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Starfire #1
Insurrection
In the end, the only political systems that seem to work are those based on freedom. The Inner World leaders of the Terran Federation seem to have forgotten this simple truth. After fighting the Khanate—with the Fringe Worlds to supply the raw material and the fighting men—the Inner Worlds found it hard to give up the powers they had seized during the war. So they decided not to—rather than allow the rapidly expanding Fringe Worlds representation in the Federation, they are inviting the Khanate in, to keep the colonial upstarts in their place. The Fringers have only one answer to that:
408 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1990
79 people are currently reading
1663 people want to read
About the author
David Weber
329 books4,570 followersDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952.
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
Many of his stories have military, particularly naval, themes, and fit into the military science fiction genre. He frequently places female leading characters in what have been traditionally male roles.
One of his most popular and enduring characters is Honor Harrington whose alliterated name is an homage to C.S. Forester's character Horatio Hornblower and her last name from a fleet doctor in Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander . Her story, together with the "Honorverse" she inhabits, has been developed through 16 novels and six shared-universe anthologies, as of spring 2013 (other works are in production). In 2008, he donated his archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.
Many of his books are available online, either in their entirety as part of the Baen Free Library or, in the case of more recent books, in the form of sample chapters (typically the first 25-33% of the work).
http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidw...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
December 2, 2010
Two things make insurrection great.
1) The mechanics of the Starfire universe.
2) People come into conflict because they have conflicting goals and values, but are still equally respectable and honorable.
The key detail of the Starfire universe is that fixed warp points connect star systems. Most occupied systems have 1 or 2 warp points. By structuring the map in this way, it creates defensible choke points. All other travel is sub-light. This adds a twist to Military Sci Fi. It adds a chain of communication, and chain of supply to the equation in a way that much Sci Fi neglects.
There are focus characters on two of the 3 sides in this conflict. These characters get roughly equal treatment. None of them are angels or demons. There is alot of moral ambiguity.
These things combine to make an incredible book. One of the most memorable I've ever read. One that I will return to in the future. One that I will use as a yardstick to judge all other Science Fiction I read.
1) The mechanics of the Starfire universe.
2) People come into conflict because they have conflicting goals and values, but are still equally respectable and honorable.
The key detail of the Starfire universe is that fixed warp points connect star systems. Most occupied systems have 1 or 2 warp points. By structuring the map in this way, it creates defensible choke points. All other travel is sub-light. This adds a twist to Military Sci Fi. It adds a chain of communication, and chain of supply to the equation in a way that much Sci Fi neglects.
There are focus characters on two of the 3 sides in this conflict. These characters get roughly equal treatment. None of them are angels or demons. There is alot of moral ambiguity.
These things combine to make an incredible book. One of the most memorable I've ever read. One that I will return to in the future. One that I will use as a yardstick to judge all other Science Fiction I read.
August 17, 2021
Mawkish, melodramatic, MIL-SF, space opera riffing on WWII Pacific War naval combat, The American Revolution and Civil War. I suppose that makes it a: MIL-SF, political thriller?
I read this book years ago when I was a callow youth. I remembered it fondly for its C. S. Forester-esque, guns, drums, powder smoke and bugles style. Now, being considerably better read it reminds me more of Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War a historical thriller, written about 20-years earlier than this book.
This wasn’t a bad story MIL-SF story, as hard as it is to write good MIL-SF. As a space opera it also wasn’t too bad. For example, it was actually a good example of the Hyperspace Lanes, men and women heroes stepping-up to meet the mighty hour and ships launched out into the louring dark tropes.
However, the purple prose was laughable. I listened to this book. I couldn’t tell if there were strings of multisyllabic words, run-on sentences, and blocks of unyielding text like in A Memory Called Empire , but the descriptions were just chock-full, of overly embellished language. It was as Homer-esque as the wine dark sea. The overall effect was mawkish and melodramatic.
The story had a the cast of thousands. There were six or eight POVs phasing in and out of the narrative over a six year duration. All the protagonists (men and women)were noble warriors and honorable. In addition, there was a host of minor NPCs. The authors were fond of the technique of giving them first and last names to thicken their cardboard nature. Many NPCs were red shirts sacrificed to the carnage of space war.
I noted there were very few black characters, but lots of Latinx and Asians. The story also contained several racial faux pas. “Oriental” was used to describe folks of “Asian” extraction, be they Japanese or Chinese. Although, in 1990, when written, that usage was changing. I did roll my eyes at the faux, interstellar, racial equality. Almost every Terran race made an appearance. An oriental [sic], female, naval officer calling her officer, Anglo, gal-pal a “round-eye”, shows they’re all one, big, happy, Terran family?
I also shook my head at the false feminism in the story. Making half the story’s POVs, strong, women was a too overt play for the Feminist Fantasy readership. These characters where boys with breasts. What distinguished them from the strong men, was the way they afterwards, expressed their grief over the carnage of the epic space battles. Weber eventually wrote himself a pension this way with the Honorverse .
If you’re a student of history, you’ll see how heavily the authors borrowed from the great naval battles of the Pacific during WWII. For example, there was a thinly disguised Battle of Midway climactic, epic, space battle. (All the space battles were epic.) Tech reminded me of a lift from Lensman series only with computers, lasers, and misunderstood cryptography. The space science (Hyperspace Lanes aside) inconvenient towards maintaining the WWII naval warfare paradigm were ignored. For example, space is vast, empty, cold and dark. A spaceship, especially a large one, is reflective and radiant at many wavelengths. Its observable from great distances, especially during deceleration (a bit of space flight physics ignored in the narrative). The stealthy attacks of the story would not be possible. In addition, the political aspects of the story were rather naïve. They were there to setup the epic space battles. It was a mashup of the American Revolution and the American Civil War—IN SPACE.
Thirty years ago, when written to satisfy the sf needs of MIL-SF nerds limping along on the Star Trek (Gen I) and Aliens franchises, this was likely haute, sf literature. Today, its eye-rollingly amusing. However, both authors leveraged this early work to go on feeding, clothing and housing themselves writing similar, if slightly better stories of the same ilk. Recommended for sf nerds who liked reading fiction based on age-of-sail, Royal Navy officer protagonists (in space) in series novels.
I read this book years ago when I was a callow youth. I remembered it fondly for its C. S. Forester-esque, guns, drums, powder smoke and bugles style. Now, being considerably better read it reminds me more of Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War a historical thriller, written about 20-years earlier than this book.
This wasn’t a bad story MIL-SF story, as hard as it is to write good MIL-SF. As a space opera it also wasn’t too bad. For example, it was actually a good example of the Hyperspace Lanes, men and women heroes stepping-up to meet the mighty hour and ships launched out into the louring dark tropes.
However, the purple prose was laughable. I listened to this book. I couldn’t tell if there were strings of multisyllabic words, run-on sentences, and blocks of unyielding text like in A Memory Called Empire , but the descriptions were just chock-full, of overly embellished language. It was as Homer-esque as the wine dark sea. The overall effect was mawkish and melodramatic.
The story had a the cast of thousands. There were six or eight POVs phasing in and out of the narrative over a six year duration. All the protagonists (men and women)were noble warriors and honorable. In addition, there was a host of minor NPCs. The authors were fond of the technique of giving them first and last names to thicken their cardboard nature. Many NPCs were red shirts sacrificed to the carnage of space war.
I noted there were very few black characters, but lots of Latinx and Asians. The story also contained several racial faux pas. “Oriental” was used to describe folks of “Asian” extraction, be they Japanese or Chinese. Although, in 1990, when written, that usage was changing. I did roll my eyes at the faux, interstellar, racial equality. Almost every Terran race made an appearance. An oriental [sic], female, naval officer calling her officer, Anglo, gal-pal a “round-eye”, shows they’re all one, big, happy, Terran family?
I also shook my head at the false feminism in the story. Making half the story’s POVs, strong, women was a too overt play for the Feminist Fantasy readership. These characters where boys with breasts. What distinguished them from the strong men, was the way they afterwards, expressed their grief over the carnage of the epic space battles. Weber eventually wrote himself a pension this way with the Honorverse .
If you’re a student of history, you’ll see how heavily the authors borrowed from the great naval battles of the Pacific during WWII. For example, there was a thinly disguised Battle of Midway climactic, epic, space battle. (All the space battles were epic.) Tech reminded me of a lift from Lensman series only with computers, lasers, and misunderstood cryptography. The space science (Hyperspace Lanes aside) inconvenient towards maintaining the WWII naval warfare paradigm were ignored. For example, space is vast, empty, cold and dark. A spaceship, especially a large one, is reflective and radiant at many wavelengths. Its observable from great distances, especially during deceleration (a bit of space flight physics ignored in the narrative). The stealthy attacks of the story would not be possible. In addition, the political aspects of the story were rather naïve. They were there to setup the epic space battles. It was a mashup of the American Revolution and the American Civil War—IN SPACE.
Thirty years ago, when written to satisfy the sf needs of MIL-SF nerds limping along on the Star Trek (Gen I) and Aliens franchises, this was likely haute, sf literature. Today, its eye-rollingly amusing. However, both authors leveraged this early work to go on feeding, clothing and housing themselves writing similar, if slightly better stories of the same ilk. Recommended for sf nerds who liked reading fiction based on age-of-sail, Royal Navy officer protagonists (in space) in series novels.
June 8, 2012
A good space opera novel where David Weber have not yet fallen into the never ending talk, talk, talk mode as he has in some of his later work. Sure there’s a bunch of political bullshitting in this one as well but it is sufficiently laced with real (space ship) action to make it bearable.
I would have liked for the big bad extra stupid main political bullshitter to get a bit more punishment that just to commit suicide but you cannot have everything I guess.
Although it claims to be part of the “Starfire series” it’s a book which has a clear start and end. No cliffhangers. On the whole it’s a book well worth reading.
I would have liked for the big bad extra stupid main political bullshitter to get a bit more punishment that just to commit suicide but you cannot have everything I guess.
Although it claims to be part of the “Starfire series” it’s a book which has a clear start and end. No cliffhangers. On the whole it’s a book well worth reading.
December 10, 2022
On the surface, the Terran Federation is a beacon of liberty, prosperity, and progress, as it has been for centuries during humanity's expansion out of Earth into the stars and through a series of brutal interstellar wars. However, beneath the surface, divisions are growing. For decades now the colonies of the Fringe have watched as their freedoms have been curtailed by a bloc of corporate interests in the Federation Assembly, as their representation has been reduced, preventing them from having a proper say in Federation policy and allowing the corporate worlds to continue keeping the Fringe worlds in economic serfdom. Then comes word that the corporates have forged an agreement for a political union with humanity's old enemies, the Orions, a union whose reapportionment of representation would see the Fringe's share in the Assembly shrink to virtually nothing, not to mention putting them at the mercy of the whims corporations and the Orions, with whom the Fringe shares a rather... unpleasant history. Things finally come to a head when the outspoken leader of the Fringe's bloc, Fionna MacTaggart is assassinated in cold blood and the Assembly doesn't so much as lift a finger to punish the culprits. Convinced that the Federation is irreparably broken, the Fringers do the only thing they can to secure their rights, they secede, so begins a vicious conflict for the future of humanity.
At its heart, Insurrection is roughly a retelling of the American Revolutionary War in space. There are, of course, significant differences, but it follows a similar basic concept particularly in the roots of the conflict: lack of representation and economic exploitation of colonies. That said, while the Federation starts the story as the unquestioned bad guys, the book quickly reorients as the people responsible for the conditions which started the war fall from power and afterwards, the book is pretty even-handed in its portrayal of the two factions. Likewise, the story is pure space opera and exhibits some of Weber's best writing in terms of space battles. I will say that most of the characters are pretty two-dimensional but given the scope of the political and military struggle that's the focus of the book (and the book's fairly small size) there's not that much time for character development. Overall, I just found this to be a really fun and fast read, while it's part of a longer series, the story is self-contained. I should also note that while this is set in the Starfire wargaming universe, I had no knowledge thereof going into this and didn't really feel the lack.
At its heart, Insurrection is roughly a retelling of the American Revolutionary War in space. There are, of course, significant differences, but it follows a similar basic concept particularly in the roots of the conflict: lack of representation and economic exploitation of colonies. That said, while the Federation starts the story as the unquestioned bad guys, the book quickly reorients as the people responsible for the conditions which started the war fall from power and afterwards, the book is pretty even-handed in its portrayal of the two factions. Likewise, the story is pure space opera and exhibits some of Weber's best writing in terms of space battles. I will say that most of the characters are pretty two-dimensional but given the scope of the political and military struggle that's the focus of the book (and the book's fairly small size) there's not that much time for character development. Overall, I just found this to be a really fun and fast read, while it's part of a longer series, the story is self-contained. I should also note that while this is set in the Starfire wargaming universe, I had no knowledge thereof going into this and didn't really feel the lack.
September 4, 2012
Don't get me wrong, I love pretty much anything Weber writes and can re-read them any number of times, but a couple of plot elements in this book made it very hard to swallow. From my review on amazon:
I liked it, overall. I tend to get annoyed when there are plot holes that are not explained or require complete idiocy on someone's part. The ones (related) that irritated me were wrt the two Republican attacks on Zephrain. In the first one, the Republic has found a brand-new warp point closed at the Zephrain end. This means they can put a whole fleet in, bypassing the Gateway warp point defenses. Do they do that? Nah, instead they make a conventional attack at the Gateway, to draw Trevayne's mobile forces there with the intent of attacking them from behind with a massive fighter strike from the 5 cloaked carriers that sneaked in via the new warp point. They are detected by a wildly unlikely chance and destroyed by Trevayne's monitors, dooming the attack. That never made any sense to me - why not sneak your entire fleet in the back door, and have the carriers sneak up on the mobile force in planetary orbit, launching a surprise attack while they have their shields and drives down? The OWPs at the Gateway are meaningless, and the remaining mobile forces (guarding the Gateway warp point) are not adequate to retake the planet. Even more annoying though, is that *somehow* the Rim forces discovered the location of the closed warp point, so they could mine it, and etc. This is the ONLY way they had any chance of stopping the second attack, which was massive (my recollection is that 20+ Republican SDs and a good half dozen carriers were destroyed or crippled penetrating the defenses there.) There is no plausible way the Rim discovers this warp point without a major, major screw-up on the part of the Republic. Without both of those fiascos, the Republic seizes Zephrain, and the rest of the book never happens. Fooey...
I liked it, overall. I tend to get annoyed when there are plot holes that are not explained or require complete idiocy on someone's part. The ones (related) that irritated me were wrt the two Republican attacks on Zephrain. In the first one, the Republic has found a brand-new warp point closed at the Zephrain end. This means they can put a whole fleet in, bypassing the Gateway warp point defenses. Do they do that? Nah, instead they make a conventional attack at the Gateway, to draw Trevayne's mobile forces there with the intent of attacking them from behind with a massive fighter strike from the 5 cloaked carriers that sneaked in via the new warp point. They are detected by a wildly unlikely chance and destroyed by Trevayne's monitors, dooming the attack. That never made any sense to me - why not sneak your entire fleet in the back door, and have the carriers sneak up on the mobile force in planetary orbit, launching a surprise attack while they have their shields and drives down? The OWPs at the Gateway are meaningless, and the remaining mobile forces (guarding the Gateway warp point) are not adequate to retake the planet. Even more annoying though, is that *somehow* the Rim forces discovered the location of the closed warp point, so they could mine it, and etc. This is the ONLY way they had any chance of stopping the second attack, which was massive (my recollection is that 20+ Republican SDs and a good half dozen carriers were destroyed or crippled penetrating the defenses there.) There is no plausible way the Rim discovers this warp point without a major, major screw-up on the part of the Republic. Without both of those fiascos, the Republic seizes Zephrain, and the rest of the book never happens. Fooey...
April 9, 2021
This was a rather interesting book. This was not a common story of good vs evil, but explored the more grey areas of human conflict. The authors took inspiration from the american revolution in particular for this book aswell. Now the main issues I have with this book is that there is no main character but many central characters and that the conflict itself is the main character so to speak. That is also a weakness of it as I think this book would have been better if they decided to stick with two charcaters on either side of the conflict more than giving loads of diffrent characters perspective as it bogged down the story quite a bit. Another issue I had was the time skips and the pacing of the book was fine but I felt we were covering too much time over the course of the book and missing out too much. In the end we find out this whole book covers 2 years of conflict which is too much for 1 book to be honest for me. I very much enjoyed the action and it was very easy to follow and was written very well. Overall a l good book but not one of David weber / Steve white best works.
December 17, 2018
Not much too this at all. Civil war breaks out between the Inner Worlds and the Fringe Worlds within the Federation. Some space battles happen, new weapons are developed, a final push through to reunite two separate groups, and then the book is over. Barely anything memorable at all.
February 17, 2015
Insurrection
Author: David Weber and Steve White
Publisher: Baen Books
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: 1990
Pgs: 408
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
The wars with the Khanate had shifted the balance of power. The Corporate Worlds used the Fringe and Rim Worlds to supply the raw material and the fighting men. Once the guns fell silent, the Corporate Worlds didn’t want to give back the power that they had amassed over the Fringers. They limited the governmental representation of the frontiers and the fringes with the assistance of the Heart Worlds. Forced by blood and to protect their homeworlds, the Fringers are going to take a stand.
Genre:
Fiction
Military
Science fiction
Space opera
War
Why this book:
Starfire. Love the game. Loved the books. This is a re-read for me.
______________________________________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Ladislaw Skjorning of Beaufort is a great character. Well rounded. Fierce. 3 dimensional.
Least Favorite Character:
Character I Most Identified With:
Admiral / Governor General Trevayne. I understand his character. But he’s on the wrong side of this war having sided with the Federation out of duty despite what the government of the Federation did that triggered the eventual rebellion and the formation of the Republic, even with the huge manpain reason that the Republic gave him by their attack on the Galloway’s World shipyards and reservation.
The Feel:
Great science fiction.
Favorite Scene:
When Ladislaw challenges Oskar Dieter of New Zurich to a duel of honor after Dieter insults the leader of the Beaufort delegation at the Beaufort embassy/consulate. And Dieter shows his true colors and wusses out.
Fiona’s swan song tragedy is well done. As is Ladislaw’s challenge before the Chamber of Worlds when he tells them all that he knows it was an assassination plot orchestrated from that very chamber.
The scene where Ladislaw meets Dame Penelope MacTaggart, Fiona’s mother and leader of the MacTaggart Clan, at the spaceport on his return to Beaufort. It choked me up. Very well written.
When Rear Admiral Li Han stood down the pirates and destroyed them.
The Battle of Zapata is incredible military space opera sci fi.
Pacing:
The pace of this novel is great.
Casting call:
Ladislaw Skjorning would need to be a big guy to reflect his being from a high gravity world. Maybe Hafthor Julius Bjornsson. He was awesome as the Mountain on Game of Thrones. Not sure if he has the acting chops. Brando or Anthony Hopkins could invest Ladislaw with the necessary gravitas, but neither was a big enough man to do the character justice. Of course, one of them is dead and the other is too old for the role. Chris Hemsworth could do it.
Billy Bob Thornton as Oskar Dieter.
Admiral / Governor General Ian Trevayne would be great portrayed by Michael Fassbender.
Danny Trejo as Sergei Ortega.
______________________________________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
That’s just good stuff.
Author Assessment:
I love David Weber and Steve White’s work in the Starfire series. David Weber is an awesome writer. He does military sci fi better than anyone.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic, real classic, real genre classic, really good book, glad I read it, it’s alright, meh!, why did I read this, not as good as I was lead to believe
Disposition of Book:
Paperback...keeper.
Would recommend to:
friends, family, kids, colleagues, everyone, genre fans, no one
______________________________________________________________________________
Errata:
The sublight space flight of this universe with the warp points/wormholes for extra system travel is a great gimmick.
Author: David Weber and Steve White
Publisher: Baen Books
Published In: Riverdale, NY
Date: 1990
Pgs: 408
REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
Summary:
The wars with the Khanate had shifted the balance of power. The Corporate Worlds used the Fringe and Rim Worlds to supply the raw material and the fighting men. Once the guns fell silent, the Corporate Worlds didn’t want to give back the power that they had amassed over the Fringers. They limited the governmental representation of the frontiers and the fringes with the assistance of the Heart Worlds. Forced by blood and to protect their homeworlds, the Fringers are going to take a stand.
Genre:
Fiction
Military
Science fiction
Space opera
War
Why this book:
Starfire. Love the game. Loved the books. This is a re-read for me.
______________________________________________________________________________
Favorite Character:
Ladislaw Skjorning of Beaufort is a great character. Well rounded. Fierce. 3 dimensional.
Least Favorite Character:
Character I Most Identified With:
Admiral / Governor General Trevayne. I understand his character. But he’s on the wrong side of this war having sided with the Federation out of duty despite what the government of the Federation did that triggered the eventual rebellion and the formation of the Republic, even with the huge manpain reason that the Republic gave him by their attack on the Galloway’s World shipyards and reservation.
The Feel:
Great science fiction.
Favorite Scene:
When Ladislaw challenges Oskar Dieter of New Zurich to a duel of honor after Dieter insults the leader of the Beaufort delegation at the Beaufort embassy/consulate. And Dieter shows his true colors and wusses out.
Fiona’s swan song tragedy is well done. As is Ladislaw’s challenge before the Chamber of Worlds when he tells them all that he knows it was an assassination plot orchestrated from that very chamber.
The scene where Ladislaw meets Dame Penelope MacTaggart, Fiona’s mother and leader of the MacTaggart Clan, at the spaceport on his return to Beaufort. It choked me up. Very well written.
When Rear Admiral Li Han stood down the pirates and destroyed them.
The Battle of Zapata is incredible military space opera sci fi.
Pacing:
The pace of this novel is great.
Casting call:
Ladislaw Skjorning would need to be a big guy to reflect his being from a high gravity world. Maybe Hafthor Julius Bjornsson. He was awesome as the Mountain on Game of Thrones. Not sure if he has the acting chops. Brando or Anthony Hopkins could invest Ladislaw with the necessary gravitas, but neither was a big enough man to do the character justice. Of course, one of them is dead and the other is too old for the role. Chris Hemsworth could do it.
Billy Bob Thornton as Oskar Dieter.
Admiral / Governor General Ian Trevayne would be great portrayed by Michael Fassbender.
Danny Trejo as Sergei Ortega.
______________________________________________________________________________
Last Page Sound:
That’s just good stuff.
Author Assessment:
I love David Weber and Steve White’s work in the Starfire series. David Weber is an awesome writer. He does military sci fi better than anyone.
Knee Jerk Reaction:
instant classic, real classic, real genre classic, really good book, glad I read it, it’s alright, meh!, why did I read this, not as good as I was lead to believe
Disposition of Book:
Paperback...keeper.
Would recommend to:
friends, family, kids, colleagues, everyone, genre fans, no one
______________________________________________________________________________
Errata:
The sublight space flight of this universe with the warp points/wormholes for extra system travel is a great gimmick.
August 18, 2017
To be perfectly honest I kind a got bored with this book and never finished it I only read a little more than halfway. It kept jumping from one character to another I really couldn't sympathize with very many of the characters. I felt like I was reading a history book rather than a science-fiction novel. I'm sure this book probably had a good ending it was just too difficult for me to get all the way to it. I only gave this book one star but not because of the quality of the writing which is actually pretty good but because of the quality of the storyline. I felt that it did not draw me in like most books do. I felt that the author was throwing too many details at me all at once jumping around plus I never give more than one star to a book I never finished.
March 20, 2015
Meh... :\
Aside from the final battle, I found this book to be extremely boring. It's one of those books you start reading as fast as you can so you'll finish it faster. This is a stark contrast to the previous books in the Starfire series.
What I liked: Both sides at war have honorable intentions, but are "duty bound" to kill their fellow humans. What I disliked: Pretty much everything else. The book is mostly about political conflicts and spends very little time in edge-of-the-seat action (much like most later Weber books, btw.)
Aside from the final battle, I found this book to be extremely boring. It's one of those books you start reading as fast as you can so you'll finish it faster. This is a stark contrast to the previous books in the Starfire series.
What I liked: Both sides at war have honorable intentions, but are "duty bound" to kill their fellow humans. What I disliked: Pretty much everything else. The book is mostly about political conflicts and spends very little time in edge-of-the-seat action (much like most later Weber books, btw.)
February 5, 2016
It's nice to get a taste of David Weber's space opera outside the Honorverse. Great way of telling this larger story through the lives of those who lived it.
March 25, 2016
Space civil war! U-S-A! U-S-A! wait.... um.... nevermind.
April 19, 2024
After 200 years the Fringe worlds of the Terran Federation finally have enough representation in the government to have some small amount of power. Suddenly, the Federation announces that the alien Orion Syndicate will join the Federation. With reapportionment this will return the Fringe to the political wilderness for another 200 years. The Fringe finds this unacceptable and decides to secede. Thus starts the first interstellar civil war, which elements of the Federation welcomes since they consider the Fringers barbarous and a war will be good for their finances. They do not take into account that the space navy is 60% Fringer, including virtually all of the fighter pilots. After a series of mutinies and some atrocities on both sides the war settles into a slow, lengthy struggle.
This is a Forever War scenario, as it can take weeks or longer for communication between worlds, and some areas can be cut off completely from the home government. The story proceeds piecemeal, as events happen and it takes months for either side to know the outcome of battles. Political processes take place across the galaxy in seclusion, with many space navy battles scattered throughout. The politics are interesting, and the space battles are particularly well described. Success and failure follow each other on both sides, and neither side seems to have the upper hand.
This is a really good book about how people stumble into war, with the corrupt home government precipitating a conflict that benefits only a few oligarchs at the expense of a surprisingly robust worlds who would just want to have their voices heard. Really heavy on naval engagements, so if war porn is your thing it's all good, otherwise not so much.
This is a Forever War scenario, as it can take weeks or longer for communication between worlds, and some areas can be cut off completely from the home government. The story proceeds piecemeal, as events happen and it takes months for either side to know the outcome of battles. Political processes take place across the galaxy in seclusion, with many space navy battles scattered throughout. The politics are interesting, and the space battles are particularly well described. Success and failure follow each other on both sides, and neither side seems to have the upper hand.
This is a really good book about how people stumble into war, with the corrupt home government precipitating a conflict that benefits only a few oligarchs at the expense of a surprisingly robust worlds who would just want to have their voices heard. Really heavy on naval engagements, so if war porn is your thing it's all good, otherwise not so much.
December 29, 2024
Lu en anglais
Tome 1 de la série Starfire
Les mondes de la bordure (Fringe) se développent rapidement en nombre de planètes et en population au déplaisir des mondes plus internes (proches de la terre d'origine). Si cela continue, les mondes internes vont perdre leur suprématie en chambre. Ils décident donc de l'intégration, dans la fédération, des anciens ennemis extraterrestres , les habitants d'Orion pour maintenir leur majorité. Les mondes de la bordure ne peuvent l'accepter et décident de faire sécession. Mais...
Une histoire, dans une fédération de planètes, inspirée de la guerre civile américaine : les colonies contre le pouvoir central. Un beau terrain pour les auteurs pour mettre en situation des vaisseaux et des batailles spatiales spectaculaires. Et c'est sans compter les commandants de chaque côté : des stratèges de haut niveau.
Encore une fois David weber, aidé de Steve White, nous amène dans une histoire tout feu, tout flammes avec ses considérations politiques mais surtout ses batailles spatiales qui nous laissent haletants au bord de notre chaise. On a droit droit à des vaisseaux de différents types inspirés de la marine militaire, des porte-aéronefs aux destroyers en passant par les croiseurs et les cuirassés géants. Il y a aussi le centre de recherches spatiales qui pourrait avantager le premier champ qui va mettre la main dessus.
Bien sûr, J'ai beaucoup aimé. En science-fiction militaire, David Weber est vraiment une valeur sûre. J'enchaine sur le tome suivant.
Tome 1 de la série Starfire
Les mondes de la bordure (Fringe) se développent rapidement en nombre de planètes et en population au déplaisir des mondes plus internes (proches de la terre d'origine). Si cela continue, les mondes internes vont perdre leur suprématie en chambre. Ils décident donc de l'intégration, dans la fédération, des anciens ennemis extraterrestres , les habitants d'Orion pour maintenir leur majorité. Les mondes de la bordure ne peuvent l'accepter et décident de faire sécession. Mais...
Une histoire, dans une fédération de planètes, inspirée de la guerre civile américaine : les colonies contre le pouvoir central. Un beau terrain pour les auteurs pour mettre en situation des vaisseaux et des batailles spatiales spectaculaires. Et c'est sans compter les commandants de chaque côté : des stratèges de haut niveau.
Encore une fois David weber, aidé de Steve White, nous amène dans une histoire tout feu, tout flammes avec ses considérations politiques mais surtout ses batailles spatiales qui nous laissent haletants au bord de notre chaise. On a droit droit à des vaisseaux de différents types inspirés de la marine militaire, des porte-aéronefs aux destroyers en passant par les croiseurs et les cuirassés géants. Il y a aussi le centre de recherches spatiales qui pourrait avantager le premier champ qui va mettre la main dessus.
Bien sûr, J'ai beaucoup aimé. En science-fiction militaire, David Weber est vraiment une valeur sûre. J'enchaine sur le tome suivant.
January 8, 2026
(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)
I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.
I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)
First time read the author's work?: No
Will you be reading more?: Yes
Would you recommend?: Yes
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.
First time read the author's work?: No
Will you be reading more?: Yes
Would you recommend?: Yes
------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)
All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked
Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)
July 15, 2019
It's not a bad book. The pacing is good, with the authors skipping over periods of inaction to the next event of importance, rather than dwelling on all the down time between major events. Also, there are a number of strong female characters
Most of the characters do have a tendency towards being unrealistically competent, a flaw in many works of military fiction, but this is modified somewhat by most characters also having at least some flaws.
The biggest problem, and it doesn't come up too often, is that this retelling of the American Revolution in space is a bit heavy handed at times. It’s also quite comical when the main “founding father” character reflects on how he’s the “real” conservative after having disparaging thoughts about “liberals” in a crisis situation brought about by the setting's equivalent of a politically active billionaire. I’m hoping that such a lack of awareness was meant to be a flaw in the character.
Most of the characters do have a tendency towards being unrealistically competent, a flaw in many works of military fiction, but this is modified somewhat by most characters also having at least some flaws.
The biggest problem, and it doesn't come up too often, is that this retelling of the American Revolution in space is a bit heavy handed at times. It’s also quite comical when the main “founding father” character reflects on how he’s the “real” conservative after having disparaging thoughts about “liberals” in a crisis situation brought about by the setting's equivalent of a politically active billionaire. I’m hoping that such a lack of awareness was meant to be a flaw in the character.
September 2, 2019
Weber, David, and Steve White. Insurrection. Starfire, Book 1. Baen, 1990.
Insurrection is an early example of the kind of straightforward military space opera that David Weber has become famous for. It began as a wargame, which means it is high on the action scale with some complex world-building. There is a multi-system federation that is closely tied to Earth culture, but the more distant systems are less tied to the mother planet. Civil war ensues when a popular federation politician is assassinated. From then on, we are interested in the relationships between the military leaders on both sides as well as the movements of fleets and the development and deployment of weapons. Patrick O’Brien and Isaac Asimov are strong influences.
Insurrection is an early example of the kind of straightforward military space opera that David Weber has become famous for. It began as a wargame, which means it is high on the action scale with some complex world-building. There is a multi-system federation that is closely tied to Earth culture, but the more distant systems are less tied to the mother planet. Civil war ensues when a popular federation politician is assassinated. From then on, we are interested in the relationships between the military leaders on both sides as well as the movements of fleets and the development and deployment of weapons. Patrick O’Brien and Isaac Asimov are strong influences.
January 29, 2021
I'll start with the good: Epic space battles (lots of epic space battles, many with correlation to famous battles on Earth), a competent plot, and a pretty enjoyable tech base. If you read much Weber, you are looking for the space battles and this book delivered on that front. The characters were all pretty much either variations of heroic warrior who does their duty as they see it, or villains with almost no redeeming qualities. The writing was adequate, it got a little over the top here and there, but didn't detract from the enjoyment of the book. There were some anachronisms that were a bit jarring (mainly references to Asian characters) and the flaws in the book put it at a three star book for me, but a strong recommendation to fans of the genre.
September 20, 2019
For someone familiar with the game "Starfire", this is an interesting novelisation of what is obviously an actual gameplay experience. The book has a real sense of belong in a pre-existing story line. However, because the book attempts to cover so much ground, it is forced to approach things as a collection of short story lines. This reduces the overall cohesiveness of the book. The book does succeed at presenting and resolving a situation between two well matched powers and provides appropriate tension in wondering which side will triumph.
October 6, 2020
Frustrating politics between inner and fringe humans results in war, in a frustrating but likely fashion. I enjoyed this multi-strung space battle with bits of politics and tiny peeks into personal headspace.
Wish the cat aliens were actually used in the story at all. They're like window dressing.
Book stands alone well. Doesn't need other books in order to be interesting. Started second book and stopped because it was religious zealotry.
Wish the cat aliens were actually used in the story at all. They're like window dressing.
Book stands alone well. Doesn't need other books in order to be interesting. Started second book and stopped because it was religious zealotry.
May 3, 2024
3.5, rounded up to 4 for Goodreads. Note: I did not know this was based on the Starfire table-top game before reading this. I enjoyed reading this military sci-fi, which kind of reminded me of Tom Clancy's Red Rising (but in space). It starts out pretty dense with names and terminology, but it sinks in pretty quickly letting you enjoy the plot. The ending is satisfying, and I'll read more in the series.
April 1, 2023
This book is a surprisingly lifht and quick read compared to the two previous books insurrection comes after the arachnid war and id defibitely aleap forward afterward there arent dozens of pages oftechnobabble the characters are-less memorable thanin previous books but all of them are fine the world building is solidand i really enjoyed this book the ending is a pleasant surprise
November 27, 2024
This may have been published first but it's really the 4th book in the series. It's not critical to know what takes place in the first 3 but it is helpful and I would recommend reading this book 4th just for the background knowledge of the other species that are mentioned and the spacial relationships of various star systems and warp points.
June 16, 2021
Just a solid mil. sci-fi. The story is somewhat reminiscent of the American colonies' war for independence. Since this book seems self-contained, I'm curious to see where the series will go from here.
June 24, 2022
Good space opera book. Not sure why it took me so long to read it. Didn't pick it up often, but when I did, didn't want to stop reading. *shrug* Good characters, solid plot, turned out about the way I figured it would. Looking forward to the next one in the series.
July 19, 2017
It is an interesting book, politically very relevant at times. And a bit more intimate than the other books in the series.
August 31, 2020
this was a very good story but also it was interesting seeing the sides form and how people reacted. the characters wear memorable. i listened to it on audio book
October 19, 2020
Much faster pace than the Honorverse series. Look forward to the rest of the series.
April 1, 2021
An interesting space opera.
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