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Unincorporated Man #2
The Unincorporated War
The Kollin brothers introduced their future world, and central character Justin Cord, in The Unincorporated Man. Justin created a revolution in that book, and is now exiled from Earth to the outer planets, where he is an heroic figure. The corporate society which is headquartered on Earth and rules Venus, Mars, and the Orbital colonies, wants to destroy Justin and reclaim hegemony over the rebellious outer planets. The first interplanetary civil war begins as the military fleet of Earth attacks. Filled with battles, betrayals, and triumphs, The Unincorporated War is a full-scale space opera that catapults the focus of the earlier novel up and out into the solar system. Justin remains both a logical and passionate fighter for the principles that motivate him, and remains the most dangerous man alive.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2010
67 people are currently reading
450 people want to read
About the author
Dani Kollin
11 books179 followersI'm an accidental science fiction author.
A few years back, broke, desperate and living with my wife and three kids at my in-laws, I decided to get together with my brother, Eytan and write a book. Mind you I had no idea how to go about this but I did know that Eytan had some great ideas and little tenacity and I had a lot of tenacity and a gift for knowing how to turn great ideas into a marketable ones. I applied my advertising copywriter skill set (word craftsmanship and reader empathy) to the one idea of Eytan's I felt was strongest and then together we created an outline, basic plot points and an extrapolated world built on that initial concept. 8 years later our first book, The Unincorporated Man, hit the shelves. It went on to win the 2010 Prometheus Award for Best Science Fiction novel of the year and the three books that followed in its wake were also nominated, one even making the finals. Happy to say the series has also found a warm welcome here at goodreads.com.
Re: me. My hobbies include roadbike riding, surfing and reading.
A few years back, broke, desperate and living with my wife and three kids at my in-laws, I decided to get together with my brother, Eytan and write a book. Mind you I had no idea how to go about this but I did know that Eytan had some great ideas and little tenacity and I had a lot of tenacity and a gift for knowing how to turn great ideas into a marketable ones. I applied my advertising copywriter skill set (word craftsmanship and reader empathy) to the one idea of Eytan's I felt was strongest and then together we created an outline, basic plot points and an extrapolated world built on that initial concept. 8 years later our first book, The Unincorporated Man, hit the shelves. It went on to win the 2010 Prometheus Award for Best Science Fiction novel of the year and the three books that followed in its wake were also nominated, one even making the finals. Happy to say the series has also found a warm welcome here at goodreads.com.
Re: me. My hobbies include roadbike riding, surfing and reading.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
August 13, 2014
Absolutely horrible, and almost certainly a crime against science fiction as a genre. As competent an exploration of the soft sciences (sociology) as was present in the prequel The Unincorporated Man, the authors managed to prove, before they were even out of the first chapter, that they should not ever include mention of the hard sciences in their future works; not only do they lack the theoretical background necessary to be informed, they also lacked the motivation to do even basic research (such as accessing Wikipedia).
From the idiocy of proposing that there could be a fixed front to an interplanetary space war between two planetary bodies (proving they didn't understand that planets orbit at different speeds), to the suggestion that one side of the conflict could use artificial comets to "plow a space highway" to allow for high-speed transit of materials, to not even realizing the implications of the emotion altering technology they'd introduced, everything went wrong in this book. The main antagonist, previously set up as an exceptionally focused, driven, and intelligent individual, was turned into a mustache twirling villain who lets himself get dragged around by his hormones without any reason. The main protagonist became an angsty little twit.
And the final scene of the book is such a manufactured cliff-hanger, with the authors deliberately having the characters react to information they're deliberately withholding from the readers, that you can tell they were desperately trying to create some tension that would make us want to read the sequel. My suggestion if you're reading it: Stop after book one, just as their publisher should have made them.
From the idiocy of proposing that there could be a fixed front to an interplanetary space war between two planetary bodies (proving they didn't understand that planets orbit at different speeds), to the suggestion that one side of the conflict could use artificial comets to "plow a space highway" to allow for high-speed transit of materials, to not even realizing the implications of the emotion altering technology they'd introduced, everything went wrong in this book. The main antagonist, previously set up as an exceptionally focused, driven, and intelligent individual, was turned into a mustache twirling villain who lets himself get dragged around by his hormones without any reason. The main protagonist became an angsty little twit.
And the final scene of the book is such a manufactured cliff-hanger, with the authors deliberately having the characters react to information they're deliberately withholding from the readers, that you can tell they were desperately trying to create some tension that would make us want to read the sequel. My suggestion if you're reading it: Stop after book one, just as their publisher should have made them.
September 27, 2011
Avatars, personal incorporation, battle fatigue, mind control, a controversial view on the return of religion: this book had so many interesting ideas, which is probably why I was extra disappointed by the storytelling. I did not enjoy the storytelling because I could not engage with the characters.
Characters in the book felt like engineered aspects of the author's premise. Never for one moment did I feel as though the characters had any life of their own. In most cases characters were completely black and white- the bad guys acted like total jerks, the good guys were total goody two shoes. And it was not unusual for a character to suddenly pop up (even 3/4 of the way through the narrative) just long enough to give a long info dump on their whole life's history, be used to forward the plot, and then get conveniently killed off or simply forgotten about, and never enter into the story again. I felt like the characters were narrative tools, not people, and I could not and did not care about them at all.
Toward the climax of the book, the action did get quite exciting and engage my attention. It was almost like a tragic opera, announcing in advance what was going to happen, then letting the reader bite nails as the foreshadowed dramatic events unfolded. Unfortunately the denouement took the edge off the exciting conclusion by backpedaling and calling into question the finality of the climax. And to add insult to injury, it ended with a big old "to be continued."
Characters in the book felt like engineered aspects of the author's premise. Never for one moment did I feel as though the characters had any life of their own. In most cases characters were completely black and white- the bad guys acted like total jerks, the good guys were total goody two shoes. And it was not unusual for a character to suddenly pop up (even 3/4 of the way through the narrative) just long enough to give a long info dump on their whole life's history, be used to forward the plot, and then get conveniently killed off or simply forgotten about, and never enter into the story again. I felt like the characters were narrative tools, not people, and I could not and did not care about them at all.
Toward the climax of the book, the action did get quite exciting and engage my attention. It was almost like a tragic opera, announcing in advance what was going to happen, then letting the reader bite nails as the foreshadowed dramatic events unfolded. Unfortunately the denouement took the edge off the exciting conclusion by backpedaling and calling into question the finality of the climax. And to add insult to injury, it ended with a big old "to be continued."
October 12, 2012
Is this really what gets past editors now?
Here's what is right with this book - it has an interesting premise and a fairly decent plot structure.
Here is what is wrong with this book:
1. Cardboard Characters.
There isn't a single believable character in this whole book. Not one with realistic motivations or actions. This is what happens when ideologues with no life experience try their hand at social commentary. Bureaucracy is bad - so everyone in the book who represents an organization of any size is bumbling, including those peacetime military or pseudomilitary officers who are now thrown into situations where they need skills of battle. Conversely the military is great - so all military leaders are competent, brilliant, altruistic and self-sacrificing. Having been in the military, and having served combat, these characteristics are annoyingly simplistic drivel.
2. Telling vs. Showing.
How do we know that someone is brilliant. Because we're told over and over and over again that she's brilliant. She's brilliant because the authors say so, because I believe the authors aren't competent enough at their craft to show a character engaging in brilliance. Every once in a while you have to let the readers decide if they like a character - which with these characters is about as significant as deciding if you like cartoons painted on a wall. They had to tell us a character is good or bad because the characters had no engaging motivations worth allowing us to decide for ourselves.
If I'm told someone is brilliant one more time by these authors, I'm tossing the next book in the trash bin.
3. Virtual Reality as human metaphor.
If there's a virtual reality existence with AI, then those beings have no need to pretend to be human - to act human, to look human, to act as slowly as humans. These ridiculous constructs have to wait in security lines to board aircraft for god's sake. Come on. Be creative. Be original. Allow the AI to actually influence the war and its outcomes - don't make them more dumb cardboard characters on a list of endless cardboard characters.
Even Ayn Rand wrote better than this - and that's saying a lot. Of course these books are shadow rewrites of Atlas Shrugged after all.
Here's what is right with this book - it has an interesting premise and a fairly decent plot structure.
Here is what is wrong with this book:
1. Cardboard Characters.
There isn't a single believable character in this whole book. Not one with realistic motivations or actions. This is what happens when ideologues with no life experience try their hand at social commentary. Bureaucracy is bad - so everyone in the book who represents an organization of any size is bumbling, including those peacetime military or pseudomilitary officers who are now thrown into situations where they need skills of battle. Conversely the military is great - so all military leaders are competent, brilliant, altruistic and self-sacrificing. Having been in the military, and having served combat, these characteristics are annoyingly simplistic drivel.
2. Telling vs. Showing.
How do we know that someone is brilliant. Because we're told over and over and over again that she's brilliant. She's brilliant because the authors say so, because I believe the authors aren't competent enough at their craft to show a character engaging in brilliance. Every once in a while you have to let the readers decide if they like a character - which with these characters is about as significant as deciding if you like cartoons painted on a wall. They had to tell us a character is good or bad because the characters had no engaging motivations worth allowing us to decide for ourselves.
If I'm told someone is brilliant one more time by these authors, I'm tossing the next book in the trash bin.
3. Virtual Reality as human metaphor.
If there's a virtual reality existence with AI, then those beings have no need to pretend to be human - to act human, to look human, to act as slowly as humans. These ridiculous constructs have to wait in security lines to board aircraft for god's sake. Come on. Be creative. Be original. Allow the AI to actually influence the war and its outcomes - don't make them more dumb cardboard characters on a list of endless cardboard characters.
Even Ayn Rand wrote better than this - and that's saying a lot. Of course these books are shadow rewrites of Atlas Shrugged after all.
January 10, 2019
The space opera plot is just fine...but it’s buried in SO much bloviation, overexplaining, and inconsequential plot threads that only extended, determined flipping got me through. Really not tempted to try any of the other volumes.
January 28, 2011
“The Unincorporated War” (Tor, 462 pages, $25.99) isn’t as good a read as the first book in what appears to be a trilogy, “The Unincorporated Man,” but it’s still a solid, old-fashioned, Solar System space opera. We’ve got the plucky folks out in the asteroid belt battling the evil dictator of Earth and Mars, we’ve got grand battles in space, we’ve got treachery and plots and love affairs and all sorts of action.
Unfortunately, Dani and Eytan Kollin (brothers) lost some of the momentum of “The Unincorporated Man” and have stretched the suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point in the sequel. Still, the battle between a mostly Earth-bound society in which each individual is a corporation, with stock and prices, and the more freewheeling inhabitants of the asteroids and moons of the Solar System, is a solid enough effort that I’m willing to read the next installment. Readers who actually pay for books, however, might want to wait until the series is complete before making an investment.
Unfortunately, Dani and Eytan Kollin (brothers) lost some of the momentum of “The Unincorporated Man” and have stretched the suspension of disbelief almost to the breaking point in the sequel. Still, the battle between a mostly Earth-bound society in which each individual is a corporation, with stock and prices, and the more freewheeling inhabitants of the asteroids and moons of the Solar System, is a solid enough effort that I’m willing to read the next installment. Readers who actually pay for books, however, might want to wait until the series is complete before making an investment.
March 3, 2011
Where the first book struck a delicate balance between the ideas of self-incorporation and the story of Justin Cord, this book ignores the first topic entirely. That in hand you're left with a sci-fi book with two waring factions. The stories of the battles aren't particularly memorable, neither are the politics. I feel like the first book stood on two crutches, having one pulled out in the second really hurt the book overall.
February 2, 2011
The first book was excellent, but they should have stopped there. This book was slow, formulaic and annoying. I really hated how the "genius" military people always seemed to have the perfect defense or strategy with nothing more than a hunch. And Neela was just lame, no spoilers but what happened with her seemed gratuitous. I gave up on the book right then.
July 29, 2017
I don't know what happened between the first book and this one, but I didn't like this one at all. There wasn't really any further looks at the weird sociology of the future world, or anything interesting. This was, at best, mediocre space opera. And it was _so tedious_. It dragged _on_ and _on_ and _ooooonnnnnn_. I couldn't wait for it to be over.
I spent the first half hoping that it would get good, and the last half knowing that it wouldn't, but wanting to just finish it. I probably won't read any more of this series.
I spent the first half hoping that it would get good, and the last half knowing that it wouldn't, but wanting to just finish it. I probably won't read any more of this series.
January 23, 2023
I read and liked the first book well enough to continue on to this one. There are a lot of interesting ideas in here that didn't really get explored. The characters felt interchangeable. And I like the standard tropes as much as the next person, but most everybody who ended up in charge of a ship (or a fleet) turned out to be some sort of military genius. The ending seemed a bit like the authors saying, "Oh no. We've written ourselves into a corner but are contracted for two more books. What do we do?"
February 27, 2018
Yessiree... Woooow. What an epic continuance. Of course I've just had to reread book 1 directly before this, because keeping up with what's happened with almost 5 years of other books in between is impossible. But what a breathtaking follow-on, with the end absolutely and undeniably un-put-downable, and the epilogues just pouring salt onto the wounds. If the first book is a little narrow in scope for your tastes, book 2 will cure you of that.
August 23, 2024
I enjoyed the continuation of the story about the Unincorporated Man but I personally find war and space battles to be not very interesting, and that is what the bulk of this book is. I shouldn't be surprised with a title like "The Unincorporated War," but there it is! If you're like me (loved the Unincorporated Man but don't like war stories), I still wouldn't skip this title in the series as it continues developing important themes and ideas that any readers of the first book will appreciate.
January 19, 2019
WTF. I'm not going to spoil it but seriously. What an ending. This story is such an awesome continuation of the series. I loved every minute of this book. Had to get the third the same day so I could keep reading!!! Could NOT out these books down. Got mad when I had to let the dogs out to go to the bathroom because I was away from the story for 15 seconds.
June 9, 2023
basically fighting a war in space. where each opponent is fairly evenly matched. both sides having a reasonable reason for fighting. by the end of the book i really didnt care who won or lost, however this is a trilogy and i heard that the last book is quite a bit better than this so i will be getting it soon.
November 25, 2024
I read all the way through purely because of how much I liked the first book in the hope that it would get better, but it was a slog that had little in the way of redeeming qualities. The first book was full of explorations of interesting ideas, while this was a just a mediocre space war from beginning to end.
February 21, 2019
I like the characters but as this is just one in a series of books, to be continued, is one of the reasons I stopped reading sci-fi. I always feel like I'm being forced to buy more of the author's books just to find out how the story ends. So irritating.
July 31, 2019
Not nearly as good as the first novel. None of the characters felt true to themselves. I started it over a year ago. Put it down halfway through and kinda forgot about it. Came across it and felt a bit guilty, so I finished it up. I doubt I'll read the rest of the series.
August 9, 2024
Somewhat odd direction for the sequel to go into, as we shift to focusing on different characters, and it becomes a rather standard space opera. However, it is a damn good space opera, so while it may not be as good as the first book it is still worthy of 4 stars
July 12, 2018
I am still head over heels for the story and want to know more but I’m not a fan of how this book ended. Definitely can’t wait to read the third book though!
September 11, 2024
Like its predecessor, the Unincorporated Man, this has interesting concepts, twists and turns, somewhat stereotyped characters. But engaging enough that I want to read the rest of the series.
March 8, 2017
This is the second book in the series that starts with The Unincorporated Man. This book was a fun read and definitely a page turner. If you read the first book I do recommend that you pick this one up and continue the series. It picks up the narrative and continues it in a larger universe of war between the Alliance and the UHF. It is always fun to read a novel series as you get to learn more about characters that you have bought into.
What I struggled with most in this book is that it has lost some of what made the first one more interesting. The characters felt a bit flat, and it abandoned some of the narratives around the struggle between the incorporated and the unincorporated world at a single human level. This was, for me, the most challenging part, as I did not get to learn more about some of my favorite character's motivations. Instead, we were often treated to a highlight reel of space battle that didn't seem always realistic. The book also jumped in and out of the virtual world too infrequently which made the end come out of nowhere.
I plan on continuing on with the series as I am curious how it will unfold, but I will do so with slightly lower expectations.
What I struggled with most in this book is that it has lost some of what made the first one more interesting. The characters felt a bit flat, and it abandoned some of the narratives around the struggle between the incorporated and the unincorporated world at a single human level. This was, for me, the most challenging part, as I did not get to learn more about some of my favorite character's motivations. Instead, we were often treated to a highlight reel of space battle that didn't seem always realistic. The book also jumped in and out of the virtual world too infrequently which made the end come out of nowhere.
I plan on continuing on with the series as I am curious how it will unfold, but I will do so with slightly lower expectations.
July 10, 2012
In the world envisioned by this story, not only are corporations people, but people are corporations. They buy and sell shares of one another and pay dividends to their shareholders in a capitalist dystopia. It’s an interesting premise for a soft science fiction story, and it is why I picked up this book at the local public library last week.
The Unincorporated War begins with the Alliance (essentially all human colonies in the solar system that are beyond the orbit of Mars) in a lopsided war with Earth, which has more people, more money, and a much better logistics position. The cause of the conflict is primarily economic ideology. The Earth is for incorporation, the colonies not so much. The Alliance is fighting for survival against superior forces, but through skill by their leaders and incompetence by their opponents, they capture warships and drag the war out for years. And it does drag. The military actions are written well, but they become repetitive. After the third example of tactical brilliance by Alliance Admiral Black, the reader gets the idea. She’s clever and brave. Got it. But she’s fighting incompetents. The spaceship captains Earth commissions, former corporate executives and political toadies, are not her equal. (I should mention that Black herself was a former corporate lawyer, so how she instantly became a tactical genius is something of an unexplained mystery.)
In any case, Earth needs a commander to match Black and they get one just in time to save their incorporated assets. They guy they find, Captain Trang, is one of the book’s more believable characters. He’s not a bad guy. He believes incorporation is best for humanity and he’s willing to spend millions of his soldiers’ lives to ensure its continuance.
There are some real bad guys, though. Hektor Sambianco, newly elected president of the Earth government, is one. Now I love a bad guy I can really hate, and this guy is a good one -- I mean bad one -- I mean he’s despicable. But the fact he has no redeeming qualities makes him unbelievable. You do have to appreciate how manipulative he is, though. He would literally murder to get ahead. Lying is simply good business sense. Brain-washing, rape... yes, he does all these. He’s a flawless dark gem of an inhuman being.
And this is pretty much how I felt about the other aspects of this book. Everything is just a bit off.
•The attempts to bring a ‘hard science fiction’ element into it fell short of believable. The asteroid colonies and spaceships did not sound like they would work as described, although I admit I’m no engineer and don’t really know.
•The economics don’t make much sense. There is no ‘fiat’ government currency (like the dollar), so how are peoples’ shares valued, traded, and what kind of system could possibly track ownership of them?
•The subplot with artificial intelligences living in a virtual world was intriguing, but I think it detracted from the story. Without it, the ‘deus ex machina’ ending would not be possible -- which would have been a good thing.
•The politics didn’t quite work either. Before Sambianco maneuvers himself into the presidency, the government is described as essentially ornamental. The most powerful corporations run everything. So, what keeps the corporations from eating one another?
•Some of the cultural/sociological/psychological/religious (soft science fiction) aspects had me scratching my head. One that most struck me was a sudden and unexplained resurgence of religious belief within the Alliance. Admirable Black becomes ‘the blessed one,’ and every religion, cult, and mystical system known to history suddenly has new believers somehow. This suggests that the war between Earth and the Alliance over economics will escalate into a religious conflict in future books. Religious wars make bloody history and good fiction, but the addition of that aspect wasn’t needed for this particular story, and, in fact, detracts from the theme up to this point.
The premise remains intriguing, but the story is lost in the details. I stopped caring about two-thirds of the way through and did not enjoy the rest of the book. I can’t honestly recommend it.
The Unincorporated War begins with the Alliance (essentially all human colonies in the solar system that are beyond the orbit of Mars) in a lopsided war with Earth, which has more people, more money, and a much better logistics position. The cause of the conflict is primarily economic ideology. The Earth is for incorporation, the colonies not so much. The Alliance is fighting for survival against superior forces, but through skill by their leaders and incompetence by their opponents, they capture warships and drag the war out for years. And it does drag. The military actions are written well, but they become repetitive. After the third example of tactical brilliance by Alliance Admiral Black, the reader gets the idea. She’s clever and brave. Got it. But she’s fighting incompetents. The spaceship captains Earth commissions, former corporate executives and political toadies, are not her equal. (I should mention that Black herself was a former corporate lawyer, so how she instantly became a tactical genius is something of an unexplained mystery.)
In any case, Earth needs a commander to match Black and they get one just in time to save their incorporated assets. They guy they find, Captain Trang, is one of the book’s more believable characters. He’s not a bad guy. He believes incorporation is best for humanity and he’s willing to spend millions of his soldiers’ lives to ensure its continuance.
There are some real bad guys, though. Hektor Sambianco, newly elected president of the Earth government, is one. Now I love a bad guy I can really hate, and this guy is a good one -- I mean bad one -- I mean he’s despicable. But the fact he has no redeeming qualities makes him unbelievable. You do have to appreciate how manipulative he is, though. He would literally murder to get ahead. Lying is simply good business sense. Brain-washing, rape... yes, he does all these. He’s a flawless dark gem of an inhuman being.
And this is pretty much how I felt about the other aspects of this book. Everything is just a bit off.
•The attempts to bring a ‘hard science fiction’ element into it fell short of believable. The asteroid colonies and spaceships did not sound like they would work as described, although I admit I’m no engineer and don’t really know.
•The economics don’t make much sense. There is no ‘fiat’ government currency (like the dollar), so how are peoples’ shares valued, traded, and what kind of system could possibly track ownership of them?
•The subplot with artificial intelligences living in a virtual world was intriguing, but I think it detracted from the story. Without it, the ‘deus ex machina’ ending would not be possible -- which would have been a good thing.
•The politics didn’t quite work either. Before Sambianco maneuvers himself into the presidency, the government is described as essentially ornamental. The most powerful corporations run everything. So, what keeps the corporations from eating one another?
•Some of the cultural/sociological/psychological/religious (soft science fiction) aspects had me scratching my head. One that most struck me was a sudden and unexplained resurgence of religious belief within the Alliance. Admirable Black becomes ‘the blessed one,’ and every religion, cult, and mystical system known to history suddenly has new believers somehow. This suggests that the war between Earth and the Alliance over economics will escalate into a religious conflict in future books. Religious wars make bloody history and good fiction, but the addition of that aspect wasn’t needed for this particular story, and, in fact, detracts from the theme up to this point.
The premise remains intriguing, but the story is lost in the details. I stopped caring about two-thirds of the way through and did not enjoy the rest of the book. I can’t honestly recommend it.
March 26, 2011
Audiobook, narrated by Eric G. Dove
I liked the first book better, The Unincorporated Man. This 2nd book in the series was a little too military sci-fi for me. I thought the first book had some very creative ideas behind it. Now Justin is the president of the Alliance (how did he go so fast from the One Free Man to the head of a huge Alliance at war?) and they're battling it out in space for most of the book. Book #1 raised questions that made you think, book #2 is more of a space opera.
I'm more interested in the original premise of the book: What would a society be like where individuals are incorporated and the value of their shares, which can be bought and sold, fluctuate as in today's stock market? I'm less interested in good guy vs. bad guy and what clever moves the armies used to win their battles.
On another note, I was a little disappointed that the Avatari, who have the potential to be quite an interesting aspect of the series, fought out their own war in much the same way as the humans. I was expecting them to have a more unusual approach to working out their conflicts.
I'm looking forward to Book #3 when it is eventually written. It seems logical that it will move away from military maneuvers and back into the area of characters and ideas. And by the way, the books are a continuing series - if you're a person who might get frustrated to be left with unresolved parts of the plot, wait until the 3rd book comes out before you read the first two.
I also preferred the narration for The Unincorporated Man, with one exception - this narrator, Eric G. Dove, gives the women substantial voices. The narrator in Book #1 tended to give them high-pitched, flighty voices.
I liked the first book better, The Unincorporated Man. This 2nd book in the series was a little too military sci-fi for me. I thought the first book had some very creative ideas behind it. Now Justin is the president of the Alliance (how did he go so fast from the One Free Man to the head of a huge Alliance at war?) and they're battling it out in space for most of the book. Book #1 raised questions that made you think, book #2 is more of a space opera.
I'm more interested in the original premise of the book: What would a society be like where individuals are incorporated and the value of their shares, which can be bought and sold, fluctuate as in today's stock market? I'm less interested in good guy vs. bad guy and what clever moves the armies used to win their battles.
On another note, I was a little disappointed that the Avatari, who have the potential to be quite an interesting aspect of the series, fought out their own war in much the same way as the humans. I was expecting them to have a more unusual approach to working out their conflicts.
I'm looking forward to Book #3 when it is eventually written. It seems logical that it will move away from military maneuvers and back into the area of characters and ideas. And by the way, the books are a continuing series - if you're a person who might get frustrated to be left with unresolved parts of the plot, wait until the 3rd book comes out before you read the first two.
I also preferred the narration for The Unincorporated Man, with one exception - this narrator, Eric G. Dove, gives the women substantial voices. The narrator in Book #1 tended to give them high-pitched, flighty voices.
July 14, 2015
This book was not as good as The Unincorporated Man by quite a bit. There was too much discussion and not enough space opera action. You would think that a sci-fi book with "war" in the title would have lots of space battles and action packed fights. Not this one, this book was pretty boring. There are lots of discussions about religion and society but not a whole lot of sci-fi action. The Unincorporated Man was good because it was a whole new world and Justin Cord was learning about it with us. In the Unincorporated War, Justin Cord isn't really in the book a whole lot and when he is in the book, he is just as shapeless a character as all the rest of the characters in this book.
The story is boring, the religious aspect of the book was annoying and everything was just so mediocre. I am going to finish the series since I have them, but I am not excited about what happens next. I was rooting for Justin Cord and the Alliance, but with all the religious crap that was piled into the end of this book, I don't really care who wins.
Throughout a lot of this book, I was forcing myself to finish but then other parts were actually interesting enough that I wanted to read it. The last couple of chapters were exciting but confusing. There was not much explanation for why some of the characters did some of the things they did. I also was not happy with the cliff hanger ending that was left. It seems like something should have been wrapped up with Justin Cord and the Alliance. Instead we get a couple of paragraphs about the war possibly ending and no other explanation for anything else. Of course I expect that a lot of that will be in the next book, but a little more would have been nice to end this book without too much of a cliff hanger.
Overall, 2.5 out of 5 stars. Hopefully the next book is better but I am not holding my breath.
The story is boring, the religious aspect of the book was annoying and everything was just so mediocre. I am going to finish the series since I have them, but I am not excited about what happens next. I was rooting for Justin Cord and the Alliance, but with all the religious crap that was piled into the end of this book, I don't really care who wins.
Throughout a lot of this book, I was forcing myself to finish but then other parts were actually interesting enough that I wanted to read it. The last couple of chapters were exciting but confusing. There was not much explanation for why some of the characters did some of the things they did. I also was not happy with the cliff hanger ending that was left. It seems like something should have been wrapped up with Justin Cord and the Alliance. Instead we get a couple of paragraphs about the war possibly ending and no other explanation for anything else. Of course I expect that a lot of that will be in the next book, but a little more would have been nice to end this book without too much of a cliff hanger.
Overall, 2.5 out of 5 stars. Hopefully the next book is better but I am not holding my breath.
March 25, 2014
First of all, I would like to point out that I did not read the earlier book, The Unincorporated Man. I picked up this book at my local bookstore based on the blurb.
At the beginning, it showed all the promise of a standard space opera with descriptive space battles and your classic huge underdog Alliance against the evil UHF. Although unrealistic with the heavily outgunned Alliance winning stunning upset victories and the characters polarized as either very good or very evil, it had a level of fun to it that was at first enjoyable, even if it was aimed at young boys between 10 and 14. Unfortunately, as the story moved along it tried to appeal to an adult audience and it devolved from there.
The science was abysmal, especially the all too human avatars whose subplot in the novel left me wondering why the author even bothered to put it in. A lack of how the solar system actually works was evident in simple things like a static battle front for years between Mars and Ceres when the orbits around the sun vary. Again, this was the kind of stuff a mid-grade to young adult reader might accept, but far too off the mark for an educated adult reader.
Another aspect that was disappointing was the constant head hopping making it difficult at times to follow. The story would flip from the point of view of one character to another constantly, sometimes within the same paragraph.
My greatest disappointment is with the publisher, Tor Books. After I finished reading I went and examined the front pages carefully to discover who the editor was. To no surprise, there wasn't one listed. That does not mean there wasn't one employed, but based on the quality of the writing, I would find it highly unlikely one was. I can only guess Tor couldn't wait to try and capitalize on the success of the first novel and rushed to print without the novel getting the proper revisions it needed.
At the beginning, it showed all the promise of a standard space opera with descriptive space battles and your classic huge underdog Alliance against the evil UHF. Although unrealistic with the heavily outgunned Alliance winning stunning upset victories and the characters polarized as either very good or very evil, it had a level of fun to it that was at first enjoyable, even if it was aimed at young boys between 10 and 14. Unfortunately, as the story moved along it tried to appeal to an adult audience and it devolved from there.
The science was abysmal, especially the all too human avatars whose subplot in the novel left me wondering why the author even bothered to put it in. A lack of how the solar system actually works was evident in simple things like a static battle front for years between Mars and Ceres when the orbits around the sun vary. Again, this was the kind of stuff a mid-grade to young adult reader might accept, but far too off the mark for an educated adult reader.
Another aspect that was disappointing was the constant head hopping making it difficult at times to follow. The story would flip from the point of view of one character to another constantly, sometimes within the same paragraph.
My greatest disappointment is with the publisher, Tor Books. After I finished reading I went and examined the front pages carefully to discover who the editor was. To no surprise, there wasn't one listed. That does not mean there wasn't one employed, but based on the quality of the writing, I would find it highly unlikely one was. I can only guess Tor couldn't wait to try and capitalize on the success of the first novel and rushed to print without the novel getting the proper revisions it needed.
April 4, 2014
I really like this and am excited to see where it goes. I don't think it quite lived up to the first one, but I never think the second books ever do >.<
In this sequel to The Unincorporated Man, war has broken out between the core planets and the outer civilizations following attempts at force "psych-audits" of the people from the outer alliance and the unincorporated man himself.
First of all, it kills me anytime someone says "anyways." I'm sure in 300 years, as language is living, that could become the proper thing to say, but it's such a little thing to think that the authors did it intentionally. That's like my one huge grammar peeve, and the all characters say it quite often.
I'm really interested in how the avatar's storyline will play out. In the first novel, I thought the avatars storyline didn't really fit and were it taken out, nothing would change, except for the one line where Neela wonders if Justin's avatar is more advanced. In this novel, you can see more of a melding of the two worlds, especially at the end where the avatars finally take action and cause things to happen in the "real" world.
I like that I'm kept guessing over who will win the war. The action scenes are fun, though you know there's always going to be subterfuge on both sides, often multiple time per fight.
Overall, it's a fun read. I never found it boring and look forward to reading the next one. Sometimes they'll try to explain how something in the future became that way which irked me since it reflected a misunderstanding of history and the present, but that stuff is overall a small portion of the novel.
In this sequel to The Unincorporated Man, war has broken out between the core planets and the outer civilizations following attempts at force "psych-audits" of the people from the outer alliance and the unincorporated man himself.
First of all, it kills me anytime someone says "anyways." I'm sure in 300 years, as language is living, that could become the proper thing to say, but it's such a little thing to think that the authors did it intentionally. That's like my one huge grammar peeve, and the all characters say it quite often.
I'm really interested in how the avatar's storyline will play out. In the first novel, I thought the avatars storyline didn't really fit and were it taken out, nothing would change, except for the one line where Neela wonders if Justin's avatar is more advanced. In this novel, you can see more of a melding of the two worlds, especially at the end where the avatars finally take action and cause things to happen in the "real" world.
I like that I'm kept guessing over who will win the war. The action scenes are fun, though you know there's always going to be subterfuge on both sides, often multiple time per fight.
Overall, it's a fun read. I never found it boring and look forward to reading the next one. Sometimes they'll try to explain how something in the future became that way which irked me since it reflected a misunderstanding of history and the present, but that stuff is overall a small portion of the novel.
July 31, 2012
The first in the series (the unincorporated man) drew me in and astounded me with its volume - in characterization and attention to detail, at times a bit of a slog but utterly worth the time. That's the only reason I would have picked this one up.
I normally steer clear of war stories, real or fictional, because I have trouble visualizing and following the action. I had put this one off for just that reason - and now I wish I hadn't, because it would have been even better had I still had the first fresh in my mind.
What have the authors done to make a war story worth reading? They've kept it human. They first create a backdrop with players every bit as ambivalent and fallible as we are, and then deliver their script with nuance, subtlety, humor, and variation. What could have been dry third-person play-by-plays of battle scenes instead become news excerpts, first person remembrances, and cuts from the action to an unrelated scene where we might or might not learn what's happened. Swapping viewpoints between the warring sides, without bias, can be confusing but drives home the perception that there is no clear cut good vs evil here - both sides believe they are right.
Both sides are fought in the voices of people, everyday people, causing us to see things at the ground level, and even the high-level meetings of politicians are rooted in humanity, with the natural flow of conversation and observation of human flaws. There is humanity running through every part of this book - even the avatar sequences - which I hadn't quite expected going in.
I normally steer clear of war stories, real or fictional, because I have trouble visualizing and following the action. I had put this one off for just that reason - and now I wish I hadn't, because it would have been even better had I still had the first fresh in my mind.
What have the authors done to make a war story worth reading? They've kept it human. They first create a backdrop with players every bit as ambivalent and fallible as we are, and then deliver their script with nuance, subtlety, humor, and variation. What could have been dry third-person play-by-plays of battle scenes instead become news excerpts, first person remembrances, and cuts from the action to an unrelated scene where we might or might not learn what's happened. Swapping viewpoints between the warring sides, without bias, can be confusing but drives home the perception that there is no clear cut good vs evil here - both sides believe they are right.
Both sides are fought in the voices of people, everyday people, causing us to see things at the ground level, and even the high-level meetings of politicians are rooted in humanity, with the natural flow of conversation and observation of human flaws. There is humanity running through every part of this book - even the avatar sequences - which I hadn't quite expected going in.
April 18, 2014
An interesting premise but I was left vaguely unsatisfied by many elements of the story. The focal(?) point of the story is the idea of personal incorporation ... the idea that people sell shares of themselves into a marketplace and it is the "invisible hand" of the market that ultimately determines your place in society. The war that ensues is between the core systems (Earth and Mars) who support the idea of incorporation and the outer alliance systems (Jupiter, Saturn, the Asteroid Belt, et al) who are led by the main character, Justin Cord ... a man who emerged from cryostasis after 200 years ... who is the president of the outer alliance.
The story goes a bit sideways by perepherally introducing a subset of AI characters involved in their own war through the Neuro (interstellar internet) who seem to have interest in the outcome of the war between the humans who have no idea of the existence of these artifical entities.
The final, and for me, most unsatisfying element in the story is the premise that in the evolution of this new societal paradigm that both democracy and religion have been eliminated, but since the outer alliance wants to do away with the "incorporation" model of their society, democracy ... and to a greater extent religion ... are what will save the human race.
This is obviously the first in a series of novels, but I honestly don't think I am interested in following up.
The story goes a bit sideways by perepherally introducing a subset of AI characters involved in their own war through the Neuro (interstellar internet) who seem to have interest in the outcome of the war between the humans who have no idea of the existence of these artifical entities.
The final, and for me, most unsatisfying element in the story is the premise that in the evolution of this new societal paradigm that both democracy and religion have been eliminated, but since the outer alliance wants to do away with the "incorporation" model of their society, democracy ... and to a greater extent religion ... are what will save the human race.
This is obviously the first in a series of novels, but I honestly don't think I am interested in following up.
June 28, 2010
Not nearly as good as the first one. I still liked it quite a bit though. If it was a stand alone book I read for the first time I would give it 4 stars, it's only 3 compared to the first.
This is the first book I have read on a Kindle. No I did not buy a Kindle, I won it. Really. Zions wantd me to give money to the United Way and then they entered my name into a drawing and I won a Kindle. Pretty cool eh!?! Since the Kindle cost more than my donation, this was actually a profitable charitable action. Anyway I hereby declare that all school books will be in electronic form only within 10 years or less. Fiction and other books will take longer, but before I die,it will be very unusual to have a collection of actual books. The kindle is really cool in a lot of ways. You never lose your place. You can highlight cool parts and easily find them later. You can search the entire text for anything you want very easily. You don't have to go to the bookstore or wait at all. You just download the book nearly instantly. This is the future. I still prefer real books of course. There is no such thing as an old, musty smelling, leather bound Kindle.
This is the first book I have read on a Kindle. No I did not buy a Kindle, I won it. Really. Zions wantd me to give money to the United Way and then they entered my name into a drawing and I won a Kindle. Pretty cool eh!?! Since the Kindle cost more than my donation, this was actually a profitable charitable action. Anyway I hereby declare that all school books will be in electronic form only within 10 years or less. Fiction and other books will take longer, but before I die,it will be very unusual to have a collection of actual books. The kindle is really cool in a lot of ways. You never lose your place. You can highlight cool parts and easily find them later. You can search the entire text for anything you want very easily. You don't have to go to the bookstore or wait at all. You just download the book nearly instantly. This is the future. I still prefer real books of course. There is no such thing as an old, musty smelling, leather bound Kindle.
August 9, 2022
I should start by revealing that I know the authors of this book, and therefore I am biased.
I loved it. In my defense, I am fairly certain I would have loved this book even if I didn't kow them.
Dani and Eytan Kollin have created a genuine, dreaming-of-the-future, shiny/grimy science fiction universe with their Unincorporated series. Unincorporated Man started things off in the best space opera fashion, exploring deep concepts and the nature of humanity in a novel and imaginative setting. Unincorporated War continues this trend with action, intrigue, flights of scientific fantasy, and some actually well-researched science. It makes you think, it makes you care about the characters, and there are tense times when you really just don't know what is going to happen.
Everyone compares these guys to Heinlein, and I say that's a disservice. I'm a fan of Heinlein, and I see the parallels. But Dani and Eytan aren't merely continuing his tradition - they are brilliant in their own right. They are reforging a path back to great science fiction for us, and I'm happy to be along for the ride.
I loved it. In my defense, I am fairly certain I would have loved this book even if I didn't kow them.
Dani and Eytan Kollin have created a genuine, dreaming-of-the-future, shiny/grimy science fiction universe with their Unincorporated series. Unincorporated Man started things off in the best space opera fashion, exploring deep concepts and the nature of humanity in a novel and imaginative setting. Unincorporated War continues this trend with action, intrigue, flights of scientific fantasy, and some actually well-researched science. It makes you think, it makes you care about the characters, and there are tense times when you really just don't know what is going to happen.
Everyone compares these guys to Heinlein, and I say that's a disservice. I'm a fan of Heinlein, and I see the parallels. But Dani and Eytan aren't merely continuing his tradition - they are brilliant in their own right. They are reforging a path back to great science fiction for us, and I'm happy to be along for the ride.
November 16, 2010
If you liked "The Unincorporated Man" then you'll enjoy "The Unincorporated War", and if you've not read that, you should do so first as the story is directly continued from the end of the first book. I found this an enjoyable, put slightly flawed, follow-up.
The idea of the Avatars, only briefly touched upon in the first book, was interesting and I was looking forward to their world being expanded upon. Unfortunately I have the same problem with the description of the Avatars, their civilisation and behaviour as I did with everything Dan Brown wrote in Digital Fortress, it's often quite cringe worthy. I suspect this is caused by non-"technical" people describing a (somewhat) technical subject. This was enough for me to drop a star from a book.
One major complaint about the audio version is that it's not read by Todd McLaren (I suspect because of a publisher change from Tantor to Brilliance). No slight on Eric G. Dove, who does narrate it, but Todd did an amazing job of voicing the characters in the first book and it was really quite jarring to have them all change, especially Hector.
The idea of the Avatars, only briefly touched upon in the first book, was interesting and I was looking forward to their world being expanded upon. Unfortunately I have the same problem with the description of the Avatars, their civilisation and behaviour as I did with everything Dan Brown wrote in Digital Fortress, it's often quite cringe worthy. I suspect this is caused by non-"technical" people describing a (somewhat) technical subject. This was enough for me to drop a star from a book.
One major complaint about the audio version is that it's not read by Todd McLaren (I suspect because of a publisher change from Tantor to Brilliance). No slight on Eric G. Dove, who does narrate it, but Todd did an amazing job of voicing the characters in the first book and it was really quite jarring to have them all change, especially Hector.
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