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33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant Military SF, September 4, 2007
About 500 years in the future, the Earth is governed by the descendent of the UN, the United Earth, which has stopped the strife between nations and formed with a world government of enlightened intellectuals. Fortunately, many millions escaped this hellhole of a dystopia to settle a newly discovered planet, "Terra Nova", colonizing it in roughly the same fashion as the old, which, four hundred years later, produces a similar political situation to that of early 21st century Earth. The descendents of western culture are under attack from Muslim extremists, and hampered by the progressive legacy of Earth. One retired Army officer and scion of a wealthy and powerful family loses his family in a terrorist attack and decides to raise a mercenary army to fight back.
The title is shortened from a line recorded in Tacitus's "Agricola" criticizing the Romans; "They make a desert and call it peace", meaning they kill their enemies until there is no one left to oppose them. A Desert Called Peace (ADCP) reads like a classic alternative history for the current political situation after September 11th, and draws from the American invasion of Panama in 1989 and the current War on Terror. The cleverly disguised names of the different countries and areas involved can send the reader scurrying off to do research or plumbing the depths of their mind to figure out who or where exactly "Suomi" and "Secordia" are, or what is the basis for the "Turbo-Finch" aircraft, and does Misrani mean Egypt or Syria? Although the most visible enemies in the book are the Al-Qaeda-like Muslim extremists, there is a level of understanding for them in that their actions (somewhat) logically result from understanding the consequences of their beliefs. The harshest criticisms are directed toward the civilized people hindering the war on terror because they cannot do the same, and cannot see that their actions and protests against war and for a more progressive world hinder the development of peace and a better world.
The author, Mr. Tom Kratman, is a retired Army officer and lawyer, and brings his considerable expertise in both law and war to bear on the story, from a strong justification for using starvation against a besieged city to defending the use of torture on illegal combatants. The analysis of how ruthlessly wars must be fought will shock most modern readers, but his arguments are well founded in the history of warfare. His extensive experience in Panama and Iraq add depth to the setting for ADCP. Some of the references and characters are firmly tongue-in-cheek, and the humor brings welcome relief from the the darker parts of the story. I highly recommend the book to science fiction fans of any political persuasion.
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36 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I REALLY Liked This one!, September 2, 2007
This book is excellent for several reasons: first, it is first rate storytelling. Second it is first rate LITERATE story telling; I did not catch one grammatical "oops!" Third it is a long but very well organized plot that, although there is some temporal skipping about, does not require back reading to catch up on stuff. Like David Weber, Kratman has created a fictional world, but in this case, it could be reality in our own near future, given the course of current events. The combat scenes are starkly realistic and are probably not for the Miss Marple crowd, but it is clear that Kratman has been "where the metal hits the meat". There are 2 more books in the future, one in November and the second in March. They will be "must haves" here.
With Kratman, Baen Books seems to have held the lead in the military sci fi area: Weber, Ringo, Flint are all there and now they have a new comrade in arms.
Very well done!
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Allegory for the Present, September 2, 2007
What if you lost everyone that you loved as a result of a horrific terrorist attack?
What if you had not only the ability, but the means, to strike back?
Would you take revenge?
More importantly, could your sanity survive the ordeal?
A Desert Called Peace explores this topic, and much more, as an allegory of the current war on terror. However, it is much more than that and I fear that many people will overlook the truly complex characters and story and decry the political aspects. But, honestly, outside of the more campy aspects of the U.N. characters, the Author plays fair with respect to the motivations of the rest. There is good and bad represented and no one has a clear cut hold on either. There is no "Red, White and Blue" being squeaky clean and without fault. The "hero" is a man who has lost everything and will do almost anything to avenge them and pays a very dear price for that.
I think that what I liked best about this novel is that it takes a very real look at the cost of going to war and the toll that it exacts on the men and women involved. No doubt that this is a very dark, very grim tale and I believe that if you give it a shot, regardless of your political leanings (OK, if you are Michael Moore you will hate it)and you are honest, I think that you will enjoy this.
I very much enjoyed this and would wholeheartedly recommend this to other adults and am looking forward to the sequel.
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