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Undying Mercenaries #1
Steel World
In the 20th century Earth sent probes, transmissions, and welcoming messages to the stars. Unfortunately, someone noticed. The Galactics arrived with their battle fleet in 2052. Rather than being exterminated under a barrage of hell-burners, Earth joined their vast Empire. Swearing allegiance to our distant alien overlords wasn't the only requirement for survival. We also had to have something of value to trade, something that neighboring planets would pay their hard-earned credits to buy. As most of the local worlds were too civilized to have a proper army, the only valuable service Earth could provide came in the form of soldiers…someone had to do their dirty work for them, their fighting and dying.
I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn't go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival. Humanity's mercenary legions go to war in Steel World, best-selling author B. V. Larson's latest science fiction novel.
©2013 B. V. Larson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
I, James McGill, was born in 2099 on the fringe of the galaxy. When Hegemony Financial denied my loan applications, I was kicked out of the university and I turned to the stars. My first campaign involved the invasion of a mineral-rich planet called Cancri-9, better known as Steel World. The attack didn't go well, and now Earth has entered a grim struggle for survival. Humanity's mercenary legions go to war in Steel World, best-selling author B. V. Larson's latest science fiction novel.
©2013 B. V. Larson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.
12 pages, Audible Audio
First published November 4, 2013
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3670 people want to read
About the author
B.V. Larson
135 books1,529 followersBrian Larson is an American science fiction and fantasy author
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 487 reviews
October 6, 2022
Updated Aug/2018 to deduct a star because I'm so fed up with books with nonsensical female characters.
Final rating is somewhere between2.5 and 3 stars 1 and 2 stars, solely based on the world building. I finished this book wanting to read more about what would happen in this universe, but I spent so much time rolling my eyes at the characters in this book that I'm afraid my eyes might actually become disconnected from my head if I were to try any more books in this series. My original thoughts as written below still stand.
I'm currently just under 50% of the way through this giant meh-burger. I'm very close to DNFing and it will take just one more shitty female stereotype for me to finally have had enough. The world building is ok with this one, but omg, the characters are so shallow.
I don't know if I'm just getting fed up with the way so many of these stories treat the female characters, or if I've just stumbled across a few really bad offenders lately. I'm pretty sure the only reason women are even in the story at all are so that the MC can occasionally make comments about sex. So far, we've met the woman who was a bitch when MC made a rookie mistake and got her killed (but not real killed, just kinda killed -- they've got the ability to bring people back from the dead in this world), the woman who is the vixen and doesn't seem to do much but lift up her shirt every now and then to show MC her tits, and woman who was all wobbly and weak and afraid to follow orders. Of course, the men are all rough, go get 'em sorts.
Bah. I'm getting annoyed again just writing about it.
Badass Female Character score: 0/5 -- None of the female characters in this story were at all badass despite being freaking soldiers. It would be difficult to increase the level of male dickitude found here.
Final rating is somewhere between
I'm currently just under 50% of the way through this giant meh-burger. I'm very close to DNFing and it will take just one more shitty female stereotype for me to finally have had enough. The world building is ok with this one, but omg, the characters are so shallow.
I don't know if I'm just getting fed up with the way so many of these stories treat the female characters, or if I've just stumbled across a few really bad offenders lately. I'm pretty sure the only reason women are even in the story at all are so that the MC can occasionally make comments about sex. So far, we've met the woman who was a bitch when MC made a rookie mistake and got her killed (but not real killed, just kinda killed -- they've got the ability to bring people back from the dead in this world), the woman who is the vixen and doesn't seem to do much but lift up her shirt every now and then to show MC her tits, and woman who was all wobbly and weak and afraid to follow orders. Of course, the men are all rough, go get 'em sorts.
Bah. I'm getting annoyed again just writing about it.
Badass Female Character score: 0/5 -- None of the female characters in this story were at all badass despite being freaking soldiers. It would be difficult to increase the level of male dickitude found here.
January 8, 2014
TL;DR version: Better than average world-building concepts, reads like well-written Mass Effect fanfiction, Dinosaurs In Space! (+1.5 stars just for this), MC is not a convincing soldier, MURIKA!
Longer version:
Of many, there are three things that, I believe, characterize good science fiction stories:
1. The Concept(s): good concepts are about technology, about looking at the Universe a different way, about something new born out of the minds of men (or aliens). And ultimately, the concept must be expressed in human terms, must shape and warp and define the narrative in a deeply meaningful way. This book delivers on the concepts it promised. +1.5 stars.
2. The Character(s): 3D. Familiar-and-yet-unfamiliar. Heroic, whatever the author defines that word to be. Convictions, moral or immoral, chaotic or otherwise, but *convincing* convictions.
3. The Arc(s): Growth or decay. Change. Not just in the story, but in the *reader*.
I have never encountered a truly *good* science fiction story from which I didn't walk away a changed person, in a small or a large way. Because we - our hopes, our fears, our technologies, our worlds - are mirrored in the story and the character.
Conversely, of the many things that characterize first-person-shooter/shooter-rpg games, there are two that are pertinent to this book:
1. Playability and repeatability: To be able to mow down enemies in a satisfying way, in a way that is just familiar enough to feel comfortable, and in a way that's changed just enough that we keep coming back to mow down said enemies on new terrain.
2. The ability to disengage from the character - play in their bodies, but not their heads. Kill 10,000, turn off computer, kill more tomorrow. Headshot! Awesome! Laggy. Damn. I mean, if you grant violent FPS games the ability to truly *change* or *affect* the player, you have to grant that kids are being brainwashed into mass-school-shooting perpetrators because of video games, which is hogwash.
Both games and novels are awesome things in their own right, but when your gameplay is nothing but cut-scenes with a dude reading to you, it sucks. And when your novel reads like a dramatized version of UT....
In this book, there's a few good things. Firstly, it's well written - the author had a clear, consistent and strong voice. Secondly, the plot moves along at a fair enough clip (despite there being, in parts, too much shot-for-shot narration, enough that Clancy would get bored). Thirdly, two of the concepts developed - Earth's only export being Mercs, and the endless death-revival of said soldiers - are refreshingly original.
Caveat: they're refreshingly original *if* you look at the book as a book, and not video-game fanfiction. The author gives it away a bit too, at the beginning.
This book is a gamer's fantasy. The plot can be boiled down to this: entitled gamer-kid realizes family doesn't have money to send him to school, enrolls in a mercenary outfit, battles ensue, he finishes all his missions, dies and gets revived a couple of times, a couple of cut-scenes explain the larger universe. At the end, we find out there's Politics. And Bureaucracy. The Earth is at risk, and low-level grunt will somehow save the day, eventually, buy the expansion pack and find out how.
My biggest gripe isn't even the lack of *other* world-building concepts, I mean, FTL is somehow there and isn't even hand-waved, it's unlikely you're going to get lizards with blood similar to humans on a silica-poor world, blah blah blah. Whatever, I've read and admired worse world-building in books.
My biggest gripe is the Main Character - already forgotten his name, Jarvis McCain?
Firstly, he's a dick. A caricature of what people think teenage gamer guys are - unsympathetic to their families' plights, unmotivated about carriers and schools, arrogant and self-entitled. Okay sure, let's wait and see how this guy grows and changes...and wait...and wait...The End.
He's not a convincing solider, or a convincing Merc. After much training and supposedly life-and-death bonding experiences, his concept of camaraderie begins and ends with off-hand insults traded with a lacky. His unit-cohesion with his squad is nonexistent. He obeys orders when he feels like it, rebels when it suits his surly, arrogant self. He's *exactly* what an entitled-dick-gamer-caricature-19-year-old *thinks* a soldier is.
A real marine would pop this kid one in the teeth.
And he's the hero.
This could have played very well - real opportunity for meaningful character growth right there. I suspect, however, that the author is *not* aware of how very un-soldier like his "solider" is.
At least there's women fighting alongside men, equality in the forces and all that jazz, right? Well, there's 4 major female side characters. Kiwi, squadmate (fucked by MC). Natasha, squadmate (clumsily romanced, rescued and then fucked by MC). Anne, biomedical officer (shown to be incompetent under fire, unfairly blaming MC, then rescued by MC, now friendly. To be leered at in 3 separate scenes out of a total of 7 encounters). Thompson, another biomed. CRAZY BITCH out to kill MC. The 2nd in Command of the entire mercanary fleet. CRAZY BITCH - Hillary Clinton in Space, out to KILL MC but leered at by MC the moment he sees her. Petty jealousies, because they're all fighting, one way or another, over MC's ass.
Oh, and he's the most popular guy around, got a mouthy sidekick that's more comic relief than friend.
If this was a real person - or even if the author was doing a character interview, I'd like to ask him a couple of questions:
1. Solider, did you ever miss your mother, she of the shaking-hands who tried to keep you in elite-gaming-rigs and university with the last of her money? Did you ever write home? Send back some of your pay? MENTION family even once? What about all the guys you played basketball with (we're led to assume he has excellent physique because he plays tons of basketball)...your gaming clan (he's clan/guild leader. Because of course)...anybody at all? Do you realize mercenaries are people too?
2. Soldier, why didn't you react AT ALL when you killed someone for the first time? Yeah, they're aliens. But they bleed like humans, they are an intelligent starfaring species. The most stoic hunter *reacts* when he shoots even a dumb animal for the first time. I'll buy adrenelin and heat-of-combat as an excuse. What about after? And what about your mouthy sidekick? His first time out, he's convinced he's getting kill-shots, and he's bragging, calmly. You're too manly to react, what about him?
The characters didn't think about this because the author didn't. This is a video game.
And my biggest issue? It's the MC bitching about the raw deal he's getting, rebelling against the "system" - his superior, the galactic laws, what-have you - then going back to eating chow and extolling some virtue of the same game that keeps getting him killed. Like the rifles - that struck me - they're mass-produced for an "average" humanoid, don't have friend-or-foe ID. Weaponeer mentions that if Earth made it, friendlies *would* be identified, dammit, so they don't keep killing their own guys. MC agrees, has a 2 paragraph internal monologue about the system that keeps earth from manufacturing their own, superior, weapons that wouldn't kill his troop-mates. Then he says (paraphrased) "but these guns are a damn fine weapon". WTF?
All this *could* have worked, you know, if we'd been shown MC as an unreliable narrator. But he's in deadly earnest. We're *supposed* to accept his reality as the Right One.
This is the first book I'd read by this author. Tempted by the concepts offered in the blurb (and, to be fair, the conceptual promise was delivered as advertised), but I won't be reading any more.
A counter-recommendation: if you're looking for something that tastes like this - space-marine flick - read Elliot Kay's
. It has its flaws, but it's far more characterful than this.
Longer version:
Of many, there are three things that, I believe, characterize good science fiction stories:
1. The Concept(s): good concepts are about technology, about looking at the Universe a different way, about something new born out of the minds of men (or aliens). And ultimately, the concept must be expressed in human terms, must shape and warp and define the narrative in a deeply meaningful way. This book delivers on the concepts it promised. +1.5 stars.
2. The Character(s): 3D. Familiar-and-yet-unfamiliar. Heroic, whatever the author defines that word to be. Convictions, moral or immoral, chaotic or otherwise, but *convincing* convictions.
3. The Arc(s): Growth or decay. Change. Not just in the story, but in the *reader*.
I have never encountered a truly *good* science fiction story from which I didn't walk away a changed person, in a small or a large way. Because we - our hopes, our fears, our technologies, our worlds - are mirrored in the story and the character.
Conversely, of the many things that characterize first-person-shooter/shooter-rpg games, there are two that are pertinent to this book:
1. Playability and repeatability: To be able to mow down enemies in a satisfying way, in a way that is just familiar enough to feel comfortable, and in a way that's changed just enough that we keep coming back to mow down said enemies on new terrain.
2. The ability to disengage from the character - play in their bodies, but not their heads. Kill 10,000, turn off computer, kill more tomorrow. Headshot! Awesome! Laggy. Damn. I mean, if you grant violent FPS games the ability to truly *change* or *affect* the player, you have to grant that kids are being brainwashed into mass-school-shooting perpetrators because of video games, which is hogwash.
Both games and novels are awesome things in their own right, but when your gameplay is nothing but cut-scenes with a dude reading to you, it sucks. And when your novel reads like a dramatized version of UT....
In this book, there's a few good things. Firstly, it's well written - the author had a clear, consistent and strong voice. Secondly, the plot moves along at a fair enough clip (despite there being, in parts, too much shot-for-shot narration, enough that Clancy would get bored). Thirdly, two of the concepts developed - Earth's only export being Mercs, and the endless death-revival of said soldiers - are refreshingly original.
Caveat: they're refreshingly original *if* you look at the book as a book, and not video-game fanfiction. The author gives it away a bit too, at the beginning.
This book is a gamer's fantasy. The plot can be boiled down to this: entitled gamer-kid realizes family doesn't have money to send him to school, enrolls in a mercenary outfit, battles ensue, he finishes all his missions, dies and gets revived a couple of times, a couple of cut-scenes explain the larger universe. At the end, we find out there's Politics. And Bureaucracy. The Earth is at risk, and low-level grunt will somehow save the day, eventually, buy the expansion pack and find out how.
My biggest gripe isn't even the lack of *other* world-building concepts, I mean, FTL is somehow there and isn't even hand-waved, it's unlikely you're going to get lizards with blood similar to humans on a silica-poor world, blah blah blah. Whatever, I've read and admired worse world-building in books.
My biggest gripe is the Main Character - already forgotten his name, Jarvis McCain?
Firstly, he's a dick. A caricature of what people think teenage gamer guys are - unsympathetic to their families' plights, unmotivated about carriers and schools, arrogant and self-entitled. Okay sure, let's wait and see how this guy grows and changes...and wait...and wait...The End.
He's not a convincing solider, or a convincing Merc. After much training and supposedly life-and-death bonding experiences, his concept of camaraderie begins and ends with off-hand insults traded with a lacky. His unit-cohesion with his squad is nonexistent. He obeys orders when he feels like it, rebels when it suits his surly, arrogant self. He's *exactly* what an entitled-dick-gamer-caricature-19-year-old *thinks* a soldier is.
A real marine would pop this kid one in the teeth.
And he's the hero.
This could have played very well - real opportunity for meaningful character growth right there. I suspect, however, that the author is *not* aware of how very un-soldier like his "solider" is.
At least there's women fighting alongside men, equality in the forces and all that jazz, right? Well, there's 4 major female side characters. Kiwi, squadmate (fucked by MC). Natasha, squadmate (clumsily romanced, rescued and then fucked by MC). Anne, biomedical officer (shown to be incompetent under fire, unfairly blaming MC, then rescued by MC, now friendly. To be leered at in 3 separate scenes out of a total of 7 encounters). Thompson, another biomed. CRAZY BITCH out to kill MC. The 2nd in Command of the entire mercanary fleet. CRAZY BITCH - Hillary Clinton in Space, out to KILL MC but leered at by MC the moment he sees her. Petty jealousies, because they're all fighting, one way or another, over MC's ass.
Oh, and he's the most popular guy around, got a mouthy sidekick that's more comic relief than friend.
If this was a real person - or even if the author was doing a character interview, I'd like to ask him a couple of questions:
1. Solider, did you ever miss your mother, she of the shaking-hands who tried to keep you in elite-gaming-rigs and university with the last of her money? Did you ever write home? Send back some of your pay? MENTION family even once? What about all the guys you played basketball with (we're led to assume he has excellent physique because he plays tons of basketball)...your gaming clan (he's clan/guild leader. Because of course)...anybody at all? Do you realize mercenaries are people too?
2. Soldier, why didn't you react AT ALL when you killed someone for the first time? Yeah, they're aliens. But they bleed like humans, they are an intelligent starfaring species. The most stoic hunter *reacts* when he shoots even a dumb animal for the first time. I'll buy adrenelin and heat-of-combat as an excuse. What about after? And what about your mouthy sidekick? His first time out, he's convinced he's getting kill-shots, and he's bragging, calmly. You're too manly to react, what about him?
The characters didn't think about this because the author didn't. This is a video game.
And my biggest issue? It's the MC bitching about the raw deal he's getting, rebelling against the "system" - his superior, the galactic laws, what-have you - then going back to eating chow and extolling some virtue of the same game that keeps getting him killed. Like the rifles - that struck me - they're mass-produced for an "average" humanoid, don't have friend-or-foe ID. Weaponeer mentions that if Earth made it, friendlies *would* be identified, dammit, so they don't keep killing their own guys. MC agrees, has a 2 paragraph internal monologue about the system that keeps earth from manufacturing their own, superior, weapons that wouldn't kill his troop-mates. Then he says (paraphrased) "but these guns are a damn fine weapon". WTF?
All this *could* have worked, you know, if we'd been shown MC as an unreliable narrator. But he's in deadly earnest. We're *supposed* to accept his reality as the Right One.
This is the first book I'd read by this author. Tempted by the concepts offered in the blurb (and, to be fair, the conceptual promise was delivered as advertised), but I won't be reading any more.
A counter-recommendation: if you're looking for something that tastes like this - space-marine flick - read Elliot Kay's
. It has its flaws, but it's far more characterful than this.
December 6, 2016
Well, I've started the 4th in this series so maybe I should give a short review of a couple of them...you think?
Anyway these are (of course) pretty much what i call brain candy. here we meet James McGill. You may even recognize him in spite of the changes that have taken place in/on Earth between "now" and the near future when the series takes place.
See in 2052 the Galactic Empire's fleet showed up and we humans found out we were...not so significant as we had thought. At least not to the Galactics. They informed us we could basically join of die...that is everybody would die. they'd wipe the Earth and "reseed" with a productive race.
OH and you can't just join and survive, no you (that is the planet) has to have a "product" that is of value to the rest of the Galaxy.
Well, our technology is nothing for the Galactics to "write home" about but humans do have one thing... We like to fight. Yep. We set up Legions modeled on the Roman Legions and hire out to other races on other planets. And it works. After all humans are nasty.
Enter our hero James McGill. He lives playing video war games based on the Human Legions and drifts through school...till money comes up short for his family and reality hits him in the face.
Guess what James does...you got it he decides to sign up for a Legion, hopefully one of the top most glamorous ones.
Right.
From here we'll follow James in his life and the fate of earth. Well worth reading. Lots of well written action. lots of good plot...I like them.
Also if you've served you''l recognize some actual "types" (REMF for example).
Look I like this/these. They are not only good brain candy they do actually provoke some thought. Recommended, enjoy.
Anyway these are (of course) pretty much what i call brain candy. here we meet James McGill. You may even recognize him in spite of the changes that have taken place in/on Earth between "now" and the near future when the series takes place.
See in 2052 the Galactic Empire's fleet showed up and we humans found out we were...not so significant as we had thought. At least not to the Galactics. They informed us we could basically join of die...that is everybody would die. they'd wipe the Earth and "reseed" with a productive race.
OH and you can't just join and survive, no you (that is the planet) has to have a "product" that is of value to the rest of the Galaxy.
Well, our technology is nothing for the Galactics to "write home" about but humans do have one thing... We like to fight. Yep. We set up Legions modeled on the Roman Legions and hire out to other races on other planets. And it works. After all humans are nasty.
Enter our hero James McGill. He lives playing video war games based on the Human Legions and drifts through school...till money comes up short for his family and reality hits him in the face.
Guess what James does...you got it he decides to sign up for a Legion, hopefully one of the top most glamorous ones.
Right.
From here we'll follow James in his life and the fate of earth. Well worth reading. Lots of well written action. lots of good plot...I like them.
Also if you've served you''l recognize some actual "types" (REMF for example).
Look I like this/these. They are not only good brain candy they do actually provoke some thought. Recommended, enjoy.
March 22, 2022
Oh, my. To była niesamowicie irytująca lektura. I trudno nawet powiedzieć, że jakoś bardzo szkoda, bo niełatwo tutaj dostrzec cokolwiek, co warto byłoby z tej kupy uratować.
Po pierwsze jest to incelska fantazja o archetypowym Garrym Stu, nieudaczniku i życiowym przegrywie, który tak bardzo nie nadaje się do czegokolwiek, że zostaje mu już tylko wojsko - i to najgorszy z możliwych legionów. A tam - jak to Garry Stu - błyskawicznie zostaje gwiazdą, raz po raz łamiąc rozkazy, robiąc po swojemu, narażając się dowódcom i saving the day all over again. A dlaczego jest taki super w wojaczce? To oczywiste: bo wcześniej dużo grał w gry komputerowe XD
Chociaż zadufany w sobie, niekarny i narwany jak dzieciak bohater równie często co ratuje towarzyszy, komplikuje znacznie sytuację, jego dowódcy najwyraźniej mają do niego jakąś dziwna słabość, bo notorycznie ratują go, dzielą się sekretami nieznanymi nawet oficerom lub powierzają mu kolejne zadanie. To znaczy męscy dowódcy. Kobiety u władzy co do jednej go nienawidzą (i tylko jedna zmienia zdanie), próbują sabotować, złamać karierę, a nawet - olaboga - zabić. Co za wredne suki! Czepiają się tego zuchwałego młodzieńca zupełnie jakby nie był impertynenckim bęcwałem. Na pewno są zazdrosne o jego rozliczne talenta. Ale to nie tylko wina bohatera - kobiece bohaterki autor pisze tak, żeby (czasami pomimo wysokiego stanowiska) notorycznie pozwalały emocjom, w tym osobistej niechęci, brać górę nad profesjonalizmem i trzeźwą oceną sytuacji. Są porywcze, mściwe, rzucają fochami, wzruszają się na zawołanie, nadmiernie przejmują, nie potrafią przyznać się do błędu, są lękliwe w obliczu zagrożenia, używają seksu jako narzędzia manipulacji i kłamią, żeby ukryć swoją niekompetencję. Są gotowe narazić całe legion, żeby tylko utrudnić życie irytującemu szeregowemu. Słowem: jako furiatki i histeryczki popełniające koszmarne błędy na polu bitwy nie nadają się ani do zarządzania ani w ogóle do wojska. Cóż za szczęście, że zawsze w okolicy jest jakiś mężczyzna, żeby przywołać je do porządku lub posprzątać za nie kosmiczny bałagan. Koniec końców wszystkie albo dostają po nosie albo ulegają głównemu bohaterowi - przepraszają go, oferują pomoc i współczucie, w podziękowaniu za uratowanie życia idą z nim do łóżka itd. To mizoginistyczne, seksistowskie łajno ubarwiają przemyślenia bohatera na temat ciała KAŻDEJ kobiecej bohaterki wymienionej w tej historii. Nie wiemy, jak niektóre z nich mają na imię, ale wiemy, jakie mają nogi i pośladki. I że są wariatkami sterowanymi emocjami, a nie rozsądkiem. Jak to baby, he he.
Po drugie to jest zwyczajnie słaba powieść ze słabą i boleśnie nudną historią, biedną intrygą i potwornie sztampowym światem przedstawionym. Wszystko co zostało tu opisane służy tak naprawdę opisom kolejnych nawalanek i generowaniu kolejnych spięć bohatera z dowództwem (z czasem coraz rzadziej) i kobietami (z czasem coraz częściej), ażeby podkreślić, że ten samobieżny penis jest łohohohoho takim swawolnym kozakiem.
Rany boskie, facet tego naprodukował nie wiadomo ile części, a nawet pierwszą trudno jest skończyć z jakąkolwiek przyjemnością. Pozostaje mieć nadzieję, że te fantazje doprowadziły do finiszu przynajmniej autora. Który - doprawdy - powinien zaprzestać na dobre pisania postaci kobiecych, bo chyba żadnej kobiety nie spotkał nigdy na żywo. Jak to typowy mizogin.
Literatura klasy B, typ książek, które się wygrzebuje z kosza za piątaka na straganie nad morsem. Incelskie mokre sny i hołd złożony toksycznej męskości. Ale serio najgorsze jest tu to, że to naprawdę nie jest nawet interesujące. Kolejnych tomów nie ruszyłabym kijem przez szmatę.
Po pierwsze jest to incelska fantazja o archetypowym Garrym Stu, nieudaczniku i życiowym przegrywie, który tak bardzo nie nadaje się do czegokolwiek, że zostaje mu już tylko wojsko - i to najgorszy z możliwych legionów. A tam - jak to Garry Stu - błyskawicznie zostaje gwiazdą, raz po raz łamiąc rozkazy, robiąc po swojemu, narażając się dowódcom i saving the day all over again. A dlaczego jest taki super w wojaczce? To oczywiste: bo wcześniej dużo grał w gry komputerowe XD
Chociaż zadufany w sobie, niekarny i narwany jak dzieciak bohater równie często co ratuje towarzyszy, komplikuje znacznie sytuację, jego dowódcy najwyraźniej mają do niego jakąś dziwna słabość, bo notorycznie ratują go, dzielą się sekretami nieznanymi nawet oficerom lub powierzają mu kolejne zadanie. To znaczy męscy dowódcy. Kobiety u władzy co do jednej go nienawidzą (i tylko jedna zmienia zdanie), próbują sabotować, złamać karierę, a nawet - olaboga - zabić. Co za wredne suki! Czepiają się tego zuchwałego młodzieńca zupełnie jakby nie był impertynenckim bęcwałem. Na pewno są zazdrosne o jego rozliczne talenta. Ale to nie tylko wina bohatera - kobiece bohaterki autor pisze tak, żeby (czasami pomimo wysokiego stanowiska) notorycznie pozwalały emocjom, w tym osobistej niechęci, brać górę nad profesjonalizmem i trzeźwą oceną sytuacji. Są porywcze, mściwe, rzucają fochami, wzruszają się na zawołanie, nadmiernie przejmują, nie potrafią przyznać się do błędu, są lękliwe w obliczu zagrożenia, używają seksu jako narzędzia manipulacji i kłamią, żeby ukryć swoją niekompetencję. Są gotowe narazić całe legion, żeby tylko utrudnić życie irytującemu szeregowemu. Słowem: jako furiatki i histeryczki popełniające koszmarne błędy na polu bitwy nie nadają się ani do zarządzania ani w ogóle do wojska. Cóż za szczęście, że zawsze w okolicy jest jakiś mężczyzna, żeby przywołać je do porządku lub posprzątać za nie kosmiczny bałagan. Koniec końców wszystkie albo dostają po nosie albo ulegają głównemu bohaterowi - przepraszają go, oferują pomoc i współczucie, w podziękowaniu za uratowanie życia idą z nim do łóżka itd. To mizoginistyczne, seksistowskie łajno ubarwiają przemyślenia bohatera na temat ciała KAŻDEJ kobiecej bohaterki wymienionej w tej historii. Nie wiemy, jak niektóre z nich mają na imię, ale wiemy, jakie mają nogi i pośladki. I że są wariatkami sterowanymi emocjami, a nie rozsądkiem. Jak to baby, he he.
Po drugie to jest zwyczajnie słaba powieść ze słabą i boleśnie nudną historią, biedną intrygą i potwornie sztampowym światem przedstawionym. Wszystko co zostało tu opisane służy tak naprawdę opisom kolejnych nawalanek i generowaniu kolejnych spięć bohatera z dowództwem (z czasem coraz rzadziej) i kobietami (z czasem coraz częściej), ażeby podkreślić, że ten samobieżny penis jest łohohohoho takim swawolnym kozakiem.
Rany boskie, facet tego naprodukował nie wiadomo ile części, a nawet pierwszą trudno jest skończyć z jakąkolwiek przyjemnością. Pozostaje mieć nadzieję, że te fantazje doprowadziły do finiszu przynajmniej autora. Który - doprawdy - powinien zaprzestać na dobre pisania postaci kobiecych, bo chyba żadnej kobiety nie spotkał nigdy na żywo. Jak to typowy mizogin.
Literatura klasy B, typ książek, które się wygrzebuje z kosza za piątaka na straganie nad morsem. Incelskie mokre sny i hołd złożony toksycznej męskości. Ale serio najgorsze jest tu to, że to naprawdę nie jest nawet interesujące. Kolejnych tomów nie ruszyłabym kijem przez szmatę.
June 27, 2014
I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a soft and accessible military SF walkthrough.
If tropes don't pose a nuisance, this might just graze your fancy.
B. V. Larson's Steel World is passable military SF, but it's not a genre standout. If you're looking to scratch that itch, this'll do the trick, but it may not satisfy. All the ingredients are here. We have humans from Earth fighting on a distant planet inhabited by aliens, futuristic weapons, and the technology to make death nearly nonexistent. All the trope-trappings are here of course too, a young recruit, training, deployment, battles, technology, spaceships, etc. But what we don't have? Genre originality. But it should be said that one doesn't need break the mold of military SF to have good military SF. In Larson's case though, it may have helped to step outside the lines in order to make a memorable impression.
For the most part I enjoyed the ride. But I was ready for it to end. The writing affected a forced feel. I was disappointed with the glossed over battle scenes, stereotypical gruff commander, manor in which the recruits fraternized, and the abrupt ending reinforcing the soldier's inability to "come home" again all felt too prepackaged to ring that bell of authenticity. I struggled with the at times awkward anachronisms. Similes sporting pigs at county fairs, and basic phrases referencing the Internet, the act of brown-nosing, shopping cart wheels, horseshit, and people being pricks kept pulling me out of the future and plunking me back in the contemporary.
Mark Boyett narrates the audiobook, and does a nice job. Boyett has a clean yet slightly senior sounding voice that is incongruous with the main character's youthful inexperience. While this is feasible to overlook, it never fully leaves the listener's consciousness. Boyett sounds more like an old man on a porch than a jacked up soldier full of bloodlust and vitality who never stops checking out the backsides of female officers.
If tropes don't pose a nuisance, this might just graze your fancy.
B. V. Larson's Steel World is passable military SF, but it's not a genre standout. If you're looking to scratch that itch, this'll do the trick, but it may not satisfy. All the ingredients are here. We have humans from Earth fighting on a distant planet inhabited by aliens, futuristic weapons, and the technology to make death nearly nonexistent. All the trope-trappings are here of course too, a young recruit, training, deployment, battles, technology, spaceships, etc. But what we don't have? Genre originality. But it should be said that one doesn't need break the mold of military SF to have good military SF. In Larson's case though, it may have helped to step outside the lines in order to make a memorable impression.
For the most part I enjoyed the ride. But I was ready for it to end. The writing affected a forced feel. I was disappointed with the glossed over battle scenes, stereotypical gruff commander, manor in which the recruits fraternized, and the abrupt ending reinforcing the soldier's inability to "come home" again all felt too prepackaged to ring that bell of authenticity. I struggled with the at times awkward anachronisms. Similes sporting pigs at county fairs, and basic phrases referencing the Internet, the act of brown-nosing, shopping cart wheels, horseshit, and people being pricks kept pulling me out of the future and plunking me back in the contemporary.
Mark Boyett narrates the audiobook, and does a nice job. Boyett has a clean yet slightly senior sounding voice that is incongruous with the main character's youthful inexperience. While this is feasible to overlook, it never fully leaves the listener's consciousness. Boyett sounds more like an old man on a porch than a jacked up soldier full of bloodlust and vitality who never stops checking out the backsides of female officers.
September 5, 2014
Nothing much original here - it's another wannabe Starship Troopers. But it does a good job being what it is, even if B.V. Larson is no Heinlein.
The premise is simple: Earth was forcibly inducted into a Galactic Empire, in which every planet must have something of trade value or they get blown up. The only thing Earth had was its people — specifically, its soldiers. Yes, another interstellar civilization in which humans turn out to be the meanest fighters 'cause we're just so savage and violent. So young men and women (as is typical of modern military SF, this is another imagined future in which men and women fight side by side in undifferentiated roles) join Earth's Legions to go to distant, exotic planets, meet interesting aliens, and kill them.
The protagonist, a slacker named James McGill, is sitting around in his tiny shared apartment playing video games until his mother tells him the government dole has run out. This is his impetus to go join the Legions. He fails the test for the higher status, more glamorous Legions, because he's too much of an "independent thinker" (i.e., a wise-ass who sucks at impulse control or following orders), but just when he's about to give up, he finds himself recruited into Legion Varus, which has a reputation for doing a lot of hard, dirty, "real" fighting. With almost no training, McGill finds himself given a gun and sent to a planet occupied by lizard men. The rest of the book consists of McGill repeatedly getting himself in trouble and navigating the petty politics of both the Legion and the Galactics, in between bloody battles in which half the time he and his buddies wind up dead.
Oh yes, they have "Revival Units," i.e. respawning. So when a soldier dies, his backed-up memories are dumped into a newly-grown body. For McGill, this is disturbing and disorienting and quite upsetting the first couple of times it happens, so the author tries to emphasize that infinite respawning does not come without a cost, but McGill also comes to understand that some of his superiors have been killed and regrown over and over and over, for years, which certainly gives them a different take on life.
Besides the respawning, it also turns out that the Galactics monitor all mercenary battles and score them according to arcane rules which are heavily biased against Earth. The real plot consists of McGill finding out how Legion Varus's battles on Steel World may determine the fate of the Legion, and of Earth itself.
So, very heavily reminiscent of a RTS game. Steel World has a lot of action and cleverly-deployed aliens and technology, and decent characterization. (I found McGill himself the most annoying - even after being killed a few times, he's still kind of a whiny, entitled punk.) Some pieces of the plot were a little implausible, and at times the characters' actions stretched credibility just to introduce some artificial tension, but overall it was a fun, pleasant read to fill a few hours when you are in the mood for yet another Johnny Rico clone.
The premise is simple: Earth was forcibly inducted into a Galactic Empire, in which every planet must have something of trade value or they get blown up. The only thing Earth had was its people — specifically, its soldiers. Yes, another interstellar civilization in which humans turn out to be the meanest fighters 'cause we're just so savage and violent. So young men and women (as is typical of modern military SF, this is another imagined future in which men and women fight side by side in undifferentiated roles) join Earth's Legions to go to distant, exotic planets, meet interesting aliens, and kill them.
The protagonist, a slacker named James McGill, is sitting around in his tiny shared apartment playing video games until his mother tells him the government dole has run out. This is his impetus to go join the Legions. He fails the test for the higher status, more glamorous Legions, because he's too much of an "independent thinker" (i.e., a wise-ass who sucks at impulse control or following orders), but just when he's about to give up, he finds himself recruited into Legion Varus, which has a reputation for doing a lot of hard, dirty, "real" fighting. With almost no training, McGill finds himself given a gun and sent to a planet occupied by lizard men. The rest of the book consists of McGill repeatedly getting himself in trouble and navigating the petty politics of both the Legion and the Galactics, in between bloody battles in which half the time he and his buddies wind up dead.
Oh yes, they have "Revival Units," i.e. respawning. So when a soldier dies, his backed-up memories are dumped into a newly-grown body. For McGill, this is disturbing and disorienting and quite upsetting the first couple of times it happens, so the author tries to emphasize that infinite respawning does not come without a cost, but McGill also comes to understand that some of his superiors have been killed and regrown over and over and over, for years, which certainly gives them a different take on life.
Besides the respawning, it also turns out that the Galactics monitor all mercenary battles and score them according to arcane rules which are heavily biased against Earth. The real plot consists of McGill finding out how Legion Varus's battles on Steel World may determine the fate of the Legion, and of Earth itself.
So, very heavily reminiscent of a RTS game. Steel World has a lot of action and cleverly-deployed aliens and technology, and decent characterization. (I found McGill himself the most annoying - even after being killed a few times, he's still kind of a whiny, entitled punk.) Some pieces of the plot were a little implausible, and at times the characters' actions stretched credibility just to introduce some artificial tension, but overall it was a fun, pleasant read to fill a few hours when you are in the mood for yet another Johnny Rico clone.
December 21, 2013
The premise of this book is intriguing. Basically, there is a galactic empire that doesn't take shit from anyone. They can wipe out your worthless little planet without batting an eyelash. They show up around earth around 2050, and earth gets the join or be wiped out from space ultimatum. Earth joins, but in order to join you have to have a valuable resource to trade. The only thing that the squabbling humans that don't even have a single world government have to offer up is that they are pretty good and killing each other. The Galactic Empire declares this good enough, and humans get to serve as the local mercenaries. The concept is brilliant. There is no heroic struggle to beat back the alien invaders. Humans are peons in a much larger universe who are only useful as barbarian savages who have not let peace dull their ability to murder folks.
The book starts with a fantastic premise and while it is successful overall, it does stumble a little. For being solidly military sci-fi, the military aspect is lack luster at best. The humans don't brilliantly outmaneuver anyone or do anything to convey the "humans are awesome warlike savages" theme that the book is trying to convey. Most battles are dully straightforward and humans take it on the chin and either stumble and fall or don't. The book is saved by the main character who is thoroughly entertaining. The hero of the book, while heroic, is utterly flawed and kind of stupid. He attacks problems in a straight forward and brute force way, but somehow this manages to be completely entertaining.
Steel World isn't deep, and it isn't crafty. The premise is utterly brilliant, and a lot of the components of the setting are brilliant, but nothing deep or brilliant is done with the premise. It is just good solid fun. If you are in the mood for some fun and kind of mindless military sci-fi, Steel World won't disappoint.
The book starts with a fantastic premise and while it is successful overall, it does stumble a little. For being solidly military sci-fi, the military aspect is lack luster at best. The humans don't brilliantly outmaneuver anyone or do anything to convey the "humans are awesome warlike savages" theme that the book is trying to convey. Most battles are dully straightforward and humans take it on the chin and either stumble and fall or don't. The book is saved by the main character who is thoroughly entertaining. The hero of the book, while heroic, is utterly flawed and kind of stupid. He attacks problems in a straight forward and brute force way, but somehow this manages to be completely entertaining.
Steel World isn't deep, and it isn't crafty. The premise is utterly brilliant, and a lot of the components of the setting are brilliant, but nothing deep or brilliant is done with the premise. It is just good solid fun. If you are in the mood for some fun and kind of mindless military sci-fi, Steel World won't disappoint.
June 2, 2014
In one word, "Meh". I got this book after quickly skimming through my Amazon suggestions and seeing only consistently high reviews for it. I got quickly disillusioned once I started reading it.
The book follows the exploits of a "Marty Stu" (male Mary Sue) character as he goes from video gamer into a space mercenary fighting space dinosaurs. The character can just do no wrong and it's kinda silly how every important decision happens to be taken by this complete rookie who is just so amazingly brave to take all the suicide missions but lucky and good enough to pull them off successfully.
But, the ridiculous success of the protagonist wasn't even what annoyed me the most, instead it was how the book represented social relationships. This is a character who has people that hate him because of, well who knows. Apparently the author run out of believable motives to create strife, so random characters just randomly intensely dislike on the protagonist. Some men eventually come to respect his prowess, but women are just shown as bitches.
Even saving the whole mercenary corp and winning the "test" (yes the protagonist is that awesome) is not enough to make women who dislike him unreasonably, stop doing so. It's the men who are the cool heads and stop the nonsense and...ugh...I could go on and on. I won't even mention how women throw themselves at the cool-as-a-cucumber protagonist, or the cringe-worthy romance scenes.
On the plus side, the book has a decent world-crafting and a fairly interesting story overall (albeit ones were the battle descriptions were mostly about destroying body parts) but it was an otherwise forgettable male teenage gamer power fantasy.
The book follows the exploits of a "Marty Stu" (male Mary Sue) character as he goes from video gamer into a space mercenary fighting space dinosaurs. The character can just do no wrong and it's kinda silly how every important decision happens to be taken by this complete rookie who is just so amazingly brave to take all the suicide missions but lucky and good enough to pull them off successfully.
But, the ridiculous success of the protagonist wasn't even what annoyed me the most, instead it was how the book represented social relationships. This is a character who has people that hate him because of, well who knows. Apparently the author run out of believable motives to create strife, so random characters just randomly intensely dislike on the protagonist. Some men eventually come to respect his prowess, but women are just shown as bitches.
Even saving the whole mercenary corp and winning the "test" (yes the protagonist is that awesome) is not enough to make women who dislike him unreasonably, stop doing so. It's the men who are the cool heads and stop the nonsense and...ugh...I could go on and on. I won't even mention how women throw themselves at the cool-as-a-cucumber protagonist, or the cringe-worthy romance scenes.
On the plus side, the book has a decent world-crafting and a fairly interesting story overall (albeit ones were the battle descriptions were mostly about destroying body parts) but it was an otherwise forgettable male teenage gamer power fantasy.
December 28, 2013
Steel World
Book 1 of Undying Mercenaries
By B.V. Larson
A Review by Eric Allen
I get the feeling that B.V. Larson gets his jollies off of imagining the human race as galactic mercenaries. Pretty much everything he's ever published has something to do with the concept in one way or another, including Star Force, the series that he is most well known for. And I highly recommend it to any and all fans of military sci-fi. Now Larson has set out to begin a brand new series, beginning with Steel World.
When Aliens showed up on Earth's doorstep, humanity was offered admittance to the great galactic something-or-other-thingy on one condition, they be able to provide something that no other member world could. Earth, being Earth, and humanity, being humanity, offered up our services as armies, mercenaries for hire to any and all worlds who needed a little muscle.
James McGill has been booted out of college due to poor finances, and finds that his only choice now is to join one of the mercenary legions, however, after thorough testing, he is found unsuitable for any of the mainstream legions, and instead, finds himself in one of the more disreputable ones. Little does he know that this legion is the one that takes all of the hardest jobs, the jobs where they fight mercenaries from other worlds to secure Earth's territory and right to sell its services to nearby planets.
When they are called to Steel World to settle a dispute between two factions they find themselves in a desperate fight against the population of an entire planet, with Earth's right to do business in that area of space at stake.
The Good? Larson has always been very good at making likeable characters. McGill and nearly all of the supporting cast are great. They are well written, with real motivations, wants and desires. They feel like real people, and interact with each other as real people might. Some of the female characters are a little on the masculine side, yes, but you must remember that these are women who joined an intersteller mercenary unit known for taking heavy casualties on the hardest of the hard contracts. That sort of job isn't likely to draw the girly girls, so I think Larson did a pretty good job with them in consideration of that fact.
The world is well put together, and Larson has always been very good about showing rather than telling. He's given the perfect balance between humor and serious bits, calm and suspenseful moments, and the writing is rather good on top of it.
The bad? Immortality. Immortality is the great destroyer of suspense and tension. The characters in this book are virtually immortal, as they can be revived after death without the retrieval of their bodies. Their minds are frequently backed up and any time they die, they get copied with a copy of the backup filling their brains. So, whenever they're in a desperate fight, there is really no tension or drama because you know that even when they die, they'll be fine. Oh, Larson does mix things up a bit, sometimes tossing in rather irrational ways for the soldiers to be in danger of being "permed" or permanently killed, but few of them make any real sense. Although McGill does find himself in a situation in the latter half of the book where he is uncertain whether or not he will be allowed to be revived should he die, adding a bit of the lost tension back into the book.
All in all, I found this book to be very entertaining. It has great concepts, an awesome setting, entertaining and likeable characters, and a good balance of action, humor, calm moments, and tension, even if some of the tension is a little on the strained or unbelieveable side. To anyone who enjoyed Larson's Star Force series, or anyone interested in a fun book of military science fiction, this book comes highly recommended by me. I had a great time with it, and I can't wait for the second volume.
Check out my other reviews.
Book 1 of Undying Mercenaries
By B.V. Larson
A Review by Eric Allen
I get the feeling that B.V. Larson gets his jollies off of imagining the human race as galactic mercenaries. Pretty much everything he's ever published has something to do with the concept in one way or another, including Star Force, the series that he is most well known for. And I highly recommend it to any and all fans of military sci-fi. Now Larson has set out to begin a brand new series, beginning with Steel World.
When Aliens showed up on Earth's doorstep, humanity was offered admittance to the great galactic something-or-other-thingy on one condition, they be able to provide something that no other member world could. Earth, being Earth, and humanity, being humanity, offered up our services as armies, mercenaries for hire to any and all worlds who needed a little muscle.
James McGill has been booted out of college due to poor finances, and finds that his only choice now is to join one of the mercenary legions, however, after thorough testing, he is found unsuitable for any of the mainstream legions, and instead, finds himself in one of the more disreputable ones. Little does he know that this legion is the one that takes all of the hardest jobs, the jobs where they fight mercenaries from other worlds to secure Earth's territory and right to sell its services to nearby planets.
When they are called to Steel World to settle a dispute between two factions they find themselves in a desperate fight against the population of an entire planet, with Earth's right to do business in that area of space at stake.
The Good? Larson has always been very good at making likeable characters. McGill and nearly all of the supporting cast are great. They are well written, with real motivations, wants and desires. They feel like real people, and interact with each other as real people might. Some of the female characters are a little on the masculine side, yes, but you must remember that these are women who joined an intersteller mercenary unit known for taking heavy casualties on the hardest of the hard contracts. That sort of job isn't likely to draw the girly girls, so I think Larson did a pretty good job with them in consideration of that fact.
The world is well put together, and Larson has always been very good about showing rather than telling. He's given the perfect balance between humor and serious bits, calm and suspenseful moments, and the writing is rather good on top of it.
The bad? Immortality. Immortality is the great destroyer of suspense and tension. The characters in this book are virtually immortal, as they can be revived after death without the retrieval of their bodies. Their minds are frequently backed up and any time they die, they get copied with a copy of the backup filling their brains. So, whenever they're in a desperate fight, there is really no tension or drama because you know that even when they die, they'll be fine. Oh, Larson does mix things up a bit, sometimes tossing in rather irrational ways for the soldiers to be in danger of being "permed" or permanently killed, but few of them make any real sense. Although McGill does find himself in a situation in the latter half of the book where he is uncertain whether or not he will be allowed to be revived should he die, adding a bit of the lost tension back into the book.
All in all, I found this book to be very entertaining. It has great concepts, an awesome setting, entertaining and likeable characters, and a good balance of action, humor, calm moments, and tension, even if some of the tension is a little on the strained or unbelieveable side. To anyone who enjoyed Larson's Star Force series, or anyone interested in a fun book of military science fiction, this book comes highly recommended by me. I had a great time with it, and I can't wait for the second volume.
Check out my other reviews.
August 27, 2019
Another re-listen. I love this series so much, I'm considering a tattoo based on it....
............
I was skeptical because I didn't think Larson could pull off another great series like Star Force, but he has, in spades. I loved loved the entire ride. It's totally UNIQUE with lots of great characters and the all of human life at stake but for different reasons.Reminiscent of Heinlien's Starship Troopers and Scalzi's Old Man War.
Summary: In short the Galactic Empire shows in 2052 and says join us or you all die. We join of course, BUT in order to join you need something to trade with the galactic community. Our tech is laughable, our foodstuffs not valid, so we offer soldiers for hire. We are the cosmic mercenaries for hire. John McGill signs up after losing funding for college and with no other prospects. Unfortunately, his test scores and psych profile aren't palatable to the top more popular easy Legions, so he joins a low ranking Legion who gets all the hard, dangerous jobs and is deployed to Steel World to protect some mines and settle a dispute between opposing factions of the aliens there. BUT, these aliens have tricked them into coming. You see, the galactic empire is watching and these aliens want to prove their better than the humans by beating us and taking our mercenary status away. If that happens, earth will have nothing to trade and will be destroyed. Let the battle begin. There's also things going on with John and his commanding officers but no spoilers.
FUNNY: I'm not sure if Larson means it to be funny but I was lmao. No, it's not slap stick humor. It's just that when the troops die, they can be regenerated and that makes for some funny situations related to trying to get each other killed etc. Also, Larson is great at creating alien races with lots of personality and disdain for humans, which makes for funny situations. Here's a non spoiler example: (Mcgill and his team are caved in underground with the enemy and his commanding office suggests they kill themselves and wake up all regenerated, which is met with silence and appall. Blah Blah. I could go on forever.
I'm a Star Force fan girl and now I'm a fan of this series as well. I can't wait for more .McGill is a great main character prone to pissing off his higher ups and finding ways to stay alive and win. Lots of great supporting characters too.
............
I was skeptical because I didn't think Larson could pull off another great series like Star Force, but he has, in spades. I loved loved the entire ride. It's totally UNIQUE with lots of great characters and the all of human life at stake but for different reasons.Reminiscent of Heinlien's Starship Troopers and Scalzi's Old Man War.
Summary: In short the Galactic Empire shows in 2052 and says join us or you all die. We join of course, BUT in order to join you need something to trade with the galactic community. Our tech is laughable, our foodstuffs not valid, so we offer soldiers for hire. We are the cosmic mercenaries for hire. John McGill signs up after losing funding for college and with no other prospects. Unfortunately, his test scores and psych profile aren't palatable to the top more popular easy Legions, so he joins a low ranking Legion who gets all the hard, dangerous jobs and is deployed to Steel World to protect some mines and settle a dispute between opposing factions of the aliens there. BUT, these aliens have tricked them into coming. You see, the galactic empire is watching and these aliens want to prove their better than the humans by beating us and taking our mercenary status away. If that happens, earth will have nothing to trade and will be destroyed. Let the battle begin. There's also things going on with John and his commanding officers but no spoilers.
FUNNY: I'm not sure if Larson means it to be funny but I was lmao. No, it's not slap stick humor. It's just that when the troops die, they can be regenerated and that makes for some funny situations related to trying to get each other killed etc. Also, Larson is great at creating alien races with lots of personality and disdain for humans, which makes for funny situations. Here's a non spoiler example: (Mcgill and his team are caved in underground with the enemy and his commanding office suggests they kill themselves and wake up all regenerated, which is met with silence and appall. Blah Blah. I could go on forever.
I'm a Star Force fan girl and now I'm a fan of this series as well. I can't wait for more .McGill is a great main character prone to pissing off his higher ups and finding ways to stay alive and win. Lots of great supporting characters too.
October 5, 2018
Mini-Review:
Okay, I like James. He's a good guy and worth rooting for but the rest of this loosely cobbled plot? Eh. The intro to the book was rather promising and got my attention straight away. Somewhere in the middle, I started to lose interest because it seemed like a variation of extreme events were happening over and over again.
I may pick up the series again at another time but it won't be soon. The story had decent action and a great main character. Other than that, it doesn't have a lot going for it.
Okay, I like James. He's a good guy and worth rooting for but the rest of this loosely cobbled plot? Eh. The intro to the book was rather promising and got my attention straight away. Somewhere in the middle, I started to lose interest because it seemed like a variation of extreme events were happening over and over again.
I may pick up the series again at another time but it won't be soon. The story had decent action and a great main character. Other than that, it doesn't have a lot going for it.
Read
August 12, 2024DNF
This started out ok, but I didn't care for the way any of the women were portrayed in the book.
This started out ok, but I didn't care for the way any of the women were portrayed in the book.
June 19, 2014
Today I’ll be review Steel World, by B.V. Larson. Before I get into the review, I must provide a disclaimer, along with Steel World, I also finished reading The Rise of Endymion today. By sheer coincidence the books have a major aspect in common, and the different ways that they handle it ripple throughout the story. As is so common with stories like Steel World, we start out meeting our protagonist, James McGill, as he is forced to drop out of college and join up with Earth’s Mercenary Legions. In the Galactic Empire each planet is allowed to export one thing in order to justify their continued existence. For Earth, that is soldiers for hire. McGill is deemed too independent for the high profile Legions and is forced to join Varus Legion, an outcast. Soon after joining, he and the rest of the legion is shipped out to their first contact, on Cancri-9, a steel world.
This is where we meet the interesting device used by Larson to make the series unique, and give the series its name: The Undying Mercenaries Series. When a trooper dies, and they frequently do, their consciousness is transferred to a new body, leaving them almost immortal. This is where we can see the similarity to The Rise of Endymion, and Endymion. In The Rise of Endymion There exists a parasitic life form in the shape of a cruciform that allows it’s host to be resurrected, even if only a sliver of the cruciform remains. The entire way of life changes, for example ships are used that turn humans into pulp when they translate between systems, only be be resurrected upon arriving at their destination.
The problem with this is that it gives the characters in the series, and therefore the reader, very little to fear. The Rise of Endymion solves this by only allowing certain characters to use the cruciform; most of the major players see it as evil. In Steel World everyone is revived multiple times. At one point a character is killed with a missile instead of being transported with a shuttle. There are some moments when McGill and his companions are at risk of being ‘permed,’ the term for a death that cannot be revived. However these are quickly resolved.
This brings me to my next complaint about Steel World. James McGill is too good. He’s immediately the best at everything that he does. He saves his superiors, or the entire unit, several times during the story. There’s no one better at marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, or finding female recruits to bed. It’s hard to root for a character that already has everything going for him. And, when a character has bested every single challenge thrown their way, it’s easy to assume that the next one is going to be similarly handled. I want to root for a character to overcome his initial nature, to grow in the doing. I want a character to screw up once in a while, make a choice that, while it seemed right in the current situation, causes him real hardship in the long run.
Steel World was a fun ride, but it felt like nothing but a summer action flick. You jump from fight scene to fight scene, often without much understanding on how you got from one to the other, see some aliens getting killed, have a brief intermission while the romantic interest is introduced, and then culminate the story with another big fight. I can’t say that Steel World was a bad story, but I also can’t say that it was a good one. If a book isn’t going to make me feel something, then it’s action should at least be crisp and exciting. Unfortunately Steel Wool was mediocre on all counts.
This is where we meet the interesting device used by Larson to make the series unique, and give the series its name: The Undying Mercenaries Series. When a trooper dies, and they frequently do, their consciousness is transferred to a new body, leaving them almost immortal. This is where we can see the similarity to The Rise of Endymion, and Endymion. In The Rise of Endymion There exists a parasitic life form in the shape of a cruciform that allows it’s host to be resurrected, even if only a sliver of the cruciform remains. The entire way of life changes, for example ships are used that turn humans into pulp when they translate between systems, only be be resurrected upon arriving at their destination.
The problem with this is that it gives the characters in the series, and therefore the reader, very little to fear. The Rise of Endymion solves this by only allowing certain characters to use the cruciform; most of the major players see it as evil. In Steel World everyone is revived multiple times. At one point a character is killed with a missile instead of being transported with a shuttle. There are some moments when McGill and his companions are at risk of being ‘permed,’ the term for a death that cannot be revived. However these are quickly resolved.
This brings me to my next complaint about Steel World. James McGill is too good. He’s immediately the best at everything that he does. He saves his superiors, or the entire unit, several times during the story. There’s no one better at marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, or finding female recruits to bed. It’s hard to root for a character that already has everything going for him. And, when a character has bested every single challenge thrown their way, it’s easy to assume that the next one is going to be similarly handled. I want to root for a character to overcome his initial nature, to grow in the doing. I want a character to screw up once in a while, make a choice that, while it seemed right in the current situation, causes him real hardship in the long run.
Steel World was a fun ride, but it felt like nothing but a summer action flick. You jump from fight scene to fight scene, often without much understanding on how you got from one to the other, see some aliens getting killed, have a brief intermission while the romantic interest is introduced, and then culminate the story with another big fight. I can’t say that Steel World was a bad story, but I also can’t say that it was a good one. If a book isn’t going to make me feel something, then it’s action should at least be crisp and exciting. Unfortunately Steel Wool was mediocre on all counts.
October 14, 2014
Meh. Rehashed old ideas, uninteresting writing. This is your run-of-the-mill military sci-fi, exactly like so many out there. However, it doesn't even explore cool new weapons: not even powered armors or cool new infantry deployment mechanisms are a big point there. The galactic culture is uninteresting, without any twist. The characters are paper-thin, even for the standards of sci-fi.
The only thing that could save the book as something interesting would be the concept of producing a new body when someone dies, preserving all memories up to the point of the old body's death. However, the author does not go crazy with that: instead of incorporating immortality into the battle strategy (so many cool things could come from there!), the characters keep babbling non-stop on how gross and strange the idea of being reborn is and how they don't want to die once again. Besides, they skip all sorts of cool discussions that could come from there: for instance, how are the memories transmitted to the rebirth machines if they lose communication links with everybody, all the time? If the memories are transmitted up to the point of the death, why a death should be confirmed by means like witnessing or recording a video of the body?
When I started reading the book and realized it would be a waste of time, I thought I would finish the book thinking that it had untapped potential. No, it does not have any potential.
Skip it. Go read some classics like The Old Man's War (from which the book was clearly inspired), or go watch Edge Of Tomorrow (an awesome adaptation of the very good All You Need Is Kill).
The only thing that could save the book as something interesting would be the concept of producing a new body when someone dies, preserving all memories up to the point of the old body's death. However, the author does not go crazy with that: instead of incorporating immortality into the battle strategy (so many cool things could come from there!), the characters keep babbling non-stop on how gross and strange the idea of being reborn is and how they don't want to die once again. Besides, they skip all sorts of cool discussions that could come from there: for instance, how are the memories transmitted to the rebirth machines if they lose communication links with everybody, all the time? If the memories are transmitted up to the point of the death, why a death should be confirmed by means like witnessing or recording a video of the body?
When I started reading the book and realized it would be a waste of time, I thought I would finish the book thinking that it had untapped potential. No, it does not have any potential.
Skip it. Go read some classics like The Old Man's War (from which the book was clearly inspired), or go watch Edge Of Tomorrow (an awesome adaptation of the very good All You Need Is Kill).
April 4, 2018
The book was Okay, although I thought that it was a little boring. The worldbuilding was pretty good, but the story didn't seem to go anywhere. I think it would have been more interesting if the author got into the dinosaur culture more. Without any perspective on the enemy, the story was one-sided and thus boring.
June 26, 2018
3 to 3.5 stars, pretty good start to a series. Not the best book of this type that I have ever read but all in all it was enjoyable. I will continue with the series.
January 19, 2021
The second star is for the narration.
Read
August 15, 2023Good Mil SF action, but a lot of plot holes in the second half. And the sexism is over the top.
July 14, 2022
English review (Al final encontrara la reseña en Español):
Military Science Fiction in the purest style of Robert A. Heinlein.
I had long since put on my waiting list the first book of the "Undying Mercenaries" Series. It should also be mentioned that I had already heard of Mr Larson, but had not given me the time to read something from the author. Being a fan of years of science fiction and fantasy genres, most particularly of the Military Science Fiction subgenre, I am pleased to find authors like B.V. Larson who know their craft and offer an entertaining, dynamic and at the same time quite solid story. However, with his details, which is why I don’t give him the five stars, here he goes:
In the first volume of "Undying Mercenaries Series", we show a future where having been humanity "contacted" by a galactic entity known simply as "the Galactic Empire", two options are presented, either we apply to be part of the Empire, offering some good or service that no one else in our sector can provide or we simply refuse and are then scheduled to be wiped off the planet leaving it vacant for further urbanization. It turns out that the only good or service we can offer our neighbors without any hesitation is "Legions" of mercenaries, given that humanity is better equipped than most species to assist in mediating political conflicts where in other words "War is political continuation by other means" for this physical violence and military conflicts.
The story takes place about 50 years after the initial contact with the "Galactics", in a society where (taking up certain elements that are considered "motives" or "cliché" of this subgenre) although we do not have a total dystopia or a militarized society, the truth is that inequalities are such that young people without resources to continue their studies find it an option to serve for a period of at least five years as legionaries in a company of mercenaries, fighting conflicts on other planets and providing much needed "galactic credits" that support the planet’s economy now firmly linked to that of the rest of the galactic community. One of the attractive points of such occupation is the possibility of being "revived" again and again in case of being killed in the performance of duty. However, it is always possible to be "permed", that is, to be allowed to die for technical or even, as incredible as it may seem, political reasons.
I mentioned above that I do not give the five stars, for some reasons of argumentation. This is not really in terms of the narrative perse, as it is quite agile and entertaining from the start. But in relation to the logic used regarding the way in which the machines that "revive" the soldiers killed in battle supposedly work. I agree that with the possible exception of Joe Haldeman´s "The Endless War" this subgenre does not lend himself to work with the "Hard Science Fiction", but the ideal on the part of any author it´s to try to explain in a relatively logical way how he works that piece of technology that is important for the development of history.
Anyway, the reality is that I really enjoyed this first novel of the series and at the time of writing these lines I was already reading the following installment: "Dust World" (I publish this review years later because I have already prescribed Death World (Undying Mercenaries Book 5) which shows the addictive title although the quality varies a little from one number to another.
Reseña en Español:
Ciencia Ficción Militar al más puro estilo de Robert A. Heinlein.
Hacía tiempo que había puesto en mi lista de espera el primer libro de la saga de “Los Mercenarios Inmortales” (si lo se… suena mejor en inglés: Undying Mercenaries Series). A su vez cabe mencionar que ya había oído hablar del Señor Larson, pero no me había dado el tiempo de leer algo del autor. Siendo un fan de años de los géneros de ciencia ficción y fantasía, muy particularmente del subgénero de Ciencia Ficción Militar, me complace encontrar autores como B.V. Larson que saben su oficio y ofrecen un producto entretenido, dinámico y a la vez con una historia bastante sólida. Claro con sus detalles -razón por la que no le doy las cinco estrellas-, va:
De entrada el primer tomo de “Undying Mercenaries Series”, nos muestra un futuro donde habiendo sido la humanidad “contactada” por parte de una entidad galáctica conocida simplemente como “el Imperio Galáctico”, se nos presentan dos opciones, o bien aplicamos para ser parte del Imperio, ofreciendo algún bien o servicio que nadie más en nuestro sector pueda proporcionar o simplemente nos negamos y somos entonces programados para ser borrados del planeta dejándolo vacante para una posterior urbanización. Resulta que el único bien o servicio que podemos sin ningún asomo de duda ofrecer a nuestros vecinos son “Legiones” de mercenarios, dado que la humanidad se encuentra mejor equipada que la mayoría de las especies para ayudar en la mediación de los conflictos políticos donde en otras palabras, “La guerra es la continuación política por otros medios”, para esto de la violencia física y los conflictos militares.
La historia toma lugar cerca de 50 años después del contacto inicial con los “Galácticos”, en una sociedad donde (retomando ciertos elementos que son considerados “motivos” o “cliché” de este subgénero) si bien no tenemos una distopía total o una sociedad militarizada, lo cierto es que las desigualdades son tales que los jóvenes sin recursos para continuar sus estudios encuentran como una opción el servir durante un periodo de al menos cinco años como legionarios en una compañía de mercenarios, peleando conflictos en otros planetas y aportando con eso muy necesitados “créditos galácticos” que poyen la economía del planeta ahora firmemente vinculada a la del resto de la comunidad galáctica. Uno de los puntos atractivos de dicha ocupación es la posibilidad de ser “revivido” una y otra vez en caso de ser muerto en el cumplimento del deber. Sin embargo siempre se tiene la posibilidad de ser “permed” es decir permitentemente muerto por razones técnicas o incluso -por increíble que parezca- políticas.
Mencionaba más arriba que no le doy las cinco estrellas, por algunas razones de aspecto argumental. Esto no es en realidad en cuanto a la narrativa perse, pues esta es bastante ágil y entretenida desde un inicio. Sino en relación a la lógica empleada respecto a la forma en que supuestamente funcionan las maquinas que “reviven” a los soldados muertos en batalla. Voy de acuerdo en que con la posible excepción de “La Guerra Interminable” Joe Haldeman de este subgénero no se presta a trabajar con la “Ciencia ficción dura”, pero lo ideal por parte de cualquier autor de tratar de explicar de forma relativamente lógica la forma en que trabaja aquella pieza de tecnología que es importante para el desarrollo de la historia.
De ahí en más, la realidad es que disfruté mucho la primera novela de la serie y al momento de escribir estas líneas ya me encontraba leyendo la siguiente entrega: “Dust World” (publico esta reseña años después pues ya me he recetado hasta Death World (Undying Mercenaries Book 5) lo cual demuestra lo adictivo del titulo si bien la calidad varia un poco de uno a otro numero.
Military Science Fiction in the purest style of Robert A. Heinlein.
I had long since put on my waiting list the first book of the "Undying Mercenaries" Series. It should also be mentioned that I had already heard of Mr Larson, but had not given me the time to read something from the author. Being a fan of years of science fiction and fantasy genres, most particularly of the Military Science Fiction subgenre, I am pleased to find authors like B.V. Larson who know their craft and offer an entertaining, dynamic and at the same time quite solid story. However, with his details, which is why I don’t give him the five stars, here he goes:
In the first volume of "Undying Mercenaries Series", we show a future where having been humanity "contacted" by a galactic entity known simply as "the Galactic Empire", two options are presented, either we apply to be part of the Empire, offering some good or service that no one else in our sector can provide or we simply refuse and are then scheduled to be wiped off the planet leaving it vacant for further urbanization. It turns out that the only good or service we can offer our neighbors without any hesitation is "Legions" of mercenaries, given that humanity is better equipped than most species to assist in mediating political conflicts where in other words "War is political continuation by other means" for this physical violence and military conflicts.
The story takes place about 50 years after the initial contact with the "Galactics", in a society where (taking up certain elements that are considered "motives" or "cliché" of this subgenre) although we do not have a total dystopia or a militarized society, the truth is that inequalities are such that young people without resources to continue their studies find it an option to serve for a period of at least five years as legionaries in a company of mercenaries, fighting conflicts on other planets and providing much needed "galactic credits" that support the planet’s economy now firmly linked to that of the rest of the galactic community. One of the attractive points of such occupation is the possibility of being "revived" again and again in case of being killed in the performance of duty. However, it is always possible to be "permed", that is, to be allowed to die for technical or even, as incredible as it may seem, political reasons.
I mentioned above that I do not give the five stars, for some reasons of argumentation. This is not really in terms of the narrative perse, as it is quite agile and entertaining from the start. But in relation to the logic used regarding the way in which the machines that "revive" the soldiers killed in battle supposedly work. I agree that with the possible exception of Joe Haldeman´s "The Endless War" this subgenre does not lend himself to work with the "Hard Science Fiction", but the ideal on the part of any author it´s to try to explain in a relatively logical way how he works that piece of technology that is important for the development of history.
Anyway, the reality is that I really enjoyed this first novel of the series and at the time of writing these lines I was already reading the following installment: "Dust World" (I publish this review years later because I have already prescribed Death World (Undying Mercenaries Book 5) which shows the addictive title although the quality varies a little from one number to another.
Reseña en Español:
Ciencia Ficción Militar al más puro estilo de Robert A. Heinlein.
Hacía tiempo que había puesto en mi lista de espera el primer libro de la saga de “Los Mercenarios Inmortales” (si lo se… suena mejor en inglés: Undying Mercenaries Series). A su vez cabe mencionar que ya había oído hablar del Señor Larson, pero no me había dado el tiempo de leer algo del autor. Siendo un fan de años de los géneros de ciencia ficción y fantasía, muy particularmente del subgénero de Ciencia Ficción Militar, me complace encontrar autores como B.V. Larson que saben su oficio y ofrecen un producto entretenido, dinámico y a la vez con una historia bastante sólida. Claro con sus detalles -razón por la que no le doy las cinco estrellas-, va:
De entrada el primer tomo de “Undying Mercenaries Series”, nos muestra un futuro donde habiendo sido la humanidad “contactada” por parte de una entidad galáctica conocida simplemente como “el Imperio Galáctico”, se nos presentan dos opciones, o bien aplicamos para ser parte del Imperio, ofreciendo algún bien o servicio que nadie más en nuestro sector pueda proporcionar o simplemente nos negamos y somos entonces programados para ser borrados del planeta dejándolo vacante para una posterior urbanización. Resulta que el único bien o servicio que podemos sin ningún asomo de duda ofrecer a nuestros vecinos son “Legiones” de mercenarios, dado que la humanidad se encuentra mejor equipada que la mayoría de las especies para ayudar en la mediación de los conflictos políticos donde en otras palabras, “La guerra es la continuación política por otros medios”, para esto de la violencia física y los conflictos militares.
La historia toma lugar cerca de 50 años después del contacto inicial con los “Galácticos”, en una sociedad donde (retomando ciertos elementos que son considerados “motivos” o “cliché” de este subgénero) si bien no tenemos una distopía total o una sociedad militarizada, lo cierto es que las desigualdades son tales que los jóvenes sin recursos para continuar sus estudios encuentran como una opción el servir durante un periodo de al menos cinco años como legionarios en una compañía de mercenarios, peleando conflictos en otros planetas y aportando con eso muy necesitados “créditos galácticos” que poyen la economía del planeta ahora firmemente vinculada a la del resto de la comunidad galáctica. Uno de los puntos atractivos de dicha ocupación es la posibilidad de ser “revivido” una y otra vez en caso de ser muerto en el cumplimento del deber. Sin embargo siempre se tiene la posibilidad de ser “permed” es decir permitentemente muerto por razones técnicas o incluso -por increíble que parezca- políticas.
Mencionaba más arriba que no le doy las cinco estrellas, por algunas razones de aspecto argumental. Esto no es en realidad en cuanto a la narrativa perse, pues esta es bastante ágil y entretenida desde un inicio. Sino en relación a la lógica empleada respecto a la forma en que supuestamente funcionan las maquinas que “reviven” a los soldados muertos en batalla. Voy de acuerdo en que con la posible excepción de “La Guerra Interminable” Joe Haldeman de este subgénero no se presta a trabajar con la “Ciencia ficción dura”, pero lo ideal por parte de cualquier autor de tratar de explicar de forma relativamente lógica la forma en que trabaja aquella pieza de tecnología que es importante para el desarrollo de la historia.
De ahí en más, la realidad es que disfruté mucho la primera novela de la serie y al momento de escribir estas líneas ya me encontraba leyendo la siguiente entrega: “Dust World” (publico esta reseña años después pues ya me he recetado hasta Death World (Undying Mercenaries Book 5) lo cual demuestra lo adictivo del titulo si bien la calidad varia un poco de uno a otro numero.
August 9, 2017
Having read the first 7 books (only 7 books out as of today), I am going to give an overall series review **without** spoilers.
What's Good:
1. I want to make a blanket statement because I noticed a lot of negative reviews from so called science fiction fans who think they are well read in science fiction, who think they know what a good series is, let me tell you, you are dead wrong about what is bad about this book. One reviewer noted that a good sci-fi novel consists of: good concepts, good characters, and good arc (plot). Let me expand the rest of the points by just telling you why this book has all of those.
Concepts: For anyone saying that the concepts of this book are shallow, you simply have not read far enough. The author introduces several awesome intriguing alien races, interesting technology development that is fairly well done, as well as a believable futuristic political structure. All of that to say, what more can you want, he does an amazing job and stays almost completely consistent with how one technology implicates another, which many sci-fi book suffer horribly from, but this one doesn't. Of course their is recycled concepts, every book has recycled concepts. Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings are riddled with recycled concepts, so what, they are the most successful fiction novels in the world. (I know they are fantasy books but the comparison is still valid because fantasy books are judged by the exact same criteria, which is why they are often grouped together and marketed towards and read by the same crowd.) There was one review saying that the immortality of the soldiers is not integrated into the strategy or tactics of the humans, this is plainly false, they did not read the entire series, as these questions and more get answered as you read the rest of the series.
Arcs: The story line is excellent. It is about 10 orders of magnitude better than star wars. It has intrigue, political assassinations, wars, economics, personal vendettas, all of the likes. Probably one of the most interesting and complex story lines with twists that have you at the edge of your seat every 15 minutes or so. This book is very are to put down.
Characters: Almost all of the characters grow in their resilience, determination, overcoming fears, social challenges, discipline, and much more. The author does not leave the characters stagnant and they learn from their mistakes for the most part. One excellent thing to note is that all the characters have distinct tone and dialogue that makes them "sound" unique. This is difficult to due, and Larson is an excellent author and does this with seeming ease.
The Bad:
Characters: The character development is 2-1/2 Dimensions. The main character James Mcgill is the hero of the day throughout the entire novel. This can get boring really fast as it becomes predictable that James Mcgill is going to save the day once again, throughout all 7 books! Sure the author lets other characters share the glory but for the most part, James Mcgill is the omnipotent messiah that humanity has been waiting for. There is so much to say as the James Mcgill because he learns many things as grows as a person through suffering and experiences as the story progresses. But one thing seems to remain stagnant even after book 7 is he is a serial womanizer. The author introduces a new character, only to have Jame Mcgill bed them. This can get very boring, very fast, and makes the story out to be some sort of Japanese "harem" novel. Sure James Mcgill contemplates settling down but you know what he just hasn't met the right girl, FOR 7 BOOKS. Cmon, the author can do better than that. Now of course some readers love this "harem" garbage because it feeds their on personal fantasies of having some sort of harem. Except this makes the character hopelessly shallow, and his morality and philosophical outlook is about as credible trying to solve theodicy by staring at a toilet seat cover. Of course there is much personal bias here, so if you like this whole, player for life bullshit, well have at it, you will doubly love this book. But personally this is a very sore point in the series.
Another sour point in the novels pertaining to the characters is that there simply is not enough depth in any character as much as Mcgill by a longshot! So while you might expect that not every character will get as much viewing time, but Mcgill gets way too much. The author and most readers might enjoy this, but I believe that other characters should take more central roles and be explored as well, and not just well developed, or your risk being bland by setting up a character only never to really use them.
Last point: Some inconsistencies
The concept that the author is inconsistent about is that while the main character dwells on the reality that because they have died, there old consciousness is actually annihilated, and they are essentially another copy, a clone, of their old selves with the same memories. The author rabidly avoids calling them clones, but later in the series, he reveals ( very small spoiler alert) that you can revive more than one body, thus cloning yourself. Except, the clone clearly doesn't have your consciousness but only your memories and believes to be the true self, just as you do, if you can call yourself as the original. Clearly this is inconsistent, and in the final Book, Book 7, the author reveals that your true self is simply whoever who wishes it to be, but switching the narration to whoever he wants it to be. This poses several difficulties. How can the characters then willingly die, when they will never actually be resurrected, they are only clones. Of course if they author told you that right of the bat, you would get bored and stop reading. The author tries to maintain they are not clones, but after 7 novels. Thousands of pages. No full explanation. But judging from what he has revealed implicitly, its obvious all of the revivals are clones. The problem with cloning is if that's the case then what is the point of letting yourself die, because you will be dead (the author's particular belief seems to indicate that the characters are annihilated, that is, they cease to consciously exist upon death). That leaves no motivation to keep living. I am not sure what philosophy the author is trying to pedal here but it is becoming one giant mega YAWN.
I found the author is inconsistent about the plot in only 1 play in the entire series, but not wanting to cause a spoiler I will vaguely mention it as "the sudden appearance of a particular key that should not be in his possession at the time at some point in Book 6."
The Verdict: Read the books, not just the first book which is just barely scratches the surface of this universe. Make a judgement after you read book 6, you probably won't be able to stop reading until then anyways :).
What's Good:
1. I want to make a blanket statement because I noticed a lot of negative reviews from so called science fiction fans who think they are well read in science fiction, who think they know what a good series is, let me tell you, you are dead wrong about what is bad about this book. One reviewer noted that a good sci-fi novel consists of: good concepts, good characters, and good arc (plot). Let me expand the rest of the points by just telling you why this book has all of those.
Concepts: For anyone saying that the concepts of this book are shallow, you simply have not read far enough. The author introduces several awesome intriguing alien races, interesting technology development that is fairly well done, as well as a believable futuristic political structure. All of that to say, what more can you want, he does an amazing job and stays almost completely consistent with how one technology implicates another, which many sci-fi book suffer horribly from, but this one doesn't. Of course their is recycled concepts, every book has recycled concepts. Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings are riddled with recycled concepts, so what, they are the most successful fiction novels in the world. (I know they are fantasy books but the comparison is still valid because fantasy books are judged by the exact same criteria, which is why they are often grouped together and marketed towards and read by the same crowd.) There was one review saying that the immortality of the soldiers is not integrated into the strategy or tactics of the humans, this is plainly false, they did not read the entire series, as these questions and more get answered as you read the rest of the series.
Arcs: The story line is excellent. It is about 10 orders of magnitude better than star wars. It has intrigue, political assassinations, wars, economics, personal vendettas, all of the likes. Probably one of the most interesting and complex story lines with twists that have you at the edge of your seat every 15 minutes or so. This book is very are to put down.
Characters: Almost all of the characters grow in their resilience, determination, overcoming fears, social challenges, discipline, and much more. The author does not leave the characters stagnant and they learn from their mistakes for the most part. One excellent thing to note is that all the characters have distinct tone and dialogue that makes them "sound" unique. This is difficult to due, and Larson is an excellent author and does this with seeming ease.
The Bad:
Characters: The character development is 2-1/2 Dimensions. The main character James Mcgill is the hero of the day throughout the entire novel. This can get boring really fast as it becomes predictable that James Mcgill is going to save the day once again, throughout all 7 books! Sure the author lets other characters share the glory but for the most part, James Mcgill is the omnipotent messiah that humanity has been waiting for. There is so much to say as the James Mcgill because he learns many things as grows as a person through suffering and experiences as the story progresses. But one thing seems to remain stagnant even after book 7 is he is a serial womanizer. The author introduces a new character, only to have Jame Mcgill bed them. This can get very boring, very fast, and makes the story out to be some sort of Japanese "harem" novel. Sure James Mcgill contemplates settling down but you know what he just hasn't met the right girl, FOR 7 BOOKS. Cmon, the author can do better than that. Now of course some readers love this "harem" garbage because it feeds their on personal fantasies of having some sort of harem. Except this makes the character hopelessly shallow, and his morality and philosophical outlook is about as credible trying to solve theodicy by staring at a toilet seat cover. Of course there is much personal bias here, so if you like this whole, player for life bullshit, well have at it, you will doubly love this book. But personally this is a very sore point in the series.
Another sour point in the novels pertaining to the characters is that there simply is not enough depth in any character as much as Mcgill by a longshot! So while you might expect that not every character will get as much viewing time, but Mcgill gets way too much. The author and most readers might enjoy this, but I believe that other characters should take more central roles and be explored as well, and not just well developed, or your risk being bland by setting up a character only never to really use them.
Last point: Some inconsistencies
The concept that the author is inconsistent about is that while the main character dwells on the reality that because they have died, there old consciousness is actually annihilated, and they are essentially another copy, a clone, of their old selves with the same memories. The author rabidly avoids calling them clones, but later in the series, he reveals ( very small spoiler alert) that you can revive more than one body, thus cloning yourself. Except, the clone clearly doesn't have your consciousness but only your memories and believes to be the true self, just as you do, if you can call yourself as the original. Clearly this is inconsistent, and in the final Book, Book 7, the author reveals that your true self is simply whoever who wishes it to be, but switching the narration to whoever he wants it to be. This poses several difficulties. How can the characters then willingly die, when they will never actually be resurrected, they are only clones. Of course if they author told you that right of the bat, you would get bored and stop reading. The author tries to maintain they are not clones, but after 7 novels. Thousands of pages. No full explanation. But judging from what he has revealed implicitly, its obvious all of the revivals are clones. The problem with cloning is if that's the case then what is the point of letting yourself die, because you will be dead (the author's particular belief seems to indicate that the characters are annihilated, that is, they cease to consciously exist upon death). That leaves no motivation to keep living. I am not sure what philosophy the author is trying to pedal here but it is becoming one giant mega YAWN.
I found the author is inconsistent about the plot in only 1 play in the entire series, but not wanting to cause a spoiler I will vaguely mention it as "the sudden appearance of a particular key that should not be in his possession at the time at some point in Book 6."
The Verdict: Read the books, not just the first book which is just barely scratches the surface of this universe. Make a judgement after you read book 6, you probably won't be able to stop reading until then anyways :).
July 5, 2024
remarkable
This series was recommended and I was hooked within reading first 5 minutes! Going straight to book 2 after a nice lengthy read
This series was recommended and I was hooked within reading first 5 minutes! Going straight to book 2 after a nice lengthy read
October 12, 2014
This is one of the many military Sci-Fi books. This is book one in a new series for Larson. This is my first Larson book so I am glad I managed to start with the first book in a new series. In this book the earth has been taken over by an advanced collection of races called the Galatics. Earth was given an ultimatum: join the Empire and produce a useful product to trade with the rest of the galaxy, or surrender the planet for more productive uses. Earth offered up mercenary soldiers.
The story follows James McGill a young recruit to one of the mercenary outfits. We follow him through basic training and it to service. Larsen has created interesting and fairly dimensional characters. The tech is interesting and provides the story with some interesting philosophical and ethical questions.
This is an easy to read and hard book to put down. Larson provides lots of action and bizarre twist and turns in the plot that kept my attention. The book is well written and the new series seems to be off to a good start. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Mark Boyett narrated the book.
The story follows James McGill a young recruit to one of the mercenary outfits. We follow him through basic training and it to service. Larsen has created interesting and fairly dimensional characters. The tech is interesting and provides the story with some interesting philosophical and ethical questions.
This is an easy to read and hard book to put down. Larson provides lots of action and bizarre twist and turns in the plot that kept my attention. The book is well written and the new series seems to be off to a good start. I read this as an audio book downloaded from Audible. Mark Boyett narrated the book.
November 12, 2014
Since there are only so many Old Man's War books, this will do as a weaker substitute. It's not as funny and the main character is very much on old boy Mary Sue character. Everything he does somehow ends up to be the right thing to have done even though it makes people in power very angry with him. He's got a few people ahead of him who see him for how wonderful and necessary he is (enough to keep him from getting offed permanently). He's got an asshole friend to make him look good by contrast. He's got a regular girl that he has feelings for, though he will sleep with other women since it's not concrete yet. His enemies in the command line are easily unlikable credit-steeling buck-passing life-writing-off jerks.
It almost sounds like I didn't like the book. I did. It's just a very particular kind of book with clear stereotypes. And if you want something with unpredictable plot twists and characters, you should go elsewhere. Meanwhile, the world is fun. The aliens are obvious and killer and cannibalistic. The action is bloody. And the pace keeps up a nice clip. So have your fun.
It almost sounds like I didn't like the book. I did. It's just a very particular kind of book with clear stereotypes. And if you want something with unpredictable plot twists and characters, you should go elsewhere. Meanwhile, the world is fun. The aliens are obvious and killer and cannibalistic. The action is bloody. And the pace keeps up a nice clip. So have your fun.
May 8, 2018
So in the distant future, war is fought by light infantry who attack targets in human waves? Really? Ok, so the author attempts to explain this away with the existence of revivification machines where the dead can be brought back to life from backups, but since use of the machines is expensive, surely any commander would seek to reduce losses amongst his troops. And the weaponry seems pathetic. Light rifles and heavy beam weapons? Even granting that these are galactic manufactured, why not use indirect fire weapons like mortars, guided missiles, mines? Any or all of these would have been better than the human wave tactics used.
And how do the backups work? The dead get revivified with memories of their death, suggesting that there is a constant ongoing backup. But then the book claims that when killed deep underground, because there is no confirmation of death, the dead cannot be revived and thus die permanently. This suggests that there is no constant backup and the backup is from the last "save". But then the revived dead have memories of dying underground which makes no sense at all.
Hopefully this is explained in subsequent books.
And how do the backups work? The dead get revivified with memories of their death, suggesting that there is a constant ongoing backup. But then the book claims that when killed deep underground, because there is no confirmation of death, the dead cannot be revived and thus die permanently. This suggests that there is no constant backup and the backup is from the last "save". But then the revived dead have memories of dying underground which makes no sense at all.
Hopefully this is explained in subsequent books.
January 26, 2014
Steel World was a light read sci-fi in the fashion of Heinlein and Card.
The concept of indentured galactic servitude is imbued video game looping of life after combat death.
The plot of the story was very open and had it been given the "chose the next move" style of some earlier adventure stories, could have ended any number of ways. I guess it makes sense that this is the first installment in an undeclared series.
The concepts are cobbled together in a video game style as well. The combatants are described as lizard like and read like creatures from Jurassic Park, more intent on eating the enemy than strategically launching a battle. This device is countered by battle description but is hard to overlook, adding a very comic feel to the story a la the bugs in Heinlein's StarTroopers.
If you're in the mood for an entertaining sci-fi weekend read, don't count this one out based on the reviews.
The concept of indentured galactic servitude is imbued video game looping of life after combat death.
The plot of the story was very open and had it been given the "chose the next move" style of some earlier adventure stories, could have ended any number of ways. I guess it makes sense that this is the first installment in an undeclared series.
The concepts are cobbled together in a video game style as well. The combatants are described as lizard like and read like creatures from Jurassic Park, more intent on eating the enemy than strategically launching a battle. This device is countered by battle description but is hard to overlook, adding a very comic feel to the story a la the bugs in Heinlein's StarTroopers.
If you're in the mood for an entertaining sci-fi weekend read, don't count this one out based on the reviews.
March 5, 2017
Book 1 of the Undying Mercenaries series is Great Mil-Sci-Fi! I knew going in from reading the blurb that it would either be good or completely stink. Well, it was good! It had all the things. I read one review saying it was too formulaic or some-such. To that, I just have to say, find yourself another genre, because if you don't like this one, you don't like Military Science Fiction. Come on man! How much more bad-ass can you get than fighting against intelligent dinosaurs, but getting revived every time you die! It had a feel of Starship Troopers to it. The main character is definitely typical jock type who leaps before he thinks of thinking, but you still like him in the end. Read this book. It's great. I give it 4 stars and call it a great read!
February 24, 2018
I usually enjoy military science fiction and this Steel world audiobook from Audible wasn't difference. It is something soothing on following different heroes on same pathway of recruitment, training and first fights. I suspected that the Steel world would be similar guilty pleasure but boy I was (at least partially) wrong. Main hero follows the same military science fiction timeline, however the author adds an extra spice of Earth interstellar politics, the soldiers resurrections and war-like games. Narration from Mark Boyett is almost perfect. So for me it a nice four stars and recommendation to read or listen.
March 13, 2018
This is another Military/Sci Fi. Was extremely highly rated. I love sci fi , so I thought that there wasn’t any type that I wouldn’t love. Well, I will be very wary in future of military/sci fi (Starship Troopers, maybe next?). This book actually has more plot than the last one in this genre that I DNF'd Terms of Enlistment. I think I will finish this. I think anyone who likes action packed war stories will love this. It just isn’t for me, personally. I am listening to the audio book and it is very well done, the reader is terrific.
June 17, 2025
This book was a heap of fun an perfect for light sci-fi fans.
The plot buzzed along with no dull moments.
Only criticism is that the author tended to repeat himself ALOT on many aspects of the story that were easy to comprehend.
Nevertheless highly entertaining!
The plot buzzed along with no dull moments.
Only criticism is that the author tended to repeat himself ALOT on many aspects of the story that were easy to comprehend.
Nevertheless highly entertaining!
January 30, 2017
This was pretty shallow, but to be fair, it sits slightly outside my typical genre interest and I probably never should have picked it up to begin with.
My apologies to the author for reading it.
My apologies to the author for reading it.
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