The Price of Freedom

Wing Commander #5

by William R. Forstchen, Ben Ohlander

This latest release in the Wing Commander series, The Price of Freedom features live action segments with movie stars Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell and John Rhys-Davies, and has already been a Net sensation featured in Newsweek.

Genres: Science Fiction, Collections, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

William R. Forstchen (born 1950) is an American author who began publishing in 1983 with the novel Ice Prophet. He is a Professor of History and Faculty Fellow at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. He received his doctorate from Purdue University with specializations in Military History, the American Civil War and the History of Technology.

Forstchen is the author of more than forty books, including the award winning We Look Like Men of War, a young adult novel about an African-American regiment that fought at the Battle of the Crater, which is based upon his doctoral dissertation, The 28th USCTs: Indiana’s African-Americans go to War, 1863-1865 and the "Lost Regiment" series which has been optioned by both Tom Cruise and M. Night Shyamalan.

Forstchen’s writing efforts have, in recent years, shifted towards historical fiction and non fiction. In 2002 he started the “Gettysburg” trilogy with Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich; the trilogy consists of Gettysburg: A Novel of the Civil War, Grant Comes East, and Never Call Retreat: Lee and Grant - The Final Victory. More recently, they have have published two works on the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and immediately after that attack Pearl Harbor, and Days of Infamy.

In March 2009, Forstchen’s latest work, One Second After, (Forge/St. Martin’s books) was released. Based upon several years of intensive research and interviews, it examines what might happen in a “typical” American town in the wake of an attack on the United States with “electro-magnetic pulse” (EMP) weapons. Similar in plotting to books such as On the Beach and Alas Babylon, One Second After, is set in a small college town in western North Carolina and is a cautionary tale of the collapse of social order in the wake of an EMP strike. The book has been optioned by Warner Bros. and currently is in development as a feature film. The book was cited on the floor of Congress and before the House Armed Services Committee by Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R.-MD), chair of the House Committee tasked to evaluate EMP weapons, as a realistical portrayal of the potential damage rendered by an EMP attack on the continental United States.

Forstchen resides near Asheville, North Carolina with his daughter Meghan. His other interests include archaeology, and he has participated in several expeditions to Mongolia and Russia. He is a pilot and co owns an original 1943 Aeronca L-3B recon plane used in World War II.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/willia...

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weeellll . . . remember earlier when I said that Forstchen isn't so good at the whole espionage-thriller thing? Well, this one's just about 50% 'espionage'. And, as is so often the case with authors who are good/great with military, straight-forward narratives, they ain't so good with the crooked stuff.

In particular, Forstchen's primary weakness is in laying down plausible red herrings. An almost cardinal sin in an author trying to weave a yarn about deep and intricate plots and intrigues.

I still enjoyed the book, not quite as much as the previous books, and considering the next book is a prequel set at the very beginning of the Kilrathi war . . .

I'll be reading A Thousand Sons next, which JUST came over the wire for us at the D6Generation from Black Library to review. And also which, coincidentally, I've been awaiting with baited breath for months.

I might return to the last two Wing Commander novels soonish. It's just that a prequel, and then a novel from the Kilrathi perspective, the last two books (because I DO NOT count the movie-abortion-transcript a novel), aren't really calling to me.

[Revan Legend · Rating 3 out of 5]

10 Second Review:

The expansion on a few characters was great, especially Admiral Tolwyn who was as relatable an antagonist as can be. I really ended up feeling for his misguided, yet honourable intentions. The book really picked up in its final third, ending the series well.

[Wenzel Roessler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took was to long to start being interesting. Some weird shifts in a plot that was very basic (want to switch sides of the war? Welcome aboard here is your fighter. What!) Still had some good sections but not enough.

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Novelization of a video game and he chooses one of the worst story paths without losing the game. Interesting choice. I mean, it sure makes it dark but geez. It means things like introducing characters in the beginning that we never see again beyond introduction. Very odd choice. Also WC:4 is more of a suspense story. Really ruins the suspense when it is given away who the villain is in the first few chapters even if the main character hasn't figured it out because he's trusting and thicker than a Scottish oatmeal. There are other odd inconsistencies like Blair forgetting he has a super weapon that destroys ships until AFTER most of his squadrons are shattered and dying. Author really did make him the dumbest person to make Wing Commander. The romance feels forced and shoehorned in. Had he included "Catscratch" it could have made our "hero" less of a weird indecisive creep that couldn't make up his mind if he wanted to do the creepy old horny man roll or the fatherly much wiser man who has learned his lesson about dating people more than half his age younger than him. Paladin's brogue is as inconsistent as Blair's intelligence. While there isn't anything wrong with the pacing or the story in itself it could have been executed much better with a little more effort. Best thing going for this novel is that it explains our villain's switch to the dark side a bit better than the video game. It is still a crazy stretch but it is what it is. Going to rate this one the worst of the series.

[Jacob Bains · Rating 5 out of 5]

Advise reading vis-à-vis watching the YouTube computer game walkthrough "movie". Frankly the ending in the novel is BETTER than the pro- border world sequence of the game play. I don't want to give away anything, bit I can't give my review without some spoiler, such that the sequence of event in the undeclared war between the Confederation and the Border World Forces (they don't "technically" have an officious name for their navy and sideof the quasi war) . in the game play, they use the Border Worlds as a catch all, but its too broad, there exist refugee Oil ratio ships and unnamed Miles tho colonies implied and are targets of the Confederation.

I say all this to point out that a certain sequence of events in the game play , and actions of certain main characters deviate significantly in the book in the falling actions leading up to the ultimate conclusions. The book deviations ARE BETTER than those of the game:). In fact I wish what happens in th book (in these deviations were included in the game).

But if you don't read the book AND watch the gameplay movie you won't know of the deviations. It doesn't matter which one you do first, but do both!

The kindle copy, I read, has many typographical, and printer errors, I have tried to point them out and submitted to amazon .com. (August 2023). In certain cases these errors changed the whole meaning of passages, actions of the characters in question. Not enough to dissuade from finishing the story, but I am biased. I recommend getting a print copy if you can.

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the novels move further into the game timeline, divergences become a bit more obvious. The core storyline of WC4 still holds up well, but it becomes clear that without on-screen performances its two charismatic lead actors - Hamill and McDowell - to carry the whole construct, the story starts wavering a bit.

Nevertheless, Forstchen (likely working from an early version of the shooting script) does a good job in translating the game's FMV performances to the page. It's a quick and entertaining read which will be interesting to military sci-fi fans and is written well enough to not bore those who already know the game.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a diehard Wing Commander fan, and enjoyed this military science fiction book a lot. I liked the overlapping themes (stuff like the aftermath of war, veteran poverty, anti-authoritarianism, romance, etc..) that spiced the book up into more than just another military scifi story, though the many explosions and lasers blasts of this book do that aspect rather well. I was especially fond on doubling down on just how evil The Plan was, compared to the game.

It also seems to be an easy enough read that prior knowledge of the games isn't really required for this book, but will enhance it anyway. Definitely a book I can recommend!

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the one where the politics of the games became so divorced from Forstchen's reactionary bile that I'm astonished this one even got written. You can really tell that the author wants to vindicate the villain's fascist turn, but alas, contracts.

[James Carthew]

Decent adaptation of the game to novel form.

[Wildcard · Rating 4 out of 5]

After winning their war for survival against the space cats someone is trying to spark a war between Earth and the space boonies.

[James]

For me this one is a "must read" because author Ben Ohlander and I served together some years ago in the U.S. Marines. I'll get to it someday (so many books, so little time).

[Keira F. Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Video game adaptation. Fun. Not going to re-read any time soon however.