The Hammer

The General #2

by S.M. Stirling, David Drake

Raj Whitehall and his hard-bitten troops must conquer a continent of barbarians descended from the crews of a squadron of starships. But Raj's biggest problem is the cowardice and envy among his own officers.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Fantasy, War, Audiobook

Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

About the author

Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.

MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY:
(personal website: source)

I’m a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft. I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Reviews

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The human galactic federation is in ruins, and the worlds have devolved to various levels of barbarism. On the planet Bellevue, which is at about the early nineteenth century in development, a young officer named Raj Whitehall and his friend venture into the catacombs under the capital. There, they find an ancient battlecomputer named Center. With Center’s help, Raj must unite the planet and enable humanity to retake the stars. The story is at least somewhat based on that of the Byzatine general Belisarius.

The first seven novels are written by Drake and Stirling. The last one by Drake and Flint. David Drake writes very detailed outlines, while his collaborators write the actual text.

The first five novels are a set and deal with the conquest/unification of Bellevue. They are nowadays published in two volumes, known as Warlord and Conqueror:

* The Forge
* The Hammer
* The Anvil
* The Steel
* The Sword

After finishing the conquest of Bellevue, the personalities of Center and Raj are imbued in computers that are sent to other worlds with launched asteroids. Basically this scenario has infinite permutations as human worlds at various levels of development can be written about. The first of these follow-up novels is:

* The Chosen

It is a great singleton set on a world with early twentieth century technology. Finally there is the two volume story consisting of:

* The Reformer
* The Tyrant

Here, we take a serious step “back in time”, as the planet Hafardine is at about Roman Empire level in it’s technology. The Tyrant is rather different in style from the others due to being penned by Flint. However, his trademark dry humor meshes well with the overall thrust of the series.

This is great military SciFi, with excellent battlescenes and great characters, not to mention a dose of dry humor. Very highly recommended.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=145

[Hrairoorah · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all, I enjoyed this book. I do wish the language was cleaner because the cursing does nothing to enhance the story. Neither does the soldiers continually raping women. I could do without any of that. I am reading the entire series and with the exceptions I have already mentioned, I am enjoying them.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you enjoy designated heroes defeating designated villains in predictable ways, this is your book.

To me this has about as much entertainment value as floss. Another reviewer here said it best:

"Unlikable characters, boring plot. Interesting ideas from the first book less interesting the second time, and not really fleshed out any further. Kind of rapey."

I realize in hindsight the main problem with this story: no emotional pull. If you aren't a fan of Byzantium or blood and guts, you won't enjoy this book.

The hero is a "Designated Hero." The villains are "Designated Villains". In any other normal book, our heroic faction's unwarranted aggression, invasion, and megalomania, coupled with his army's utterly atrocious treatment of war prisoners and his culture's ability to nurse century old grudges, would make him a fascist and his empire an Evil Empire.

The "Designated Villains" don't do a single villainous thing in the entire story. Nor do they do a single unpredictable, interesting thing. They're just low calibre idiots who exist to run into Raj Whitewall's New Model Army's guns.


I particularly get a kick around Chapters 11 and 12. After unilaterally deciding to massacre war prisoners, our 'hero' has the gall to send the opposing king a message: his dead brother's chopped off head. Then has the gall to get offended when the opposing general predictably 'shoots the messenger'. Which any normal person would be tempted to do. Then has the horrific gall to use that unwarranted anger to order more massacred war prisoners.

Do you see why normal people might have a problem with this odd mess of a story?

[Dantegideon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlikable characters, boring plot. Interesting ideas from the first book less interesting the second time, and not really fleshed out any further. Kind of rapey, too. Think DD uses this as a short-hand for 'gritty' as I've noticed it in his other books, too, e.g. Northworld.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recent Reads: The Hammer. Book 2 of David Drake and SM Stirling's milSF retelling of the life of Byzantine general Belisarius is more than a tip of the hat to H Beam Piper. Driven by a pre-collapse computer Raj Whitehall's campaigns continue. The road back to the stars is hard.

[Marianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Battles of superior tactics/technology against unorganized warriors. I only have 2 and 5, and this reads okay by itself, but... eh. Maybe context would make it more compelling for reasons to battle.

[Valerio Rossetti · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is a perfect showcase for a certain type of public for Sci-Fi, and I feel can be analysed for many a reasons, even though the quality itself of the series is low-mid.
The series follows the conquest of a planet by a general. He stops at nothing in his goal to conquest. The reason for it, apparently a likeable reason for the writer, is that under the rule of his country, this planet will achieve again super high technology and apparently prosperity (who will prosper though, whether it is the already rich or the general population, is never mentioned).
This worldview is not dissimilar from that used by Britain in its colonial endevours, or Stalin's.

None of the characters are likable, and their reasons can very well be those of villains of any crime novel/movie. The drive for most characters is quite simply plunder: they kill and risk to be killed for the sole purpose of getting rich, to fuck and to get a thrill.

The villains are virtually non-existent, they are simply a bordering country with a weakened military system. In the mind of most warmongering right wingers (such as the main writer here, Stirling, I suspect) , that is a fault, and as such they should be tamed/killed/enslaved.

Raj, the protagonist, is probably similar to most general of the past, but appears to modern eyes as a nothing but a war criminal. In one battle when asked what to do to the POW, he orders to knife them instead of having to go through the boring task of feeding them.
When the "villains" shot the messanger in one scene set during a truce, Raj decides to punish them by crucifying them, but only after he decides their entire families are to be sold in a slave market.

I will keep at this mostly cuz, at this point, I am curious just what kind of act can a general without any form of remorse, or even empathy achieve.

It is also fun to point that right wing sci-fi writers cannot simply imagine a world that is remotely appealing to live in. It must come with the disgusting political views, I suppose.

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fast and hard war story set in an interesting place (and time). A quick read with very enjoyable action and just the right amount of hints about the nature of this future not-Earth and it's mythologised understanding of the space federation it was previously part of (judges wear glass 'fishbowl' helmets and jumpsuits!) to keep me from simply falling into reading it as a Byzantine history with different clothes on.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one kind of surprised me. I found that once I started reading, I never really wanted to stop. I don't remember the first being that way in particular, and I wouldn't say it was because this was exceedingly good - only gave it three stars after all. But it is one of those that just reads easily, and it's really easy to just skip right on through the chapter breaks and keep going. And it is entertaining, and I'll get around to the third volume. Just surprised me a bit.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Continuing my re-read from the 1990's.

This second in the series story is a bit more coherent than the first. With focus on the big battle, there is less of the ludicrous, unnecessary dialects to confuse the reader. The bad guys act foolishly, charge in like the French at Agincourt, and get slaughtered. Then they do it again. The End.

Except it goes on for several more volumes.

[Jorge M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an earlier review I called the first book of the series the literary equivalent of “The Fast and the Furious.”

By copying the same formula as book 1, it only further cements my analogy… this is “Fast & Furious” 2. Just read it for the guns and the glory.

[Rob Markley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series

[Trey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent second book. The audio books are kind of hard to follow along with due to the supporting characters tending to blend together a bit with not much to really separate them.

[Victor Vilchiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the alterantive history

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favourite series. Alternative history of conquest.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stirling is a good writing, and spins a good tale of war and battles. This is not set on Earth, but not really science fiction either. It's set in a world colonized centuries before by earth, then fallen into primitive pre-science. Single shot rifles and cannon. This world is at war, with good guys trying to unite the entire planet. Nothing unusual. Except for an ancient computer that advises our hero. In his head. Likeable characters, good action, fast pace. Ends with a set up for book 3, which I'll read when I can.

[Topher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Raj Whitehall saga continues, with the campaign to the south of the empire. Raj continues to make the mostly-right political moves, though he is saved by his wife. Militarily, he does exactly as you'd expect.

[Cris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers need to start with the first book in the series, The Forge.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read - well thought out action sequences and battles

[Scott Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book cover looks pretty cool. I give this book 5 stars.

[Kalana Demel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly an improvement over the last book, or I'm getting used to the authors method of madness. The battles were better thought out and less confusing than the previous book and improved a lot.

[Lady_nj]

surprising myself, now I want to read #1 (and #3)