Customer Reviews

Crusade

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
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"Crusade" is billed as the second book in the trilogy which also comprises "Insurrection" and "In Death Ground." However, chronologically, it goes before "Insurrection."

"Crusade" is a space opera, with a handful of interesting characters, that are nonetheless one or two-dimensional at best. Fans of Weber's Honor Harrington series will see his hand at the orchestration and description of the space battles, as well as some of the personal clashes and resolutions (one in which a naval officer faces down the local government and industrial lobbyists by quoting case law comes to mind). However, the lack of compelling characters makes it overall a book inferior to the HH series.

On the other hand, as pure space opera this is a remarkably good and entertaining read. After their Orion allies are attacked by mysterious ships, humanity (in the form of the Terran Federation) must meet the challenge and defend their honor, or risk a new war with the Orion Khanate. From then on, the book will spend most of its time either describing fleet actions or preparations and consequences thereof, with a few passages given over to character interaction (but, alas, never character developement). In the grand tradition of the Doc Smith space operas, in which characters are flat and almost secondary to the action, with one larger than life character orchestrating it all (in this case, two: a former president and a naval admiral), the book has no apologies to make and is an excellent specimen. If that is all you are looking for you will be happy with your purchase and entertained throughout. If you are looking for a bit more character, however, you will probably be disappointed.

Crusade (1992) is the second novel written by Weber & White in the Starfire series. However, it is the earliest in internal chronological sequence and should be read first. It begins fifty years after the Third Interstellar War, in which the Terrans and Orions formed the Alliance and exterminated the Rigellians.

An Orion squadron in the Lorelei system is puzzled when an unknown fleet is discovered coming out of Charon's Ferry, the sixth warp point, since no ship had ever returned from there. Also, the bogies are using a very old Terran Federation Navy code in their transmissions. The squadron commander speculates that these ships could be remnants of TFN forces that had fled the Orions 90 years before during the Second Interstellar War. When the bogies identify themselves as TFN and refuse to believe that the Orions are allies, the TFN onboard liaison contacts them and explains the Treaty of Valkha. The bogies agree to parlay and, as the main party stands down, the vanguard comes to the Orions. Shortly thereafter, however, the bogies attack with missiles at minimum range and then with X-ray lasers. The Orions release their Omega drones and fight back, but three ships are soon lost. The Orion flagship is then boarded, but self-destructs before being captured.

After studying the available information, the Khanate of Orion decides that the invaders are Terrans. The Strategy Board wants to attack the Federation, but the Khan agrees with the squadron commander's idea of lost TFN forces escaping through Charon's Ferry. He tells the Federation Ambassador that Orion will not attack the Federation or the unknowns, but that the Federation must exact suitable vengeance upon their errant fellows. The Federation agrees and the politicians send a Peace Fleet to Lorelei upon invitation by the unknowns. Under secret orders, the TFN is subordinated to the diplomatic corps with disastrous results as the bogies repeat their underhanded tactics.

This story has many similarities to historical conflicts. The genocidial destruction of the Rigellian Protectorate in the Third Interstellar War parallels the actions of Rome in the Third Punic War. The actions of the Thebans reflect the fanatical behavior of both sides in the long conflict between Christianity and Islam, particularly in the Eastern Roman Empire and in Spain.

This novel is recommended for all Weber & White fans and anyone who likes spatial warfare with a background of political intrigue.

The alliance between humans and their cat-like former opponents isn't perfect, but it seems to be working. Working, that is, until starships emerge from a warp point that has resulted in the destruction of every starship that ever entered it. The intruders claim to be human--descendants of a colony ship that fled through the warp point generations before. They fake a willingness to negotiate and destroy the Orion fleet guarding the system. From there, the 'Thebans' attack the humans who, thanks to an agreement reached to head off war against two enemies, become solely responsible for punishing the attackers. Punishing takes second place to surviving, however, as the Thebans trick the human 'Peace Fleet' and virtually destroy it.

Human politicians overrode military commanders and were responsible for the destrution of the peace fleet but now, their backs to the wall, they call on the military to save them. Led by former admiral and ex-president Anderson, the human spaceyards begin to churn out weapons with which to confront their enemies who, it turns out, turned their first contact with the human colony ship into the basis for their religion--and a need to purify 'Holy Terra.'

At this point, the war takes a typical David Weber direction. The 'goodguys' (humans in this case), unfettered by milksop politicians, are able to gain secret weapons that virtually annilalate the Thebans when they face them. When the Thebans are able to gain an advantage, human superweapons and good luck mean that the badguys (Thebans) take almost as much damage as they deliver (compare any of a number of Haven victories in the Honor Harrington universe). Honor Harrington fans will also be familiar with the types of spacecraft, the missile throw weight statistics, and the evil represented by civilian politicians back home.

CRUSADE definitely has its redeeming qualities. From a literary perspective, the straightforward writing style used by Weber and co-author Steve White is engaging. First Admiral Lantu of the Thebans is a much-welcomed multidimensional character as he struggles between everything he has been taught and what he has dedicated his life to, and the truth as he discovers it to be.

I suspect Weber and White meant CRUSADE to contain a political message favorable to conservatives and scornful of liberals in America. If so, the decade since this book was written provide a welcome, if unintended irony. Politicians who lied to lead their country into war (although unintentionally in the case of CRUSADE, are singled out as the worst horrors of all. Hateful bigotry and a wish to simply genocide opposition is also argued against--an increasingly 'liberal' view.

I prefer military fiction where strategy and tactics play a more important role than superweapons, and where multiple complex characters wrestle with the reality of war--and the difficult and painful decisions that must be made. CRUSADE shows some of these tough decisions (the final decisions of whether to invade the Theban world or simply bombard it to lifelessness had to bring parallels of the decision on bombing Japan, for example). I would have enjoyed it more if it had taken this direction more fully.

This was a great book, but I had trouble keeping up with the storyline. In "In Death Ground" Admiral Anotov is Khaatha's Visthka brother, which means this is after Crusade, the Third Interstellar War (Terran-Theban). No Fourth Interstellar War is mentioned in "In Death Ground." In "Insurrection" the outcome is a split nation containing the Fringers and the Corporate Worlders. Trevyane is moorning the death of his wife, yet, in "In Death Ground" she's well and alive. And Trevyane is only a lieutenant. That's just the people, the technology is even more out of order. The actual story realy makes up for these glitches though. I would still highly recommend this trilogy.

As noted before, there isn't much character development, but this is a fun space opera. The events in the book occur before Insurrection, so you need not have read it before this, unless you just want to get a feel for the weapons and structure of the universe. I found my eyes glazing over during the ground combat moments, and of course the literal translation of the Scottish accent was death to me, but overall I enjoyed the book. I'm looking forward to In Death's Ground, as it seems to have a bit more substance, but I recommend this book as well.

I started backwards, with ON DEATH GROUND. Then I read THE SHIVA OPTION. Now I just finished CRUSADE.

I did think the CRUSADE book was on a par with ON DEATH GROUND. Perhaps the scale of sheer horror was less. But the description of naval battles was on a par.

As I finished the halfway point of CRUSADE, I had this feeling of "battles and battles and battles." It was getting flat, and I had a feeling the authors were just repeating a formula.

The sub-plots really saved the book. There were some embedded narratives involving key characters. The last 75 pages were the story of a Marines division tasked to assault the command center of the Thebes homeworld.

In the epilogue, it was heartening that the "farewell" to six or eight of the key characters really meant something. I was not confused -- each character stood out as an individual. I cared what eventually happened to them. This testifies to the quality of characterization in the book. It's essentially an action novel, but the characters really brought it to live.

David Weber is only rivalled by David Drake in writing "future war" novels. And of course, Keith Laumer and the "Bolo" series.

They are the best. They are not always at their top form, but this book speaks well for David Weber and Steve White both. I may try to go back and find INSURRECTION.

Decent military sci-fi action. A bit slow at times but packs a killer ending. Reminded me, at times, of the 1980's Japanamation classic "Starblazers"

I am hooked on the Honor Harrington series. I have spent so much time reading them that, when I was done, I was disappointed because I had nothing else from Weber to read until the next one comes out. I forgot to check for some of his other works. I wouldn't have thought he would have time to write anything else. WRONG!

CRUSADE pits the human federation against a new alien species which considers itself saviors dedicated to saving Terra and humanity for the evil Orions who just happen to be uneasy allies of humanity. It takes a while to figure out how this strange turn of events came to be but, when it finally comes out, it makes sense. Religious zealots are at work promoting a jihad for personal advantage. Their only contact with humanity came at a time when it was at war against the Orions.

A major problem is that the Orions are a warrior culture and their alliance with humanity is an uneasy one. When the new aliens, the Thebans, are first encountered, it is the Orions they attack and they do so in the name of humanity. Resolving this is left up to humanity but the Orions are keeping a suspicious eye on the situation.

The battles are well thought out and fans of space battles will appreciate the book. Just as interesting are the political battles. For me, they are even more interesting to read. It's a good book worth the time.

this is the book that really got me into space opera, before i read this id piddled in it a wee bit but this book really got me hooked in this genre, the characters are well fleshed out and the strategies and technology is very sound, I even found the political parts to be very interesting and do more than just fill in the gaps of the story. great book by a pair of great authors, these two should always work as a team.

Crusade is the first book written by Weber and White, and takes place before In Death Ground, and lays a pretty good base for the three books that would follow.

When ships emerge from a forbidden warp point, they begin to attack the Orion's, a cat-like race with whom Humans have a very shaky relationship. Because these attackers claimed to be humans, it is left to the Terran Federation to sort things out, or face another possible conflict with their neighbors.

The war quickly becomes a mess for Terrans as politics once again meddle in military afairs, sending humanity on the defensive immediately.

There are some interesting plot twists to the book, both with the Humans and the alien Thebans, who often show many of the dark tendancies of medieval man. The book itself is not straight up action like In Death Ground and the Shiva Option, going more in depth into the characters and their driving forces and how the universe is shaped by events they cause. A good portion of the book is focused on those in the resistance on occupied planets, and the Theban leaders who have their own thoughts on the war. This is a major strength compared to the other books who don't focus much on the aliens, or their interaction with Humans.

Crusade is not of the grand scale that is found in the two aforementioned sequels. You won't find battles between hundreds or thousands of ships, and neither enemy seems to have a limitless supply of ships. However, the more in depth character plots help to balance this out.

I had read In Death Ground before Crusade, but that didn't hinder liking the book at all. The smaller scale throws you off a bit, as do less plot twists, so I would suggest reading this before the others, but if not you won't be dissapointed.