The War Machine

Crisis of Empire #3

by Roger MacBride Allen, David Drake

The Empire had ruined Captain Allison Spencer's life--forcing his wife into the bed of another man and leaving him a junkie--but an alien threat requires that it rehabilitate him

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera

338 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1989

About the author

Roger MacBride Allen is a US science fiction author of the Corellian Trilogy, consisting of Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. He was born on September 26, 1957 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He grew up in Washington D.C. and graduated from Boston University in 1979. The author of a dozen science-fiction novels, he lived in Washington D.C., for many years. In July 1994, he married Eleanre Fox, a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. Her current assignment takes them to Brasilia, Brazil, where they lived from 2007 to 2009.

Reviews

[Bob Koester · Rating 4 out of 5]

My re-read of this series continues! Or rather, the re-read concludes, the first-time-read will soon begin with the hitherto unknown book 4.

This book really kicks the series into a higher gear. The first two had pretty good antagonists, mainly because of the clever plans they'd put in place before the books began, but this one has frankly terrifying ones. It also ties into the previous book much more, although I'm now realizing that this is more of a "shared world" than a tight book series, especially as the non-David-Drake co-authors (who are different each book) seem to be in the driver's seat.

The main female is also much more of a force here than in the previous two. The others fell into the "intelligent, beautiful, spunky, loving" category familiar from 60s authors like Heinlein, who were an advance on earlier heroines because they showed how worthy they were of being rescued rather than being totally passive objects, but still at core were just an adjunct of the hero. The character of Suss here, on the other hand, is more flawed and more powerful, at many times (including the final fight) putting herself at the center of the action and the danger and facing the consequences herself.

It also continues the speculations about space warfare and space politics, and takes one piece of technology ubiquitous in the first two books in a whole new direction. The primacy of the horror plot (and some new technology tying directly into it) leaves less room for the Imperial stuff, but the tradeoff is worthwhile.

It doesn't quite make 5 because it peaks about two-thirds of the way through, and because there are considerable plot questions unanswered. But I'm looking forward to the fourth book more than ever, while being very glad I didn't rely on my 20+ year-old memories of the first three.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series gets better as it goes along! Highly recommended. Great space opera; this time the enemy is a bitter foe of all living beings.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid story with some nice emotional punches. Unfortunately, it does not continue the Pact intergalactic plot, instead focusing on a "bad alien" fairly localised threat.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Capt Allison Spencer became a junkie when his marriage was dissolved for reasons of state. He bacame the man to defeat a collective alien before it could escape from the system and infect the rest of the known universe.

[Papal Bull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it was the best of the three novels in the Pact series. The series was not Drake's best work but it could easily be attributable to the fact that it was some of his earliest work.