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Legion #2
The Final Battle
Human and machine. Elite and Expendable. They are the Legion of the Damned.
The Hudathans are on a rampage. They have created their own corps of cyborgs using copycat technology and psychotic candidates. They have refitted their hardware. Reloaded their weapons. Refueled their insanity. And targeted the heart of the Confederacy, once and for all.
The Legion will be there to greet them.
It is time for ...
The Final Battle
The Hudathans are on a rampage. They have created their own corps of cyborgs using copycat technology and psychotic candidates. They have refitted their hardware. Reloaded their weapons. Refueled their insanity. And targeted the heart of the Confederacy, once and for all.
The Legion will be there to greet them.
It is time for ...
The Final Battle
388 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 1995
69 people are currently reading
424 people want to read
About the author
William C. Dietz
124 books453 followersNew York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than fifty novels, some of which have been translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. He grew up in the Seattle area, served as a medic with the Navy and Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director and producer. Before becoming a full-time writer Dietz was director of public relations and marketing for an international telephone company. He and his wife live near Gig Harbor, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
September 18, 2012
I had a long review of this 99% done, and accidentally closed the window without saving....sigh.
Anyway, I read the first of this series sometime in the 90s. I liked it. I always meant to get back to the series, but there are so many books already waiting to be read on my shelves (you know how demanding those books can be. Sometimes I'd wake up and they'd be looming over me where they'd crept up to the bed in the night...) Ummm-humm, as I was saying... I'd just read a military science fiction by an author I like. Unfortunately this novel was, disappointing. So, as a sort of pallet cleanser I thought I'd get a different military science fiction.
I didn't say it was logical.
I got this (the second book in the series) from Audible. It's an excellent read. I go 4 stars because I can't go 4.5 and while I think the book is excellent I can't quite rate it with the books I rate as the best...but it close.
There were in the story a few (very few) points where my interest wandered (navel academy hijinks/trouble, interaction with some of the sentient species of the Confederacy...and you know, these members or the military have far more active inter-service sex lives than I remember). Anyway...good book and recommended.
The first in this series introduces us to the universe in which the book takes place. Humankind has gone out from the Earth and "we" ("we" meaning humans of course. If you are not human please don't feel left out as I had no way of knowing anyone other than humans would be reading the review) have come in contact with many other sentient species and "we" are part of the Confederacy of Sentient Species.
Sadly all the species we meet/met weren't all that friendly. The Hudathans are a very warlike species (sort of like "us" in that way...huh). They have in their society no concept of pity, mercy or empathy and in fact see these as weaknesses. Their cultural understanding is that ANY, that's ANY other sentient species is a threat and must be wiped out.
This book picks up where the first left off. Things are still...tricky. The Hudathans still don't like us all that much, or any of the other sentient species.
Bad Hudathans, bad.
Of course the Hudathans go back war with the Confederation of Sentient Species...and you know all the species aren't very warlike. This means that a couple of species tend to do the bulk of the fighting, hummm. Oh well.
This series is titled The Legion of the Damned. This comes from (as you know if you read the first book (Legion of the Damned) the cyborgs that play a central part in the military. The military called the "legion" is/are descendants of the Foreign Legion. The cyborgs started out as condemned criminals who were given the choice. You become a cyborg by having your brain installed in a cyborg body...or you can die. Guess which way a lot of people went? Of course since there's been am ongoing war (that seemed to end with the last book, only didn't) there have been a lot on "new" "accidental" cyborgs... get the picture?
As I said this is an excellent read and I recommend it. You like military science fiction, you like space opera, you like interspecies romance, you like robots, androids and cyborgs....try this! No, really, try it...
By the way..inside joke here. One of the characters in the book is named "Crowbuck", but every time the reader said the name I thought, "Crowbot"...how many remember Crowbot?
Anyway, I read the first of this series sometime in the 90s. I liked it. I always meant to get back to the series, but there are so many books already waiting to be read on my shelves (you know how demanding those books can be. Sometimes I'd wake up and they'd be looming over me where they'd crept up to the bed in the night...) Ummm-humm, as I was saying... I'd just read a military science fiction by an author I like. Unfortunately this novel was, disappointing. So, as a sort of pallet cleanser I thought I'd get a different military science fiction.
I didn't say it was logical.
I got this (the second book in the series) from Audible. It's an excellent read. I go 4 stars because I can't go 4.5 and while I think the book is excellent I can't quite rate it with the books I rate as the best...but it close.
There were in the story a few (very few) points where my interest wandered (navel academy hijinks/trouble, interaction with some of the sentient species of the Confederacy...and you know, these members or the military have far more active inter-service sex lives than I remember). Anyway...good book and recommended.
The first in this series introduces us to the universe in which the book takes place. Humankind has gone out from the Earth and "we" ("we" meaning humans of course. If you are not human please don't feel left out as I had no way of knowing anyone other than humans would be reading the review) have come in contact with many other sentient species and "we" are part of the Confederacy of Sentient Species.
Sadly all the species we meet/met weren't all that friendly. The Hudathans are a very warlike species (sort of like "us" in that way...huh). They have in their society no concept of pity, mercy or empathy and in fact see these as weaknesses. Their cultural understanding is that ANY, that's ANY other sentient species is a threat and must be wiped out.
This book picks up where the first left off. Things are still...tricky. The Hudathans still don't like us all that much, or any of the other sentient species.
Bad Hudathans, bad.
Of course the Hudathans go back war with the Confederation of Sentient Species...and you know all the species aren't very warlike. This means that a couple of species tend to do the bulk of the fighting, hummm. Oh well.
This series is titled The Legion of the Damned. This comes from (as you know if you read the first book (Legion of the Damned) the cyborgs that play a central part in the military. The military called the "legion" is/are descendants of the Foreign Legion. The cyborgs started out as condemned criminals who were given the choice. You become a cyborg by having your brain installed in a cyborg body...or you can die. Guess which way a lot of people went? Of course since there's been am ongoing war (that seemed to end with the last book, only didn't) there have been a lot on "new" "accidental" cyborgs... get the picture?
As I said this is an excellent read and I recommend it. You like military science fiction, you like space opera, you like interspecies romance, you like robots, androids and cyborgs....try this! No, really, try it...
By the way..inside joke here. One of the characters in the book is named "Crowbuck", but every time the reader said the name I thought, "Crowbot"...how many remember Crowbot?
March 15, 2022
I can't be blamed for thinking that the second book in the series, with a title like "The Final Battle", would have even more action than the first book, which had a LOT of action. But, unfortunately this book feels more like a slow burn than a blaze of battle, which is a shame when so many big ideas are introduced that should have elevated the first book's war into an epic story. It just doesn't work those ideas to their full potential, and the result is a decent if rather disappointing sequel.
One of the most curious choices is having the book take place 20 years after the first. For one thing, there are very few characters returning from the first part, and most are so old now that they have very little to contribute to the battles and the story as a whole. The aliens fare better, since one of them (Poseen-Ka) has a large lifespan so he is still a competent warrior and leader; and the other (Booly Jr.) is the half-human half-Naa offspring of the main characters from the first, all grown-up into an officer, and he is the focus of most of the story. But that makes me wonder, is HE the reason for the two-decade time skip? Just to be able to watch his story, at the cost of the stories of all the other characters from the first?
The pacing feels odd for several reasons. First, Booly Jr.'s ascension in the ranks of the military is dramatically fast, going from graduating from cadet to commanding practically the whole legion by the end. Some of his actions logically prompt promotions, but other times it's just because of time skips of unclear lengths. It feels like the pacing itself is forced in order to see Booly Jr.'s entire career! And it's as jarring as it sounds.
Another reason for the odd pacing is the introduction of a bunch of new characters to fill the vacuum of all the ones missing from the first (most of which you HAVE to presume are dead? Like, where the hell are all the legionnaires we met apart from Booly Sr.? Dead, retired, working desk jobs, who knows!). Having new characters is fine of course, but the issue is that many of their character arcs are either fragmentary (since the time jumps between scenes and chapters are extreme thus leaving huge gaps in their stories) or utterly dropped midway through, like the case of the clone world characters.
The idea of a whole world run by a society of clones is a fascinating one, and at the beginning it's well explored. But then... they are entirely inconsequential to the war? When what was being teased was that their allegiance would be the determining factor of the whole war? What happened!
The war does seem to be the focus of the book, but... there's way less "war" than in the first. Unlike the myriad action scenes in the first that delineate the war there, in here the battle scenes are sparse and short. That's not to say there's not good, they are entertaining. But they don't share the scale of the battles in the first, even though this is supposed to be, again, "The Final Battle". The few battles we see are pretty straightforward, down to the tactical maneuvers. Full frontal conflicts between two sides, one clearly more powerful than the other, with the obvious expected victory for the superior force (mostly). This story is indeed "the final battle" for the conflict started in the first, but it just doesn't feel like the proper climactic confrontation that started in the first. It just abruptly and conveniently... ends. Pretty disappointing to say the least.
The idea of the Hudathans developing their own cyborgs is another great idea here. The way they start it off is chilling and fascinating. But then... it's just the one unit doing what I would have already expected regular Hudathan warriors to do in battle. I just didn't feel the same rapport, the same awe as i did watching the Trooper IIs in action in the last book.
And where the hell are the Legion cyborgs?? It feels like they went from the main dramatic force in the first to background dressing here! The fact I remember a single Trooper II faffing about, at most, is kind of sad. They were the heart and soul of the first book, and I sang praises about them, but they're just barely here anymore.
Another fine idea is that of the Trooper IIIs, each of which are not just one but a collective of animal-esque machines working as a unit led by the human cyborg leader. The problem with this one is that they are introduced very close to the end, which means that we have to get acquainted with an entirely new group of characters on the go, and once we are, the war is over already! What a waste.
Also, I talked about the significant amounts of sex in the first book, and how it seemed a proper aspect of the story and its characters. I could say the same for the second book. But at the same time... everyone here is HORNY. Like, so many of the characters are just horny. Some have sex whenever they get the chance, and others are often obsessed with sex. Like I said, it's fine for humans to want sex, and in another book it would seem out of place or annoying, but not here. Just from being familiar with the first book, it's fitting, if a bit funny to say the least.
So while it's not a bad book, this second part feels like a waste of great ideas, and an inferior execution of the first book's elements. As a sequel of such a great first book, it's adequate, but very disappointing for a series with such potential. I am still looking forward to the following books, but I'm expecting the series to stick much closer to the first's spirit if it's gonna keep me properly hooked.
One of the most curious choices is having the book take place 20 years after the first. For one thing, there are very few characters returning from the first part, and most are so old now that they have very little to contribute to the battles and the story as a whole. The aliens fare better, since one of them (Poseen-Ka) has a large lifespan so he is still a competent warrior and leader; and the other (Booly Jr.) is the half-human half-Naa offspring of the main characters from the first, all grown-up into an officer, and he is the focus of most of the story. But that makes me wonder, is HE the reason for the two-decade time skip? Just to be able to watch his story, at the cost of the stories of all the other characters from the first?
The pacing feels odd for several reasons. First, Booly Jr.'s ascension in the ranks of the military is dramatically fast, going from graduating from cadet to commanding practically the whole legion by the end. Some of his actions logically prompt promotions, but other times it's just because of time skips of unclear lengths. It feels like the pacing itself is forced in order to see Booly Jr.'s entire career! And it's as jarring as it sounds.
Another reason for the odd pacing is the introduction of a bunch of new characters to fill the vacuum of all the ones missing from the first (most of which you HAVE to presume are dead? Like, where the hell are all the legionnaires we met apart from Booly Sr.? Dead, retired, working desk jobs, who knows!). Having new characters is fine of course, but the issue is that many of their character arcs are either fragmentary (since the time jumps between scenes and chapters are extreme thus leaving huge gaps in their stories) or utterly dropped midway through, like the case of the clone world characters.
The idea of a whole world run by a society of clones is a fascinating one, and at the beginning it's well explored. But then... they are entirely inconsequential to the war? When what was being teased was that their allegiance would be the determining factor of the whole war? What happened!
The war does seem to be the focus of the book, but... there's way less "war" than in the first. Unlike the myriad action scenes in the first that delineate the war there, in here the battle scenes are sparse and short. That's not to say there's not good, they are entertaining. But they don't share the scale of the battles in the first, even though this is supposed to be, again, "The Final Battle". The few battles we see are pretty straightforward, down to the tactical maneuvers. Full frontal conflicts between two sides, one clearly more powerful than the other, with the obvious expected victory for the superior force (mostly). This story is indeed "the final battle" for the conflict started in the first, but it just doesn't feel like the proper climactic confrontation that started in the first. It just abruptly and conveniently... ends. Pretty disappointing to say the least.
The idea of the Hudathans developing their own cyborgs is another great idea here. The way they start it off is chilling and fascinating. But then... it's just the one unit doing what I would have already expected regular Hudathan warriors to do in battle. I just didn't feel the same rapport, the same awe as i did watching the Trooper IIs in action in the last book.
And where the hell are the Legion cyborgs?? It feels like they went from the main dramatic force in the first to background dressing here! The fact I remember a single Trooper II faffing about, at most, is kind of sad. They were the heart and soul of the first book, and I sang praises about them, but they're just barely here anymore.
Another fine idea is that of the Trooper IIIs, each of which are not just one but a collective of animal-esque machines working as a unit led by the human cyborg leader. The problem with this one is that they are introduced very close to the end, which means that we have to get acquainted with an entirely new group of characters on the go, and once we are, the war is over already! What a waste.
Also, I talked about the significant amounts of sex in the first book, and how it seemed a proper aspect of the story and its characters. I could say the same for the second book. But at the same time... everyone here is HORNY. Like, so many of the characters are just horny. Some have sex whenever they get the chance, and others are often obsessed with sex. Like I said, it's fine for humans to want sex, and in another book it would seem out of place or annoying, but not here. Just from being familiar with the first book, it's fitting, if a bit funny to say the least.
So while it's not a bad book, this second part feels like a waste of great ideas, and an inferior execution of the first book's elements. As a sequel of such a great first book, it's adequate, but very disappointing for a series with such potential. I am still looking forward to the following books, but I'm expecting the series to stick much closer to the first's spirit if it's gonna keep me properly hooked.
June 26, 2011
I enjoyed reading The Legion of the Damned, and though it had its problems, I looked forward to reading the second book in the series. I was never able to find it in local bookstores though, and my wife ordered it for my 32nd birthday.
Summary
Nearly twenty years after the alien beings known as the Hudathans were defeated at the Battle of Algeron and the human imperial government collapsed, the Hudathan prisoners, including War Leader Poseen-Ka, are kept on Worber’s World. The planet’s surface was destroyed during the previous war, and now kept under constant surveillance by an armored space station controlled by Poseen-Ka’s previous prisoner, General Natalie Norwood.
Meanwhile, on Earth, William Booly Jr., the son of the deserter Booly from the first book and a half-breed of human and Naa parents, is graduating from the academy to take his place in the Legion, which is what the French Foreign Legion has evolved into over hundreds of years of numerous governments.
But the peace will not last long. The Hudathans have developed their own cybernetic warriors to challenge the Legion, and plans are underway to free Poseen-Ka from Worber’s World and begin a final battle to extinguish all non-Hudathan life from the galaxy...
OVERALL: 2.6
Dietz follows up an above-average book with... another above average book. The Final Battle is good science fiction, but not very good military science fiction since so much of the story is about the peripheral and background issues of the war.
A good example is the arguable primary protagonist, William Booly Jr. He is graduating from the Academy at the beginning, given an assignment on a semi-hostile world that seems to last a couple of weeks at the most, and is suddenly a seasoned veteran?
I guess part of my problem is that I always expected these books to focus more on the actual Legion of the Damned, the cyborgs who make of the Legion’s most elite troops. Unfortunately the first book has more about them than this one; here they are mostly window dressing.
I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that the final battle of the book was unpredictable, and I was almost expecting a really different turn that would have led off to an amazing series of books... but the author doesn’t follow it and takes the more predictable path instead.
Lastly, I will recommend Poseen-Ka any day of the week. He’s a magnificent villain, alien and yet able to relate to. I remember enjoying his scenes in the first book, and he does not disappoint in The Final Battle.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
Characters: 2
Except for the Hudathan antagonist, Poseen-Ka, everyone in the book felt like “paint-by-the-numbers”. Motivations and histories are provided, and it just didn’t take for me. The characters aren’t bad, they just aren’t anything special either.
All the females in the story seem to be particularly promiscuous, which feels corny and more of a “male fantasy”, where a girl can’t go twenty seconds without thinking about the opposite sex (or the same sex, in one character’s case).
Poseen-Ka, as in the first book, remains an incredible presence whenever he appears. One scene in the second half of the book, when he taunts a Hudathan bureaucrat by jokingly demanding which of his lieutenants are secretly human spies, was the final piece that completed the perfection of this character. I would read books about him alone (make no mistake, he is a bad guy, but he is the kind of villain that is wonderful to watch, like Cobra Commander).
Pace: 3
There were only a few times when the story really slowed down, and that is usually when an uninteresting character is dwelled upon.
Story: 3
There are some things here that should be interesting but aren’t; the entire storyline of the Hegemony (a human civilization based on clones) comes to mind. I think even Dietz grew bored with it, because the entire plot thread is kind of dropped before the book ends.
Cybernetic Hudathan troops seems like the obvious course to take in a sequel, but it is handled okay. They don’t really get enough “screen time”, given one of them is on the cover.
Where the writer really branches out and starts exploring new ground is with the new, improved Trooper III cyborgs utilized by the Legion. I didn’t see that coming, and it’s a brilliant way to upgrade the idea. Like the Hudathan cyborgs, the idea doesn’t get enough attention.
My biggest problem with the story is that a war begins and is mostly glossed over. Most of the narrative takes place in the preparation, political maneuvering and espionage, and personal issues of the characters. That’s all good, but at times it was easy to forget what was even threatening everybody...
Dialogue: 3
Most of the dialogue is good, though it tends to be contrived when it’s being spoken by a female (at least in my opinion). There are also some cases when characters are overly friendly for no reason (the author apparently wants them to be friends), etc. I realize that some people just hit it off sometimes, but it can be too... convenient.
Poseen-Ka, true to his character, always delivers great dialogue.
Style/Technical: 2
The writing is clear, even during large battles in space and on ground (which is no easy feat), but Dietz likes to jump around in the viewpoint character without so much as a break in the paragraph. One moment you are with Booly Jr., commanding his troops, and the next you’re in some other character. I don’t mind changing viewpoints, but not in the thick of the narrative. It��s like hitting a master “reset” button that drained the excitement out of me.
Also, several important characters are introduced nearly halfway through the book (or longer), including a legionnaire testing the new Trooper III systems, a spy, and a scientist who becomes a naval captain. I think if these people are important, they should have had some exposure earlier in the book.
Finally, and this is really not the author’s fault... his action scenes are readable and enjoyable, but they lack the hard impact. It’s not just that I didn’t care much about the characters; his writing lacks the ability to really take me into the action and make me feel like I am in the middle of it. Maybe Robert E. Howard has spoiled me, and I know I can’t expect that from every author, but I thought the action scenes could have been better.
Summary
Nearly twenty years after the alien beings known as the Hudathans were defeated at the Battle of Algeron and the human imperial government collapsed, the Hudathan prisoners, including War Leader Poseen-Ka, are kept on Worber’s World. The planet’s surface was destroyed during the previous war, and now kept under constant surveillance by an armored space station controlled by Poseen-Ka’s previous prisoner, General Natalie Norwood.
Meanwhile, on Earth, William Booly Jr., the son of the deserter Booly from the first book and a half-breed of human and Naa parents, is graduating from the academy to take his place in the Legion, which is what the French Foreign Legion has evolved into over hundreds of years of numerous governments.
But the peace will not last long. The Hudathans have developed their own cybernetic warriors to challenge the Legion, and plans are underway to free Poseen-Ka from Worber’s World and begin a final battle to extinguish all non-Hudathan life from the galaxy...
OVERALL: 2.6
Dietz follows up an above-average book with... another above average book. The Final Battle is good science fiction, but not very good military science fiction since so much of the story is about the peripheral and background issues of the war.
A good example is the arguable primary protagonist, William Booly Jr. He is graduating from the Academy at the beginning, given an assignment on a semi-hostile world that seems to last a couple of weeks at the most, and is suddenly a seasoned veteran?
I guess part of my problem is that I always expected these books to focus more on the actual Legion of the Damned, the cyborgs who make of the Legion’s most elite troops. Unfortunately the first book has more about them than this one; here they are mostly window dressing.
I won’t spoil anything, but I will say that the final battle of the book was unpredictable, and I was almost expecting a really different turn that would have led off to an amazing series of books... but the author doesn’t follow it and takes the more predictable path instead.
Lastly, I will recommend Poseen-Ka any day of the week. He’s a magnificent villain, alien and yet able to relate to. I remember enjoying his scenes in the first book, and he does not disappoint in The Final Battle.
RATINGS BY CATEGORY
Characters: 2
Except for the Hudathan antagonist, Poseen-Ka, everyone in the book felt like “paint-by-the-numbers”. Motivations and histories are provided, and it just didn’t take for me. The characters aren’t bad, they just aren’t anything special either.
All the females in the story seem to be particularly promiscuous, which feels corny and more of a “male fantasy”, where a girl can’t go twenty seconds without thinking about the opposite sex (or the same sex, in one character’s case).
Poseen-Ka, as in the first book, remains an incredible presence whenever he appears. One scene in the second half of the book, when he taunts a Hudathan bureaucrat by jokingly demanding which of his lieutenants are secretly human spies, was the final piece that completed the perfection of this character. I would read books about him alone (make no mistake, he is a bad guy, but he is the kind of villain that is wonderful to watch, like Cobra Commander).
Pace: 3
There were only a few times when the story really slowed down, and that is usually when an uninteresting character is dwelled upon.
Story: 3
There are some things here that should be interesting but aren’t; the entire storyline of the Hegemony (a human civilization based on clones) comes to mind. I think even Dietz grew bored with it, because the entire plot thread is kind of dropped before the book ends.
Cybernetic Hudathan troops seems like the obvious course to take in a sequel, but it is handled okay. They don’t really get enough “screen time”, given one of them is on the cover.
Where the writer really branches out and starts exploring new ground is with the new, improved Trooper III cyborgs utilized by the Legion. I didn’t see that coming, and it’s a brilliant way to upgrade the idea. Like the Hudathan cyborgs, the idea doesn’t get enough attention.
My biggest problem with the story is that a war begins and is mostly glossed over. Most of the narrative takes place in the preparation, political maneuvering and espionage, and personal issues of the characters. That’s all good, but at times it was easy to forget what was even threatening everybody...
Dialogue: 3
Most of the dialogue is good, though it tends to be contrived when it’s being spoken by a female (at least in my opinion). There are also some cases when characters are overly friendly for no reason (the author apparently wants them to be friends), etc. I realize that some people just hit it off sometimes, but it can be too... convenient.
Poseen-Ka, true to his character, always delivers great dialogue.
Style/Technical: 2
The writing is clear, even during large battles in space and on ground (which is no easy feat), but Dietz likes to jump around in the viewpoint character without so much as a break in the paragraph. One moment you are with Booly Jr., commanding his troops, and the next you’re in some other character. I don’t mind changing viewpoints, but not in the thick of the narrative. It��s like hitting a master “reset” button that drained the excitement out of me.
Also, several important characters are introduced nearly halfway through the book (or longer), including a legionnaire testing the new Trooper III systems, a spy, and a scientist who becomes a naval captain. I think if these people are important, they should have had some exposure earlier in the book.
Finally, and this is really not the author’s fault... his action scenes are readable and enjoyable, but they lack the hard impact. It’s not just that I didn’t care much about the characters; his writing lacks the ability to really take me into the action and make me feel like I am in the middle of it. Maybe Robert E. Howard has spoiled me, and I know I can’t expect that from every author, but I thought the action scenes could have been better.
October 16, 2024
This book was a follow-up to a book I enjoyed recently called The Legion of the Damned. The Legion of the Damned introduced us to a universe William C. Dietz was clearly excited about, as evidenced by the fact that he continued with a second book despite things being pretty well tied up at the end of the first book. It has been 20 years since the end of Legion of the Damned and everybody is older now. While a few characters recur from the previous book, just as many if not more are newly introduced, I believe to help the time difference between books sink in for the reader. However, I liked the characters from the first book and had no real connection to these new folks, which made it a little harder for me to get into this book as compared with the first one. This is a perfectly legitimate choice by Dietz and his editorial staff, and perhaps if I'd read this book more closely to when I finished the first one it would have connected with me more, but I struggled to care much about some of these characters especially because it felt as though they didn't get enough focus to be fleshed out in some cases.
The plot for Legion #2 ties right into the plot for Legion #1, almost to its own detriment. While the plots for both are solid and have some really interesting ideas for the future of technology (e.g. androids created from resurrected brains of folks killed before their times), it feels as though perhaps the author could've added some more new tech, species, or locations rather than rehashing so much of these from the first book. In both books (minor spoiler for book #1), the Hudathan race is out to kill every sentient being in the entire universe because the Hudathans believe other sentient races are threats to them. In both cases the Hudathans pretty much just adopt a very direct, go-for-the-jugular method of warfare. They are not subtle, they do not spy or try to subvert, they do not propagandize, and only in very rare cases do they negotiate (which is always a lie). While this goes a long way toward framing them as antagonists, it doesn't do much for the reader, who may find this repetitive like I did. Another minor issue with the Hudathans as antagonists is their motivation itself. This "everyone must die" attitude from sci-fi aliens has been trod dozens, if not hundreds of times in the history of science fiction. I do not at all fault Dietz for choosing this trope for his bad guys, but I do think they need some more nuances added to their culture, which I think a second book is ripe soil for. The author had a chance to shift or add onto the identity of the Hudathans, but he chose to make consistency such a part of who they are as a culture that it seems like he boxed himself in with his work in the first book. I would've loved to see a new twist on this paradigm of alien villainy, but this reads a lot like the aliens from War of the Worlds, just longer, over a larger scope, and with more military details thrown in.
The plot is interesting enough to keep me going, and while I didn't feel it was particularly surprising, it did at least feel within the bounds of sci-fi reality and was internally consistent, which is a big deal for me (especially after reading several books recently that were not). The characters, both recycled and new felt familiar if somewhat wooden, and I think some of the best characters were those who carried over from the first book (Sergi Chien-Chu, for example). The plot resolution was likewise satisfying, if hinted at pretty explicitly beforehand. I did find it a little disappointing that It felt as though this book was right on the edge of getting a 4-star rating, but some opportunities were squandered throughout to expand the plot and character development and to build on both some long-standing sci-fi plot devices that have become a staple of the genre.
There were a couple distracting burrs in this book that occasionally brought me out of immersion that I would be remiss not to mention, unfortunately. Firstly, there are a group of POWs living on the surface of a planet they'd formerly destroyed as punishment for their prior actions. When we are introduced to them in this book, they have been in this position, suffering the messed-up climate they've wreaked on this planet for 20 years. Why do they not attempt to dig caves to get away from the radiation and weather, even if they're not allowed tools to build structures? I know it would be difficult without industrial tools, but they don't even seem to make an attempt to better their situation, which doesn't make sense to me. Second, a main character considers leaving the Legion, but his motivation for doing so is never explained. He talks about this being a big decision for him a couple times, but his motivation to leave is never given. This felt like a big hole in the character development and a bit of a plot hole as well. Even at the end of the book, Another issue I had is just lack of attention to detail in the editing process. At one point a character references the "342 Plan." Not five sentences later this plan is described as referencing 243 ships, which is repeated. Either the plan is in error or the description of ship numbers was, and all three references are on the same page. This felt like an inexcusable miss on the part of the editor, as the subject should've been fresh in the editor's head still when it comes up again a few sentences later. There are other examples of this oversight, but I think one is sufficient to make my point without getting to pedantic about it. Additionally, what appeared to tip the scales in favor of the good guys is a technological advancement that emphasizes a strength the good guys already possess. This is definitely an acceptable way to resolve a science fiction plot, but this development came out of left field and felt quite disconnected from the context of the book. It also comes on in the last 25% of the book out of the blue, which seemed implausible or another example of a missed opportunity to give this novel some depth, richness of detail, and connective fiber. Yet another example of what felt like a miscue to me was the forced pairing off that the characters were subjected to. Characters seem to end up matched with each other romantically because it satisfies the author's sense of completeness rather than because they have any reason (or time) to get to know and care for each other. They feel forced together rather than actually drawn together, and it feels awkward and totally unnecessary. This type of space opera really doesn't need romance at all in my opinion, but I've seen it done in a way that feels more satisfying and natural and know, therefore, that it's possible. I'm sure it's difficult, and to the authors who find it so I would just urge that they abandon this aspect of their novels. They never seem to work well in the science fiction genre, which has always had more of an emphasis on Big Ideas than on characters and their development. I'm not an author and I don't know the intricacies and difficulties involved in writing a novel, but I do know when a passage or plot line feels artificial and uncomfortable and these shoehorned romances definitely fit the bill. On a related note, the hypersexuality of pretty much every female character got tiresome. At times it felt as though the target audience was 15-year-old boys (which, perhaps it was considering the marriage of sci-fi and war hero glorification). I usually don't pick up on subtleties like this, but after it happened multiple times I realized that Dietz seemed to introduce women by their body shapes and men by their facial features and personality. I get that we look at our genders differently, and perhaps the author is just being authentic to what he (or his target audience) are most likely to notice about a character first. It did seem a little odd how many of the female characters spent so much time observing their own bodies and critiquing them when the male characters did none of this. In a book about warfare, it would've been acceptable for the warriors of both genders to be focused on the mission and not worry about their figures, and this stuck out to me a little bit like a sore thumb. I want to emphasize that this did not feel intentional or sexist, but it was a little off-putting and served to distract me from the plot points I believe the author was actually trying to highlight. Finally, there is a little blurb at the beginning of each chapter. In most cases I really enjoyed these. They were all quotes, either fictitious ones from important figures in the universe Dietz has created or real ones from historic figures in our own history of warfare. Disappointingly, the last one in the book gives us context and a conclusion that really deserves to be in the body of the novel. It feels condensed, forced (again), and was a real let-down as a way of learning the resolution to the novel. I think this happened because the climax of the book is very long (40+ pages), very intense, and right at the end of the book. There's no real denouement to speak of, and it feels as though an editor asked the author to go back and add this blurb as a way of handling this lack of completion to the plot. It felt almost like an afterthought, and its subject matter really deserves the author's full attention in my view.
Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I think it had some missed opportunities to add depth and subtlety, and some of the choices by the author felt awkward and misplaced, but they didn't hurt my enjoyment of the plot unduly. The real reason this book didn't get a higher rating was simply that it's a subject and path that many, many sci-fi authors have followed before, which led it to feeling formulaic rather than spontaneous or organic. I think the author would've done himself a service to find some chances to deviate from and distance himself from the first book, because this one felt a little too similar in tone and plot to Legion #1. Folks who like Dietz, know what to expect, and enjoyed the first novel in this series will probably enjoy this. Readers who like sci-fi, military tactics, and world-building will also probably enjoy this book provided they are able to accept a somewhat shallow dive into the complexities of these subjects and the characters involved.
The plot for Legion #2 ties right into the plot for Legion #1, almost to its own detriment. While the plots for both are solid and have some really interesting ideas for the future of technology (e.g. androids created from resurrected brains of folks killed before their times), it feels as though perhaps the author could've added some more new tech, species, or locations rather than rehashing so much of these from the first book. In both books (minor spoiler for book #1), the Hudathan race is out to kill every sentient being in the entire universe because the Hudathans believe other sentient races are threats to them. In both cases the Hudathans pretty much just adopt a very direct, go-for-the-jugular method of warfare. They are not subtle, they do not spy or try to subvert, they do not propagandize, and only in very rare cases do they negotiate (which is always a lie). While this goes a long way toward framing them as antagonists, it doesn't do much for the reader, who may find this repetitive like I did. Another minor issue with the Hudathans as antagonists is their motivation itself. This "everyone must die" attitude from sci-fi aliens has been trod dozens, if not hundreds of times in the history of science fiction. I do not at all fault Dietz for choosing this trope for his bad guys, but I do think they need some more nuances added to their culture, which I think a second book is ripe soil for. The author had a chance to shift or add onto the identity of the Hudathans, but he chose to make consistency such a part of who they are as a culture that it seems like he boxed himself in with his work in the first book. I would've loved to see a new twist on this paradigm of alien villainy, but this reads a lot like the aliens from War of the Worlds, just longer, over a larger scope, and with more military details thrown in.
The plot is interesting enough to keep me going, and while I didn't feel it was particularly surprising, it did at least feel within the bounds of sci-fi reality and was internally consistent, which is a big deal for me (especially after reading several books recently that were not). The characters, both recycled and new felt familiar if somewhat wooden, and I think some of the best characters were those who carried over from the first book (Sergi Chien-Chu, for example). The plot resolution was likewise satisfying, if hinted at pretty explicitly beforehand. I did find it a little disappointing that It felt as though this book was right on the edge of getting a 4-star rating, but some opportunities were squandered throughout to expand the plot and character development and to build on both some long-standing sci-fi plot devices that have become a staple of the genre.
There were a couple distracting burrs in this book that occasionally brought me out of immersion that I would be remiss not to mention, unfortunately. Firstly, there are a group of POWs living on the surface of a planet they'd formerly destroyed as punishment for their prior actions. When we are introduced to them in this book, they have been in this position, suffering the messed-up climate they've wreaked on this planet for 20 years. Why do they not attempt to dig caves to get away from the radiation and weather, even if they're not allowed tools to build structures? I know it would be difficult without industrial tools, but they don't even seem to make an attempt to better their situation, which doesn't make sense to me. Second, a main character considers leaving the Legion, but his motivation for doing so is never explained. He talks about this being a big decision for him a couple times, but his motivation to leave is never given. This felt like a big hole in the character development and a bit of a plot hole as well. Even at the end of the book, Another issue I had is just lack of attention to detail in the editing process. At one point a character references the "342 Plan." Not five sentences later this plan is described as referencing 243 ships, which is repeated. Either the plan is in error or the description of ship numbers was, and all three references are on the same page. This felt like an inexcusable miss on the part of the editor, as the subject should've been fresh in the editor's head still when it comes up again a few sentences later. There are other examples of this oversight, but I think one is sufficient to make my point without getting to pedantic about it. Additionally, what appeared to tip the scales in favor of the good guys is a technological advancement that emphasizes a strength the good guys already possess. This is definitely an acceptable way to resolve a science fiction plot, but this development came out of left field and felt quite disconnected from the context of the book. It also comes on in the last 25% of the book out of the blue, which seemed implausible or another example of a missed opportunity to give this novel some depth, richness of detail, and connective fiber. Yet another example of what felt like a miscue to me was the forced pairing off that the characters were subjected to. Characters seem to end up matched with each other romantically because it satisfies the author's sense of completeness rather than because they have any reason (or time) to get to know and care for each other. They feel forced together rather than actually drawn together, and it feels awkward and totally unnecessary. This type of space opera really doesn't need romance at all in my opinion, but I've seen it done in a way that feels more satisfying and natural and know, therefore, that it's possible. I'm sure it's difficult, and to the authors who find it so I would just urge that they abandon this aspect of their novels. They never seem to work well in the science fiction genre, which has always had more of an emphasis on Big Ideas than on characters and their development. I'm not an author and I don't know the intricacies and difficulties involved in writing a novel, but I do know when a passage or plot line feels artificial and uncomfortable and these shoehorned romances definitely fit the bill. On a related note, the hypersexuality of pretty much every female character got tiresome. At times it felt as though the target audience was 15-year-old boys (which, perhaps it was considering the marriage of sci-fi and war hero glorification). I usually don't pick up on subtleties like this, but after it happened multiple times I realized that Dietz seemed to introduce women by their body shapes and men by their facial features and personality. I get that we look at our genders differently, and perhaps the author is just being authentic to what he (or his target audience) are most likely to notice about a character first. It did seem a little odd how many of the female characters spent so much time observing their own bodies and critiquing them when the male characters did none of this. In a book about warfare, it would've been acceptable for the warriors of both genders to be focused on the mission and not worry about their figures, and this stuck out to me a little bit like a sore thumb. I want to emphasize that this did not feel intentional or sexist, but it was a little off-putting and served to distract me from the plot points I believe the author was actually trying to highlight. Finally, there is a little blurb at the beginning of each chapter. In most cases I really enjoyed these. They were all quotes, either fictitious ones from important figures in the universe Dietz has created or real ones from historic figures in our own history of warfare. Disappointingly, the last one in the book gives us context and a conclusion that really deserves to be in the body of the novel. It feels condensed, forced (again), and was a real let-down as a way of learning the resolution to the novel. I think this happened because the climax of the book is very long (40+ pages), very intense, and right at the end of the book. There's no real denouement to speak of, and it feels as though an editor asked the author to go back and add this blurb as a way of handling this lack of completion to the plot. It felt almost like an afterthought, and its subject matter really deserves the author's full attention in my view.
Overall, I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I think it had some missed opportunities to add depth and subtlety, and some of the choices by the author felt awkward and misplaced, but they didn't hurt my enjoyment of the plot unduly. The real reason this book didn't get a higher rating was simply that it's a subject and path that many, many sci-fi authors have followed before, which led it to feeling formulaic rather than spontaneous or organic. I think the author would've done himself a service to find some chances to deviate from and distance himself from the first book, because this one felt a little too similar in tone and plot to Legion #1. Folks who like Dietz, know what to expect, and enjoyed the first novel in this series will probably enjoy this. Readers who like sci-fi, military tactics, and world-building will also probably enjoy this book provided they are able to accept a somewhat shallow dive into the complexities of these subjects and the characters involved.
August 22, 2013
William Dietz's The Final Battle is a sequel to The Legion of the Damned, and at first glance, it's not too bad. However, while I generally enjoyed the book, the more I think about it, the more nit picky I get. There are simply too many "issues" to ignore in the writing of this book.
First of all, the book picks up 20 years after the climax of the first book, the victory at the battle of Algeron by the humans led by the Legion (patterned after the French Foreign Legion, but staffed by dead people brought back to life as cyborg killing machines) over the alien Hudathans, who had invaded the human worlds with the intent on the destruction of the human race. We meet William Booly Jr, son of Legion deserter Booly from the first book and his Naa wife. Booly Jr is in the Legion now. We are reintroduced to Hudathan War Leader Poseen-Ka, a prisoner on Worber's World, along with his remaining army. He's about to be rescued and rearmed for another war with humanity. Overseeing Worber's World is General Natalie Norwood, a great character from the first novel. And this is where my first problem begins.
I never thought I'd say this, but there's too much gratuitous sex in this book. Yeah, you heard me. It was disappointing to discover early in the book Natalie masturbating to the scene of Hudathans on Worber's World suffering. That was just kind of sick and unnecessary. General Marianne Mosby is a certified sex fiend, and finds a way to seduce the leader of the Hegemony, a human-like race of clones living on three planets. The Hegemony takes up a lot of the first half of the book, as many of the clones want nothing to do with humanity and some are ready to take up with the Hudathans to defeat the humans. There's even an assassination attempt on the leader of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, what the former empire is now called. Another complaint. Dietz must have gotten bored with the Hegemony, because it's dropped permanently halfway through the novel, which is confusing considering how much of a role it played in the first half. What happened? Very odd.
Since the Hudathans were beaten by the Legion's cyborgs, they decide that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they murder their best academy graduates and transform them into cyborg killing machines to go head to head with the Legion. After Poseen-Ka (who's a great villain) is rescued and put back in charge of the new Hudathan fleet, he starts obliterating Confederacy planets once more and the Confederacy finds out about the new cyborgs -- so they start upgrading theirs, producing Trooper III cyborgs, which have external units to accompany the primary cyborg. It's an interesting concept and one left largely unwritten about in the book, another complaint I have. In fact, much of the book is about politics and logistics, and little is about actual FIGHTING (unlike the first book), so it's hard to even call this a straight military sci fi novel. Another disappointment. I would have liked to see cyborg against cyborg more than in the final few pages of the novel, which are somewhat anticlimactic.
Many of the characters we know and meet are killed in this book, including Norwood, so it's hard to become attached to many of the characters. They die. The Hudathans are eager to avenge their loss at Algeron, so that's where their primary attack takes place. And the Legion is ready, thanks to a spy. Still, there are thousands of Hudathan ships, outnumbering the Confederacy ships, and it's not until a secret "weapon" (which is totally foreseeable) is used that the Legion takes control of the battle and wins the second war, thus ending the book.
There are some slow times in the book and times when I wondered why passages were included, including a scene when Booly plays a Legion academy prank. It just doesn't seem important to the book. Maybe that's just me though. Booly is hooked up with a female Legionnaire toward the end of the book, thus setting up the author for another book in this series (which has at least nine books in it; I have three more to read). It seems a little too convenient. A little too contrived. But then, I guess the author has to make his money selling a series, doesn't he?
Don't get me wrong. It's an above average book, and at times, fairly enjoyable. It just could have been so much more, I think, and that's why I'm disappointed. So, three stars and a cautious recommendation....
First of all, the book picks up 20 years after the climax of the first book, the victory at the battle of Algeron by the humans led by the Legion (patterned after the French Foreign Legion, but staffed by dead people brought back to life as cyborg killing machines) over the alien Hudathans, who had invaded the human worlds with the intent on the destruction of the human race. We meet William Booly Jr, son of Legion deserter Booly from the first book and his Naa wife. Booly Jr is in the Legion now. We are reintroduced to Hudathan War Leader Poseen-Ka, a prisoner on Worber's World, along with his remaining army. He's about to be rescued and rearmed for another war with humanity. Overseeing Worber's World is General Natalie Norwood, a great character from the first novel. And this is where my first problem begins.
I never thought I'd say this, but there's too much gratuitous sex in this book. Yeah, you heard me. It was disappointing to discover early in the book Natalie masturbating to the scene of Hudathans on Worber's World suffering. That was just kind of sick and unnecessary. General Marianne Mosby is a certified sex fiend, and finds a way to seduce the leader of the Hegemony, a human-like race of clones living on three planets. The Hegemony takes up a lot of the first half of the book, as many of the clones want nothing to do with humanity and some are ready to take up with the Hudathans to defeat the humans. There's even an assassination attempt on the leader of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, what the former empire is now called. Another complaint. Dietz must have gotten bored with the Hegemony, because it's dropped permanently halfway through the novel, which is confusing considering how much of a role it played in the first half. What happened? Very odd.
Since the Hudathans were beaten by the Legion's cyborgs, they decide that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they murder their best academy graduates and transform them into cyborg killing machines to go head to head with the Legion. After Poseen-Ka (who's a great villain) is rescued and put back in charge of the new Hudathan fleet, he starts obliterating Confederacy planets once more and the Confederacy finds out about the new cyborgs -- so they start upgrading theirs, producing Trooper III cyborgs, which have external units to accompany the primary cyborg. It's an interesting concept and one left largely unwritten about in the book, another complaint I have. In fact, much of the book is about politics and logistics, and little is about actual FIGHTING (unlike the first book), so it's hard to even call this a straight military sci fi novel. Another disappointment. I would have liked to see cyborg against cyborg more than in the final few pages of the novel, which are somewhat anticlimactic.
Many of the characters we know and meet are killed in this book, including Norwood, so it's hard to become attached to many of the characters. They die. The Hudathans are eager to avenge their loss at Algeron, so that's where their primary attack takes place. And the Legion is ready, thanks to a spy. Still, there are thousands of Hudathan ships, outnumbering the Confederacy ships, and it's not until a secret "weapon" (which is totally foreseeable) is used that the Legion takes control of the battle and wins the second war, thus ending the book.
There are some slow times in the book and times when I wondered why passages were included, including a scene when Booly plays a Legion academy prank. It just doesn't seem important to the book. Maybe that's just me though. Booly is hooked up with a female Legionnaire toward the end of the book, thus setting up the author for another book in this series (which has at least nine books in it; I have three more to read). It seems a little too convenient. A little too contrived. But then, I guess the author has to make his money selling a series, doesn't he?
Don't get me wrong. It's an above average book, and at times, fairly enjoyable. It just could have been so much more, I think, and that's why I'm disappointed. So, three stars and a cautious recommendation....
October 31, 2020
William Dietz's The Final Battle is a sequel to The Legion of the Damned, and at first glance, it's not too bad. However, while I generally enjoyed the book, the more I think about it, the more nit picky I get. There are simply too many "issues" to ignore in the writing of this book.
First of all, the book picks up 20 years after the climax of the first book, the victory at the battle of Algeron by the humans led by the Legion (patterned after the French Foreign Legion, but staffed by dead people brought back to life as cyborg soldiers over the alien Hudathans, who had invaded the human worlds with the intent on the destruction of the human race. We meet William Booly Jr, son of Legion deserter Booly from the first book and his Naa alien wife. Booly Jr is in the Legion now. We are reintroduced to Hudathan War Leader Poseen-Ka, a prisoner on Worber's World, along with his remaining army. He's about to be rescued and rearmed for another war with humanity. Overseeing Worber's World is General Natalie Norwood, a great character from the first novel. And this is where my first problem begins.
I never thought I'd say this, but there's too much gratuitous sex in this book. Yeah, you heard me. It was disappointing to discover early in the book Natalie masturbating to the scene of Hudathans on Worber's World suffering. That was just kind of sick and unnecessary. General Marianne Mosby is a certified sex fiend, and finds a way to seduce the leader of the Clone Hegemony, a human-like race of clones living on three planets. The Hegemony plot takes up a lot of the first half of the book, as many of the clones want nothing to do with humanity and some are ready to take up with the Hudathans to defeat the humans. There's even an assassination attempt on the leader of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, what the former Human empire is now called. Another complaint. Dietz must have gotten bored with the Clone Hegemony, because it's dropped permanently halfway through the novel, which is confusing considering how much of a role it played in the first half. What happened? It’s Very odd.
Since the Hudathans were beaten by the Legion's cyborgs, they decide that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they murder their best academy graduates and transform them into cyborg killing machines to go head to head with the Legion. After Poseen-Ka (who's a great villain) is rescued and put back in charge of the new Hudathan fleet, he starts obliterating Confederacy planets once more and the Confederacy finds out about the new cyborgs -- so they start upgrading theirs, producing Trooper III cyborgs, which have external units to accompany the primary cyborg. It's an interesting concept and one left largely unwritten about in the book, another complaint I have. In fact, much of the book is about politics and logistics, and little is about actual WAR (unlike the first book), so it's hard to even call this a straight military scifi novel. Another disappointment. I would have liked to see cyborg against cyborg more than in the final few pages of the novel, which are somewhat anticlimactic.
Many of the characters we know and meet are killed in this book, including Norwood, so it's hard to become attached to many of the characters. They die. The Hudathans are eager to avenge their loss at Algeron, so that's where their primary attack takes place. And the Legion is ready, thanks to a spy. Still, there are thousands of Hudathan ships, outnumbering the Confederacy ships, and it's not until a secret "weapon" (which is totally foreseeable) is used that the Legion takes control of the battle and wins the second war, thus ending the book.
There are some slow times in the book and times when I wondered why passages were included, including a scene when Booly plays a Legion academy prank. It just doesn't seem important to the book. Maybe that's just me though. Booly is hooked up with a female Legionnaire toward the end of the book, thus setting up the author for another book in this series (which has at least nine books in it; I have three more to read). It seems a little too convenient. A little too contrived. But then, I guess the author has to make his money selling a series, doesn't he?
Overall, Don't get me wrong. It's an above average sci-fi book, and at times, fairly enjoyable. It just could have been so much more, I think, and that's why I'm disappointed. So, three stars and a cautious recommendation....
First of all, the book picks up 20 years after the climax of the first book, the victory at the battle of Algeron by the humans led by the Legion (patterned after the French Foreign Legion, but staffed by dead people brought back to life as cyborg soldiers over the alien Hudathans, who had invaded the human worlds with the intent on the destruction of the human race. We meet William Booly Jr, son of Legion deserter Booly from the first book and his Naa alien wife. Booly Jr is in the Legion now. We are reintroduced to Hudathan War Leader Poseen-Ka, a prisoner on Worber's World, along with his remaining army. He's about to be rescued and rearmed for another war with humanity. Overseeing Worber's World is General Natalie Norwood, a great character from the first novel. And this is where my first problem begins.
I never thought I'd say this, but there's too much gratuitous sex in this book. Yeah, you heard me. It was disappointing to discover early in the book Natalie masturbating to the scene of Hudathans on Worber's World suffering. That was just kind of sick and unnecessary. General Marianne Mosby is a certified sex fiend, and finds a way to seduce the leader of the Clone Hegemony, a human-like race of clones living on three planets. The Hegemony plot takes up a lot of the first half of the book, as many of the clones want nothing to do with humanity and some are ready to take up with the Hudathans to defeat the humans. There's even an assassination attempt on the leader of the Confederacy of Sentient Beings, what the former Human empire is now called. Another complaint. Dietz must have gotten bored with the Clone Hegemony, because it's dropped permanently halfway through the novel, which is confusing considering how much of a role it played in the first half. What happened? It’s Very odd.
Since the Hudathans were beaten by the Legion's cyborgs, they decide that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so they murder their best academy graduates and transform them into cyborg killing machines to go head to head with the Legion. After Poseen-Ka (who's a great villain) is rescued and put back in charge of the new Hudathan fleet, he starts obliterating Confederacy planets once more and the Confederacy finds out about the new cyborgs -- so they start upgrading theirs, producing Trooper III cyborgs, which have external units to accompany the primary cyborg. It's an interesting concept and one left largely unwritten about in the book, another complaint I have. In fact, much of the book is about politics and logistics, and little is about actual WAR (unlike the first book), so it's hard to even call this a straight military scifi novel. Another disappointment. I would have liked to see cyborg against cyborg more than in the final few pages of the novel, which are somewhat anticlimactic.
Many of the characters we know and meet are killed in this book, including Norwood, so it's hard to become attached to many of the characters. They die. The Hudathans are eager to avenge their loss at Algeron, so that's where their primary attack takes place. And the Legion is ready, thanks to a spy. Still, there are thousands of Hudathan ships, outnumbering the Confederacy ships, and it's not until a secret "weapon" (which is totally foreseeable) is used that the Legion takes control of the battle and wins the second war, thus ending the book.
There are some slow times in the book and times when I wondered why passages were included, including a scene when Booly plays a Legion academy prank. It just doesn't seem important to the book. Maybe that's just me though. Booly is hooked up with a female Legionnaire toward the end of the book, thus setting up the author for another book in this series (which has at least nine books in it; I have three more to read). It seems a little too convenient. A little too contrived. But then, I guess the author has to make his money selling a series, doesn't he?
Overall, Don't get me wrong. It's an above average sci-fi book, and at times, fairly enjoyable. It just could have been so much more, I think, and that's why I'm disappointed. So, three stars and a cautious recommendation....
January 14, 2016
I only have thirty pages left and I'm entirely confident in my review. It seems as if the book was written hastily.
I have three issues with this book.
1) It is entirely dependent on the first book of the Legion of the Damned series. That's fine. It is a sequel and one should never just jump into a series without reading the first book. The problem is that it gives almost no re-introduction or refresher tid-bits. These are not absolutely necessary but they do allow for the reader to become reacquainted with the story line which is crucial for this book since it depends entirely on the events of the first book.
2) My second issue plays off of the first. There is little to no description or detail given. I found it tremendously difficult to visualize anything in my head which is so frustrating since this is a military sci-fi novel with various alien races, futuristic military weaponry, planets of varying ecosystems, and large scale battle scenes that are described about just as well as this sentence. Various aliens were present but the only description was that they were either worms or had fur. Battles were essentially just descriptions of bullets flying and explosions occurring. What kind of terrain were they fighting on? What type of strategy were they employing? I had no idea what the aliens looked like nor what type of terrain the battles were taking place on. For all I knew, stick figures were fighting on blank sheets of paper.
3) The final problem is that I had no connection to any one of the characters. The character development was limited and at some points lacking. As a reader, I couldn't connect with any character. I didn't root for them or despise them as protagonist or antagonist. Their backstories were limited which gives the reader almost no idea as to what their motivation is for anything they do in the story. There were multiple love stories going on which just seemed to 'happen.' The characters meet. They have sex. They are in love. All in one page.
In addition to those three issues (careful: spoiler) there were two very large problems with the plot. 1. The alien race bent on human destruction doesn't really have a reason to destroy all human life. It just wanted humans dead. Not resources or power. Just wanted to kill. 2. Two important character arcs which were built up (an assassin and a spy) ended abruptly with no impact on the main storyline. Each of these characters had tremendous potential to affect the plot but both are terminated and that's that. Nothing more.
I have three issues with this book.
1) It is entirely dependent on the first book of the Legion of the Damned series. That's fine. It is a sequel and one should never just jump into a series without reading the first book. The problem is that it gives almost no re-introduction or refresher tid-bits. These are not absolutely necessary but they do allow for the reader to become reacquainted with the story line which is crucial for this book since it depends entirely on the events of the first book.
2) My second issue plays off of the first. There is little to no description or detail given. I found it tremendously difficult to visualize anything in my head which is so frustrating since this is a military sci-fi novel with various alien races, futuristic military weaponry, planets of varying ecosystems, and large scale battle scenes that are described about just as well as this sentence. Various aliens were present but the only description was that they were either worms or had fur. Battles were essentially just descriptions of bullets flying and explosions occurring. What kind of terrain were they fighting on? What type of strategy were they employing? I had no idea what the aliens looked like nor what type of terrain the battles were taking place on. For all I knew, stick figures were fighting on blank sheets of paper.
3) The final problem is that I had no connection to any one of the characters. The character development was limited and at some points lacking. As a reader, I couldn't connect with any character. I didn't root for them or despise them as protagonist or antagonist. Their backstories were limited which gives the reader almost no idea as to what their motivation is for anything they do in the story. There were multiple love stories going on which just seemed to 'happen.' The characters meet. They have sex. They are in love. All in one page.
In addition to those three issues (careful: spoiler) there were two very large problems with the plot. 1. The alien race bent on human destruction doesn't really have a reason to destroy all human life. It just wanted humans dead. Not resources or power. Just wanted to kill. 2. Two important character arcs which were built up (an assassin and a spy) ended abruptly with no impact on the main storyline. Each of these characters had tremendous potential to affect the plot but both are terminated and that's that. Nothing more.
July 29, 2016
In this military science fiction series, of which this is book two, we have the legendary Legionnaires as our protagonists.
Humanity had defeated the Hudathan fleet and taken prisoners. It seemed only poetic justice to place them on Worbers World which they had devastated. Now 20 years on, something is happening on Worbers World.
The Hudathans rise again and the War starts again. New technology on both sides presents challenges all around. Humanity has a secret weapon, but are unsure whether it can work.
Battles in space and on Algeron proceed at a fast pace.
Characters are fully developed, plots; and sub-plots flow as Dietz spins his tale.
Characters are well developed and the multiple minor story lines bubble along and eventually merge with the overall story.
Lots of good military battles, as well as political ones.
Dietz ranks right up there with Ian Douglas and Jack Campbell in military science fiction.
This is book two of a series which I know I am going to enjoy reading the rest.
Be sure to check this series out, you will not be disappointed
Legion series
1.Legion Of The Damned (1993)
2.The Final Battle (1995)
3.By Blood Alone (1999)
4.By Force of Arms (2000)
5.For More Than Glory (2004)
6.For Those Who Fell (2005)
7.When All Seems Lost (2008)
8.When Duty Calls (2008)
9.A Fighting Chance (2011)
10.Andromeda's Fall (2012)
11.Andromeda's Choice (July 4, 2014)
12.Andromeda's War (2015)
Humanity had defeated the Hudathan fleet and taken prisoners. It seemed only poetic justice to place them on Worbers World which they had devastated. Now 20 years on, something is happening on Worbers World.
The Hudathans rise again and the War starts again. New technology on both sides presents challenges all around. Humanity has a secret weapon, but are unsure whether it can work.
Battles in space and on Algeron proceed at a fast pace.
Characters are fully developed, plots; and sub-plots flow as Dietz spins his tale.
Characters are well developed and the multiple minor story lines bubble along and eventually merge with the overall story.
Lots of good military battles, as well as political ones.
Dietz ranks right up there with Ian Douglas and Jack Campbell in military science fiction.
This is book two of a series which I know I am going to enjoy reading the rest.
Be sure to check this series out, you will not be disappointed
Legion series
1.Legion Of The Damned (1993)
2.The Final Battle (1995)
3.By Blood Alone (1999)
4.By Force of Arms (2000)
5.For More Than Glory (2004)
6.For Those Who Fell (2005)
7.When All Seems Lost (2008)
8.When Duty Calls (2008)
9.A Fighting Chance (2011)
10.Andromeda's Fall (2012)
11.Andromeda's Choice (July 4, 2014)
12.Andromeda's War (2015)
May 25, 2016
Been fairly busy lately, so reading time has suffered.
I've read this book before; it is one of my favorites in the series. Reading this book, I am always saddened by the death of General Norwood. I am also saddened that Booly Jr. and Warwick-Olson, despite their age difference, did not manage to remain together but had a passionate one night stand.
However, Booly Jr's and Olson's relationship is very much in line with what happens during war. You take love where you find it in a war, because far too many people die. Missing those chances to love (assuming there are no other, romantic entanglements) causes a lot of regret later, after that person is gone and opportunity lost.
I would like to see either Warwick-Olson or perhaps a child of hers appear in a later Legion of the Damned book. Same as I have been waiting for General Mosby's daughter to reappear in a Legion book.
This book mentions a tenuous relationship between Mosby and (then) President Marcus. In When All Seems Lost, one of the Alpha clones mentions Mosby's daughter, so I hope that the author intends bringing the character to life.
I've read this book before; it is one of my favorites in the series. Reading this book, I am always saddened by the death of General Norwood. I am also saddened that Booly Jr. and Warwick-Olson, despite their age difference, did not manage to remain together but had a passionate one night stand.
However, Booly Jr's and Olson's relationship is very much in line with what happens during war. You take love where you find it in a war, because far too many people die. Missing those chances to love (assuming there are no other, romantic entanglements) causes a lot of regret later, after that person is gone and opportunity lost.
I would like to see either Warwick-Olson or perhaps a child of hers appear in a later Legion of the Damned book. Same as I have been waiting for General Mosby's daughter to reappear in a Legion book.
This book mentions a tenuous relationship between Mosby and (then) President Marcus. In When All Seems Lost, one of the Alpha clones mentions Mosby's daughter, so I hope that the author intends bringing the character to life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2017
As my comments from Legion of the Damned stated, I looked through my boyfriend's books, found this book and squirreled it away to begin reading the moment I finished the previous book. Again, Mr. Dietz did not disappoint in creating a vision of the future detailed enough to understand, but not so detailed that you would have a tendency to get bogged down in it.
By the time the first few chapters were past Mr. Dietz had shocked me several times, though perhaps regular science fiction readers might not have been so shocked, I found them to be good, or at least acceptable shocks. Acceptable because I knew the moment after my mind had gotten done with the, "no, you can't do that, that's not fair," that really there was no other way for the story to be continued if that character still lived, got away scot-free, or what have you. Mr. Dietz appreciates his characters, keeps you in touch with them, but doesn't have any compunction on cutting one out or down to size as the plot required.
By the time the first few chapters were past Mr. Dietz had shocked me several times, though perhaps regular science fiction readers might not have been so shocked, I found them to be good, or at least acceptable shocks. Acceptable because I knew the moment after my mind had gotten done with the, "no, you can't do that, that's not fair," that really there was no other way for the story to be continued if that character still lived, got away scot-free, or what have you. Mr. Dietz appreciates his characters, keeps you in touch with them, but doesn't have any compunction on cutting one out or down to size as the plot required.
February 19, 2012
I thought book 1 was not too bad. Not great but a little fun and some of the main characters were developed enough to care for them when thrown into peril. This time, the characters were fairly wooden and the story line was just not interesting or epic enough. I know there are quite a few books in this series so the author must stretch the universe he has created as far as he possibly can. For me, this did not do to well and the story was far too minor to be worthy of a whole book, it felt more like a minor battle worth a few chapters. Yes, as other reviewers have pointed out, the constant sex is a little annoying and extremely unbelievable. The sex component of this book (and the first book as well), felt like it was trying to be like Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap series but they in no way come close. I may give book 3 a go but I am not confident I will get through all books in this series before giving up. There are far too strong books in the military scifi genre to risk making a book that really only rates two stars. I wasn't bored, but I wasn't that excited either.
November 22, 2014
I had the pleasure of reviewing the first novel in this set (The legion of the damned) within the past few months, after reviewing it, I wasted no time in telling everybody that would listen about this amazing new novel I’d got. Subsequently, ‘The Final Battle’ had a hell of a lot to live up to. Set thirty years on from the original the Hudathans are back, but, this time, they have cyborgs of their own to level up the playing field. Now, I’m going to set this straight from the start now, The final battle is not as fast or flowing as the original, but, to make up for this it is much more in depth and gripping. Characters from the original novel are included but have changed in the years that have passed which helps to introduce the needed new focal points who come and go throughout. Deitz, once again shows his descriptive skills off to their finest points. His attention to detail is absolutely second to none and in these ways the all too often boring second novel of a series is far from a let down. If military sci fi is your thing then Deitz is your man. No doubt about it.
March 19, 2017
In the first book of this series background facts and circumstances were integrated into the story being told. Here, the first third of the book was spent on background and then the real story began. Still, the real story part of the book was interesting and well-written so overall an enjoyable experience.
June 13, 2017
Cyborgs and military sci-fi. What can I say, it does it for me.
August 29, 2017
Published in 1995. As the follow up to Legion of the Damned it was adequate but not as full and rewarding as the first in the series.
April 28, 2018
The next installment in the Legion series takes place a generation after the first. Once again, eclectic story lines with some good action. 3.5 stars
November 20, 2025
Lu en anglais
Tome 2 de la série Legion of the damned
Les Hudatha, des extraterrestres humanoïdes très grands et costauds avec un museau de crapaud, ont été vaincus et les captifs sont tenus prisonniers sur le monde de Worber, la planète dont ils ont assassiné la population entière. Mais leur paranoïa leur fait considérer toute espèce étrangère comme des ennemis mortels. Leur objectif est donc l'élimination complète et totale de toutes les autres races et donc de la confédération entière. En douce, ils se préparent justement à prendre leur revanche.
Et l'attaque est soudaine et brutale avec à leur tête Poseen-Ka, un stratège de génie.
Malheureusement, la majorité des espèces de la confédération sont peu adaptées pour la guerre ou tout simplement incapables de violence. Mais certains ont des capacités qui pourraient servir. Encore une fois, les humains et les Naa, les humanoïdes de la planète Algeron, vont fournir la majorité des combattants. Et la Légion des damnés avec, entre-autres ses monstrueux cyborgs, va en être le fer de lance. Et certains des vétérans vont reprendre leur rôle en sachant fort bien que nulle reddition n'est possible. Victoire ou élimination !
Et c'est la montée graduelle vers la bataille décisive.
Une histoire de science-fiction militaire comme on les aime, mais concentrée surtout sur des combats d'infanterie. Il y a des batailles spatiales importantes, mais elles sont peu décrites. Par contre, les batailles de fantassins, surtout sur Algiron, la planète de la Légion, ne laissent rien à désirer. On nous présente des soldats d'élite qui ont le dos au mur et qui refusent de céder.
Bien sûr, j'ai beaucoup aimé et je vais chercher à me procurer les romans suivants de la série.
Tome 2 de la série Legion of the damned
Les Hudatha, des extraterrestres humanoïdes très grands et costauds avec un museau de crapaud, ont été vaincus et les captifs sont tenus prisonniers sur le monde de Worber, la planète dont ils ont assassiné la population entière. Mais leur paranoïa leur fait considérer toute espèce étrangère comme des ennemis mortels. Leur objectif est donc l'élimination complète et totale de toutes les autres races et donc de la confédération entière. En douce, ils se préparent justement à prendre leur revanche.
Et l'attaque est soudaine et brutale avec à leur tête Poseen-Ka, un stratège de génie.
Malheureusement, la majorité des espèces de la confédération sont peu adaptées pour la guerre ou tout simplement incapables de violence. Mais certains ont des capacités qui pourraient servir. Encore une fois, les humains et les Naa, les humanoïdes de la planète Algeron, vont fournir la majorité des combattants. Et la Légion des damnés avec, entre-autres ses monstrueux cyborgs, va en être le fer de lance. Et certains des vétérans vont reprendre leur rôle en sachant fort bien que nulle reddition n'est possible. Victoire ou élimination !
Et c'est la montée graduelle vers la bataille décisive.
Une histoire de science-fiction militaire comme on les aime, mais concentrée surtout sur des combats d'infanterie. Il y a des batailles spatiales importantes, mais elles sont peu décrites. Par contre, les batailles de fantassins, surtout sur Algiron, la planète de la Légion, ne laissent rien à désirer. On nous présente des soldats d'élite qui ont le dos au mur et qui refusent de céder.
Bien sûr, j'ai beaucoup aimé et je vais chercher à me procurer les romans suivants de la série.
May 12, 2018
3.5 stars rounded up since I definitely liked this book better than it's predecessor.
I remember the last book being very much ok, and this sequel improves on that and is much more along the lines of good. To me, this book had better characters/characterization and better held my attention, moving along quite satisfactorily to a sudden conclusion.
If you read the first one, you might feel better reading this one as it improves upon the quality/time spent reading ratio.
I'll even go and see if there's a next book.
I remember the last book being very much ok, and this sequel improves on that and is much more along the lines of good. To me, this book had better characters/characterization and better held my attention, moving along quite satisfactorily to a sudden conclusion.
If you read the first one, you might feel better reading this one as it improves upon the quality/time spent reading ratio.
I'll even go and see if there's a next book.
January 4, 2025
i'm feeling strange, the book isn't bad but at the same time i don't care about any of the characters or things that are happening, the author doesn't seem to want to create protagonists or characters that are nice to follow, in general they're just passing points of view.
October 9, 2017
Legion one was good, this is better. The novel moves at quick pace and is rivetting. Time to find By Blood Alone.
February 25, 2019
Written better than the first book in the series and very interesting.
October 3, 2014
Firstly, if you haven't read 'Legion of the Damned', then I recommend that you read that first. This is definitely a sequel that follows on closely from the first book, so you will expose a lot of spoilers if you read the books out of order.
This book is a very successful sequel, in my opinion. A lot of the characters from the first book play important roles in this one, and the story follows on where the previous one left off. Essentially, the book follows the escape of the POW Hudathans after their 20-year imprisonment on Worber's World, where they are forced to live among the ruins they created. Simultaneously, the Hudathans develop their own cyborgs with an aim to destroying The Legion once and for all. There are a couple of subplots thrown in for good measure, but the best parts of the books are the battle scenes and there is plenty of action to keep things interesting.
A good example of military sci-fi, but only really recommended if you have read 'Legion of the Damned'. If you haven't read the first book, then I recommend that you start there instead, but both books are worth a look.
This book is a very successful sequel, in my opinion. A lot of the characters from the first book play important roles in this one, and the story follows on where the previous one left off. Essentially, the book follows the escape of the POW Hudathans after their 20-year imprisonment on Worber's World, where they are forced to live among the ruins they created. Simultaneously, the Hudathans develop their own cyborgs with an aim to destroying The Legion once and for all. There are a couple of subplots thrown in for good measure, but the best parts of the books are the battle scenes and there is plenty of action to keep things interesting.
A good example of military sci-fi, but only really recommended if you have read 'Legion of the Damned'. If you haven't read the first book, then I recommend that you start there instead, but both books are worth a look.
June 28, 2013
Great sequel to Mr. Dietz' "Legion of the Damned". At the conclusion of "Legion of the Damned" the Confederation elected to not follow up their victory over the Hudathans with an attack on the Hudathan home worlds. The defeated Hudathans are now confined to one of the worlds they attempted to destroy, as POWs. The leaders of the Confederacy, and their Legion and Marine forces will come to regret that decision. This is outstanding military science fiction.
January 10, 2013
I am currently reading the whole series (#5 now). I like it enough to keep going. I think they are fairly well done, in terms of military SciFi. There is nothing too deep, and personal scenes tend to come through like cheap romance drama, but fortunately, not a lot of those. Nothing deep here, just good reading.
August 27, 2015
Not the best book of the many I have read by this author ! The story jumps around from place to place to place and never settles into a rhythm ! So many new characters keep getting introduce but none of them are developed in depth ! It needed to concentrate on a few main characters and not the hodgepodge that was introduced ! This book was a bit of a mess !
April 18, 2013
Dietz continues the adventures of the elite army of cyborg warriors known as The Legion. Defeated at the hands of the Legion, the alien Hudathans plan to use copycat technology to create their own corps of cyborgs and target the heart of the Confederacy.
March 25, 2016
Second book leading into the main story arc of "The Legion of the Damned" series. In this one we draw the Hudathan wars to a close and continue to set the stage for the story that is the rest of the series. Not as good as the latter books, but still a worthwhile read.
March 18, 2023
Good military SyFy
November 28, 2008
I love military sci-fi and I really ejoyed Dietz.
March 22, 2013
Good read. Fun military sci fi. Rushed ending, could've been longer overall.
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