Customer Reviews

Boy And His Tank

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

New Kashubia is a planet of almost pure wealth. When its star went nova, the lighter elements were blown away leaving a complete planet of molten metal--which then cooled in neat layers. New Kashubia is a miner's delight, an industrialist's best dream, and the worst possible nightmare for any colonists unlucky enough to be sent there. With no oxygen, no hydrogen, no organic chemicals, essentially nothing to support life, the Kashubian population is condemned to slowly starve--while living in their gold-lined caves. When they discover that the industrialists left a vast array of military equipment, the Kashubians see a ray of hope--they can become mercenaries, exchanging their equipment and soldiers for the organics they require. Of course, without enough volunteers, it is tempting to resort to stripping the prisons--hence tank operator Mickolai.

The warring clans of the former Yugoslavia form ideal targets for mercenaries. The Kashubians sell their services to all sides and prepare for a friendly time with plenty of shooting and no casualties. Unfortunately for their plans, the Serbians discover that the divisions they paid for are severely undermanned and take over the largely automated tanks themselves. As a result, the hoped-for cake walk turns into real battle.

Author Leo Frankowski follows the tradition of Robert Heinlein more than that of David Drake with a personal adventure and coming of age story--yet he certainly doesn't neglect the battles. Frankowski's descriptions of the future tanks is a reasonable extrapolation from modern trends, which makes his story more compelling and interesting.

I did think that Mickolai's relationship with Kasia went a little too easily and the romantic conflict between the tank, the boy, and the girl could have been more fully developed, but this is a small quibble. A BOY AND HIS TANK is fun light reading.

Frankowski ventures into territory charted by Drake, Laumer, Heinlein, and Saberhagen, and actually comes up with a number of original twists on the theme of space-age armored warfare. But while he does have some novel technical ideas, the story itself dies about a third of the way through and then limps along on Frankowski's folksy narrative style. While this is pleasant, the story would probably have been better as a novella or some such.

The book has some flaws, most notably that you don't have any idea until the end that the book might be the first of a series, (if it sells well). It's fun, lighthearted fare, and the author makes some serious points along the way about what might happen when reality and fantasy become indistinguishable. I found it well worth my time, and enjoyed myself along the way.

I just finished this book, and I enjoyed it. I have read all of his novels and this is the first that takes place in the distant future on different worlds. Not a bad attempt.

This is a fairly typical Frankowski novel, written in a typical Frankowski voice. If you have read any of his other novels, you'll recognize the narrator by his self-righteous yet wry attitude towards everything. I must confess that I found myself fairly bored by the book, having abandoned it at around 2/3s mark. Having said that, it's not really horrible...just not very good.

This book is fun to read just like all of the other Leo Frankowski books! it is especially intersting to read it now with the whole bombing going on in the Yugoslavian region! Also the idea of dream world is similar to some of the new hit movies, The Matrix? I love this book! Please let there be a sequael!

William Huang

Written in the entertaining Frankowski style and full of great ideas, but I found the ending, disturbing, and not at all satisfying. Very much like Copernick's Rebellion. It was good reading, but expect to be depressed for a few hours after finishing. It does present some fascinating ideas in an entertaining story, but this is fiction! We can have uplifting endings at no extra cost! That's what I liked about the "Cross-Time Engineer" series.

Best book in my collection I just hope there will be a sequel coming out soon. the ending leaves you wonting more and then you find out that your not going to get it. Can't ask for a better cover.

This is a 4-star rating for books in this genre, not 4 stars against my other rated books. That said, this is really good pulp sci-fi. It's a fast read (2 hours or less), with a moving story, interesting premise, and good characters. I thought the ending was a bit bizarre, (and I'm DYING to read the hardcover ending that everyone has so-far panned) and could well be the weakest part of the book, but I didn't mind. It was a nice mental diversion, and probably something I'll re-read on some other summer afternood with nothing to do.

If you enjoyed Alan Cole and Chris Bunch's STEN series, you'll probably like this. It's basically military sci-fi, with plenty of sexual imagery thrown in for good measure. High-tech tanks and other weaponry are well described for the enthusiast, and the action is pretty quick in coming (most of it actually occurs in a virtual environment called the Dream World). The protagonist is a wry, worldly fellow with more-than-average mental skills (a common formula for this genre), and is easy to like. The book lulls a bit toward the end, with a short pick-up and a final let-down. You won't care. Read it; it's not supposed to be high art.

The planet of New Kashubia is a ball of heavy metals in orbit about a pulsar that bakes the planet's surface with deadly radiation. The people are the poorest in the universe, having to import carbon, oxygen and even dirt. They live in tunnels drilled into the layer of gold because it is the LEAST dangerous metal to their health, giving birth is a crime and they go around naked because they can't afford clothes. You would think being inserted into a smart tank that will feed you, take care of you and allow you to do almost anything you want in virtual reality would be a good thing when compared to being sent to the hydroponic vats.
And it was a good thing...till you and your tank had to face REAL combat.