Lieutenant

Dirigent Mercenary Corps #2

by Rick Shelley

The year is 2804 AD. Humanity has colonized the universe. But the authority of the Confederation of Human Worlds is spread thin. Where the Army of planet Earth cannot reach, mercenaries must keep the peace--and the Dirigent Mercenary Corps are the best of the best.

Kicked out of the prestigious North American Military Academy, Lon Nolan had only a few choices left to him. He chose the hardest one: serving with the Dirigent Mercenary Corps, an elite fighting squad where respect is earned not in the classroom but on the battlefield.

Nolan proved himself on the battlefield on Norbank. But now he’s commanding men of his own, and the stakes are higher. He’s going to learn sooner or later that leadership always comes with a cost ...

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Fiction, War

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Alex Richmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book by any imagination, but I gave it to a slightly lower view then I have other books in the series mainly due to what feels like an unusual shift in personality that I am unsure about. Maybe it’s a natural character progress and I’m not saying it fully, but whether or not that is the case I felt that the ending became rather rushed and was rather weak. I hope others who get the chance to read it don’t feel that way.

[Otis Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, I ain't much for fancy-pants schoolin', and neither was the main boy in this tale, Lon Nolan. He got his backside kicked clean out of the high-falutin' North American Military Academy on Earth. So, instead of mopin' around the holler, he went and joined up with the Dirigent Mercenary Corps. That's an outfit where nobody gives a hoot about your book-learnin' or your family tree; you gotta earn your keep and your respect right out there in the mud and the blood of the battlefield. This book takes place way out in the year 2804 AD. Folks have scattered across the stars like seeds in a high wind, and the big-wigs back on Earth can’t keep a lid on things. So, when trouble starts brewin', they gotta hire outside muscle—and these Dirigent boys are the toughest hounds in the pack. Our boy Lon already proved he had plenty of grit during a nasty scuffle on a rock called Norbank in the first book. But now, in Lieutenant, he ain't just lookin' out for his own hide anymore. They went and gave him his own platoon of greenhorns to herd. If you ever tried to lead a pack of stubborn mules through a briar patch, you know that tellin' folks what to do ain't as easy as it looks. Lon figures out real quick-like that bein' the boss-man comes with a mighty heavy price tag, especially when the bullets start flyin' and your boys don't all get to come home.What makes this book a real hoot to read is that the fella who wrote it, Rick Shelley, used to be a real-deal veteran in the U.S. Army. He don't fill the pages with a bunch of magical hocus-pocus or overly-complicated technobabble about how the space-engines work. He writes it straight-shot, like an old timer tellin' war stories on the front porch. You can feel the grease, the grit, and the pure exhaustion of moving troops around a strange planet. The action moves faster than a startled jackrabbit, and at just under 300 pages, it don't overstay its welcome. If you're a fan of space-soldiers shootin' high-tech lasers and big ol' corporate raiders getting their comeuppance, you're gonna like this one just fine. It’s a solid, fast-paced yarn about duty, brotherhood, and learnin' how to grow up when the stakes are life and death.

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

More military fiction than military SF, this series has so far been almost entirely a view into the life of an infantry junior officer. There's not a lot to mark this as SF other than that the unit travels by starship.

The military action is detailed and believable, but it reads more like after-action reports than fiction, largely because the characters are very flat. Only the protagonist has any personality, and even his is not especially compelling.

Not a bad read, but there is much better milSF. Only recommended for the most dedicated milSF readers.

[Jim Stennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just good fun if you're into this kinda thing. Is it great literature? Of course not! But the action is nonstop and it's loads of adventure. I read Officer Cadet a year or two (or more?) ago and finally got the rest of the series. This one picks up about a year after the first and takes you through a rollicking good war between two planets. My only 'complaint' is sometimes the battles (especially early on in his books) are a little too easily won by the mercenaries. Seems they would have more problems. This one gets away from that some in the final two battles, however.

[Sean Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe i'm totally imagining things, but it seems as though Lon's broadening his thinking a little here. There are a load more books to go, so who knows. A fairly humdrum, so so sort of a caper - but with realisation of the costs of battle a little, perhaps

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

1

[Brian Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part of a series following the rise through the ranks of the title character.
Pretty standard fare with some good fight sequences, but fizzles out towards the end with a disappointing finish.