. It is truly asymmetric warfare. Still, I feel that a few more losses on the side of humanity would have raised the stakes.
Despite these complaints TRIAL BY FIRE is still likely to be my favorite science fiction novel of 2014. If Clancy had written science fiction it might be a little something like this (I can't help but draw comparisons between Jack Ryan and Caine Riordan). The best part is that I have no idea what direction the next book of the Tales of the Terran Republic will go. There are a couple real surprising twists at the end of TRIAL BY FIRE and I'm excited to see where Gannon decides to take the story from here.
Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Some, not too heavy.
Violence: A few hundred pages of pitched combat, but not too gory.
Sex: None.
Nick Sharps
Elitist Book Reviews
This is a military science fiction novel that doesn't shy away from science. Science was never one of my strengths but Gannon is one of those people smart enough to break it down into digestible pieces for the less inclined. In this way he is able to please the hard science crowd without alienating the more casual reader.
Science isn't the only draw of this thoughtful thriller. Much as human/exosapient diplomacy was irresistible hook at the finale of FIRE WITH FIRE, diplomacy and realpolitik makes for some of the most exciting scenes of TRIAL BY FIRE. Gannon has created a variety of exosapient life that is alien, not just in appearance, but in psychology as well. Too often in science fiction you encounter aliens that act like simply reskinned humans. That is not the case with the Arat Kur, Hkh'Rkh, Dornani, Ktor, or Slaasriithi. Where a lesser author might consider writing one truly unique alien race a challenge Gannon tackles five simultaneously. And then one most consider the multifaceted ways in which such races would communicate and interact with each other...it's a daunting prospect, but I haven't had this much fun reading about alien diplomacy since THE COURSE OF EMPIRE by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth.
All this talk of science and diplomacy and a reader might suspect this book to be devoid of action and conflict. Boy would they be wrong. FIRE WITH FIRE set up a combustible scenario and with TRIAL BY FIRE Gannon doesn't dally long before igniting the fuse to a potentially galaxy spanning conflagration. Whereas the first book dealt with First Contact, this novel revolves around First Conflict. Diplomacy fails and Earth is faced with a fight for its very sovereignty against a coalition of exosapient forces with unknown motive.
Earth is technically "conquered" in short order but the insurgency that awaits the alien invaders is fiercer than they could have ever imagined. It's gripping material, reading about the struggle for Earth. There are numerous layers to the fight. Earth has had some time to prepare and so it isn't caught totally off guard but the aliens enjoy total air superiority. Factor in environmental factors, an insidious native population, alien forces restricted by their Rules of Engagement, and countless other factors and you have a truly complex war.
Readers get a glimpse of the war on the large scale and on a personal level. The final battle lasts several hundred pages and is sure to leave readers breathless. It's hard to continue with the responsibilities of everyday life when your book is embroiled in a massive futuristic D-Day but you'll have to find a way to preserve because it's unlikely you'll be able to finish it in one sitting.
I love TRIAL BY FIRE but I'm not without criticism. The first hundred or so pages is a struggle at times. Caine and Trevor spend a considerable amount of time in an escape capsule with their thinking caps on, trying to solve multiple problems, and while I do appreciate this I can't help but feel as though it's a little drawn out. It took longer to get through this section than it did the meat of the book, solely because of the pacing.
My other issue with TRIAL BY FIRE is that the stakes didn't always feel as high as they should have. The Earth is "conquered" early on but we learn this through discussion after the fact. Plenty of people die in the fight against the Arat Kur and the Hkh'Rkh but I never got the impression that humanity was going lose the fight. The humans trigger traps and ambushes on the alien forces who are continuously hampered by ROE and after a while it does feel a little one-sided. That's not to say that it is one-sided. The aliens have some serious hardware at their disposal (including awesome spider mechs) and the humans are left using a lot of outdated equipment. It is truly asymmetric warfare. Still, I feel that a few more losses on the side of humanity would have raised the stakes.
Despite these complaints TRIAL BY FIRE is still likely to be my favorite science fiction novel of 2014. If Clancy had written science fiction it might be a little something like this (I can't help but draw comparisons between Jack Ryan and Caine Riordan). The best part is that I have no idea what direction the next book of the Tales of the Terran Republic will go. There are a couple real surprising twists at the end of TRIAL BY FIRE and I'm excited to see where Gannon decides to take the story from here.
Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Some, not too heavy.
Violence: A few hundred pages of pitched combat, but not too gory.
Sex: None.
Nick Sharps
Elitist Book Reviews
September 29, 2015
My thanks to NetGalley and Baen Books for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.
*Disclaimer*- My bookstore has a good relationship with Baen Books. They have sent many awesome authors to our store for signings. Mr. Gannon is one of those authors. He is an incredibly nice and almost scary-smart man. Very gracious and interesting. My boss LOVED his books and is waiting with baited breath for the next installment in the series.
Me, not so much. I usually try to read the book an author is coming to our store to sign. I didn't have time to do so for the first book "Fire with Fire", but my boss raved about it so much, when I saw this available for request on NetGalley, I was all over it. Then I tried to read the first book. And DNF'd it. I told myself, no matter how much I didn't like this book, I was going to finish it. I requested it, I needed to finish it.
The book won, I gave up at 68%. Not the fault of the book, but the writing style of the books and my reading style just do not mesh at all.
I can tell you for sure that the science in this book is going to be spot on. Mr. Gannon knows his stuff. I'm not anti-hard science fiction, BUT I am anti-info-dumping. Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly how the information can be expressed without dumping it all over the reader's lap. There is a LOT going on in this book. It's complex and science and politics and just a LOT to get across. I understand that. I just didn't like the way it was being delivered.
Also, I felt more connected to the "red shirts" then I did the MCs. In the first 67% of the book, there is not a lot of Caine, Opal, Elena, etc. It's more all of the guys and gals and aliens who have small, but important roles in fighting. You get background, you start to feel for them, then they bite it. After a while, when a new character is introduced, you just give up caring about them, because you know they are just going to die.
This book really wasn't a good one for me. It had a lot of good in it. Aliens trying to take over the Earth, humankind getting together and being all plucky and scrappy and taking on the big bad aliens and being all awesome and stuff. Lots of smart, hard science, politics and pretty cool battle scenes (except when to generate more pathos, dogs are being injured to show how bad war is. Not cool, leave the dogs out of it.).
I just couldn't take the info-dumping and "red shirt" syndrome. Also, you see a lot less of Caine in this one and he's too much of the star to keep on the sidelines for long.
So, not the series for me. It may work for you, so don't let my less than happy review prevent you from trying it out. My boss loved it. Different strokes. Two stars because while I didn't fully finish it, I can show you where it's well written, how intelligent it is and I didn't completely hate it. Kinda like "Tess of the D'ubervilles".
*Disclaimer*- My bookstore has a good relationship with Baen Books. They have sent many awesome authors to our store for signings. Mr. Gannon is one of those authors. He is an incredibly nice and almost scary-smart man. Very gracious and interesting. My boss LOVED his books and is waiting with baited breath for the next installment in the series.
Me, not so much. I usually try to read the book an author is coming to our store to sign. I didn't have time to do so for the first book "Fire with Fire", but my boss raved about it so much, when I saw this available for request on NetGalley, I was all over it. Then I tried to read the first book. And DNF'd it. I told myself, no matter how much I didn't like this book, I was going to finish it. I requested it, I needed to finish it.
The book won, I gave up at 68%. Not the fault of the book, but the writing style of the books and my reading style just do not mesh at all.
I can tell you for sure that the science in this book is going to be spot on. Mr. Gannon knows his stuff. I'm not anti-hard science fiction, BUT I am anti-info-dumping. Unfortunately, I'm not sure exactly how the information can be expressed without dumping it all over the reader's lap. There is a LOT going on in this book. It's complex and science and politics and just a LOT to get across. I understand that. I just didn't like the way it was being delivered.
Also, I felt more connected to the "red shirts" then I did the MCs. In the first 67% of the book, there is not a lot of Caine, Opal, Elena, etc. It's more all of the guys and gals and aliens who have small, but important roles in fighting. You get background, you start to feel for them, then they bite it. After a while, when a new character is introduced, you just give up caring about them, because you know they are just going to die.
This book really wasn't a good one for me. It had a lot of good in it. Aliens trying to take over the Earth, humankind getting together and being all plucky and scrappy and taking on the big bad aliens and being all awesome and stuff. Lots of smart, hard science, politics and pretty cool battle scenes (except when to generate more pathos, dogs are being injured to show how bad war is. Not cool, leave the dogs out of it.).
I just couldn't take the info-dumping and "red shirt" syndrome. Also, you see a lot less of Caine in this one and he's too much of the star to keep on the sidelines for long.
So, not the series for me. It may work for you, so don't let my less than happy review prevent you from trying it out. My boss loved it. Different strokes. Two stars because while I didn't fully finish it, I can show you where it's well written, how intelligent it is and I didn't completely hate it. Kinda like "Tess of the D'ubervilles".
June 6, 2015
I enjoyed Gannon's endearingly old-fashioned Fire With Fire enough - despite its many flaws - to pick up this sequel. Sadly, Gannon's faults as a writer are magnified exponentially here. The wretched dialogue and one-dimensional characters, the naïve and insular views on world politics and cultures, and worst of all the blatant chauvinism (you could make a drinking game of all the times a male authority figure feels the need to encourage Elena to speak up) are all multiplied here. The good stuff - the well structured action sequences and Star Trekky gee-whiz adventure - is too often overwhelmed by tedium. There are long explanatory passages the author seems to think are fascinating enough to require pages upon pages of exposition when a few lines of dialogue would have been adequate, and the plot tends to run around in circles just to get from point A to point B. I guess the best thing I can say about it is I was interested enough in how it all turned out to make all the way to the end, though sometimes it was quite a chore to do so. I don't think I'll be reading the next book in the series; I am forecasting my expectations based on the law of diminishing returns, the current rate of which seems to be one star per book.
April 25, 2016
This book is, you know. okay. And I mean just okay. With some fairly major problems, but most of it just squeaked by as enjoyable. (Just squeaking by is probably not what you want.) Some of the problems are specific to me as a reader, some are much broader. Here's problem number one. It feels a little like Gannon's trying to do something like Lois McMaster Bujold, with the multi-faceted hero who is always so many steps ahead of those around him it's not funny.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
April 26, 2023
Great continuation of the "Caine Riordan"-saga. Full of suspense, thrill, diplomacy, interstellar wars and hidden culprits - and to the end with more hints to a veiled (and obviously very ... 'interesting' - in the chinese sense) history of this part of the milkyway. Look forward to part three
June 2, 2022
Återigen en välbalanserad och spännande historia. Varmt rekommenderad.
July 3, 2014
http://koeur.wordpress.com/2014/07/03...
Publisher: Baen
Publishing Date: August 2014
ISBN: 9781476736648
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 3.2/5
Publisher Description: When reluctant interstellar diplomat and intelligence operative Caine Riordan returns from humanity’s first encounter with alien races, sudden war clouds burst. With Earth’s fleet shattered by a sneak attack and its survivors fighting for their lives, Caine must rely upon both his first contact and weaponry skills to contend with the non-humanoid enemy. And when the technologically-superior attackers sweep aside the solar system’s last defenses, and traitorous corporations invite the invaders to land ‘security forces,’ humanity fights back with its best weapons: cunning, inventiveness, and guts.
Review: Cover art evokes images from the SciFi of the 70′s.
This was a very long novel that was a mix of “Aliens Attack!!”, political thriller and Alien cultural encounters. While not trying to sound trite, the novel is based on a few alien species that are considering offering humanity a seat at the multi-alien Accord table. Other alien species attempt to derail this process by manipulating events that ultimately leads to war. Caine and his cohorts are at the leading edge of war, diplomacy and intrigue with the alien consortium.
Caine is speshul. A little too speshul. Every megacorp wants to kill him for his “abilities”. The military loves him because he can think simultaneously with both sides of his brain, then desperately hate him as he does his job in truthful fashion. The chicks love him. Assassins hate him as he foils all their attempts with his Super duper Shotokan karate awareness-fu. Whatever Caine says is suddenly accepted by everyone around him as the truth. So gosh and shucks you just can’t hate a guy that is right all the time. Can you? You can see it coming from the first chapter. Caine is going to save the universe. Elena, Trevor’s sister is really good, but took too much of a back seat in the story-line. Major Hotness, Caines karate-fu instructor, still has this penchant for destruction and a cloaking passion that subsumes as it burns. Whats funny is both women drop everything, including a child and direct orders, to go off in separate “Caine” rescue missions. Oh, Caine you are just so hunky that all the babes you have banged are coming to your rescue.
This is a sweeping galaxy wide space opera played on a minor, albeit, discerning note. Very pointed in its approach to realism where aliens would most likely interact with each other. There is this magic translator that expedites the story-line and a particular alien species that is warlike and visually menacing. While the inter-alien dialogue was great there were too many pages of human dialogue that cluttered the story-line. The novel had moments of great movement where the action helped to uncover hidden facets of the plot.
A well written epic with some crafted holes in the story-line that further promotes a new installment.
Publisher: Baen
Publishing Date: August 2014
ISBN: 9781476736648
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 3.2/5
Publisher Description: When reluctant interstellar diplomat and intelligence operative Caine Riordan returns from humanity’s first encounter with alien races, sudden war clouds burst. With Earth’s fleet shattered by a sneak attack and its survivors fighting for their lives, Caine must rely upon both his first contact and weaponry skills to contend with the non-humanoid enemy. And when the technologically-superior attackers sweep aside the solar system’s last defenses, and traitorous corporations invite the invaders to land ‘security forces,’ humanity fights back with its best weapons: cunning, inventiveness, and guts.
Review: Cover art evokes images from the SciFi of the 70′s.
This was a very long novel that was a mix of “Aliens Attack!!”, political thriller and Alien cultural encounters. While not trying to sound trite, the novel is based on a few alien species that are considering offering humanity a seat at the multi-alien Accord table. Other alien species attempt to derail this process by manipulating events that ultimately leads to war. Caine and his cohorts are at the leading edge of war, diplomacy and intrigue with the alien consortium.
Caine is speshul. A little too speshul. Every megacorp wants to kill him for his “abilities”. The military loves him because he can think simultaneously with both sides of his brain, then desperately hate him as he does his job in truthful fashion. The chicks love him. Assassins hate him as he foils all their attempts with his Super duper Shotokan karate awareness-fu. Whatever Caine says is suddenly accepted by everyone around him as the truth. So gosh and shucks you just can’t hate a guy that is right all the time. Can you? You can see it coming from the first chapter. Caine is going to save the universe. Elena, Trevor’s sister is really good, but took too much of a back seat in the story-line. Major Hotness, Caines karate-fu instructor, still has this penchant for destruction and a cloaking passion that subsumes as it burns. Whats funny is both women drop everything, including a child and direct orders, to go off in separate “Caine” rescue missions. Oh, Caine you are just so hunky that all the babes you have banged are coming to your rescue.
This is a sweeping galaxy wide space opera played on a minor, albeit, discerning note. Very pointed in its approach to realism where aliens would most likely interact with each other. There is this magic translator that expedites the story-line and a particular alien species that is warlike and visually menacing. While the inter-alien dialogue was great there were too many pages of human dialogue that cluttered the story-line. The novel had moments of great movement where the action helped to uncover hidden facets of the plot.
A well written epic with some crafted holes in the story-line that further promotes a new installment.
June 11, 2016
Hugely complicated plot. Some decent hard-sf stuff re moving things around, although he got bogged down a bit with all the pre-accelerating. Interesting ideas re political manoeuvring. But this guy needs a co-writer.
Caine is beginning to annoy me. Smartest guy in the universe doesn't necessarily make the best story. Especially with a dumb-as-rocks character like the Fist. The slightly-less-smart characters are better. Nolan Corcoran is just not credible, predicting decisions decades in the future.
And the info dumps, oh my, the info dumps! Some of them sounding as if they were read off a teleprompter, right on the middle of a real-time crisis.
And the writerly clichés. Hero unconscious, wakes up, immediately asks "How long was I out?" And as always is told "longer than you'd think." Long shot video that is clearly stated to be grainy, yet in a long two-shot the observer can see that Caine's pupils enlarged briefly. This is just short of that fantasy trope where all the special snowflakes have grey eyes, and people can see by glancing at someone's eyes from sixty feet that he is kind, intelligent, trustworthy, left-handed and quite good at pétanque.
And golly, you'd better like military porn. The kind where in the midst of a firefight we are reminded that our character is using a CoBro liquid-load 9mm ultra-rifle, the kind with the customizable trigger guard and the stock cover that subtly changes colour to set off your eyes.
And of course there's the obligatory tough old Pole named Stosh. Lookit, my father-in-law actually WAS a Stanislaus, and he made it pretty clear that in the army the first Stanislaus is going to be Stan, and the second one is going to be Steamer, and then we can talk about "Stosh."
Gannon seems to really like the word "sternchase," because I'll bet it appears 20 times in this book.
But to Gannon's credit, good guys do die, arguments on both sides usually make sense, and soldiers sometimes hesitate before ordering a slaughter.
Overall, a competent adventure that could have been great.
Caine is beginning to annoy me. Smartest guy in the universe doesn't necessarily make the best story. Especially with a dumb-as-rocks character like the Fist. The slightly-less-smart characters are better. Nolan Corcoran is just not credible, predicting decisions decades in the future.
And the info dumps, oh my, the info dumps! Some of them sounding as if they were read off a teleprompter, right on the middle of a real-time crisis.
And the writerly clichés. Hero unconscious, wakes up, immediately asks "How long was I out?" And as always is told "longer than you'd think." Long shot video that is clearly stated to be grainy, yet in a long two-shot the observer can see that Caine's pupils enlarged briefly. This is just short of that fantasy trope where all the special snowflakes have grey eyes, and people can see by glancing at someone's eyes from sixty feet that he is kind, intelligent, trustworthy, left-handed and quite good at pétanque.
And golly, you'd better like military porn. The kind where in the midst of a firefight we are reminded that our character is using a CoBro liquid-load 9mm ultra-rifle, the kind with the customizable trigger guard and the stock cover that subtly changes colour to set off your eyes.
And of course there's the obligatory tough old Pole named Stosh. Lookit, my father-in-law actually WAS a Stanislaus, and he made it pretty clear that in the army the first Stanislaus is going to be Stan, and the second one is going to be Steamer, and then we can talk about "Stosh."
Gannon seems to really like the word "sternchase," because I'll bet it appears 20 times in this book.
But to Gannon's credit, good guys do die, arguments on both sides usually make sense, and soldiers sometimes hesitate before ordering a slaughter.
Overall, a competent adventure that could have been great.
July 8, 2014
Quite good. I look forward to the next book!
November 27, 2019
What a load of drivel!
A lot of things I do not like in the book are down to the personal taste - I've read a lot of mil-scifi from Baen books, and this is a pretty typical piece for them. Anglocentrism, warhawk politics, failed Bechedel test, Marty Sue main character - that all is as expected. I can see that style of writing as appealing to some people and can forgive is as a political difference of opinion, if the book has good style, plot or worldbuilding.
The writing on this one tortured. The pace is sluggish
But my biggest gripes are the plot twists and the worldbuilding. The book relies on two huge 'reveals', and they both have the same problem of being obvious a mile off, as well as not making any sense. The first one is about the human 'grand strategy' in the war.
The second one is the identity of the 'bad guys'.
A lot of things I do not like in the book are down to the personal taste - I've read a lot of mil-scifi from Baen books, and this is a pretty typical piece for them. Anglocentrism, warhawk politics, failed Bechedel test, Marty Sue main character - that all is as expected. I can see that style of writing as appealing to some people and can forgive is as a political difference of opinion, if the book has good style, plot or worldbuilding.
The writing on this one tortured. The pace is sluggish
But my biggest gripes are the plot twists and the worldbuilding. The book relies on two huge 'reveals', and they both have the same problem of being obvious a mile off, as well as not making any sense. The first one is about the human 'grand strategy' in the war.
The second one is the identity of the 'bad guys'.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 7, 2020
The second book in the ongoing Caine Riordan series, Trial By Fire picks up soon after the end of the first volume and deals mainly with the occupation of earth by an alien coalition as well as the resistance movement and counter-attack by earth forces.
This is a really long military sci-fi book, clocking in at over 800 pages it is much more focused on one event than the previous book of the series, basically three fourths of the book cover one single battle on several fronts in exhaustive detail. Gannon is a pretty good writer and even if some moments of the book start feeling slightly dull he is smart enough to give you enough twists and interesting characters so that you know that in a couple of pages it will become interesting again.
Caine Riordan, the central character in the tale is pretty awesome. He is not perfect but he is really smart, so much so that he figures stuff out at about the same time as the reader does, often in this kind of stories you spend your time shouting at the main character because he is missing the obvious, not Caine, he is never less than brilliant and that is a pretty good way to not underestimate the reader's intelligence. The story mixes Caine's personal drama with the military action ongoing throughout the book as a way to give the reader respite from what might otherwise be a pretty dry story and manages to explore the alien races to great depth making them multi-faceted and often sympathetic. A fun series up until now, and I do want to keep reading it even after some 870 pages. High praise indeed.
This is a really long military sci-fi book, clocking in at over 800 pages it is much more focused on one event than the previous book of the series, basically three fourths of the book cover one single battle on several fronts in exhaustive detail. Gannon is a pretty good writer and even if some moments of the book start feeling slightly dull he is smart enough to give you enough twists and interesting characters so that you know that in a couple of pages it will become interesting again.
Caine Riordan, the central character in the tale is pretty awesome. He is not perfect but he is really smart, so much so that he figures stuff out at about the same time as the reader does, often in this kind of stories you spend your time shouting at the main character because he is missing the obvious, not Caine, he is never less than brilliant and that is a pretty good way to not underestimate the reader's intelligence. The story mixes Caine's personal drama with the military action ongoing throughout the book as a way to give the reader respite from what might otherwise be a pretty dry story and manages to explore the alien races to great depth making them multi-faceted and often sympathetic. A fun series up until now, and I do want to keep reading it even after some 870 pages. High praise indeed.
February 4, 2023
This book definitely was a page turner... it's been a while since I sped through a thick MMPB in a few days...full marks for this series to get me out of the rut I was in.
Gannon's set of aliens is pretty interesting... it does follow the trope of 'humans are the warriors of the universe' and the rest of the civilizations races fear our catching up on their tech, but that's not so common a set up that I'm tired of it.
While the first book was a bit annoying in that the main character, Caine Riordan, was just too brilliant, he and the other main characters were bit players here. Instead, all of humanity was annoying perfect in their war strategy. It was an interesting one and it made sense that it worked, but it was far too easy. Even the death that happened conviently clearly up the weird double love triangle the first book set up.
Gannon doesn't have as good a grasp on the military sci fi bits as say, David Weber does for space combat or David Drake does for ground battles, but it's entertaining enough for sure.
My biggest annoyance if the time frame, after logically timing out the other book to take a couple years, this one has all the action take place over less than a month... perhaps the author's future plans are such he doesn't want Caine to get too old to fast, but there are alot better ways to fix that.
I'll definitely be reading the next one!
Gannon's set of aliens is pretty interesting... it does follow the trope of 'humans are the warriors of the universe' and the rest of the civilizations races fear our catching up on their tech, but that's not so common a set up that I'm tired of it.
While the first book was a bit annoying in that the main character, Caine Riordan, was just too brilliant, he and the other main characters were bit players here. Instead, all of humanity was annoying perfect in their war strategy. It was an interesting one and it made sense that it worked, but it was far too easy. Even the death that happened conviently clearly up the weird double love triangle the first book set up.
Gannon doesn't have as good a grasp on the military sci fi bits as say, David Weber does for space combat or David Drake does for ground battles, but it's entertaining enough for sure.
My biggest annoyance if the time frame, after logically timing out the other book to take a couple years, this one has all the action take place over less than a month... perhaps the author's future plans are such he doesn't want Caine to get too old to fast, but there are alot better ways to fix that.
I'll definitely be reading the next one!
October 18, 2020
This is another book where I have a mix of opinions about the plot, ideas, characters, and writing. First, the book drags a bit in the middle. There was a lot of detailed descriptions of various weapons, squad level tactics, and many different tactical battles. Though the detail was impressive, I found the battles themselves unpersuasive and the guiding hand of the author was too clearly present. Also, where were the alien's tanks (or equivalents)? It seemed preposterous that combat outcomes were being solely decided by infantry and satellite guided weapons systems. Also, some of the tech just felt wrong. Computers, information systems, and communications seemed a bit behind the curve of where I would think they should be.
I also had problems with the author doing the "humans so clever" showing how their genius can outwit supposedly super-intelligent alien races. It felt more like an ego trip by the author trying to show how clever he thinks he is.
However, the plot and ideas were sound and at times the book was compelling. Also, there was a bit of a mystery at the core of the book and that paid of fairly well. I also found Caine to be a sympathetic and likable character.
I also had problems with the author doing the "humans so clever" showing how their genius can outwit supposedly super-intelligent alien races. It felt more like an ego trip by the author trying to show how clever he thinks he is.
However, the plot and ideas were sound and at times the book was compelling. Also, there was a bit of a mystery at the core of the book and that paid of fairly well. I also found Caine to be a sympathetic and likable character.
June 8, 2020
Gannon, Charles E. Trial by Fire. Tales of the Terran Republic No. 2. Baen, 2014.
When I reviewed Fire with Fire, the first volume in the Tales of the Terran Republic series, I noted that it got off to a good start but slipped into too many conventional military science fiction clichés, but since then, books in the series have been nominated for two Nebula Awards, so I thought I should give the series another look. In Trial by Fire, there are space battles and a multispecies alien invasion of, surprise, Indonesia, so there is plenty of action that is well-described. The novel, though, has three main virtues—an intriguing hero, careful and inventive descriptions of beings here called “exosapients,” and lots and lots of clearly described technology. Caine Riordan, codenamed Odysseus, is a diplomat and quick-thinking analyst, who is drawn into the fighting despite his protestations that he is not really a soldier. His alien friends and foes are well-differentiated, and I especially enjoyed the description of how a future handgun might work. I recommend reading the series in order if you want to keep up with Gannon’s world-building.
When I reviewed Fire with Fire, the first volume in the Tales of the Terran Republic series, I noted that it got off to a good start but slipped into too many conventional military science fiction clichés, but since then, books in the series have been nominated for two Nebula Awards, so I thought I should give the series another look. In Trial by Fire, there are space battles and a multispecies alien invasion of, surprise, Indonesia, so there is plenty of action that is well-described. The novel, though, has three main virtues—an intriguing hero, careful and inventive descriptions of beings here called “exosapients,” and lots and lots of clearly described technology. Caine Riordan, codenamed Odysseus, is a diplomat and quick-thinking analyst, who is drawn into the fighting despite his protestations that he is not really a soldier. His alien friends and foes are well-differentiated, and I especially enjoyed the description of how a future handgun might work. I recommend reading the series in order if you want to keep up with Gannon’s world-building.
December 19, 2021
I rated the first book in this series at 3 stars, noting that I appreciated the plotting and first contact scenarios that Gannon offered.
Unfortunately, I found the sequel (Trial by Fire) less engaging, and ended up with a DNF after 95 pages (of 650). The issues I had with the first book were magnified, and the elements of the first that I most enjoyed were largely absent. In terms of writing, the info dumps that pass as 'dialogue', Gannon's need to explain every bit of the physics of space combat, and the shallow characterizations of the characters are all glaringly present. The first 95 pages have one exciting sequence, but are mostly devoted to the strategy and tactics of the interstellar war that was foreshadowed at the end of the first volume. Where the first book read like a spy novel, this one read (as far as I got) as a rather tedious military sci-fi.
If one likes hard military sci-fi, and if one liked the first volume more than I did, then this may be a good choice. Ultimately it was not for me.
Unfortunately, I found the sequel (Trial by Fire) less engaging, and ended up with a DNF after 95 pages (of 650). The issues I had with the first book were magnified, and the elements of the first that I most enjoyed were largely absent. In terms of writing, the info dumps that pass as 'dialogue', Gannon's need to explain every bit of the physics of space combat, and the shallow characterizations of the characters are all glaringly present. The first 95 pages have one exciting sequence, but are mostly devoted to the strategy and tactics of the interstellar war that was foreshadowed at the end of the first volume. Where the first book read like a spy novel, this one read (as far as I got) as a rather tedious military sci-fi.
If one likes hard military sci-fi, and if one liked the first volume more than I did, then this may be a good choice. Ultimately it was not for me.
January 15, 2021
Interstellar political intrigue and a great Defending the Earth story
An Invasion story to rival Niven and Pournelle! When alien invaders with superior technology come for earth they find humanity is a species built for war. Fantastic read ... until the very last part. As the author sets up the next book in the series we slog through some dry diplomacy and narration that will certainly be worth the read when we get to the next book and learn what we’ve been set up for, but broke the pace of a great story.
An Invasion story to rival Niven and Pournelle! When alien invaders with superior technology come for earth they find humanity is a species built for war. Fantastic read ... until the very last part. As the author sets up the next book in the series we slog through some dry diplomacy and narration that will certainly be worth the read when we get to the next book and learn what we’ve been set up for, but broke the pace of a great story.
August 24, 2024
A broadly scoped tale of interstellar war
"Trial by Fire," The second novel in the Cainverse series, takes the groundwork laid in the first book and brings us a sweeping story of war, from guerilla resistance to invasion to interstellar battles. There is less chaff compared to the first book, though the story does bog down from time to time. The overall arc is intriguing, as are the main characters - human and otherwise. I enjoyed this title enough to be interested in reading the next installment.
"Trial by Fire," The second novel in the Cainverse series, takes the groundwork laid in the first book and brings us a sweeping story of war, from guerilla resistance to invasion to interstellar battles. There is less chaff compared to the first book, though the story does bog down from time to time. The overall arc is intriguing, as are the main characters - human and otherwise. I enjoyed this title enough to be interested in reading the next installment.
June 22, 2017
Too much killing
Book 2 took a turn for the worse for me . Anytime the majority of a book is about war it just becomes uninteresting to me. As much as I enjoyed book 1,book 2 ruined it for me and after reading the synopsis for book 3, I will not be reading it as it looks as fighting will dominate it! I must say that the writing is impeccable and the only problem for me was the subject matter.
Book 2 took a turn for the worse for me . Anytime the majority of a book is about war it just becomes uninteresting to me. As much as I enjoyed book 1,book 2 ruined it for me and after reading the synopsis for book 3, I will not be reading it as it looks as fighting will dominate it! I must say that the writing is impeccable and the only problem for me was the subject matter.
September 23, 2019
While possessing many of the qualities of the first book, snappy writing, realistic feeling solutions; it really felt like this book was a number of awesome scenes, that then the author had to figure out how to string together.
And if the portrayal and role of women in the first book frustrated you, it doesn’t get any better in this one, fewer on screen appearance and a horrendous cliche of “twist”. I enjoyed it, but it definitely was weaker than book 1.
And if the portrayal and role of women in the first book frustrated you, it doesn’t get any better in this one, fewer on screen appearance and a horrendous cliche of “twist”. I enjoyed it, but it definitely was weaker than book 1.
January 30, 2018
Better written than the first book in the series. The characters and story is compelling, however, the writing is only ok. Sometimes his descriptions become awkward and clunky so that the sophistication of the craft does not match that of the story being told. Despite this disconnect, I really found myself drawn into the story.
November 19, 2020
Engaging reading, don't miss this series!
Great story telling. Good characters development and world building. Intriguing story elements that raised the story to one of thoughtful reflections of human motivations and potentials with compelling action and believable conflict. Ooo-rah!
Great story telling. Good characters development and world building. Intriguing story elements that raised the story to one of thoughtful reflections of human motivations and potentials with compelling action and believable conflict. Ooo-rah!
July 18, 2025
14-year-old me would've loved the epic, multi-faceted inter-space and terrestrial warfare on multiple fronts, and that is still fun. Present-day me loves the diplomacy, negotiations, and behind-the scenes treachery between multiple races of exosapients stretching over thousands of years. It's not high literature, but it is fun and highly engaging.
July 24, 2019
Did not dwell on any character development from the last book. There was a building side plot of conflicting love interests solely base on looks. the main reason i stopped reading mid was though was the main plot just devolved into poorly reasoned political theory.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2020
if you are looking for a military, science fiction war book, then this is the book for you. It has a lot of technical detail and battle strategy. So much, that I ended up scanning sections until we got back to characters. A little preachy at the end.
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