Tyger Burning

by T.C. McCarthy

WAR WILL COME. WILL EARTH BE READY? Humanity had just begun its first tentative steps towards conquering the Solar System when the aliens came and took it all away. Then they disappeared, leaving only wreckage in their wake. They have given us 100 years to get ready for the next phase of their invasion. They expect us to fight fair. But if one man can learn to control his combat implants, humanity might just have a hope for a free future…

WAR WILL COME

Maung is used to being hunted. As the last “dream warrior,” a member of a Burmese military unit whose brains are more machine than grey matter, everyone wants him dead—punished for the multiple atrocities his unit committed during war.

But when an alien race makes its presence known on Earth and threatens to annihilate mankind, it gives Maung a chance to escape. Maung travels to the farthest reaches of the Solar System, where he finds love—but also discovers his fellow Burmese countrymen exiled to labor on a prison asteroid and the horrors of a war long since finished.

Maung uncovers a lost secret weapon system that may help his people redeem themselves—and may just prove the salvation of the human race.

WILL EARTH BE READY?

About Tyger

“Fans of space opera will enjoy this first book of what promises to be an epic series, as Maung battles human enemies on Earth and alien invaders from the stars.”—Arlan Andrews

About T.C.

"McCarthy perfectly catches the attitudes of veterans among themselves and toward civilians—laymen, better—when they get back to the World."—David Drake

''Compelling . . . Recalling the work of Remarque, Willi Heinrich, and especially Michael Herr, McCarthy's delirious narrative avoids cliche and raises intriguing questions about what it means to be human.''— Publishers Weekly (starred review) on Germline

"It's not just good . . .it's the mil-sf book I wish I could send back in time to beat out Forever War for a Hugo. I never would have guessed McCarthy was an analyst . . . I was sure he'd been on the pointy end for a long time."—Ernest Lilley, SF Revu

''The highly detailed, brutal depiction of futuristic warfare brilliantly complements the intimate narrative, which examines the insanity of war and those personally affected by it. Breathtaking and heartrending, this is the future of military science fiction.''— Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A well written novel that makes you consider the costs of war in very personal terms."— SF Signal

Genres: Science Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2019

About the author

Dr. Theodore C. McCarthy (“T.C.”) is an award winning and critically acclaimed southern author and technology development strategist. A former CIA weapons expert, T.C. is a recognized authority on the impact of technology on military strategy and is a regular speaker at USSOCOM (US Special Operations Command) and other commands on future warfare topics. Before embarking on a national security career, he earned a PhD in geology and bachelor’s degrees in environmental science and computer science – in addition to being a Fulbright Fellow and Howard Hughes Biomedical Research Fellow – and worked as a patent examiner in complex biotechnology and combinatorial chemistry.

T.C.’s short fiction, both literary and genre, has appeared in Per Contra: The International Journal of the Arts, Literature and Ideas, Story Quarterly, Nature, and multiple anthologies. His debut novels, Germline (the winner of the Compton Crook Award in 2012), and its sequels, Exogene and Chimera, explored current trends in weapons and biotechnology research, applying his insights to construct a near-future, peer-to-peer conflict where infantry combat is forced underground.

Reviews

[keikii Eats Books]

Quote:

"I'm not who I used to be." Maung paused. Even with all the data and processing power he had, trying to express feelings left him frustrated. "I'm not a killer anymore."

Review:
I unfortunately discontinued reading this at 75%. I tried really, really hard, but I found that I just couldn't get past core aspects of the book. And those were making me dread getting back to reading the book every time I put it down.

The biggest problem I had was that Tyger Burning was very racist against the Chinese and Burmese. And they aren't so great against other Asians, either. I made all sorts of excuses throughout. "It makes sense in the context of the book!", "They just lost a war, this is the same generation that lost their lives!" and more. However, it was just way above what was needed to get the point across. It was constant, every couple pages, and it just never got any better. Maybe it got better at the end, I just couldn't make it there.

Then all of this racism took time away from the actual plot. So much time is spent on the racism that wasn't spent on developing the plot or the world. So I felt barely anything happened. There were so many ideas that got introduced and then discarded in order to shit on the main character's nationality some more in the next page. It was so frustrating.

The main character, Muang, was another source of frustration for me. This feels like it is nitpicking, but I just couldn't get over it the entire book. Muang is supposed to be stupid. The Chinese took part of his brain and replaced it with computer stuff. When the computer is off, which is when he isn't in danger, he is supposed to be stupid since he is literally missing part of his brain. Only he isn't. He is clumsy, but he isn't stupid in my opinion. Those aren't the same thing. I believe it is supposed to be shown through all the questions he asks, but that was basically just the bare minimum he needed to have asked to understand his situation he found himself in.

Also, I found the relationship distatestful. It develops in the middle of the book. It was clear very early on that she was going to be the love interest but it never truly develops. But the relationship goes from completely not interested, to separated and obsessed (how??) to "let's fuck". Hmm. And then Muang starts deciding things for the love interest without asking her. Major things.

That last thing, the main character making major life decisions for the love character without asking, all because he is obsessed with her? That is what decided my decision to discontinue reading this. I couldn't make excuses any longer. Especially when I sat down and very little interesting happened. Lots of interesting things were introduced, but they never seemed to stay around.

I received this book from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to T.C. McCarthy, Baen, and Edelweiss for providing the opportunity to review this copy.

[Brian Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

After the Gremline series, I missed McCarthy's work. I was never a huge military sci-fi reader but I loved a lot of Neal Asher's work. McCarthy's new series has that same feel. Tyger Burning is like a cross between Polity Agent, Gridlinked, and his own Germline series. It's a unique spin with the hero starting off more as an anti-hero, hated by the US and its allies. The loss of his wife and the death of his fellow Dream Warriors drives him underground, never to use his skills for fear of being found.

This is a wide-ranging book full of new ideas. McCarthy is a fantastic story weaver and Tyger Burning left me wanting more, excited for the next installment. It moves fast and our (anti) hero soon finds that nothing he believes is quite as it seems. The story confirms that what the war took from him made him unique and his human qualities make him unstoppable.

It's great to have T.C. McCarthy back. He's become one of my favorite sci-fi authors. I can't recommend this book enough!

[Anna Braley · Rating 5 out of 5]

First time Author for me.I actually bought paperback from get go just reading blurb.definately a must read. I loved the characters.Once I started I couldn't put it down. Very fast paced

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I have received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Military science fiction is not my normal genre, so I was unsure where I would like the story or not. I can honestly say I had a hard time putting it down and could not wait to see the tale unfold.

The main character, Maung, misses his home, his wife, his former life and there is no going back. Originally from Burmese, he was on the losing side of the war against America. His Chinese allies took out parts of his brain and replaced it with computer parts and software that allowed him to become a dream warrior, a super aware killing machine. Half-human, half-robot, Maung is a former war criminal who had killed thousands. He is the last of his kind and hiding from those who want to see him pay for his past, and those would use him as a weapon. He is suddenly detected after an encounter with a Sommen. The Sommen is an alien race, poised to wipe out the human population and Maung might be the only hope. Follow Maung as he is forced to choose between saving humanity and saving himself.

I found the characters to be believable and interesting. The story had many twists and turns and I found myself cheering for Maung to help save Earth. I recommend this book.

[Moarbooxpls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun fable

I made the mistake of reading the preview. The prologue didn't really grab me but once I finished the chapter one preview I had to keep going. I haven't read a novel with my eyes in years. I always wait for the Audible edition. I slammed through this in about 3 hours on my kindle. It's not flawless. I did find myself skimming a fair bit in the middle, but overall it was a pretty ripping page turner.

[Henry Lazarus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cyborgs are usually fun, heroic characters with superpowers. Human nature, being what it is, can use the technology for evil. The Chinese had sliced part of Maung’s brain to create a superhacker, and then forced this dream warrior from Burma use his talents on the intelligent weapons of the near future and kill thousands of Americans. After the war he escaped with his son, but his wife was killed by the Chinese. The war occurred because the alien Sommen blockaded the outer solar system causing a fight for resources, and ended when they suddenly withdrew. Fearful of being detected, Maung gets a new identity as a prison guard on an asteroid., with deep secrets. This Tyger Burning (trade from Baen) bright is forced to reveal his secret when the Chinese attack the ship carrying him to the asteroid, and only his talents can defeat this enemy. The Chinese cyborgs he is fighting, have been stripped of free will in a horrifying way because of what he has become. T. C. McCarthy tells an exciting tale, in a complex and dark universe. Sequels are promised about the eventual war with the Sommen. I can’t wait.Review printed by Philadelphia Free Press

[Sic Transit Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this book is a lot like getting an underwater shipwreck tour on a Jetski. You can just barely make out the hints of interesting this below, but instead of exploring those things you skim along over the surface.

Tyger burning is an amalgamation of many, many different ideas, none of them done well. Human-machine integration, hiveminds, resource wars, alien invasions, brain modification, space combat, genetic experiments, Asian ethnic tensions... Heck, even the title is an underdeveloped idea.

And what we get is the eternal joke of "I want a cigarette," then "No because ______'s policy." Oh, and endless references to the main character being Myanmarese.

So why is this not a one-star review? Well, the writing isn't painful. And the ideas are cool, just underdeveloped.

All in all, worth a skip.

[Chris DeBoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting protagonist

Well written with good pacing. I first read it last year, just started re-reading it, and am still drawing despite knowing what happens. One thing that made Tyger Burning stand out from similar novels was the protagonist being Burmese rather than the usual American/ Chinese/Russian.

[Shae Erisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun

[Keith Ripley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Normally military science fiction epics don't appeal to me, but this one grabbed me from the start and never let go. And certainly made me want to read the sequel.

[Ernest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyger Burning by T.C. McCarthy (Author)
July 2, 2019 (Baen Books)
(From: http://www.e357.net/beingernest/scien...)


Tyger Burning is the first novel in T.C. McCarthy’s new mil-sf series, with a vaguely Ender’s Game hero (not Ender, but Mazer Rackham, the Mauri warrior) character in Maung, a Burmese soldier who’d been brain-hacked by the Chinese during a global conflict, parts of his brain scooped out to make room for an AI that he merges with. Except that turning on his integrated persona makes him visible to the people (and aliens) that want very much to find the last “Dream Warrior.” This follows the setup short story “Somewhere it Snows,” where we learn that the alien Sommen have already attached Earth, brought us to our knees, offered essentially indentured servitude to anyone who wanted to sign on…and then left us alone. The Sommen worship war, and what they really wanted was a sample of humanity to test for worthiness as adversaries. One of those who left with them evidently made the grade, because he came home with a treasure trove of data and a 100-year clock on the war to come. That’s not Maug though, he’s just a refugee on the run who discovers that his Chinese-implanted AI lets his interface with the alien systems, a discovery that forces him to leave his family to hide among the prison guards on an asteroid beyond Europa and Ganymede. What he can’t imagine is that the asteroid was once the base for Earth’s defense fleet, and he’s humanity’s hope for unlocking the secrets buried there. The next book continues the sto