Bob Lee’s Reviews > Alvar's Spear > Status Update

This section had a really well done battle--a sci-fi version of tanks/trooper transports vs. infantry. The hero, Gar, from his study of Earth's battles, designs a way for his few defenders to withstand the mechanized assault using only laser beams and laser cutters. Well done.

So far this is more of a space opera, other than the one fantasy element of the planet's consciousness. It had in this section a nice space battle (the ship does an Immelmann turn to escape? Well, I guess if the Millenium Falcon can do it!). And there's an insectoid alien who's a chameleon assassin that made me think of the one in Men in Black that puts on a person's skin (Edgar?). So this was a fun part.

Interesting novel -- an alien race that seems both primitive in some ways (ex. use net traps) and advanced in others (ex. genetic engineering capability). Includes a mix of discrimination between two similar races (denoted by a different eye color). And it has some mystical elements (such as the planet talking to the protagonist) that reminds me a bit of the Gaia mythos.