We Few / David Weber and John Ringo

We Few
by David Weber and John Ringo

copyright 2005
military science fiction

rated 6: read to pass the time

For Christmas I was given a collection of a dozen or so books by PG Wodehouse. Brilliant books... Funny books... Nice books... I needed a change! So I read We Few.

Okay. We Few is definitely not Wodehouse!

Blood and thunder. Cunning plans and heroic hand-to-hand fighting. Loyalty, honour and service before all else. Spoilt just a little by the stupidity of the villains.

It is also interesting that the hero's choices are not always simple.

Sure, we fight for the throne... But, having won the fight, should we now sit on the throne? The good guys fight for right, but right is not always obvious. Which makes for thought, for the reader, and a more interesting book.

Military SF has its own standards. By those standards I suspect that We Few is good. I find it to be just a bit over the top -- more so than I remember from previous books in the series.

As a book for the moment -- it is just what I want. I read the last two-thirds in one (very late) sitting. Sit up, blink, think, Wow! that was fun!

I don't go out of my way to read military SF. But when I see more books by Weber and Ringo -- I will be happy to read them.

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Problems ? Solved

March to the Stars / David Weber & John Ringo

March to the Stars

category: military science fiction, author:

David Weber & John Ringo

book 3 of March...
original copyright 2003

read in May 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10, read to pass the time

As I read the first few pages of this book I finally realised just what distinguishes military science fiction... Okay, it's taken me a while. Perhaps I did understand it before. It just clicked, this time, with a very loud click.

Military science fiction is about armies! Or navies, air forces, space fleets... What it is not about, is individuals.

Standard science fiction may have an army. The hero will be, perhaps, a raw recruit. Distinguishing him -- or her -- self by courageous actions, strategic thinking, individual heroism. And, more often than not, by deliberate disregard of orders in support of the greater good.

In military SF the hero is the army. There will be great leaders. There will be heroic individuals. If there is any deliberate disregard of orders, the disregarder will be shot. In military SF the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And everyone knows it.

March to the Stars is the continuing saga of a small group of space marines, marooned on a less-than-ideal planet. Where less-than-ideal is a euphemism for, absolutely lethal... Lethal wildlife, lethal flora, lethal locals.

If this were ordinary SF, the marines would settle in and build a better civilisation. Or become tough yet benevolent rulers of the existing barbarian civilisations. Check out A Princess of Mars for a good example: tough planet, tough hero, lots of battles, lots of armies -- but not military SF.

Because the March novels are military SF, the army has two objectives: protect the nominal leader because he is a member of the imperial family, and get back to their headquarters planet. And they do this with military precision.

Monsters are destroyed and local armies are defeated. Not that the local armies offer much of a challenge: they have the numbers but not the skill of the empire's marines. Though locals are recruited -- and trained -- to become lethal fighters on the side of good.

And yes, the marines are on the side of good. Not always deliberately. It just happens that this group of marines works for the branch of the royal family which supports good... And I suspect that the marines would fight just as hard for evil, if their nominal commander said so.

"Good", of course, is in the eye of the beholder.

The current heir to the throne is just naturally benevolent. Which is just as well because his word is law. His grandfather was equally benevolent -- but believed in rule by consensus -- which lead to riots, revolution and suffering. Might is also right. And it's just lucky that the might of the nice marines is mightier than the vicious might of the local cannibals.

Have you read Doc Smith's Lensman series? In those books, might is right. Yet there is a forgiving approach to defeated enemies, an approach which is shared by Weber & Ringo. The Lensman civilisation smashes an aggressive planet... Both sides then realise that it was all a misunderstanding... The two civilisations then become the best of friends.

Towards the end of March to the Stars, the marines revisit various locals who supported the marines -- or were thrashed -- in this and previous books. Supporters have gained and are thriving. Enemies have learnt and show signs of thriving. Even the latest defeated enemies -- cannibals who are seen to be evil -- are forgiven... and will soon be returned to niceness by the power of the empire.

All very much in support of "good", though you may disagree with some of the specific implementations of "good".

So the hero of the story is the army. There are individual heroes, all with their role to play -- as a part of the army. The deathcount is large... but the army survives.

Don't get me wrong! There are individual dramas! These are stereotype soldiers with feelings... Some soldiers, we could even begin to like. Just a few, but perhaps enough.

This is military SF. It tells a story of a small army battling heroically against the odds. Enough enjoyment to leave me interested in reading more. To a fan of military SF -- I suspect that this is worth a bit more than my own six out of ten.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index

Against the Tide / John Ringo

Against the Tide

category: military science fiction, author:

John Ringo

book 3? of Council Wars
original copyright 2005,
read in December 2010 (and before, in April 2006)

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

First time I read this book I had never heard of "military" science fiction. I thought, entertaining book -- but too many characters, too little excitement, not enough result...

As "military" science fiction, it makes a bit more sense:

This is war in a different environment. And war is about numbers, chain of command, clever strategies, small numbers of leaders and large numbers of cannon fodder.

Not, an independent scientist battling to solve a scientific problem. Not, humans battling an alien environment and each other. (Nor, vice versa.) Not a what if, taking one scientific possibility and exploring its possible impact.

Unless you take that last and say, military science fiction is taking a scientific possibility and exploring its impact on war... But really, it's not even that.

Against the Tide sets up a post-apocalyptic world -- where the apocalypse is post a far future society. In this world there is war. And the war is, really, fairly standard.

The strategic leader of Tide is a military genius who constantly refers to strategic lessons from history's great generals. War in this far distant future is just war. Perhaps with different types of troops, with some fancy weapons and steeds. But -- as an example of the standard nature of this future war: it's the cavalry which rides in to save the day!

It's an entertaining novel with plenty of unbelievably macho characters. And tough yet girly women. Breast beating and breast baring.

There's an interesting insight into the (possible) core beliefs of the author: The general uses great strategies based largely (so he says) on lessons learnt from past wars. He very seldom explains his plans -- waiting to reveal them when they actually happen. Then there's the status of women in various areas of this future society: one character spends several pages explaining why women are always subservient. Then another couple of pages explaining that his role in sex is always as a strongly dominant male.

Battle strategies -- the core of the book -- are implemented but not explained. The relative roles of men and women, in society and in bed, are explained -- in glib detail and with inaccuracies in the reasoning.

Still, that's just a few pages of the whole novel!

If you like your battles violent, your heroes superior and your heroines tough yet subservient -- this is your book. And yes, I did enjoy the book! It was just a bit embarrassing when the underlying machismo was discussed as though it were an undeniable truth.

Interesting science with defined limits. Wars which ultimately are settled by mass battles. A satisfactory conclusion: one battle won, more to come.

An enjoyable novel of military science fiction.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.