Take the Shilling

The Confederated Worlds #1

by Raymund Eich

A previous cover edition for this ASIN can be found here

The Confederated Worlds implanted in Tomas' brain the skills to make him a soldier. He had to learn for himself how to survive interstellar war.

Tomas Neumann sought escape from his backwater planet and overbearing mother, and a mentor to replace his long-dead father. "Taking the shilling"—enlisting in the Confederated Worlds military—promised both. But despite the soldier's skills implanted in his brain, combat still threatened to destroy him, in body and in spirit. Grieving for lost comrades, demoralized by a spiral of atrocities, could Tomas learn what he needed to survive, before facing his war's ultimate challenge?

Genres: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Space Opera

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2012

About the author

Raymund Eich files patent applications, earned a Ph.D., won a national quiz bowl championship, writes science fiction, and affirms Robert Heinlein's dictum that specialization is for insects.

In a typical day, he may talk with biochemists, electrical engineers, patent attorneys, and rocket scientists. Hundreds of papers cite his graduate research on the reactions of nitric oxide with heme proteins.

His novels include the Stone Chalmers series of wormhole espionage adventures—THE PROGRESS OF MANKIND, THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD, TO ALL HIGH EMPRISE CONSECRATED, and IN PUBLIC CONVOCATION ASSEMBLED—the Confederated Worlds military science fiction series—TAKE THE SHILLING, OPERATION IAGO, and A BODYGUARD OF LIES—and evolutionary psychology hard science fiction novel NEW CALIFORNIA.

He lives in Houston with his wife, son, and daughter.

Reviews

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m kind of picky about military science fiction novels because so many of them are just shoot-’em-ups with plots and characters that could as easily be set in medieval Europe or World War II as in the future on another planet. This one is he first in a trilogy and it’s considerably better than most -- a mix of quite original social worldbuilding and universal battlefield angst. Tomas Neuman is an eighteen-year-old in a rural town on Josephine, one of the Confederated Worlds, which is at war with a rival group of planets called Unity. He’s convinced himself he should enlist (with multiple motivations, as has always been the case), hopefully to get into the Space Force (which gets all the headlines). But for various reasons, he ends up in the Ground Forces as an infantryman.

We follow him through basic training -- which is quite short, since a soldier’s skills can nearly all be implanted in a single hour. (Judgment and decision-making still have to be learned the hard way, of course.) And before he knows it, he’s a replacement in a platoon on the distant world of New Liberty, previous occupied by Unity but now almost entirely captured by the Confederates. (Whom Tomas automatically thinks of as the Good Guys, but that will turn out to be not so cut and dried.)

The narrative is set entirely dirtside and Tomas gradually learns the ropes as he and his mates take part in a series of actions, none of which are especially heroic. But he has the right instincts for this life and it doesn’t take long before his has friends who listen to his comments and a sergeant who invites his opinions. But his soldierly evolution is more complicated than that. His mother is a minister in a religious sect called the Observers and he grew up within a very strict theology that sometimes makes it difficult to do his job. (Their beliefs and attitudes are very interesting, too, as is the social structure on Josephine -- one of the things I’ve always loved about well-written science fiction.)

Eich has written several other SF series, most of them more or less military, and he’s a skillful writer who thinks about his characters in depth. I recommend this one without reservation.

[Katherine Franklin]

Having read Starship Troopers only recently, it comes as no surprise that Heinlein is listed at the top of the author's influences. Take the Shilling feels incredibly similar in format and style. I'm guessing the universe it takes place within is the one described in one of the author's interviews: a future where planets are colonised in ideological groups, as the only realistic way such attempts would be funded. The main character practices a religion that means he can't view images or recorded video, and it's interesting to see how this plays out alongside his military career throughout the book.

I enjoyed the story, though I didn't find the combat quite as easy to follow as in Starship Troopers. I did love that most of it took place on a tidally locked planet where its sun was always in a fixed position, leading to terms like darkward and sunward for directions. It did take me an embarrassingly long time to connect the dots between that and the phrase 'a darkly breeze', though!

It's very man-centric, mind, and more so than Starship Troopers felt, bizarrely. The only women of note were an unkind mother, a prostitute (by religion) and a therapist. The prostitute religion was... interesting, and I'm not the greatest fan of how flowery the language got in related scenes. The need to refer to genitalia in French, while appropriate given the character's upbringing, was quite distracting.

It was an easy read, though, and good to see the main character grow and face his past along the way, through many morally questionable events.

[Gray Mouser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry, did not work for me.

This is announced as military SF, but is essentially a WWII or Vietnam story in space. There is very little SF; military hardware and tactics are essentially unchanged. One side has complete control of the high orbit and does not take any advantage from them. With regard to space, etc, I took particular offense to the idea of a tidal-locked planet with an earth-like habitable zone.

Adding to the outdated feel of the story was the total lack of any female characters who were not doctors, nurses or prostitutes.

Last and least: if the author insist on using some German phrases, could he at least let someone proofread them?

[Mark P. Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pleasant surprise

I got this ebook free and didn’t expect much. I was pleasantly impressed by the author. The dialogue was fresh, the action clear, and the main character well developed. I recently finished a series filled with gore. This novel, though about war, handled the violence well.

[Jeff Ford · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn’t make it. I think I can draw a street map for a French town from the first few pages. Every other word is a French proper noun. It’s obnoxious. Life is too short to muscle through a book of fiction.

[Andrew Brereton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Classic coming of age in the military story, well written ,excellent action scenes,shades of Vietnam and much more to come. Was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed it.

[Steve Maxfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it

I got to page 133 and couldn't take anymore . having seen to much like in real life. So sad

[Randy Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Observer in The Ground Forces

This book kept me reading. The story line is well done and the characters well written and believable. Looking forward to more.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like starship troopers this is a good story of war in the future. Interesting military tactics and logistics.

[Sammy Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd dialog.

I had difficulty with some of the dialogue. I" and I am saying this" My mind does not work like that.

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story deserved three stars but the editing was poor. Which made me want to trash the book. Literally.
The author needs some professional help to clean up the errors.

[Ron Nurmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A military-SF action book with interesting characters

[Tom Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done infantry book with believable combat. The author uses a very complex hero and develops his story very well. Looking forward to the rest of the stories.

[Alicia Huxtable · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story

Great story, great writing style, and well paced. Took a chapter or two, to get into it, but once I did, I enjoyed it

[Hank Stram · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good space opera. has a very heinlein feel to it. wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series at < $15

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not Bad

I'm a sucker for good (and - let's be honest, here, less-than-good) MilSF.

This one was not bad. It was more a series of linked short stories than a cohesive novel, but it was well-written with (mostly) fully fleshed out characters and no glaring editing problems.

A few twists were predictable, but that didn't make it any less likeable.

[Raymund Eich]

As the author, I am of course biased, but if you like military science fiction, take a look.