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Their Master's War
Primitive men kidnapped from earth to fight as soldiers for an alien race known as the Therem, decide to rebel against their masters and strike out on their own
- GenresScience FictionFiction
295 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 12, 1987
2 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Mick Farren
67 books81 followersFarren was the singer with the proto-punk English band The Deviants between 1967 and 1969, releasing three albums. In 1970 he released the solo album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus which also featured Steve Peregrin Took, John Gustafson and Paul Buckmaster, before leaving the music business to concentrate on his writing.
In the mid-1970s, he briefly returned to music releasing the EP Screwed Up, album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money and single "Broken Statue". The album featured fellow NME journalist Chrissie Hynde and Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson.
He has sporadically returned to music, collaborating with Wayne Kramer on Who Shot You Dutch? and Death Tongue, Jack Lancaster on The Deathray Tapes and Andy Colquhoun on The Deviants albums Eating Jello With a Heated Fork and Dr. Crow.
Aside from his own work, he has provided lyrics for various musician friends over the years. He has collaborated with Lemmy, co-writing "Lost Johnny" for Hawkwind, and "Keep Us on the Road" and "Damage Case" for Motörhead. With Larry Wallis, he co-wrote "When's the Fun Begin?" for the Pink Fairies and several tracks on Wallis' solo album Death in a Guitar Afternoon. He provided lyrics for the Wayne Kramer single "Get Some" in the mid-1970s, and continued to work with and for him during the 1990s.
In the early 1970s he contributed to the UK Underground press such as the International Times, also establishing Nasty Tales which he successfully defended from an obscenity charge. He went on to write for the main stream New Musical Express, where he wrote the article The Titanic Sails At Dawn, an analysis of what he saw as the malaise afflicting then-contemporary rock music which described the conditions that subsequently gave rise to punk.
To date he has written 23 novels, including the Victor Renquist novels and the DNA Cowboys sequence. His prophetic 1989 novel The Armageddon Crazy deals with a post-2000 United States which is dominated by fundamentalists who dismantle the Constitution.
Farren has written 11 works of non-fiction, a number of biographical (including four on Elvis Presley), autobiographical and culture books (such as The Black Leather Jacket) and a plethora of poetry.
Since 2003, he has been a columnist for the weekly Los Angeles CityBeat.
Farren died at the age of 69 in 2013, after collapsing onstage while performing with the Deviants at the Borderline Club in London.
In the mid-1970s, he briefly returned to music releasing the EP Screwed Up, album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money and single "Broken Statue". The album featured fellow NME journalist Chrissie Hynde and Dr. Feelgood guitarist Wilko Johnson.
He has sporadically returned to music, collaborating with Wayne Kramer on Who Shot You Dutch? and Death Tongue, Jack Lancaster on The Deathray Tapes and Andy Colquhoun on The Deviants albums Eating Jello With a Heated Fork and Dr. Crow.
Aside from his own work, he has provided lyrics for various musician friends over the years. He has collaborated with Lemmy, co-writing "Lost Johnny" for Hawkwind, and "Keep Us on the Road" and "Damage Case" for Motörhead. With Larry Wallis, he co-wrote "When's the Fun Begin?" for the Pink Fairies and several tracks on Wallis' solo album Death in a Guitar Afternoon. He provided lyrics for the Wayne Kramer single "Get Some" in the mid-1970s, and continued to work with and for him during the 1990s.
In the early 1970s he contributed to the UK Underground press such as the International Times, also establishing Nasty Tales which he successfully defended from an obscenity charge. He went on to write for the main stream New Musical Express, where he wrote the article The Titanic Sails At Dawn, an analysis of what he saw as the malaise afflicting then-contemporary rock music which described the conditions that subsequently gave rise to punk.
To date he has written 23 novels, including the Victor Renquist novels and the DNA Cowboys sequence. His prophetic 1989 novel The Armageddon Crazy deals with a post-2000 United States which is dominated by fundamentalists who dismantle the Constitution.
Farren has written 11 works of non-fiction, a number of biographical (including four on Elvis Presley), autobiographical and culture books (such as The Black Leather Jacket) and a plethora of poetry.
Since 2003, he has been a columnist for the weekly Los Angeles CityBeat.
Farren died at the age of 69 in 2013, after collapsing onstage while performing with the Deviants at the Borderline Club in London.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 1, 2025
Pretty glorious piece of pulp science fiction by Farren and one that starts with a bang and just keeps going. Our protagonist, Hark, starts the novel as part of a hunting party; he lives in a primitive human tribe on some dust-ball planet. Legends of the Gods abound and life revolves around their lore. After killing some rival tribesmen, Hank and the other two surviving members of the hunting band are told by the head shaman that they must go to the Valley of the Gods, never to return.
Well, it turns out Hark and all the rest of the tribesmen on the planet were put there by an alien race, the Therem, who use humans as cannon fodder for their endless war with another alien species. Once about the massive space ship, Hark and others are given a 'datashot' that basically clues him in to the deal, and teaches him the rudiments of being a 'ground pounder'. He, along with five other newbies become part of a team of twenty, the standard platoon size. The 'old hands' give him and the others a rough time, but so it goes.
Farren then takes us to a series of seemingly endless battles on many worlds. How has humanity become the slaves of an alien race? No one really knows except the Therem and they are not talking. In fact, few have even seen the alien master race! An entire host of other alien species have been similarly enslaved for the war effort and Farren must of had a blast creating them. What will become of Hank? Is he doomed to soldier on until he goes the way of all old soldiers? You will have to read it to find out. 4 pulpy, action packed stars!!
Well, it turns out Hark and all the rest of the tribesmen on the planet were put there by an alien race, the Therem, who use humans as cannon fodder for their endless war with another alien species. Once about the massive space ship, Hark and others are given a 'datashot' that basically clues him in to the deal, and teaches him the rudiments of being a 'ground pounder'. He, along with five other newbies become part of a team of twenty, the standard platoon size. The 'old hands' give him and the others a rough time, but so it goes.
Farren then takes us to a series of seemingly endless battles on many worlds. How has humanity become the slaves of an alien race? No one really knows except the Therem and they are not talking. In fact, few have even seen the alien master race! An entire host of other alien species have been similarly enslaved for the war effort and Farren must of had a blast creating them. What will become of Hank? Is he doomed to soldier on until he goes the way of all old soldiers? You will have to read it to find out. 4 pulpy, action packed stars!!
February 8, 2019
A caveman is abducted by aliens, and drafted to fight wars. Eventually, he and his troop are shipped to a planet where they are not expected to survive. They rebel against their overlords.
Not bad, but nothing memorable.
Not bad, but nothing memorable.
May 26, 2009
This was one of the first books I ever read, I was only about 11 or 12 I think, and borrowed my brothers book. I read it a number of times and absolutly loved it.
I managed to get a copy second hand last year, and re-read it now I am "an adult" and I still enjoyed it.
This year, I scanned it in myself onto computer and created my own ebook version which I intend to read very shortly.
I have never read anything else by Mick Farren, but I certainly intend to.
I managed to get a copy second hand last year, and re-read it now I am "an adult" and I still enjoyed it.
This year, I scanned it in myself onto computer and created my own ebook version which I intend to read very shortly.
I have never read anything else by Mick Farren, but I certainly intend to.
September 7, 2012
Aliens - abduction - war with sci-fi weapons - even a little R&R sex - this has it ll and for the most part the author Farren does a very job job of developing his characters and the story lines.
There was only one little nagging problem as I read the book. The back cover blurb basically said 'something' was going to happen (I wont give it away) - something that would change the lives of the members of this combat team.
It did happen and Farren did a masterful job of introducing the change. It's just I was waiting for it to occur earlier in the story - it didn't happen until the final 40 pages (300 page book).
Good read for those who like sci-fi battle stories.
There was only one little nagging problem as I read the book. The back cover blurb basically said 'something' was going to happen (I wont give it away) - something that would change the lives of the members of this combat team.
It did happen and Farren did a masterful job of introducing the change. It's just I was waiting for it to occur earlier in the story - it didn't happen until the final 40 pages (300 page book).
Good read for those who like sci-fi battle stories.
October 3, 2014
A man from a primitive society is enlisted (against his knowledge) by a sophisticated alien race in order to fight in an ongoing intergalactic war. He is just one of many thousands of troops recruited from a number of species over many generations and across many planets to fight on behalf of the mysterious Therem in their conflict against the Yal, who also make up their military with other lesser species.
As is typical in military sci-fi, we follow a group of trainees through basic training and then a number of battles in various scenarios. There are some slight diversions along the way involving R&R, but the majority of the book centres around the combat action, which is generally pretty well written and exciting. However, a major portion of the book is a very thinly disguised futuristic version of a stereotypical Vietnam movie, and hence it's pretty easy to see what's coming. The conclusion to the story does add an interesting element that's not often seen in this sort of book, but I won't give it away here.
All in all this is a pretty good book with some interesting aspects to the fictional military situation. The characters aren't amazingly interesting, but they're different enough to tell apart and do have their own personalities to some extent. If you like military sci-fi then this is a pretty solid effort that you'll probably enjoy.
As is typical in military sci-fi, we follow a group of trainees through basic training and then a number of battles in various scenarios. There are some slight diversions along the way involving R&R, but the majority of the book centres around the combat action, which is generally pretty well written and exciting. However, a major portion of the book is a very thinly disguised futuristic version of a stereotypical Vietnam movie, and hence it's pretty easy to see what's coming. The conclusion to the story does add an interesting element that's not often seen in this sort of book, but I won't give it away here.
All in all this is a pretty good book with some interesting aspects to the fictional military situation. The characters aren't amazingly interesting, but they're different enough to tell apart and do have their own personalities to some extent. If you like military sci-fi then this is a pretty solid effort that you'll probably enjoy.
June 28, 2024
Reading these older sci-fi books is strange. I've read so many doorstopper series that this feels like the first third of a much larger story.
There are some elements that feel a bit dated, but I suppose that's to be expected with a forty year old book. Otherwise it's pretty exciting and well written with good pacing.
These days it's a pretty common take on war in sf. It always comes down to class, eh? What good is fighting a war for a master, whether that's a godlike alien, a smug politician, or a multinational corporation?
3.5 stars
There are some elements that feel a bit dated, but I suppose that's to be expected with a forty year old book. Otherwise it's pretty exciting and well written with good pacing.
These days it's a pretty common take on war in sf. It always comes down to class, eh? What good is fighting a war for a master, whether that's a godlike alien, a smug politician, or a multinational corporation?
3.5 stars
September 24, 2012
I am not a very good judge of sci-fi, since I basically only read non-fiction, but I found this space adventure tale engaging; a fun, fast read. I especially appreciated Farren's details on what jumping across space would potentially be like, physically, as well as translating the attitudes of an underclass onto this galactic-scale canvas.
I dipped my two into these waters intrigued after I interview the author about his proto-punk band The Deviants.
I dipped my two into these waters intrigued after I interview the author about his proto-punk band The Deviants.
November 20, 2012
ehh, it was entertaining but it had a lot of filler. Several of the pages were filled with sections of children books, (true it was to give the reader a feel for what it was like for the protagonist being programmed to read but it was still filler). This was one of those humans overthrow their masters who are having them fight an endless-war stories. So much of it was predictable, the rich officers who were colluding with the aliens, and the warm hearted courtesans that fortify the heroes' strength.
June 2, 2009
I've been reading a lot of business factual books, and I took the time off to read something fun. And this was it. The book is about 2 immense super species of aliens locked in an eternal war. The "harvest" humans (and other aliens) to fight for them. The book is a fun escape, and I liked it.
November 15, 2011
nice book, I liked many the back ground fluff that keeps many "ok" stories from turning bad. This was a good book. While I did not care as much about the characters as a whole I loved the stuffing that kept it together. A well thought out Universe with thought provoking ideas through out it all.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews