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Carerra #1
A Desert Called Peace
Hard hitting military SF adventure from a retired infantry commander.
HE RAISED AN ARMY AGAINST THOSE WHO TOOK EVERYTHING FROM HIM
They should have picked their enemies more carefully.
Five centuries from now, on a remarkably Earthlike planet that is mankind's sole colony in space, religious fanatics called the ""Salafi Ikhwan"" have murdered the uncle of former colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake, because uncle was rich and Hennessey was rather a good colonel. But they also murdered Hennessey's wife, Linda, and their three small children, and that was their worst mistake for she was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.
From the pile of rubble and the pillar of fire that mark the last resting place of Linda Hennessey and her children arises a new warrior—Carrera, scourge of the Salafis. He will forge an army of ruthless fanatics from the decrepit remains of failed state's military. He will wage war across half a world. He will find those who killed his family. He will destroy them, and those who support them, utterly, completely, without restraint or remorse.
Only when he is finished will there be the peace of an empty wind as it blows across a desert strewn with the bones of Carrera's enemies.
HE RAISED AN ARMY AGAINST THOSE WHO TOOK EVERYTHING FROM HIM
They should have picked their enemies more carefully.
Five centuries from now, on a remarkably Earthlike planet that is mankind's sole colony in space, religious fanatics called the ""Salafi Ikhwan"" have murdered the uncle of former colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake, because uncle was rich and Hennessey was rather a good colonel. But they also murdered Hennessey's wife, Linda, and their three small children, and that was their worst mistake for she was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.
From the pile of rubble and the pillar of fire that mark the last resting place of Linda Hennessey and her children arises a new warrior—Carrera, scourge of the Salafis. He will forge an army of ruthless fanatics from the decrepit remains of failed state's military. He will wage war across half a world. He will find those who killed his family. He will destroy them, and those who support them, utterly, completely, without restraint or remorse.
Only when he is finished will there be the peace of an empty wind as it blows across a desert strewn with the bones of Carrera's enemies.
1024 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 4, 2007
191 people are currently reading
827 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
January 21, 2012
This book sure had me fooled. The cover caught my eye, the title was intriguing (though Biblical) and the description sounded pretty good. However, I did not finish this book. But, I did read enough of it to see it for what it was.
I know that some Military Sci-Fi gives plenty of nods to the right wing. And I'm fine with that, even being the radical liberal that I am who devours every word that David Weber writes. But for the love of God this book was just pure fucking hate speech. This book hits the trifecta here with sexism, racism, homophobia; all of which are BLATANTLY shoved in your face. So if you like hate and bigotry shoved down your throat in an ignorant Fox news type of way by means of a poorly written sci-fi epic this book is for you.
I sincerely wish I had done some research before buying this book as I now regret that such a hateful, vile doucheturd has 7 dollars and 99 cents of my hard earned money. Or however much Baen gave him. Shame on you, Baen.
Mr. Kratman, go fuck yourself.
I know that some Military Sci-Fi gives plenty of nods to the right wing. And I'm fine with that, even being the radical liberal that I am who devours every word that David Weber writes. But for the love of God this book was just pure fucking hate speech. This book hits the trifecta here with sexism, racism, homophobia; all of which are BLATANTLY shoved in your face. So if you like hate and bigotry shoved down your throat in an ignorant Fox news type of way by means of a poorly written sci-fi epic this book is for you.
I sincerely wish I had done some research before buying this book as I now regret that such a hateful, vile doucheturd has 7 dollars and 99 cents of my hard earned money. Or however much Baen gave him. Shame on you, Baen.
Mr. Kratman, go fuck yourself.
April 22, 2009
If you can get past the blatant racism, sexism and homophobia in this book, and you don't mind that it's really just a mediocre war novel posing as SF, it's almost readable. Unfortunately, those two flaws are so glaring that, in the end, I have to consider this one of the single worst SF novels I have read in my life.
Let me skip the values issue for now and start with explaining why this is a war novel posing as SF. The story is set on Terra Nova, an earth-like planet that was colonized about 500 years before the start of the story. Earth has shipped parts of the population of most countries to this planet. These then conveniently settled in areas similar to where they lived on Earth, even generally maintaining the same neighbors. So, for example, "Volga" are the Russians, "Sumer" is Iraq, "Farsia" is Iran, and so on. In an amazing feat of imagination, the continent on which the EU settles is shaped somewhat like a bull, so naturally it's called "Tauros" and the "Tauran Union". Next, the author comes up some nonsensical reason why this planet only has technology equivalent to that of Earth in the early 21st century (despite the fact that 25th century technology was used to settle it). Then, for some odd reason, every country still appears to have the exact same political and religious values and affiliations as they did in the 21st century. So, conveniently, Sumer/Iraq is ruled by a vicious dictator who doesn't like the FS (Federated States) much after the "Oil War" of a few years ago. At the start of the story, Pashtia (Afghanistan) organizes a terrorist attack that brings down a big skyscraper in the FS (on 7/11 of course). This leads to war with Pashtia and, later on, Sumer, although in this version of history, Sumer actually did have weapons of mass destruction. The wife of main character and ex-military Patrick Hennessy was in the skyscraper that came down, so he swears vengeance, puts together an army (with 21st century technology of course) and wages war on Iraq - sorry, Sumer.
I found all of this really depressing. To me, SF is the literature of ideas and innovation. New inventions. Exciting technology. Sociological experiments. It's the future, everything is possible! Instead, in this book, you basically get a lukewarm version of the present day. Zero creativity. How sad.
So, in terms of the values: the author, politically speaking, appears to be somewhat to the right of Rush Limbaugh. I imagine his target audience are people like Donald Rumsfeld, who probably would get off on reading some of this nonsense. It's hard to choose where to begin. Kratman displays an ongoing and deep disdain for anything liberal and progressive. Almost every progressive character in the novel is a sniveling idiot. The main one, charmingly, is assassinated while giving BJ's in the bathroom of a gay club. The poisonous plants and weed on Terra Nova have names like "progressivines" and "bolsheweeds". Organizations such as Amnesty Interplanetary are run by gullible incompetents. The biggest culprit is of course the UEPF (United Earth Peace Fleet -- basically the UN), which is not only useless and corrupt but also actively out to harm the sovereignty of every state. They actually sponsor some of the terrorist acts against the FS. One of their former leaders, a descendant of Kofi Annan, is at some point shown hunting for female slaves in the colonist population. What else? Oh, the press! The press is of course evil (the main character frequently refers to them as the enemy) and tries to discredit the FS army whenever it can. At some point a Global News Network (GNN) crew tries to fake evidence of atrocities by moving corpses around and so on. They later help the leader of the Sumerian insurgency escape, and are of course executed.
Remember that army Hennessy is putting together? Guess how many women are in it? Wait, no, I'm wrong --- there are a couple of female housekeepers and secretaries, one of whom of course falls in love with Our Hero. Every one else is male, and the women are mainly there to have babies and service the men. (Edit: I just realize I forgot to mention the contingent of "whores" that are there to service the men.)
And then there's the racism. It's not just limited to calling Arabs "wogs" at several instances throughout the book: almost every ethnic group in this book is reduced to the very crudest stereotype.
What else... Well, there are no rounded characters to speak of - they're all one-dimensional caricatures. The plot is horribly predictable. The characters occasionally burst out in paragraph-long "lecture" dialogues about the virtues of a specific type of tank, the law of war or the necessity of torture. Still, I could forgive those comparably minor flaws if not for all the other issues I described above.
If Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter had a child, home-schooled it, and fed it a constant diet of war movies and Fox News, it might come up with a novel like this one by the time it was 14 or so. I still can't believe I read the entire 975 pages of this crap!
Let me skip the values issue for now and start with explaining why this is a war novel posing as SF. The story is set on Terra Nova, an earth-like planet that was colonized about 500 years before the start of the story. Earth has shipped parts of the population of most countries to this planet. These then conveniently settled in areas similar to where they lived on Earth, even generally maintaining the same neighbors. So, for example, "Volga" are the Russians, "Sumer" is Iraq, "Farsia" is Iran, and so on. In an amazing feat of imagination, the continent on which the EU settles is shaped somewhat like a bull, so naturally it's called "Tauros" and the "Tauran Union". Next, the author comes up some nonsensical reason why this planet only has technology equivalent to that of Earth in the early 21st century (despite the fact that 25th century technology was used to settle it). Then, for some odd reason, every country still appears to have the exact same political and religious values and affiliations as they did in the 21st century. So, conveniently, Sumer/Iraq is ruled by a vicious dictator who doesn't like the FS (Federated States) much after the "Oil War" of a few years ago. At the start of the story, Pashtia (Afghanistan) organizes a terrorist attack that brings down a big skyscraper in the FS (on 7/11 of course). This leads to war with Pashtia and, later on, Sumer, although in this version of history, Sumer actually did have weapons of mass destruction. The wife of main character and ex-military Patrick Hennessy was in the skyscraper that came down, so he swears vengeance, puts together an army (with 21st century technology of course) and wages war on Iraq - sorry, Sumer.
I found all of this really depressing. To me, SF is the literature of ideas and innovation. New inventions. Exciting technology. Sociological experiments. It's the future, everything is possible! Instead, in this book, you basically get a lukewarm version of the present day. Zero creativity. How sad.
So, in terms of the values: the author, politically speaking, appears to be somewhat to the right of Rush Limbaugh. I imagine his target audience are people like Donald Rumsfeld, who probably would get off on reading some of this nonsense. It's hard to choose where to begin. Kratman displays an ongoing and deep disdain for anything liberal and progressive. Almost every progressive character in the novel is a sniveling idiot. The main one, charmingly, is assassinated while giving BJ's in the bathroom of a gay club. The poisonous plants and weed on Terra Nova have names like "progressivines" and "bolsheweeds". Organizations such as Amnesty Interplanetary are run by gullible incompetents. The biggest culprit is of course the UEPF (United Earth Peace Fleet -- basically the UN), which is not only useless and corrupt but also actively out to harm the sovereignty of every state. They actually sponsor some of the terrorist acts against the FS. One of their former leaders, a descendant of Kofi Annan, is at some point shown hunting for female slaves in the colonist population. What else? Oh, the press! The press is of course evil (the main character frequently refers to them as the enemy) and tries to discredit the FS army whenever it can. At some point a Global News Network (GNN) crew tries to fake evidence of atrocities by moving corpses around and so on. They later help the leader of the Sumerian insurgency escape, and are of course executed.
Remember that army Hennessy is putting together? Guess how many women are in it? Wait, no, I'm wrong --- there are a couple of female housekeepers and secretaries, one of whom of course falls in love with Our Hero. Every one else is male, and the women are mainly there to have babies and service the men. (Edit: I just realize I forgot to mention the contingent of "whores" that are there to service the men.)
And then there's the racism. It's not just limited to calling Arabs "wogs" at several instances throughout the book: almost every ethnic group in this book is reduced to the very crudest stereotype.
What else... Well, there are no rounded characters to speak of - they're all one-dimensional caricatures. The plot is horribly predictable. The characters occasionally burst out in paragraph-long "lecture" dialogues about the virtues of a specific type of tank, the law of war or the necessity of torture. Still, I could forgive those comparably minor flaws if not for all the other issues I described above.
If Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter had a child, home-schooled it, and fed it a constant diet of war movies and Fox News, it might come up with a novel like this one by the time it was 14 or so. I still can't believe I read the entire 975 pages of this crap!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2013
Excellent, excellent book! In many ways this is a retelling of the past decade, from a particular perspective, with altered names and (slightly) altered histories for some of the characters involved. As someone who actually was part of the war in "Sumer", I've got to say I agree with many, maybe all of his ideas about how the war would have been better fought... taking into account the psychology and culture of the enemies (both foreign and domestic).
The characters are engaging, the action always gripping... I do tend to skim through some of the drier sections describing military tactics in detail, or lovingly describing the resulting carnage, but that's more my taste than anything else. If I'd read this before Book 4 (The Amazon Legion), I might have mentioned wanting some female characters who are more than traditional help-meets, but LTC Kratman does an excellent job there of showing how tough women can be.
I am amused by the reviewers who can't handle the (admittedly preachy) tone of the book... I'm sure they're in great agreement with the Kosmos of the story. You can't control 100% of the narrative 100% of the time, I guess, which is a grave disappointment to some. Since I've had to sit through more stories than I can count heavy-handedly beating their own dead horses of causes, my sympathy for those politically offended by the existence of this book is small, perhaps nonexistent. I will say: if your blood boils at hearing a viewpoint different than your own, perhaps this book is not for you.
The characters are engaging, the action always gripping... I do tend to skim through some of the drier sections describing military tactics in detail, or lovingly describing the resulting carnage, but that's more my taste than anything else. If I'd read this before Book 4 (The Amazon Legion), I might have mentioned wanting some female characters who are more than traditional help-meets, but LTC Kratman does an excellent job there of showing how tough women can be.
I am amused by the reviewers who can't handle the (admittedly preachy) tone of the book... I'm sure they're in great agreement with the Kosmos of the story. You can't control 100% of the narrative 100% of the time, I guess, which is a grave disappointment to some. Since I've had to sit through more stories than I can count heavy-handedly beating their own dead horses of causes, my sympathy for those politically offended by the existence of this book is small, perhaps nonexistent. I will say: if your blood boils at hearing a viewpoint different than your own, perhaps this book is not for you.
November 7, 2021
I have read a few novels Kratman co-authored with Ringo, but this is the first solo novel I have read of his. ADCP is a (very) thinly veiled 're-imagination' if you will of the current 'war on terror' set on another, earth-like planet. First off, let me say that this has more triggers than a truck load of AK-47s and Kratman is not shy at all about it. Nonetheless, I found it a compelling read and I agree with the cover blurb that deems it "disturbing but insightful." If you approach this from a 'liberal' perspective, you will be challenged repeatedly, and forcefully, by the situations and content.
Terra Nova, the planet where most of this story takes place, was found by accident around 2060 or so by a space probe. Remarkably Earth like, it even had flora and fauna of Earth's extraction (along with some surprises), and is reached via a 'rift' in space. Kratman gives us a very dystopian account of Earth at this juncture. Europe is basically under a socialist authoritarian government and working to make it a single Earth government. The USA, however, is still doing well, as are other nations outside of Europe's orbit. This is par for the course Kratman, who repeatedly demonizes most if not all aspects of a social welfare state, and in particular, people in government in general.
In any case, Earth decides to unload its 'troubles', e.g., discontents, on the new planet, and the settlement pattern that emerges is basically Earth 2.0. Flash forward 500 years or so and the story on Terra Nova begins. Terra Nova basically has the about the same level of technology as the early 21st century, and politically, is very similar to Earth in that time period (e.g., now). Our main protagonist, Pat Carrera, is an ex military guy 'retired' and living in Balboa ('Panama') but from the Federated States of Columbia ('USA').
The background dynamics are that Earth 1.0 is falling apart. It has a 'peace fleet' over Nova Terra that can nuke it, but the FSC have built enough of their own nukes to take out the fleet, so, basically MAD (mutually assured destruction) ensues. Earth does have an enclave on Terra Nova and through it, attempts to influence politics there planet wide. What Earth (or at least the Admiral of the peace fleet) wants in instability, for he realizes that Terra Nova is progressing rapidly and will soon be able to challenge the peace fleet, and even Earth itself. Hence, they help induce an Islamic terrorist organization to disrupt things, especially the FSC. We are 'treated', therefore, with some planes flying into huge skyscrapers in the capital of FSC just like in 9/11, and the FSC goes invades Sumar ('Iraq') as a result.
Now, our protagonist Carrera had his wife and kids killed in the above terrorist action and he vows to make the organizers of the atrocity pay. To do so, he first must build up an army, really a massive military force with navel and Air components, and get into the fight. Much of the book concerns this and I will stop with the plotting here.
I can definitely see the controversy this book boldly plunges into. Kratman takes very thinly veiled potshots at most NGOs ('give them a real scare-- audit them!'), 'cosmopolitan' liberals, and various 'do gooders' of all stripes. Carrera knows that to fight a war with terrorists, one has to 'match the crazy' so to speak. Just like in Iraq, the FSC gets bogged down after quickly overrunning Sumer, but Carrera's legion (basically he hired out his legion to the FSC) is doing quite well, actually, winning the hearts and minds of the Sumerians, while the FSC's and NGO's portion of the nation is falling deeper into rebellion and strife. Why? Good old capitalist principles and a ruthlessness that makes eye for an eye seem a little tame.
Kratman gives us here a philosophy of war here that really is ruthless, but then again, war is all about killing after all for one cause or another. Kratman obviously has a military background and a lot of the story involves 'inside baseball'. Soldiers on each side are respected and treated fairly unless they commit atrocities and then all bets are off. He paints a rather ugly picture of Fundamentalist Islam for sure, but he is careful here as Islam (or any religion) is not the enemy; it is terrorists using Islam that are. So we get our parallel Bin Laden hiding in a cave in Afghanistan and an ugly counter-insurgency in Sumer. Repeatedly, Kratman links various aid organizations and the media in general as sympathetic to the terrorists, and hence they become the enemy as well. There is some truth here, as hypocrisy does infest many institutions and yes, the mainstream media have become simply propaganda for the most part today.
I had bigger issues with how Kratman conflated most attempts at a welfare state as basically some sort of slow slide into a Soviet system. Old Earth is now being run by 'one party' and most of the population are slaves (proles); all due, of course, to liberal do-gooders in Europe influencing institutions like the UN to their agenda. All we need are black helicopters! The dichotomy of 'free markets' versus Soviet communism is false of course. Also, female characters really get the short shrift here all around, but that has to do with the societies in the story. Kratman seems to take issue with 'traditional' Islamic treatment of women quite explicitly and openly.
Finally, Kratman can really deliver on action, and I am something of a military science fiction junkie. Do I recommend this book? Maybe. If you like Ringo's work, or Webber's, you will probably really enjoy this. If you have a low trigger threshold, probably best to stay away. I will be looking into the sequels, however. 4 stars!
Terra Nova, the planet where most of this story takes place, was found by accident around 2060 or so by a space probe. Remarkably Earth like, it even had flora and fauna of Earth's extraction (along with some surprises), and is reached via a 'rift' in space. Kratman gives us a very dystopian account of Earth at this juncture. Europe is basically under a socialist authoritarian government and working to make it a single Earth government. The USA, however, is still doing well, as are other nations outside of Europe's orbit. This is par for the course Kratman, who repeatedly demonizes most if not all aspects of a social welfare state, and in particular, people in government in general.
In any case, Earth decides to unload its 'troubles', e.g., discontents, on the new planet, and the settlement pattern that emerges is basically Earth 2.0. Flash forward 500 years or so and the story on Terra Nova begins. Terra Nova basically has the about the same level of technology as the early 21st century, and politically, is very similar to Earth in that time period (e.g., now). Our main protagonist, Pat Carrera, is an ex military guy 'retired' and living in Balboa ('Panama') but from the Federated States of Columbia ('USA').
The background dynamics are that Earth 1.0 is falling apart. It has a 'peace fleet' over Nova Terra that can nuke it, but the FSC have built enough of their own nukes to take out the fleet, so, basically MAD (mutually assured destruction) ensues. Earth does have an enclave on Terra Nova and through it, attempts to influence politics there planet wide. What Earth (or at least the Admiral of the peace fleet) wants in instability, for he realizes that Terra Nova is progressing rapidly and will soon be able to challenge the peace fleet, and even Earth itself. Hence, they help induce an Islamic terrorist organization to disrupt things, especially the FSC. We are 'treated', therefore, with some planes flying into huge skyscrapers in the capital of FSC just like in 9/11, and the FSC goes invades Sumar ('Iraq') as a result.
Now, our protagonist Carrera had his wife and kids killed in the above terrorist action and he vows to make the organizers of the atrocity pay. To do so, he first must build up an army, really a massive military force with navel and Air components, and get into the fight. Much of the book concerns this and I will stop with the plotting here.
I can definitely see the controversy this book boldly plunges into. Kratman takes very thinly veiled potshots at most NGOs ('give them a real scare-- audit them!'), 'cosmopolitan' liberals, and various 'do gooders' of all stripes. Carrera knows that to fight a war with terrorists, one has to 'match the crazy' so to speak. Just like in Iraq, the FSC gets bogged down after quickly overrunning Sumer, but Carrera's legion (basically he hired out his legion to the FSC) is doing quite well, actually, winning the hearts and minds of the Sumerians, while the FSC's and NGO's portion of the nation is falling deeper into rebellion and strife. Why? Good old capitalist principles and a ruthlessness that makes eye for an eye seem a little tame.
Kratman gives us here a philosophy of war here that really is ruthless, but then again, war is all about killing after all for one cause or another. Kratman obviously has a military background and a lot of the story involves 'inside baseball'. Soldiers on each side are respected and treated fairly unless they commit atrocities and then all bets are off. He paints a rather ugly picture of Fundamentalist Islam for sure, but he is careful here as Islam (or any religion) is not the enemy; it is terrorists using Islam that are. So we get our parallel Bin Laden hiding in a cave in Afghanistan and an ugly counter-insurgency in Sumer. Repeatedly, Kratman links various aid organizations and the media in general as sympathetic to the terrorists, and hence they become the enemy as well. There is some truth here, as hypocrisy does infest many institutions and yes, the mainstream media have become simply propaganda for the most part today.
I had bigger issues with how Kratman conflated most attempts at a welfare state as basically some sort of slow slide into a Soviet system. Old Earth is now being run by 'one party' and most of the population are slaves (proles); all due, of course, to liberal do-gooders in Europe influencing institutions like the UN to their agenda. All we need are black helicopters! The dichotomy of 'free markets' versus Soviet communism is false of course. Also, female characters really get the short shrift here all around, but that has to do with the societies in the story. Kratman seems to take issue with 'traditional' Islamic treatment of women quite explicitly and openly.
Finally, Kratman can really deliver on action, and I am something of a military science fiction junkie. Do I recommend this book? Maybe. If you like Ringo's work, or Webber's, you will probably really enjoy this. If you have a low trigger threshold, probably best to stay away. I will be looking into the sequels, however. 4 stars!
March 10, 2014
Wish I hadn't picked this up...or that I didn't pick up a few of the sequels on the off chance it'd be good.
On the upside there is a fair bit of action....on the downside it's painfully simplistic. The characters have no depth and nothing seems to derail the main character's progress - and I can't help wonder if the author is projecting a little of himself into this character.
None of the violence/torture aspects bothered me, nor the portrayal of some of the baddies (might as well use the simplistic term for this simplistic book) officers as being child raping homosexuals. What bothered me was the lack of complexity or depth to the plot, our hero simply brushes aside any obstacle with nothing more than a firm handshake and lecture to one of his subordinates in most cases.
Overall this seems a bit of a wish fulfilment fantasy that a angry teenager might write, interspersed with lectures on how the Left wing/Islam are bad and the Right wing/Christianity are good.
This might appeal to children or those with a very narrow world view but sadly lacks any real hook....I shall wade through the other books I picked up on a whim just in case things improve but I fear they won't
On the upside there is a fair bit of action....on the downside it's painfully simplistic. The characters have no depth and nothing seems to derail the main character's progress - and I can't help wonder if the author is projecting a little of himself into this character.
None of the violence/torture aspects bothered me, nor the portrayal of some of the baddies (might as well use the simplistic term for this simplistic book) officers as being child raping homosexuals. What bothered me was the lack of complexity or depth to the plot, our hero simply brushes aside any obstacle with nothing more than a firm handshake and lecture to one of his subordinates in most cases.
Overall this seems a bit of a wish fulfilment fantasy that a angry teenager might write, interspersed with lectures on how the Left wing/Islam are bad and the Right wing/Christianity are good.
This might appeal to children or those with a very narrow world view but sadly lacks any real hook....I shall wade through the other books I picked up on a whim just in case things improve but I fear they won't
September 29, 2011
I held off writing a review of this book, mainly because it's a book surely to piss a lot of people off. But since, for all intents and purposes, the new tv series "Terra Nova" feels like a ideological rebuttal to ADCP, I figured, what the hell?
In the near future, some five hundred years in the main storyline's past, we stumbled upon a way of getting to a new Earth, a Terra Nova. Through space, not through time, as with the tv show. Surely not the first time this name has been used, and obviously, not the last. As the tv series trots out the usual left-wing tropes (man-made environmental catastrophe, overpopulation, the creation of a utopia, not to mention the distasteful idea of someone other than the government possessing a firearm) Kratman trots out those of the right-wing. Advance five centuries. The progressives and the UN have finally gotten what they wanted on old Earth, much to their chagrin, not that they'll admit it. In keeping with their inability to admit a mistake, they are trying to fix it so Terra Nova not only doesn't escape old Earth's fate but, heaven forbid, that new Earth finds out about old Earth's state. The saying "Socialism's for the people, not the Socialists" comes to mind. One of the best encapsulating lines from the book is in the dedication: "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Try as folks may, some things people fall back on culturally. Namely, how they're going to act and react to the world. Such is the fate of the Terra Novan colonies.
The author is a retired Lt Colonel, veteran of the first Gulf War (a fracas I'm not sorry to say I missed by three days) and the book definitely has a "this is how things should have gone" vibe in regards to the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters in the wake of the September 11th attacks. That's where folks can easily get bogged down. That and the fact that the guy is writing from the right-wing perspective. Something decidedly foreign to folks used to the realms of tv and movies.
There is, of course, a lot more to it than that.
Ultimately, it's a story about the protagonist struggling to keep his humanity in the face of inhumanity in a decidedly gray world. He does things that, on their face, appear utterly monstrous. At least as we've chosen to engage in warfare for the last half century or so. He also does things that show a telling cultural blindspot when it comes to the Islamic world. Which gets into the question of, what is worse? Fighting a total war; holding to the Laws of War (and, if anything, the protagonist is a stickler for the Laws of War) or a selectively targeted war, guided by some, ultimately misguided (in cultural terms), sense of restraint?
Be warned hand-wringers of the last decade; yes, Islamist extremists are the villains of the piece. Well, one of them. History is rhyming here. But the author does handle the Islamic characters (and they are varied, many of whom are far more likeable than many of the gringos ((yes, certain racial terms are used such as wogs and gringos)) in the story) with a cultural understanding that goes well beyond the stereotypical depictions of, say, the Japanese during WWII. Or, say, the Tea Party on MSNBC.
All in all, it's a pretty good (if long) read about a flawed (read: human) character with some other-than-human traits (read: he's quite mad, sort of) in world not of his choosing, yet one he was uniquely created for. I look forward to the next book in the series (which is up to four books now).
In the near future, some five hundred years in the main storyline's past, we stumbled upon a way of getting to a new Earth, a Terra Nova. Through space, not through time, as with the tv show. Surely not the first time this name has been used, and obviously, not the last. As the tv series trots out the usual left-wing tropes (man-made environmental catastrophe, overpopulation, the creation of a utopia, not to mention the distasteful idea of someone other than the government possessing a firearm) Kratman trots out those of the right-wing. Advance five centuries. The progressives and the UN have finally gotten what they wanted on old Earth, much to their chagrin, not that they'll admit it. In keeping with their inability to admit a mistake, they are trying to fix it so Terra Nova not only doesn't escape old Earth's fate but, heaven forbid, that new Earth finds out about old Earth's state. The saying "Socialism's for the people, not the Socialists" comes to mind. One of the best encapsulating lines from the book is in the dedication: "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." Try as folks may, some things people fall back on culturally. Namely, how they're going to act and react to the world. Such is the fate of the Terra Novan colonies.
The author is a retired Lt Colonel, veteran of the first Gulf War (a fracas I'm not sorry to say I missed by three days) and the book definitely has a "this is how things should have gone" vibe in regards to the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters in the wake of the September 11th attacks. That's where folks can easily get bogged down. That and the fact that the guy is writing from the right-wing perspective. Something decidedly foreign to folks used to the realms of tv and movies.
There is, of course, a lot more to it than that.
Ultimately, it's a story about the protagonist struggling to keep his humanity in the face of inhumanity in a decidedly gray world. He does things that, on their face, appear utterly monstrous. At least as we've chosen to engage in warfare for the last half century or so. He also does things that show a telling cultural blindspot when it comes to the Islamic world. Which gets into the question of, what is worse? Fighting a total war; holding to the Laws of War (and, if anything, the protagonist is a stickler for the Laws of War) or a selectively targeted war, guided by some, ultimately misguided (in cultural terms), sense of restraint?
Be warned hand-wringers of the last decade; yes, Islamist extremists are the villains of the piece. Well, one of them. History is rhyming here. But the author does handle the Islamic characters (and they are varied, many of whom are far more likeable than many of the gringos ((yes, certain racial terms are used such as wogs and gringos)) in the story) with a cultural understanding that goes well beyond the stereotypical depictions of, say, the Japanese during WWII. Or, say, the Tea Party on MSNBC.
All in all, it's a pretty good (if long) read about a flawed (read: human) character with some other-than-human traits (read: he's quite mad, sort of) in world not of his choosing, yet one he was uniquely created for. I look forward to the next book in the series (which is up to four books now).
November 5, 2011
Solitudinum faciunt; pacem appellant (They made a desert and called it peace). This quote, by Tacitus, is an observation about the Roman Army and its impact on nations invaded by it.
Centuries from now, on an Earthlike planet that has been colonized by terrestrial humanity, the Salafi Ikhwari, radical religious fanatics, have murdered the uncle of former Colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake. Uncle was rich, and Hennessey had been an able colonel. But they compounded their error egregiously by murdering Hennessey's beautiful wife, Linda, and their three small children -- for Linda was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.
From the burning ruins that mark the last resting place of Linda Hennessey and her children rises a legend: Carrera, Scourge of the Selafis. He will forge Dragon's Jaws whose teeth are ruthless warriors from the degenerate remains of the failed militaries of the world. He will wage war across the world, find those who murdered his family, destroy them and those who support them, totally, without restraint or remorse.
Only when he is finished will peace come at last: the peace of a lonely wind as it blows across deserts strewn with the bones of his enemies. And he will ask himself: Was it worth it? Have I traded my soul for vengeance on my enemies? And what profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process?
Centuries from now, on an Earthlike planet that has been colonized by terrestrial humanity, the Salafi Ikhwari, radical religious fanatics, have murdered the uncle of former Colonel Patrick Hennessey. That was their first mistake. Uncle was rich, and Hennessey had been an able colonel. But they compounded their error egregiously by murdering Hennessey's beautiful wife, Linda, and their three small children -- for Linda was the only restraint Hennessey had ever accepted.
From the burning ruins that mark the last resting place of Linda Hennessey and her children rises a legend: Carrera, Scourge of the Selafis. He will forge Dragon's Jaws whose teeth are ruthless warriors from the degenerate remains of the failed militaries of the world. He will wage war across the world, find those who murdered his family, destroy them and those who support them, totally, without restraint or remorse.
Only when he is finished will peace come at last: the peace of a lonely wind as it blows across deserts strewn with the bones of his enemies. And he will ask himself: Was it worth it? Have I traded my soul for vengeance on my enemies? And what profits a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process?
January 5, 2016
I'm a little at a loss as to how to review this book. I've been a huge fan of MilSF for literally decades, and have read authors from Heinlein to Pournelle to Drake.
This one was different.
I suspect it has something to do with LTC Kratman's war also being my war: I rolled behind 7th Marines in '03 and then watched all or our gains dribble away in the hands of cowardly politicians and a transnational press who lied about what we did with a straight face to an ignorant population that bought it hook, line, and sinker. A Desert Called Peace held a lot of catharsis for one very disillusioned veteran.
Okay, emotional stuff out of the way.
The book itself is a bit of a palimpsest, but then again a lot of good SF is. It reads like a "what we SHOULD have done" for the war, but still had enough fictive elements to make a thoroughly entertaining read. That said, the more, ahem, transparent allusions were still obvious enough to remind me that some of those wounds haven't healed quite as much as I'd like.
A lot of the military stuff is very inside-baseball, and much more specific than, say, Starship Troopers. However, I don't think it is impenetrable to anyone with any kind of military interest, and as someone who understood all the references, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. As an artilleryman, I especially enjoyed his brief but cutting dismissal of our infuriating targeting program and his subsequent coming out in favor of what we like to call "charts and darts." I also found his use of Roman and Imperial German organization to be fascinating (this is part of what I mean by inside-baseball: anyone not familiar with current US Army staff and logistics layout would, I imagine, be at best a bit lost during that particular discussion).
One thing I will cheerfully acknowledge: LTC Kratman knows how to write a good fight! He details both the physical and moral levels of this kind of war in a way I've rarely seen done quite so well. He makes no bones about the why of the fight, and my only criticism is that his characterizations of the UEPF high command and the cosmos seemed almost cartoonish. Mind, I say "almost" because, like the author, I've met people who put his characterizations in the shade; they exist, but seem almost ludicrously cardboard when you read them on the page. His Terrans are an extrapolation of what such people would lead to given more power and with all opposition removed.
In any event, I enjoyed the book. It can be a little heavy handed in places, but overall, story comes first and it's a good one!
This one was different.
I suspect it has something to do with LTC Kratman's war also being my war: I rolled behind 7th Marines in '03 and then watched all or our gains dribble away in the hands of cowardly politicians and a transnational press who lied about what we did with a straight face to an ignorant population that bought it hook, line, and sinker. A Desert Called Peace held a lot of catharsis for one very disillusioned veteran.
Okay, emotional stuff out of the way.
The book itself is a bit of a palimpsest, but then again a lot of good SF is. It reads like a "what we SHOULD have done" for the war, but still had enough fictive elements to make a thoroughly entertaining read. That said, the more, ahem, transparent allusions were still obvious enough to remind me that some of those wounds haven't healed quite as much as I'd like.
A lot of the military stuff is very inside-baseball, and much more specific than, say, Starship Troopers. However, I don't think it is impenetrable to anyone with any kind of military interest, and as someone who understood all the references, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. As an artilleryman, I especially enjoyed his brief but cutting dismissal of our infuriating targeting program and his subsequent coming out in favor of what we like to call "charts and darts." I also found his use of Roman and Imperial German organization to be fascinating (this is part of what I mean by inside-baseball: anyone not familiar with current US Army staff and logistics layout would, I imagine, be at best a bit lost during that particular discussion).
One thing I will cheerfully acknowledge: LTC Kratman knows how to write a good fight! He details both the physical and moral levels of this kind of war in a way I've rarely seen done quite so well. He makes no bones about the why of the fight, and my only criticism is that his characterizations of the UEPF high command and the cosmos seemed almost cartoonish. Mind, I say "almost" because, like the author, I've met people who put his characterizations in the shade; they exist, but seem almost ludicrously cardboard when you read them on the page. His Terrans are an extrapolation of what such people would lead to given more power and with all opposition removed.
In any event, I enjoyed the book. It can be a little heavy handed in places, but overall, story comes first and it's a good one!
November 23, 2014
This was surprisingly good. I had no idea what to expect. I've only read Kratman before in company with John Ringo, and Ringo's voice is so strong, I wasn't sure about Kratman.
Essentially he's a less deliberately offensive Ringo. I mean, there are points of difference of course, and he *does* have his own voice, and it's a good one. But he reminds me of Ringo strongly, just...dialed back. If you already like Ringo, I can say with a high probability that you'll like this book by Kratman. I can't say the reverse however. If you like Kratman, you _may_ like Ringo. You may not. 50/50.
Back to this book, it's good. There's a strong correlation (I assume, it feels like there is) with some recent-ish history, at least in broad strokes. The book is set in the far future, but on a 2nd "Earth" that's really just Earth now as a setting for a scifi book. I'm interested in seeing how the overall story plays out in the series, and how the Legion grows as well. Tons of potential for this to be a great series.
Essentially he's a less deliberately offensive Ringo. I mean, there are points of difference of course, and he *does* have his own voice, and it's a good one. But he reminds me of Ringo strongly, just...dialed back. If you already like Ringo, I can say with a high probability that you'll like this book by Kratman. I can't say the reverse however. If you like Kratman, you _may_ like Ringo. You may not. 50/50.
Back to this book, it's good. There's a strong correlation (I assume, it feels like there is) with some recent-ish history, at least in broad strokes. The book is set in the far future, but on a 2nd "Earth" that's really just Earth now as a setting for a scifi book. I'm interested in seeing how the overall story plays out in the series, and how the Legion grows as well. Tons of potential for this to be a great series.
Read
November 24, 2015I wasn't sure whether to review this book because I've been chatting to the author by email...
This is an divisive read. If you are intolerant of differing political views (and left-wing), you will loathe this. You may physically recoil. You may have to pick skull fragments off your carpet. Partly a polemic about the War on Terror, the author doesn't shy away from tackling extreme violence, political corruption, the ethics of torture or non-western cultures from a extremely right-wing American perspective. It's strong, opinionated and uncompromising and - yep - you may find it offensive.
It is, however, significantly smarter and more thoughtful than the 1* reviews would suggest. The action scenes are reminiscent of Tom Clancy and hauntingly world-weary. The social commentary has a dry, cynical sense of humour and hits target more than its opponents would like.
I liked it. It was a bit long, dragged in the middle and it's 'speculative' rather than 'science' fiction. It does have SF elements, but they're significantly weaker than the military sections, and the technology is mostly present day.
This is an divisive read. If you are intolerant of differing political views (and left-wing), you will loathe this. You may physically recoil. You may have to pick skull fragments off your carpet. Partly a polemic about the War on Terror, the author doesn't shy away from tackling extreme violence, political corruption, the ethics of torture or non-western cultures from a extremely right-wing American perspective. It's strong, opinionated and uncompromising and - yep - you may find it offensive.
It is, however, significantly smarter and more thoughtful than the 1* reviews would suggest. The action scenes are reminiscent of Tom Clancy and hauntingly world-weary. The social commentary has a dry, cynical sense of humour and hits target more than its opponents would like.
I liked it. It was a bit long, dragged in the middle and it's 'speculative' rather than 'science' fiction. It does have SF elements, but they're significantly weaker than the military sections, and the technology is mostly present day.
November 29, 2011
This book can be easily summed up. Liberals are evil. Arabs are evil. Torture is perfectly fine.
Some aspects of the story were enjoyable, which gets it better than one star, but it was basically an SF rewrite of 9-11, with wish fullfilment where the good guys wipe the middle east off the map, and kick out anyone they consider to be liberal.
I haven't read the sequel, nor do I plan to.
Some aspects of the story were enjoyable, which gets it better than one star, but it was basically an SF rewrite of 9-11, with wish fullfilment where the good guys wipe the middle east off the map, and kick out anyone they consider to be liberal.
I haven't read the sequel, nor do I plan to.
March 18, 2015
This is fake sci-fi. The 'setting' and technology practically mirrors contemporary Earth and the book is used as nothing more than a blunt tool to advocate propaganda. There is absolutely zero elegance in its message.
March 21, 2013
A good read for far-right fanatics of all types, but a hateful mess for anyone else.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2018
A long, but good read in a very good series
September 19, 2014
'They made a desert and called it peace' is the quote that inspired this novel's title (one of several translations of a quote of Tacticus') and unfortunately the best that can be said of the novel is that it largely doesn't follow up on this. While this is a novel mired in lazy bigotry, empty characterisation and one of the most shockingly cheap plots I've ever seen, it's real, central sin is that it is a revenge novel that says nothing about the act of vengeance itself.
A Desert Called Peace is the story of Patrick Hennessey, more commonly known as Carrera. A native of the colony world of Terra Nova, a world remarkably similar to turn of the millennium Earth, his wife and children are killed in their world's version of 9/11. Seeking revenge, he builds a mercenary army and joins in on their version of the Iraq invasion. While doing so, he strikes the first blows against the cosmopolitan progressive conspiracy and their United Earth masters that threatens to turn Terran Nova to the corrupt hellhole that is Earth.
In the end, weirdly, I actually quite like A Desert Called Peace, just not for the reasons I should. It wonderfully and unintentionally demonstrates how much of a bad idea most of its themes are. The sheer size and incoherence of the cosmopolitan progressive conspiracy makes much of the novel's blame game utterly incoherent, but it's the novel's hero that utterly shafts the novel. Carrera's some sort of master of burning my sympathy, excusing his monstrous authoritarianism with an ineffectual sob story. The desert of the title isn't an indictment of the the novel's 'villains', but rather a statement on the utter dearth of ideas within its' ideology.
A Desert Called Peace is the story of Patrick Hennessey, more commonly known as Carrera. A native of the colony world of Terra Nova, a world remarkably similar to turn of the millennium Earth, his wife and children are killed in their world's version of 9/11. Seeking revenge, he builds a mercenary army and joins in on their version of the Iraq invasion. While doing so, he strikes the first blows against the cosmopolitan progressive conspiracy and their United Earth masters that threatens to turn Terran Nova to the corrupt hellhole that is Earth.
In the end, weirdly, I actually quite like A Desert Called Peace, just not for the reasons I should. It wonderfully and unintentionally demonstrates how much of a bad idea most of its themes are. The sheer size and incoherence of the cosmopolitan progressive conspiracy makes much of the novel's blame game utterly incoherent, but it's the novel's hero that utterly shafts the novel. Carrera's some sort of master of burning my sympathy, excusing his monstrous authoritarianism with an ineffectual sob story. The desert of the title isn't an indictment of the the novel's 'villains', but rather a statement on the utter dearth of ideas within its' ideology.
May 24, 2012
Enjoyable read. As noted by others, if conservative views offend you... you may be offended. It's true that this book turns right better than Zoolander - and shares his handicap as well. I found some suspension of disbelief was required, although much struck me as realistic, particularly in the circles portrayed. The ability to think critically is crucial as a filter, because once you start agreeing with the stuff that makes sense the stuff that DOESN'T really make sense seems more plausible by association.
That said, also as noted by others, in many ways it is science fiction by courtesy...but enjoyable nonetheless. While others have dismissed the sociopolitical landscape as near-copy of the world as it exists/existed in recent times - I think the rationale is good.
I'll leave it at this: Solid military fiction with sciency-fictiony trappings and umm.. a strong, far right viewpoint.
That said, also as noted by others, in many ways it is science fiction by courtesy...but enjoyable nonetheless. While others have dismissed the sociopolitical landscape as near-copy of the world as it exists/existed in recent times - I think the rationale is good.
I'll leave it at this: Solid military fiction with sciency-fictiony trappings and umm.. a strong, far right viewpoint.
May 4, 2016
Almost an alternate history of 9/11 and subsequent events
Tom Kratman has said that he writes political commentary with the thinnest possible layer of science fiction. That is what you get here along with military action. The novel is almost an alternate history of 9/11 and the subsequent military and political decisions.
For approximately three-quarters of the novel, the plot, commentary, character development and action held my interest to the point that I had trouble putting the book down. After that it began to drag a little and I found myself reading for an hour or so, putting it down and coming back to it later. I still enjoyed, but the action was not such that I just had to know what came next without stopping.
Tom Kratman has said that he writes political commentary with the thinnest possible layer of science fiction. That is what you get here along with military action. The novel is almost an alternate history of 9/11 and the subsequent military and political decisions.
For approximately three-quarters of the novel, the plot, commentary, character development and action held my interest to the point that I had trouble putting the book down. After that it began to drag a little and I found myself reading for an hour or so, putting it down and coming back to it later. I still enjoyed, but the action was not such that I just had to know what came next without stopping.
August 18, 2011
It's a pot-boiler revenge fantasy. That's not bad in and of itself but in this case it's a long-winded, dull fantasy.
The book desperately needed a better editor. Character development is nil, the antagonists make Snidely Whiplash look deep, and the competency of females is secondary to comments on their physical attributes. It's written in short episodes and better than half of them involve extraneous characters adding nothing to the plot.
The book desperately needed a better editor. Character development is nil, the antagonists make Snidely Whiplash look deep, and the competency of females is secondary to comments on their physical attributes. It's written in short episodes and better than half of them involve extraneous characters adding nothing to the plot.
January 11, 2012
The fist book in the series. I first read this two years ago and when the follow ups came out I at to read it again. Then read the second in the series and then the third. I find them difficult to put down once started. I recently purchased the fourth book in the series as an e-book and will be reading that shortly.
May 17, 2019
A Desert Called Peace by Tom Kratman. (Cerrera)
I've let this one sit in my kindle for quite a while before I finally decided to read it. Obviously one reason for downloading it was that it's free. It's also long. I enjoyed it and there are a few friends I have to whom I would recommend it because they love these kinds of novels. This is science fiction mostly because it takes place on another planet known as Terra Nova. The bulk of the story could well have taken place on Earth in some strange dystopia or parallel universe.
A Desert Called Peace (ADCP) is similar to Robert Heinlein's Starships Troopers (ST) minus the bug war. Some people might take that poorly, those who don't like ST, I mean it as a sort of complement but mostly just a simple comparison and my own reaction to what ADCP reminded me of. The book is like a recruitment poster and or propaganda campaign much as ST was. I will admit as far as readability ADCP seemed better. But for myself there were large portions of the narrative I could have done without to the tune that I had to watch myself every time I was tempted to scan past those places where the author described the weaponry and munitions and the alternatives and viability of each specific tool of warfare. As I mentioned I have some friends who really eat that stuff up, not so much myself.
The author has the credentials and seems to know his stuff and wants to let the reader know. Once again I'm not a fan of five hundred pages of deadly boot-camp to be followed by 50 pages of real combat. The thing is that the book, although heavy in the description of the armament and gear and the trials and tribulations of training, is about how the main character starting out in a simple life of retirement from service and building to become almost a mirror of his enemies. This aspect reminded me of some of the suspense thrillers (Shibumi by Trevanian) I've read where the secret agent or mercenary is trying to retire and gets thrust back into the game by someone attacking his loved ones.(The single weakness they have.) This story is no different in that respect, because Cerrera,Patrico Hennessey de Cerrera known as Patrick Hennessey and later as the Blue Jinn, loses his wife to the actions of some terrorist whose act almost parallels the twin towers destruction.
(There also is a sub plot in inter-rum chapters that runs parallel describing a past Cerrera who also was drawn into war despite himself)
Cerrera grieves a short time and then decides on revenging his family. One irony built into this story is that to become like his enemy and better understand his enemy he has to understand that the enemy is motivated highly by family, protecting the family and revenging the family. For some reason he doesn't understand that for a long time and he fails to see it even when many of his new found allies have the same value system. Basically he is blind to the fact that right from the start he has had a jump-start at becoming like his enemy. Needless it is this revenge that fuels him that makes him more dangerous than he would be normally. Cerrera is dangerous in his own right because he is a student of war. At the time of the atrocity he is collecting data from former enemies about the final battle, in which he'd conquered them while he was working for the FSC.
Now he will use those contacts to create a school for his army of revenge.
This is where we have a slight questionable wrinkle in the continuum. The story is confusing with a lot of jumping back and forth between timelines because we do need some history and world building to take place. Roughly we're about 450 years in the future and women are still treated mostly the same as they are today and are not allowed into combat. This is the world as Tom Kratman builds it so it stands as is and it's just curious to me that they might have even gone backwards by that point in time. Although to be fair the people who colonized the planet contained enough elements to support that possibility.
At some point along the way the story seems to do an insidious turn on the reader. Perhaps it's amid all the gleaming armor and new toys that are so eloquently placed as distractions. Up to that point Patrico Cerrera is the protagonist we sympathize with, who has just cause to seek his revenge. But he begins to cross the hazy line that pushes back any sympathy or empathy and the remainder of the book seems to have few if any redeeming characters for the reader to latch onto and even those few are minor characters at best.
Perhaps this is planned to show a part of the horror of war or perhaps the Desert Called Peace(ADCP) is more similar to The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslev Hasek(TGSS) than anything else. TGSS is a dark comedy about the first world war. The only real difference between these two is that in TGSS everyone was incompetent whereas in ADCP Cerrera's forces at the least are portrayed as competent. It would seem in ADCP the incompetent might have been removed by attrition where in TGSS it appeared the competent are the ones eliminated by attrition. Also Cerrera's philosophy seemed unique to this book in that he expected every man of any rank to come back from maneuvers with dirty hands and sweaty brow or they'd answer to him .
When we reach the point of real battle the reader is introduced to the law of war concept. Basically the civil code that combatants should follow during war. This is introduced for a dual effect of giving the protagonist back and edge of humanity in trying to abide by these rules and showing how the enemy abuses them and uses them to their advantage. It also shows the supposed cunning intellect of Cerrera as he stays within the law most of the time and continues to hold control of the situation. The LoW that we see are a somewhat abbreviated edition if my feeble attempts to research were entirely fruitful. I'm sure that the author has a much better grasp of the entirety of the law to justify the brevity he has handed the reader. Trying to keep up with it can be quite complex and probably does lend to some bit of variety in interpretation.
I'm not all that certain how torturing prisoners while interrogating them actually falls in all of the laws of war. I take it from the context of the book that it must be frowned upon. The torture is only one of several different elements that show up in the book that might cause some readers to leave their comfort zone. There are atrocities preformed against women and children most often designed to make the bad guys look worse. There is at least one questionable spot, where someone is killing women who have been allowing themselves to be used by the bad guys to be kidnapped to obtain ransom, that might implicate the good guys in murder as a reprisal. But by that time the good guys and the bad guys just aren't that far away from each other.
This is a book I could easily love/hate with so many elements I don't agree with. But with good writing it is often the emotional response that tells me if the piece is good. I don't have to agree with it or like the characters or even feel comfortable with the plot for it to be well written. If it evokes a strong emotion, even if it might not be the emotion that the author expects, it can still stand as a good work.
This is a good book for people who like War stories with lots of descriptive elements about the styles of weapons and combat. Even those enthusiastic about war strategy might find this of interest. The Science Fiction is incidental.
J.L. Dobias
I've let this one sit in my kindle for quite a while before I finally decided to read it. Obviously one reason for downloading it was that it's free. It's also long. I enjoyed it and there are a few friends I have to whom I would recommend it because they love these kinds of novels. This is science fiction mostly because it takes place on another planet known as Terra Nova. The bulk of the story could well have taken place on Earth in some strange dystopia or parallel universe.
A Desert Called Peace (ADCP) is similar to Robert Heinlein's Starships Troopers (ST) minus the bug war. Some people might take that poorly, those who don't like ST, I mean it as a sort of complement but mostly just a simple comparison and my own reaction to what ADCP reminded me of. The book is like a recruitment poster and or propaganda campaign much as ST was. I will admit as far as readability ADCP seemed better. But for myself there were large portions of the narrative I could have done without to the tune that I had to watch myself every time I was tempted to scan past those places where the author described the weaponry and munitions and the alternatives and viability of each specific tool of warfare. As I mentioned I have some friends who really eat that stuff up, not so much myself.
The author has the credentials and seems to know his stuff and wants to let the reader know. Once again I'm not a fan of five hundred pages of deadly boot-camp to be followed by 50 pages of real combat. The thing is that the book, although heavy in the description of the armament and gear and the trials and tribulations of training, is about how the main character starting out in a simple life of retirement from service and building to become almost a mirror of his enemies. This aspect reminded me of some of the suspense thrillers (Shibumi by Trevanian) I've read where the secret agent or mercenary is trying to retire and gets thrust back into the game by someone attacking his loved ones.(The single weakness they have.) This story is no different in that respect, because Cerrera,Patrico Hennessey de Cerrera known as Patrick Hennessey and later as the Blue Jinn, loses his wife to the actions of some terrorist whose act almost parallels the twin towers destruction.
(There also is a sub plot in inter-rum chapters that runs parallel describing a past Cerrera who also was drawn into war despite himself)
Cerrera grieves a short time and then decides on revenging his family. One irony built into this story is that to become like his enemy and better understand his enemy he has to understand that the enemy is motivated highly by family, protecting the family and revenging the family. For some reason he doesn't understand that for a long time and he fails to see it even when many of his new found allies have the same value system. Basically he is blind to the fact that right from the start he has had a jump-start at becoming like his enemy. Needless it is this revenge that fuels him that makes him more dangerous than he would be normally. Cerrera is dangerous in his own right because he is a student of war. At the time of the atrocity he is collecting data from former enemies about the final battle, in which he'd conquered them while he was working for the FSC.
Now he will use those contacts to create a school for his army of revenge.
This is where we have a slight questionable wrinkle in the continuum. The story is confusing with a lot of jumping back and forth between timelines because we do need some history and world building to take place. Roughly we're about 450 years in the future and women are still treated mostly the same as they are today and are not allowed into combat. This is the world as Tom Kratman builds it so it stands as is and it's just curious to me that they might have even gone backwards by that point in time. Although to be fair the people who colonized the planet contained enough elements to support that possibility.
At some point along the way the story seems to do an insidious turn on the reader. Perhaps it's amid all the gleaming armor and new toys that are so eloquently placed as distractions. Up to that point Patrico Cerrera is the protagonist we sympathize with, who has just cause to seek his revenge. But he begins to cross the hazy line that pushes back any sympathy or empathy and the remainder of the book seems to have few if any redeeming characters for the reader to latch onto and even those few are minor characters at best.
Perhaps this is planned to show a part of the horror of war or perhaps the Desert Called Peace(ADCP) is more similar to The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslev Hasek(TGSS) than anything else. TGSS is a dark comedy about the first world war. The only real difference between these two is that in TGSS everyone was incompetent whereas in ADCP Cerrera's forces at the least are portrayed as competent. It would seem in ADCP the incompetent might have been removed by attrition where in TGSS it appeared the competent are the ones eliminated by attrition. Also Cerrera's philosophy seemed unique to this book in that he expected every man of any rank to come back from maneuvers with dirty hands and sweaty brow or they'd answer to him .
When we reach the point of real battle the reader is introduced to the law of war concept. Basically the civil code that combatants should follow during war. This is introduced for a dual effect of giving the protagonist back and edge of humanity in trying to abide by these rules and showing how the enemy abuses them and uses them to their advantage. It also shows the supposed cunning intellect of Cerrera as he stays within the law most of the time and continues to hold control of the situation. The LoW that we see are a somewhat abbreviated edition if my feeble attempts to research were entirely fruitful. I'm sure that the author has a much better grasp of the entirety of the law to justify the brevity he has handed the reader. Trying to keep up with it can be quite complex and probably does lend to some bit of variety in interpretation.
I'm not all that certain how torturing prisoners while interrogating them actually falls in all of the laws of war. I take it from the context of the book that it must be frowned upon. The torture is only one of several different elements that show up in the book that might cause some readers to leave their comfort zone. There are atrocities preformed against women and children most often designed to make the bad guys look worse. There is at least one questionable spot, where someone is killing women who have been allowing themselves to be used by the bad guys to be kidnapped to obtain ransom, that might implicate the good guys in murder as a reprisal. But by that time the good guys and the bad guys just aren't that far away from each other.
This is a book I could easily love/hate with so many elements I don't agree with. But with good writing it is often the emotional response that tells me if the piece is good. I don't have to agree with it or like the characters or even feel comfortable with the plot for it to be well written. If it evokes a strong emotion, even if it might not be the emotion that the author expects, it can still stand as a good work.
This is a good book for people who like War stories with lots of descriptive elements about the styles of weapons and combat. Even those enthusiastic about war strategy might find this of interest. The Science Fiction is incidental.
J.L. Dobias
October 29, 2013
This is a story that mostly works. It’s a combination of a revenge fantasy and a polemical and Kratman does a very good job of pulling off both sides.
The story centers around Patricio Hennessey de Carrera, a retired military officer living on the planet Terra Nova. His world is turned upside down when his wife and 4 children (the youngest daughter still unborn) are killed in a terrorist attack. Fighting his way out of nearly suicidal grief, he comes out of retirement, builds an army, and uses it towards the goal of killing everyone who directly or indirectly had a hand in the terrorist attacks.
That’s, rather self-evidently, the revenge fantasy portion of the work. Those elements of the story really work and are done well.
The polemical bit comes when you consider who the various groups in the story are. Carrera is clearly a stand-in for a competent but too blunt American military officer. And the terrorists who killed his wife and children are clearly barbarian Islamic fanatics. And the building destroyed in the terrorist attack is clearly a stand-in for the World Trade Center towers. The story is best seen as a description of what happened to America on 9/11 and how we should have responded to it.
It’s also a look at how we will have to become (at least somewhat) more like our enemies, in order to win. It’s not always pleasant but Kratman doesn’t try to make us feel good about the changes. He just wants us to recognizes that victory won’t be easy and it will probably change us.
The polemical part of the story works fairly well and is well-integrated into the rest of the novel. It’s not forced and the explanations and and motivations that make it up are simply in the natural flow of the story.
So far, so good. But the book goes completely off the rails when it comes to the setting. I mentioned that the book takes place on another planet, Terra Nova. This is a planet that a robotic exploring ship just happened to find. It’s a planet that just happened to have been settled by every major nation and ethnic group on Earth. It’s a planet that just happened to have geography similar to Earth’s. It’s a planet where the settlers just happened to group themselves similarly to how people are grouped on Earth.
There is a clear and direct correlation between the countries of Terra Nova and the countries of Earth. It’s fairly easy to make a translation list.
The USA is represented by the Federated States of Columbia (FSC). The United Kingdom is represented by the Kingdom of Anglia. France is represented by the Gallic Republic. Germany is represented by Sachsen. Iraq is represented by Sumer. Afghanistan is represented by Pashtia. Iran is represented by Farsia. Russia is represented by Volgon. Japan is represented by Yamato. Europe as a whole is represented by Taurus. The European Union is represented by the Tauran Union.
Yes, you saw that right. Not only are individual countries represented by their oh so similarly named counterparts but so are political boundaries. In fact, it gets much worse. Not only the geography and politics are the same between Earth and Terra Nova but so is the history!
This planet, settled from Earth, had many of the same wars and conflicts Earth. For instance, there was a Great Global War that featured the same alliances and events as World Wars I and II. In fact, at the end of the Great Global War, the FSC dropped two nuclear bombs on Yamato. There was a Sumer-Farsia War that happened in the not too distant past. There was a recent “Petrol War” that sounded very similar to Desert Storm.
Much of the book takes place in and around the country of Balboa. Balboa, geographically and culturally, is very similar to Panama. In fact, the Balboans even have a “Balboa Transitway” that’s identical to the Panama Canal.
This level of correspondance is highly, highly frustrating. Why make the reader spend all of the effort to make a mental map between the nations and history of Terra Nova and the nations and history of Earth? Especially when the end result is Earth in everything but name? What is the point of all of that work? Why not just set the story in an alternate history version of this past decade?
Everytime I wanted to get lost in the world, I kept getting bludgeoned with the similarities between the world of the book and our world today. It totally destroyed my ability to immerse myself in the book and just enjoy it.
I liked the characters in the book (even if they were formulaic) and I liked the story. I really didn’t like the setting, so I can’t rate this book as highly as I would otherwise like too. I can only say that it was disappointing, overall.
Read for free, at the Baen Free Library
The story centers around Patricio Hennessey de Carrera, a retired military officer living on the planet Terra Nova. His world is turned upside down when his wife and 4 children (the youngest daughter still unborn) are killed in a terrorist attack. Fighting his way out of nearly suicidal grief, he comes out of retirement, builds an army, and uses it towards the goal of killing everyone who directly or indirectly had a hand in the terrorist attacks.
That’s, rather self-evidently, the revenge fantasy portion of the work. Those elements of the story really work and are done well.
The polemical bit comes when you consider who the various groups in the story are. Carrera is clearly a stand-in for a competent but too blunt American military officer. And the terrorists who killed his wife and children are clearly barbarian Islamic fanatics. And the building destroyed in the terrorist attack is clearly a stand-in for the World Trade Center towers. The story is best seen as a description of what happened to America on 9/11 and how we should have responded to it.
It’s also a look at how we will have to become (at least somewhat) more like our enemies, in order to win. It’s not always pleasant but Kratman doesn’t try to make us feel good about the changes. He just wants us to recognizes that victory won’t be easy and it will probably change us.
The polemical part of the story works fairly well and is well-integrated into the rest of the novel. It’s not forced and the explanations and and motivations that make it up are simply in the natural flow of the story.
So far, so good. But the book goes completely off the rails when it comes to the setting. I mentioned that the book takes place on another planet, Terra Nova. This is a planet that a robotic exploring ship just happened to find. It’s a planet that just happened to have been settled by every major nation and ethnic group on Earth. It’s a planet that just happened to have geography similar to Earth’s. It’s a planet where the settlers just happened to group themselves similarly to how people are grouped on Earth.
There is a clear and direct correlation between the countries of Terra Nova and the countries of Earth. It’s fairly easy to make a translation list.
The USA is represented by the Federated States of Columbia (FSC). The United Kingdom is represented by the Kingdom of Anglia. France is represented by the Gallic Republic. Germany is represented by Sachsen. Iraq is represented by Sumer. Afghanistan is represented by Pashtia. Iran is represented by Farsia. Russia is represented by Volgon. Japan is represented by Yamato. Europe as a whole is represented by Taurus. The European Union is represented by the Tauran Union.
Yes, you saw that right. Not only are individual countries represented by their oh so similarly named counterparts but so are political boundaries. In fact, it gets much worse. Not only the geography and politics are the same between Earth and Terra Nova but so is the history!
This planet, settled from Earth, had many of the same wars and conflicts Earth. For instance, there was a Great Global War that featured the same alliances and events as World Wars I and II. In fact, at the end of the Great Global War, the FSC dropped two nuclear bombs on Yamato. There was a Sumer-Farsia War that happened in the not too distant past. There was a recent “Petrol War” that sounded very similar to Desert Storm.
Much of the book takes place in and around the country of Balboa. Balboa, geographically and culturally, is very similar to Panama. In fact, the Balboans even have a “Balboa Transitway” that’s identical to the Panama Canal.
This level of correspondance is highly, highly frustrating. Why make the reader spend all of the effort to make a mental map between the nations and history of Terra Nova and the nations and history of Earth? Especially when the end result is Earth in everything but name? What is the point of all of that work? Why not just set the story in an alternate history version of this past decade?
Everytime I wanted to get lost in the world, I kept getting bludgeoned with the similarities between the world of the book and our world today. It totally destroyed my ability to immerse myself in the book and just enjoy it.
I liked the characters in the book (even if they were formulaic) and I liked the story. I really didn’t like the setting, so I can’t rate this book as highly as I would otherwise like too. I can only say that it was disappointing, overall.
Read for free, at the Baen Free Library
August 26, 2013
This novel isn't for everyone. It's one part political polemic, one part essay on military science and leadership, one part cultural analysis, and one part sledgehammer to every modern liberal idea. Oh, yes, and there's a plot stringing everything together.
The story takes place on Terra Nova, a mirror of Earth in another galaxy. Earth, seeking to rid itself of undesirables while reaping the bounties of the new world, colonises Terra Nova as a mirror-flipped image of Earth's existing polities. Pretty much every country is where you expect it to be, except that Northern nations are sent south and Western ones to the east.
The plot begins when the admiral of the United Earth Peace Fleet elects to sponsor Salafist (Islamic) terrorism on Terra Nova to prevent the Federated States of Colombia (American descendents) from learning space flight and threatening the oppressive Old Earth regime. The Salafist re-enact the September 11 attacks, but with an airship.
Patrick Henessey loses his entire family in the attack. Enraged, he takes on his wife's surname Carrera, gathers old friends and comrades, and starts up a de facto private army to seek revenge. Modeled after the Roman Legions, they go to war in Sumer -- think Iraq -- in support of FSC forces.
This is not an easy book to read. It is hard-charging and ham-fisted, shoving ideas and arguments into the reader's brain. It looks unflinchingly into the soul of war: chaos, bloodshed, barely controlled aggression, reprisals, and naked violence. There IS military sci fi in here, insofar as there are spaceships and interstellar travel and slightly more advanced materials science, but this story is very much grounded in today's technology.
The sensitive reader will find plenty of material to argue racism, homophobia, neoconservatism, fascism and more. Combat is graphic, and so are descriptions of executions, rape and torture. I also felt some parts were overly-long, and could be cut out for smoother prose.
This books strengths are subjective. To me, this book's central question is how far we can and should go to combat the enemies of civilisation. There are no easy answers. Kratman argues that torture is an effective way to gain intelligence -- if used intelligently, namely, if the intelligence gained is double-checked and if the torturers were sufficiently ruthless to break the subject through injuries that attack the person's beliefs (forced sex change operations, torturing family members, and so on). Kratman argues that Middle Eastern culture is based on amoral familism, that people there will do anything to advance the interests of their family and tribe as opposed to a more Western-centric model of right and wrong based on laws and morality. Judging by the antagonists, and by the polemical nature of the novel, it appears that Kratman also thinks progressives pose a great risk to civilisation by supporting those who would destroy it (the Salafists).
There are plenty of infodumps in this story, presented as straight-out exposition, presentations, briefings, or lectures. As an on-again, off-again student of military science I found the level of detail refreshing, because I like looking into the hows and whys of command decisions. But as a writer, I also understand that this will turn off some people.
One of the main military quibbles I have with this story is that Carrera's Legion is extraordinarily willing to absorb casualties in training. They take training losses far higher than any modern military, and Carrera's explanation (very hard training equals good soldiers) does not ring true. Especially as the Legion takes ever-heavier casualties during the war, with entire platoons and companies losing their leaders and much of their men in the space of hours or days in a particularly intense campaign. I'm also wondering if Kratman took the Roman legion analogy a little too far; to this day I still wonder how the lorica, the Legion's body armour, is put on, and why the Legion will accept armour that is significantly less protective than contemporary body armour. The scene where that is introduced comes across as being a homage to the Roman legions instead of a thought-through equipment choice.
This novel presents the story of a darker version of the War on Terror, one in which repressive measures are commonplace, the use of terror against terrorists is encouraged, where the only morality encouraged is a very strict interpretation of the laws of war. This story makes a person think about what the West needs to do to successfully prosecute the war and survive the experience. The answers aren't easy, they may not fully be in alignment with recommended doctrine, but this work has the courage to ask the questions and the rigour to analyse and extrapolate the circumstances and the results. I think it's worth 3.5-4 stars, but because it is so polarising, not everybody will agree.
The story takes place on Terra Nova, a mirror of Earth in another galaxy. Earth, seeking to rid itself of undesirables while reaping the bounties of the new world, colonises Terra Nova as a mirror-flipped image of Earth's existing polities. Pretty much every country is where you expect it to be, except that Northern nations are sent south and Western ones to the east.
The plot begins when the admiral of the United Earth Peace Fleet elects to sponsor Salafist (Islamic) terrorism on Terra Nova to prevent the Federated States of Colombia (American descendents) from learning space flight and threatening the oppressive Old Earth regime. The Salafist re-enact the September 11 attacks, but with an airship.
Patrick Henessey loses his entire family in the attack. Enraged, he takes on his wife's surname Carrera, gathers old friends and comrades, and starts up a de facto private army to seek revenge. Modeled after the Roman Legions, they go to war in Sumer -- think Iraq -- in support of FSC forces.
This is not an easy book to read. It is hard-charging and ham-fisted, shoving ideas and arguments into the reader's brain. It looks unflinchingly into the soul of war: chaos, bloodshed, barely controlled aggression, reprisals, and naked violence. There IS military sci fi in here, insofar as there are spaceships and interstellar travel and slightly more advanced materials science, but this story is very much grounded in today's technology.
The sensitive reader will find plenty of material to argue racism, homophobia, neoconservatism, fascism and more. Combat is graphic, and so are descriptions of executions, rape and torture. I also felt some parts were overly-long, and could be cut out for smoother prose.
This books strengths are subjective. To me, this book's central question is how far we can and should go to combat the enemies of civilisation. There are no easy answers. Kratman argues that torture is an effective way to gain intelligence -- if used intelligently, namely, if the intelligence gained is double-checked and if the torturers were sufficiently ruthless to break the subject through injuries that attack the person's beliefs (forced sex change operations, torturing family members, and so on). Kratman argues that Middle Eastern culture is based on amoral familism, that people there will do anything to advance the interests of their family and tribe as opposed to a more Western-centric model of right and wrong based on laws and morality. Judging by the antagonists, and by the polemical nature of the novel, it appears that Kratman also thinks progressives pose a great risk to civilisation by supporting those who would destroy it (the Salafists).
There are plenty of infodumps in this story, presented as straight-out exposition, presentations, briefings, or lectures. As an on-again, off-again student of military science I found the level of detail refreshing, because I like looking into the hows and whys of command decisions. But as a writer, I also understand that this will turn off some people.
One of the main military quibbles I have with this story is that Carrera's Legion is extraordinarily willing to absorb casualties in training. They take training losses far higher than any modern military, and Carrera's explanation (very hard training equals good soldiers) does not ring true. Especially as the Legion takes ever-heavier casualties during the war, with entire platoons and companies losing their leaders and much of their men in the space of hours or days in a particularly intense campaign. I'm also wondering if Kratman took the Roman legion analogy a little too far; to this day I still wonder how the lorica, the Legion's body armour, is put on, and why the Legion will accept armour that is significantly less protective than contemporary body armour. The scene where that is introduced comes across as being a homage to the Roman legions instead of a thought-through equipment choice.
This novel presents the story of a darker version of the War on Terror, one in which repressive measures are commonplace, the use of terror against terrorists is encouraged, where the only morality encouraged is a very strict interpretation of the laws of war. This story makes a person think about what the West needs to do to successfully prosecute the war and survive the experience. The answers aren't easy, they may not fully be in alignment with recommended doctrine, but this work has the courage to ask the questions and the rigour to analyse and extrapolate the circumstances and the results. I think it's worth 3.5-4 stars, but because it is so polarising, not everybody will agree.
January 30, 2012
When I was in high school I really liked to read Piers Anthony and he put out a series called Bio of a Space Tyrant. It was a gossamer thin veil discussion of current (late 70s-early 80s) geopolitics in space with the US as Jupiter, and the Soviets as Saturn. Overall I enjoyed the series.
To date I have read a number of Col Kratman's books. They have ranged from OK (State of Disobedience) to engrossing and excellent (Watch on the Rhine). This one falls in the middle. It is also a thinly veiled discussion of current geopolitics (to whit the post 9/11 war on terror) and a what if analysis if one group was allowed to eschew the Rules of Engagement (ROE) and fight the war to win, even if that meant being as brutal (or moreso) than the enemy we fight. In the end, that is what Sci-Fi allows us...to look at current culture and events through a prism of fiction and Col Kratman does a good job in that.
Patrick Hennessy is a ex-military man of the Federated States of Columbia (the analogue to the USA) and when a group of radical Islamic terrorists strike a blow at the FSC by piloting hijacked airships into the tallest building in First Landing (NYC analogue) his wife and children perish and he falls into a morass of depression with a large helping of alcohol. What brings him out is that between his family and his wife's family he is the sole heir to a massive fortune that he decides to use to build an army to wreak his revenge upon those that killed his family. He sponsors a Legion in his wife's home country of Balboa (Panama) and much of the novel is around the logistics of how to setup a mercenary company from the top down. It is reminiscent in the other direction of Elizabeth Moon's Sheepfarmer's Daughter. The Legion del Cid created, provisioned, and trained...Hennesy who now goes by the single name Carrera, his wife's family name, is able to secure a contract for the Legion from the FSC to go into Summer (Iraq) to fight. There they will face many tests of their skills, strategy, and commitment to persevere and win. We get to follow multiple characters through this journey and see how becoming a well trained mercenary unit changes them at many levels...and then how fighting a foe that will use any weapon available to it, including terror and torture, changes them as they fight.
Complicating Carrera's plans is the United Earth Peace Fleet that orbits the planet of Terra Nova. Realizing that the denizens of Terra Nova are on the brink of developing space travel, and that the technological advantage they currently enjoy will soon be gone...the UEPF Admiral has actually been the one egging on the Islamic terrorists on the theory that if they are triumphant, Terra Nova will never be a threat to Earth.
But the best message of the book, and I'm not sure if its what Col Kratman was trying to tell in his story, although knowing him...it was definitely part of the plan from the beginning, is the story of how these members of the Legion change as they train and fight. It is easy to look back at wars like WWII and see them as "good wars" where we fought an "evil" enemy and did it with a "total war" mentality. Now we fight limited wars with strict ROE and a longing to limit civilian casualties and "collateral" damage. War changes people, as it has to, and the choice before us is to have a short brutal war that changes those that fight, or a longer, just a brutal war, that still changes those that fight it. The difference, at least for Carrera and his Legion del Cid, is that the short brutal war has a chance to actually end with some semblance of victory that can be pointed to and held up as positive, whereas the other...leaves the soldiers changed...but doesn't actually achieve victory.
To date I have read a number of Col Kratman's books. They have ranged from OK (State of Disobedience) to engrossing and excellent (Watch on the Rhine). This one falls in the middle. It is also a thinly veiled discussion of current geopolitics (to whit the post 9/11 war on terror) and a what if analysis if one group was allowed to eschew the Rules of Engagement (ROE) and fight the war to win, even if that meant being as brutal (or moreso) than the enemy we fight. In the end, that is what Sci-Fi allows us...to look at current culture and events through a prism of fiction and Col Kratman does a good job in that.
Patrick Hennessy is a ex-military man of the Federated States of Columbia (the analogue to the USA) and when a group of radical Islamic terrorists strike a blow at the FSC by piloting hijacked airships into the tallest building in First Landing (NYC analogue) his wife and children perish and he falls into a morass of depression with a large helping of alcohol. What brings him out is that between his family and his wife's family he is the sole heir to a massive fortune that he decides to use to build an army to wreak his revenge upon those that killed his family. He sponsors a Legion in his wife's home country of Balboa (Panama) and much of the novel is around the logistics of how to setup a mercenary company from the top down. It is reminiscent in the other direction of Elizabeth Moon's Sheepfarmer's Daughter. The Legion del Cid created, provisioned, and trained...Hennesy who now goes by the single name Carrera, his wife's family name, is able to secure a contract for the Legion from the FSC to go into Summer (Iraq) to fight. There they will face many tests of their skills, strategy, and commitment to persevere and win. We get to follow multiple characters through this journey and see how becoming a well trained mercenary unit changes them at many levels...and then how fighting a foe that will use any weapon available to it, including terror and torture, changes them as they fight.
Complicating Carrera's plans is the United Earth Peace Fleet that orbits the planet of Terra Nova. Realizing that the denizens of Terra Nova are on the brink of developing space travel, and that the technological advantage they currently enjoy will soon be gone...the UEPF Admiral has actually been the one egging on the Islamic terrorists on the theory that if they are triumphant, Terra Nova will never be a threat to Earth.
But the best message of the book, and I'm not sure if its what Col Kratman was trying to tell in his story, although knowing him...it was definitely part of the plan from the beginning, is the story of how these members of the Legion change as they train and fight. It is easy to look back at wars like WWII and see them as "good wars" where we fought an "evil" enemy and did it with a "total war" mentality. Now we fight limited wars with strict ROE and a longing to limit civilian casualties and "collateral" damage. War changes people, as it has to, and the choice before us is to have a short brutal war that changes those that fight, or a longer, just a brutal war, that still changes those that fight it. The difference, at least for Carrera and his Legion del Cid, is that the short brutal war has a chance to actually end with some semblance of victory that can be pointed to and held up as positive, whereas the other...leaves the soldiers changed...but doesn't actually achieve victory.
July 2, 2015
The first chapter, though gritty, is at least interesting. If the book were a fast paced, action packed book about a tyrant I would have enjoyed it. Its not.
1D males, even shallower females. Bland plot line. Rather slow moving once past the first 10%. Extremely predictable.
Significant racial themes, including racial hatred. Significant sexual themes including fairly strong objectification, belittling, and the viewing of women as property. I stopped reading at about 1/3rd but other reviewers have reported homophobia too.
These hate based attitudes and the male chauvinism would be ok if it is the attitude of one or two characters and done in a way that strengthened the story. Unfortunately it was not, and did not.
There is far to much telling - I am 6 foot. I have big thighs. I have blue eyes.
There is far too much back story dumped in convenient conversations between support cast regarding the protagonist. "How do you know Pat? Well I know him from XXXX when we did XXXX. These are his characteristics XXXX.
Again, this is telling rather than showing.
The was not really sci fi. The worlds are somewhat advanced but the majority of the story takes place on a new world which is at a technological level roughly the same as our own. It is more a military fantasy.
You may like this if you are especially interested in fantasizing about a military unfettered by the population it serves or if you really, really want to attack Muslims. Potentially even with these particular interests you wouldn't be able to push through.
1D males, even shallower females. Bland plot line. Rather slow moving once past the first 10%. Extremely predictable.
Significant racial themes, including racial hatred. Significant sexual themes including fairly strong objectification, belittling, and the viewing of women as property. I stopped reading at about 1/3rd but other reviewers have reported homophobia too.
These hate based attitudes and the male chauvinism would be ok if it is the attitude of one or two characters and done in a way that strengthened the story. Unfortunately it was not, and did not.
There is far to much telling - I am 6 foot. I have big thighs. I have blue eyes.
There is far too much back story dumped in convenient conversations between support cast regarding the protagonist. "How do you know Pat? Well I know him from XXXX when we did XXXX. These are his characteristics XXXX.
Again, this is telling rather than showing.
The was not really sci fi. The worlds are somewhat advanced but the majority of the story takes place on a new world which is at a technological level roughly the same as our own. It is more a military fantasy.
You may like this if you are especially interested in fantasizing about a military unfettered by the population it serves or if you really, really want to attack Muslims. Potentially even with these particular interests you wouldn't be able to push through.
February 29, 2012
I have mixed feelings about this book. Basically take 911 and duplicate it on a planet that is a colony of Earth. When I say duplicate it I mean duplicate it.
You can identify the countries involved even though they have different names. You can identify the Sec of Defense although again he has a different name.
The heart of the story is there is a no nonsense former military command who was forced out of the Federated States (read that as US) army because he is too honest and straight talking. He is in a Spanish country very happy with his wife and child. And guess who gets killed in the 911 attack.
He gets his adopted country to form and army, trains them the way they should be (none of this sissy crying about death during training), gets the FSA to include them in the war, and proceeds to get his vengeance on the people who killed his wife and family.
This story actually says a lot about the morality of war and does raise a lot of questions about what should and should not be done when fighting. When the book is dealing with these questions I found it to be very interesting.
The problem is there is a lot of details about the training and the fighting that just didn't keep my interest. I'm sure they are realistic details about what actually happens. I don't know if its how the details are told or if I'm just not into details right now but I ended up skimming pages of details and then stopping and really reading the parts I did find interesting.
You can identify the countries involved even though they have different names. You can identify the Sec of Defense although again he has a different name.
The heart of the story is there is a no nonsense former military command who was forced out of the Federated States (read that as US) army because he is too honest and straight talking. He is in a Spanish country very happy with his wife and child. And guess who gets killed in the 911 attack.
He gets his adopted country to form and army, trains them the way they should be (none of this sissy crying about death during training), gets the FSA to include them in the war, and proceeds to get his vengeance on the people who killed his wife and family.
This story actually says a lot about the morality of war and does raise a lot of questions about what should and should not be done when fighting. When the book is dealing with these questions I found it to be very interesting.
The problem is there is a lot of details about the training and the fighting that just didn't keep my interest. I'm sure they are realistic details about what actually happens. I don't know if its how the details are told or if I'm just not into details right now but I ended up skimming pages of details and then stopping and really reading the parts I did find interesting.
March 31, 2014
Let me say up front the one big problem with this book. It's far too long. The story this book tells is set up (early on) along a couple of time lines and in a couple of worlds. The author must tell a background story first for the set up (how humans had two worlds) and then the background of the action that takes place.
When the story finally settles down to tell us the overarching story (which is at it's core a tale of revenge) it picks up the pace and does give much of the action promised. Still it (at least for me) always had a disjointed feel. I think maybe if the book had been tightened up and the plot pulled together a little bit it could have been a better read.
As it is the book takes too much verbiage to build it's story.
As for the politics behind it? No the story isn't as simplistic as some reviewers have said. there is more depth to it than simply an attack on Islam. Islam is seen here as NOT a monolithic religion and the protagonist is seen to progress through his hatred. His view does "change". How it changes I'll leave to you.
As it is, I don't plan to run out and grab the next book. this one just didn't hold my interest all that well. Will I follow it up later? Maybe. If the story stays with me and I wonder about it then later I may get the next book. As it is...I'm middle of the road.
I'd say try this one for yourself. Some love some not. It seems to appeal to "it's own audience".
When the story finally settles down to tell us the overarching story (which is at it's core a tale of revenge) it picks up the pace and does give much of the action promised. Still it (at least for me) always had a disjointed feel. I think maybe if the book had been tightened up and the plot pulled together a little bit it could have been a better read.
As it is the book takes too much verbiage to build it's story.
As for the politics behind it? No the story isn't as simplistic as some reviewers have said. there is more depth to it than simply an attack on Islam. Islam is seen here as NOT a monolithic religion and the protagonist is seen to progress through his hatred. His view does "change". How it changes I'll leave to you.
As it is, I don't plan to run out and grab the next book. this one just didn't hold my interest all that well. Will I follow it up later? Maybe. If the story stays with me and I wonder about it then later I may get the next book. As it is...I'm middle of the road.
I'd say try this one for yourself. Some love some not. It seems to appeal to "it's own audience".
August 23, 2013
I can not and will not recommend this book.
Tom Kratman is a right wing conservative and he uses his book to try to propagate his ideas and lets admit it, I strongly disagree with most of them.( not surprisingly he is a buddy of John Ringo and they have co-authored some books).
If you can forget all of this, the book is a half decent military sf book, low on originality ( I am not sure how the author explains how a planet similar to earth, colonized by 21st century humans will evolve and have an history similar to the 20th century the original earth had), decent on action scenes....
Tom Kratman is a right wing conservative and he uses his book to try to propagate his ideas and lets admit it, I strongly disagree with most of them.( not surprisingly he is a buddy of John Ringo and they have co-authored some books).
If you can forget all of this, the book is a half decent military sf book, low on originality ( I am not sure how the author explains how a planet similar to earth, colonized by 21st century humans will evolve and have an history similar to the 20th century the original earth had), decent on action scenes....
September 26, 2021
Tom Kratman is the spiritual successor to Robert A. Heinlein. The author clearly has a deep knowledge of military organisation, strategy, tactics, and the life of a soldier. Having this transposed onto a sci-fi setting gives a degree of believability to war among the stars that is lacking in pretty much all of the sci-fi that isn't written by Heinlein, so it's very nice to see that torch being picked up and carried by someone new.
March 21, 2012
Good writing spoiled by fairly jingoistic views on the middle-east, and simplistic solutions to amazingly complex problems. Tom Krautman does attempt to address the issue of relative morality; then devolves into the "Let God Sort Out the Rest" explosion-fest.
Not my cup of tea, but I can see it appealing to some subsets of the Military-SciFi public.
Not my cup of tea, but I can see it appealing to some subsets of the Military-SciFi public.
June 9, 2013
There is little or no science fiction in this novel--it's almost entirely military fiction--in which the author describes how he thinks the war on terrorism should be, and should have been, conducted. I enjoyed it a fair bit but it did challenge some of my views on the use of torture and humanitarian aid in such settings. Some middle-class liberals will consider this propaganda.
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