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Mandatory Failure
Unknown Binding
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About the author
Howard Tayler
47 books169 followersHoward spent most of his happy childhood in Florida where he was on the swim team in grade school, and in a rock band in high school. He graduated in 1985 and moved to Utah to attend Brigham Young University.
After two years there, he served two years as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), after which he returned to school at BYU and decided to move to Provo permanently after graduating and getting married.
He currently works full-time as a cartoonist, writing, drawing, and coloring Schlock Mercenary , as well as doing comics for assorted corporate clients.
He is married to author and editor Sandra Tayler.
See the author page on Schlock Mercenary website
After two years there, he served two years as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), after which he returned to school at BYU and decided to move to Provo permanently after graduating and getting married.
He currently works full-time as a cartoonist, writing, drawing, and coloring Schlock Mercenary , as well as doing comics for assorted corporate clients.
He is married to author and editor Sandra Tayler.
See the author page on Schlock Mercenary website
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 14, 2020
This book, the 18th volume of the Schlock Mercenary story, takes as its title Maxim 70, from Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries: "Failure is not an option. It is mandatory. The option is whether or not to let failure be the last thing you do."
In this story we see more consequences of the the newly released life extension technology as Tagon's Toughs are called on to rescue thousands of people who are already dead, victims of a refinery explosion which has left them drifting in space but able to be revived if recovered. Complicating the matter are a number of political restrictions against outsider interference, and a covert faction who want the refinery victims to stay dead.
Minor character Corporal Peri Gugro comes into the limelight in this story, having command thrust upon her as a member of the species who can be accepted by all sides to co ordinate the rescue. All she has to do is act as figurehead and repeat what is said via the audio feed. But when those she is dealing with go off script she has no choice but to improvise in a big way which is very enjoyable to watch.
This book is not yet available in print but can be read on the Schlock Mercenary web comic, starting on 18th September 2017
In this story we see more consequences of the the newly released life extension technology as Tagon's Toughs are called on to rescue thousands of people who are already dead, victims of a refinery explosion which has left them drifting in space but able to be revived if recovered. Complicating the matter are a number of political restrictions against outsider interference, and a covert faction who want the refinery victims to stay dead.
Minor character Corporal Peri Gugro comes into the limelight in this story, having command thrust upon her as a member of the species who can be accepted by all sides to co ordinate the rescue. All she has to do is act as figurehead and repeat what is said via the audio feed. But when those she is dealing with go off script she has no choice but to improvise in a big way which is very enjoyable to watch.
This book is not yet available in print but can be read on the Schlock Mercenary web comic, starting on 18th September 2017
March 17, 2025
I'm a big fan of Schlock Mercenary, so it should be no surprise I'm a fan of this book. I think the story holds together better (or at least is easier to keep in one's head) when it plays out over the course of a few hundred pages, rather than a few years online, which is a nice bonus of reading these collected editions.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews