Customer Reviews

Captain (Dirigent Mercenary Corps)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Rick Shelly has created an interesting series with his tales of the DMC. I find that his detailed descriptions of combat situations, although some go into such minute detail as eating rations every few pages, they never drag on and add to the ability of Shelly to let you feel the "hurry up and wait" maxin of the military. Although there were few points that seemed improbable, this is fiction after all. When I rate books it is not based on, is it the Great American Novel, but does it deliver what it promises. If you enjoy Military combat stories combined with SciFi, the DMC series delivers.

Look, if you are looking for a great story, with evolving characters, then look further. In fact, Shelley's Buchanan Campaign is far better for those things. Shelley is not the world's best writer but when he writes what he knows there is a lot in there. He knows small units tactics. He knows light infantry. His descriptions of combat aren't the best but aren't totally unbelievable. The disappointments in this are: 1) this is the first book in the series where he even mentions that the DMC has tanks and artillery, but they make no appearance, which is strange since even a platoon of armored vehicles might help a lot on a contract; 2) the enemy here are highly-developed, with a large air force, and their is mention of heavy equipment, but it also makes NO appearance (both sides have whole regiments of infantry involved in the combat, but only the enemy manages to muster a handful of light mortars! ); 3) the whole concept of a benign military regime on Dirigent is downright silly; 4) at times the technological superiority of the DMC is inexplicable. Mr. Shelley, please use your knowledge of light infantry to show us what happens when the armor shows up. It would make a pretty exciting story... But if you like to read about combat, you will still enjoy this book.

Oh I love this series. Makes me want to go out and start my own mercenary corps. I was expecting something like hammer's slammers or The regiment series. I'd say it's a little of both. It's written so that humans are not perfect little beings of truth and love, who only use violence as a last act. These guys will fight for whoever pays them, and violence is the first action not the last, unlike the regiment series. On the other hand the DMC doesn't have unstopable machines of mass destruction, like hammer's slammers, or the bolo series. I like it. I also found it was somewhat similar to Chris Bunch's the last legion.

The first Rick Shelley book I read, "Officer Cadet," caught my interest. It seemed to be similar to John Dalmas' Regiment books, but the series has so far failed to deliver. Many of the plot elements were unbelievable, yet completely predictable. Other plot elements appear to be irrelevent to the story as a whole. I don't think I would be willing to buy a fourth book in this series.

"Captain" continues a slide in quality in Shelley's writing since the "Buchanan Campaign". The book starts with an inexplicable romance which leads you to question whether Nolan (the hero) should be trusted with a rifle, let alone commanding troops. An interlude involving field-testing a new logistics system leads nowhere; I had assumed it would play some part later in the book. Lastly the political situation into which the DMC is thrust seems wholly unreal. Or, if the situation doesn't, the protaganists' actions and the eventual plot developments leading from them strain disbelief. Simply awful.