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Falkenberg's Legion #4
Prince of Sparta
After defeating the initial assault of Grand Senator Bronson's Helot armies, the Spartans arm themselves to fend off another Helot attack, this one designed to exterminate the Spartans as a people
383 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1993
62 people are currently reading
305 people want to read
About the author
Jerry Pournelle
263 books546 followersDr Jerry Eugene Pournelle was an American science fiction writer, engineer, essayist, and journalist, who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte, and from 1998 until his death maintained his own website and blog.
From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.
Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.
Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.
“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”
Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.
From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.
Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.
Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.
“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”
Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 17, 2021
Reread. First-rate MilSF, dragged down a bit by the clunky CoDominium stuff that Stirling inherited from Pournelle. The action is fast and furious, and there's enough ambiguity to keep this from becoming WarPorn. Though it is definitely a book of its time. Good clean fun if you like this sort of thing. Kept me up way too late last night.
March 25, 2014
This is the last in the series of the Falkenberg's Legions - and really acts as a continuation of the story from "Go tell the Spartans" the conflict is now taking on a new level of ferocity and as desperation starts to set in you see more and more extreme actions being take - with the ultimate decision being made inevitably. The book like the predecessor carries on the conflict on a more close quarter scale as compared to the earlier books. However I personally think the book benefits from it. It is hard to comment about the book without either giving away the storyline to this or the Go Tell book, however I would say that that even though it is part of the series the latter two titles can be read in isolation without any great loss to the plot - is this a good thing or a bad I will leave you to decide.
March 9, 2015
Fascism, how I have missed thee! I went through a mil-SF phase in the 90's, voraciously reading anything from Warworld over the Drakaverse to Hammer's Slammers, and of course the Falkenberg series. I found the latter thoroughly distopian, even on the side of the 'good guys', which I ascribed to SF's "myriads of viewpoints" until finding out about JP's political side.
Still, I did like the books back then, so I decided to go on a Falkenberg rereading binge, so this review is about the whole series. Yes the politics are still distastefull: Falkenberg's still the icecold Übermensch ex Machina, he still massacres an entire political movement, and in Prince of Sparta the Legion still installs a fascist fratboy monarch as Emperor of all mankind, by the grace of God.
So why is this any good? Well, it does everything you expect from mil-SF, and it does it well. There's a touch of Hornblower, a lot of Kipling, and all the historical references you could ever wish for, from Belisarius to the fall of Berlin (elderly citizens manning roadblocks with the Collinsjugend..err..I mean Eagle Scouts spotting targets :-D ), Pournelle knows his stuff and likes to show it. Also, though Pournelle's personal preferences are obvious (see the annoying Dr. Whitlock's rants), he does allow for all sides to make their points. In this way, I see the Falkenberg series as a cautionary tale, showing how both ends of the political spectrum can slide down the slippery slope of good intentions towards the ruin of mankind. And that makes it much more than a mere good adventure story (which it most certainly is).
Still, I did like the books back then, so I decided to go on a Falkenberg rereading binge, so this review is about the whole series. Yes the politics are still distastefull: Falkenberg's still the icecold Übermensch ex Machina, he still massacres an entire political movement, and in Prince of Sparta the Legion still installs a fascist fratboy monarch as Emperor of all mankind, by the grace of God.
So why is this any good? Well, it does everything you expect from mil-SF, and it does it well. There's a touch of Hornblower, a lot of Kipling, and all the historical references you could ever wish for, from Belisarius to the fall of Berlin (elderly citizens manning roadblocks with the Collinsjugend..err..I mean Eagle Scouts spotting targets :-D ), Pournelle knows his stuff and likes to show it. Also, though Pournelle's personal preferences are obvious (see the annoying Dr. Whitlock's rants), he does allow for all sides to make their points. In this way, I see the Falkenberg series as a cautionary tale, showing how both ends of the political spectrum can slide down the slippery slope of good intentions towards the ruin of mankind. And that makes it much more than a mere good adventure story (which it most certainly is).
September 2, 2011
About halfway through this novel, I thought "Well, if I read 'wolfish grin' again, I won't be responsible for what I do!" Exactly two pages later I was reading the book like a maniac! I have never seen a book so suddenly get its act together and get really good. The last half of the book had some of the best scenes of the entire series. Solid protagonists, engaging antagonists, and well done action sequences combined to make this an excellent conclusion to Falkenberg's Legions. Is it the best science fiction novel ever? No. Does it reward those who read it? Yes.
November 30, 2014
Good, but I recommend readingThe Prince to get all of these in order.
August 26, 2022
Mycket bra och mycket skrämmande militär scifi. I princip en genomgång av den ickerevolutionära sidans perspektiv när en stormakt bestämmer sig för att stödja deras lokala rebellgrupp i ett slags proxykrig. Kan inte annat än rekommendera för allt vad jag la boken åt sidan i rent äckel ett antal gånger.
June 23, 2021
4 1/2 but rounding up when comparing it a lot of the stuff I've picked up recently that had higher ratings and paled in my comparison.
I like Pournelle's work n this series a lot more than Hammer's Slammers which is a similar concept. Nicely rounding out the overall story arc.
I like Pournelle's work n this series a lot more than Hammer's Slammers which is a similar concept. Nicely rounding out the overall story arc.
September 29, 2021
Hopefully this, and not ‘1984’
This was written years ago, and we don’t yet have FTL space drive. Hopefully though, we can come to a coherent and beneficial government before civilization falters or fail. Your call…..
This was written years ago, and we don’t yet have FTL space drive. Hopefully though, we can come to a coherent and beneficial government before civilization falters or fail. Your call…..
February 19, 2022
Begining of Empire.
Strong end to the series. But then you can start the Motie books to see the Empire in action. The helots lose much, and are not good people. Civilization will do better under the Spartans.
Strong end to the series. But then you can start the Motie books to see the Empire in action. The helots lose much, and are not good people. Civilization will do better under the Spartans.
May 23, 2022
stunning
Read it, and read it again and again. Enthralling, dynamic, informing, educational and more…collectively the best foil to M’s Prince I’ve ever read.
Read it, and read it again and again. Enthralling, dynamic, informing, educational and more…collectively the best foil to M’s Prince I’ve ever read.
July 14, 2024
I recently finished reading this series through and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not too big a fan of the big baddie towards the end, but the stories are a good read and it's interesting to see the predecessor to the universe of The Mote in God's Eye. My full review here: https://themichlinguide.wordpress.com...
March 26, 2007
You should read this book AFTER you read "Go Tell The Spartans" by the same author. Together, they tell the story of free society under attack both from within and without, by powerhungry barbarbians. A parble for our times, and perhaps a warning to keep a close watch on those who play with peoples lives while insisting they do it all for "The People".
March 25, 2016
Oddly paced but still entertaining enough. I love the CoDominium universe. My biggest gripe is it had some of Pournelle's oddness in endings that just sort of fizzle with a weirdly overly dramatic act or quote that doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the book.
Oh well, still liked it!
Oh well, still liked it!
May 27, 2016
This is the best of the 4 books in the series. Best character development, best action, best battles. This universe is really set up for many more books, so I can't figure why there hasn't been a book 5 in the past 25 years. Sad.
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January 9, 2010baen ebook
May 5, 2012
Yet another great Military SF Co-Dominion book - last of the Falkenberg series - series best read in order
February 22, 2014
Second reading, same as the first. Still good but not great and nowhere near the best of the Falkenberg's Legion stories out there. Read The Mercenary (a Pournelle solo effort) instead.
December 30, 2008
Good read. Nice adaptation of history to sci-fi.
June 26, 2011
great character development - -great twists in the plot
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews