The White Regiment

The Regiment #2

by John Dalmas

This long awaited companion novel to The Regiment finds those legendary warriors training the first test regiment of teenagers--the first ever White Regiment. But teenagers who make the perfect warriors are about as easy to train and control as wildcats. And there's little time to whip them into shape before the horrendous Klestronu unleash their massive firepower on the inexperienced regiment.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Military Science Fiction

406 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

About the author

John Dalmas—pseudonym for John Robert Jones—wrote many books based on military and governmental themes throughout his career. He grew up in Minnesota and Michigan and resided in Spokane, Washington. He was a parachute infantryman in WWII and was discharged in 1946 without ever being put seriously in harm's way. He has worked as a longshoreman, merchant seaman, logger, construction worker, and smokejumper. He attended Michigan State University, majoring in forestry, but also took creative writing.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

On the one hand, this is a feat of worldbuilding, complete with a complicated philosophical system known as the T'sel, which constituted a build up for the next volume in the series, which promises a major war between two human empires and perhans an alien one as well. On the other hand, this is a real snoozefest as Dalmas explores extensively the T'sel, which is a bit like Taoism, but includes a range of mental powers, like being able to brain 'meld' with another, perhaps see into the future and past, and even contains some reincarnation. Dalmas also extensively depicts the training of the 'White Regiment', the first non-T'swan military force trained under the T'sel.

The leaders of the Confederacy have for decades been studying T'sel and hope that its teachings will reinvigorate the rather moribund Empire to enable it to fight the other human empire that arose out of the ashes of the first human empire in space. The politics of both empires are discussed in detail and I think fans of Weber's work would really enjoy this. The precise, detailed training regime for the White Regiment demonstrates Dalmas's military background for sure. The Regiment is comprised of the 'losers' of the Confederacy; all the 'black-sheep' trouble makers who would otherwise probably be in jail. Their 'natural' aggression will hopefully translate into them becoming warriors...

This is not a bad book, but if you come looking for some action-packed military scifi you will be sorely disappointed. I, however, have reached my fill of T'sel and am not planning on continuing the series. 2 weak stars.

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first pulled this out of my huge plastic bin of old books in my garage, I thought it was going to be cheesy based off the cover. However, it was pretty good. I have been in the military for 25 years. You could tell someone did their homework in that regard. It is sci-fi but did not seem outlandish from a military perspective. I also liked the idea of unpacking (i.e., the psychological aspect) in the book too. The story is decent but not revolutionary. It was an entertaining but not classic book or anything to that effect.

[Scott Holstad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Very good series, although I did prefer the first book over this one.

[Michael Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

As military sf, this author’s work is unusual in giving at least as much space to philosophy as to tactics. Be aware first that this is an immediate sequel to The Regiment, and you should read that first to have any idea what’s going on. A generation has passed since the Kettle War that Varlik Lormagen reported on, and since the Movement began its more public efforts to bring the Confederation out from under its stultifying brainwashing against technological and social innovation, and the decision is made to create a mercenary regiment from social misfits -- “intentive warriors” -- along the lines of the T’swa regiments, to be trained by T’swa veterans. Two-thirds of the book tells that story, detailing the training and psychic and psychological transformation of the recruits. While all this is going on, an exploratory squadron from a theocratic empire some distance away is making its way toward Confederation space, looking for colonizable worlds, and happens upon sparsely-settled Terfreya, where a corps of Confederation cadets has been undergoing training, quite separate from the teenaged proto-mercenaries, and the last third of the narrative is given over to the story of armed resistance to the incursion -- aided considerably by recently discovered teleport technology. Dalmas has a lot to say about what constitutes true “sanity” and also understands tactics and strategy as well as the military mind, and the result is a book that is both exciting and intellectually interesting.

[Roger G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

decent, not great

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I lost track of Dalmas when paperbacks started becoming an issue for my vision, but I particularly liked the Regiment novels. Now with ebooks I may return to Dalmas.