In Death Ground [Paperback]

David; White, Steve Weber (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Baen (1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671858858
• ISBN-13: 978-0671858858
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,619,984 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinder in Space, February 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: In Death Ground (Mass Market Paperback)

When I first read the back cover of IN DEATH GROUND, it sounded suspiciously like a rip-off of the great STARSHIP TROOPERS, by Heinlein ("Bugs" and "Arachnids" as the enemy, for gosh sakes). But after the first chapter I was hooked. For readers of sci-fi military lore, this book satisfies on many levels. The detailed and innovative descripton of future military technology ("SBMHAWKS"), the breathtakingly original tactics for fighting battles in deep space between two entrance/exit points (almost like fighting in a 2-dimensional universe, which would be far more difficult than in 3 dimensions), were absolutely riveting. The intrepid admirals, the high-tech battlewagons and carriers fighting a numerically superior and brutally agressive foe, the exciting and dramatic accounts of the desperate battles, and the incredible but realistic casualty rates of such deadly battlegrounds in space kept me glued to the book from start to finish. The only flaw in the book was the somewhat unrealistic use the Bugs had for the inhabitants of their captive planets. However, it detracted very little from the storyline and was easily overlooked in the overall drama of this gigantic campaign for survival of humanity and other allied races. The particular process of interstellar travel in this book, and its implications on strategic thought in this future century, was original and spellbinding. All in all, one of my top ten of all sci-fi books I have read and the equal in many respects to the great STARSHIP TROOPERS (the book, not the film!). Mr. Weber and Mr. White, please write the sequel. I have to know how it ends.

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sequel better than the original, April 12, 2000

By 

Arturo Magidin (Lafayette, LA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Death Ground (Mass Market Paperback)

"In Death Ground" is the third book to come out in a series which also includes "Insurrection" and "Crusade." "Insurrection" takes place many years after the other two books, however. "In Death Ground" is, chronologically, the sequel to "Crusade"; moreover, it reuses many of the characters from "Crusade," as well as relying on background information provided by that book. So "Crusade" should be read prior to "In Death Ground."

That being said, "In Death Ground" is a book which is superior in many ways to "Crusade." At heart, both books are really nothing but space opera, in which space battles play a major role. But whereas the characters in "Crusade" were flat and there was little change in them from one end of the book to the other, this is no longer the case for "In Death Ground." Finally, what Weber has learned elsewhere gets a chance to shine here. His hand is clearly present at the description of space battles, but some of that great character insight he has shown (in the Honor Harrington series) he is capable of finally makes an appearance in this book.

The plot is straightforward, pitting again the Orion-Earth Federation Alliance against a new foe. Battle after battle follows, but this time we get insight the head of a few of the captains and admirals commanding this battle (something sorely missing from the previous book).

As opposed to both "Insurrection" and "In Death Ground", the issues are NOT resolved in this book; clearly a sequel is planned, and I hope not too far away.

In summary, this book is pure fun space opera, but with some actual three-dimensional, evolving characters thrown in. Fans of mindless space opera will no doubt enjoy it, as will those who require a bit more depth to their science fiction. But beware: you should probably read "Crusade" first, and that is, unfortunately, an inferior book to "In Death Ground."

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nerdy, Guilty Pleasure, April 21, 2003

By 

"schrockn" (Kirkland, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Death Ground (Mass Market Paperback)

"In Death Ground," like the rest Weber's and White's Starfire series, is one of those science fiction novels and can and probably should be intellectually rejected. However, when I started reading it I had a hard time putting it down.

The story is really quite simple: in the twenty-fourth century Humankind has stumbled upon a particularily nasty breed of aliens bent on systemically injesting (literally) every known being in the entire galaxy. Essentially these beings are ants in space, and they have little regard for their own life in pursuit of ultimate victory and, henceforth, the survival of their species.

There are other aliens, but as a whole the aliens are slightly and uniformly [weak]. It seems as if the author simply thought of various earth animals and made them aliens, from the cat-like (and therefore predatorial) Khanate of Orion to the bird-like (and therefore fragile and agile) Ophiuchi Association.

But the aliens are not really the focus of the novel, and neither are the relatively wooden characters. Instead the battles, strategies, and tactics of the opposing navies are really the most interesting part of this story. The reason is that this is novel based on a wargame, called Starfire, that includes a lot of novel ideas about space combat, namely warp points (points in space that allow for instantaneous travel between star systems) and reactionless drives (engines that allow spacecraft to behave like naval vessels.) In fact David Weber, the primary author, is the principal designer of the game, so undoubtedly all of these campaigns were actually playtested, and as a result are incredibly consistent.

In short, if you are looking for a story with compelling drama and complex characters, look elsewhere. On the other hand, if you want a pleasantly forgettable, yet strangely addicting military science fiction novel, then look no further. For military history and science fiction buffs (such as myself), this book is pure fun. For anyone else, it is probably a bore.

***/**** stars -- Nick Schrock