The Forge (The Raj Whitehall Series: The General, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

S.M. Stirling (Author), David Drake (Author)

Book Description

Series: General | Publication Date: January 1, 1991

On planet Bellevue, isolated for centuries after the collapse of interstellar civilization, a sentient computer still functions. When it and Raj, a young military officer, discover each other, a spark is struck which offers hope to benighted Bellevue. But first Raj must become the General.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Military officer Raj Whitehall is roaming through catacombs ofthe planet Bellevue when he discovers the computer Battle Central, arelic from the Golden Age before the planet's fall a thousand yearsearlierp. 171 . Central decides Raj is the one to carry out a mission,and by showing him what will happen to the planet withoutintervention, Central convinces Raj to save the stet caps/pk CivilGovernment from corruption and bandits. With the computer's guidance,Raj proposes a battle plan and soon sets out to conquer the enemieswho would destroy Bellevue, while others plot against him fromwithin. Central gives Raj advice from time to time by demonstratingfor him in his mind's eye what could happen if Raj makes the wrongstrategic decision. The computer's intervention, however, confuses thestory line, especially since Central gives alternate scenarios, oneafter the other. This novel, first in a series, may appeal to militaryscience fiction buffs who enjoy puzzling out complicated battlescenes. Drake is the author of Northworld ; Stirling wrote Under theYoke.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (January 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671720376
• ISBN-13: 978-0671720377
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #675,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Drake, David

More About the Author

I'm a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft -- I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent 5 Book Series, August 29, 2000

By 

silliman89 "silliman89" (Burke, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Forge (The Raj Whitehall Series: The General, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the standard by which I judge all military fiction. I have never found another that was it's equal. Even when the same authors got together again for books 6 and 7 (which I have reviewed separately) they couldn't recreate the magic of this series.

THE GENERAL series is about a fallen interstellar society which has climbed it's way back up to the technological level of the American Civil War. The hero, Raj Whitehall, has to reunite the planet in order to reach the stars again some day. This involves a lot of fighting and empire building. What gives Raj his edge is the pre-fall computer he has linked with that can see through his eyes.

This series has outstanding character development, a solid and well thought out overall plot line, and good story resolution in each book. The two things that really make the series the top of its genre are the interaction between the computer and the hero, and the realism of the situation. The interaction is a delicate balance that the authors perform magically. If the computer (Center) contributes too much, then the hero has too much of an edge, he doesn't have to try, and the story becomes boring. Without the computer, the hero is just this god like superhuman character that can do no wrong. The computer assistance makes Raj identifiable to the reader, even after he overcomes overwhelming odds to defeat the enemy. The realism comes from the fact that Raj is based on the life of a real person. The whole story is very similar to the story of Byzantine General Belisarius who conquered most of the Mediterranean world for his Emperor after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. That makes it very believable. The characters are very real. Their actions really happened a millenium and a half ago.

This is a must read for any fan of military fiction or empire building.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Military SF Series Ever, October 25, 2002

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Forge (The Raj Whitehall Series: The General, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is the first in a series of 5 books that depict a planet (Bellevue) with a human civilisation that has fallen back from a star spanning empire to preindustrial levels, roughly circa US prior to its Civil War. David Drake furnished the outline, which was laid flesh by Steve Stirling.

The books are superbly written, with a plausible, complicated neo-feudal world. You can feel the dust in the air and the sweat on the skin as General Raj's soldiers trudge to battle; and thence the stench of gunpowder and voided bowels as the casualties mounted in battle.

Sometimes, between battles, there are jarring scenes as people who transgress an autocrat's law are enslaved, along with their entire families. While the level of technology is roughly Civil War America, imagine instead an America where you did not have to be Negro to be a slave, and there was no restriction on a ruler's power. Where the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man is unknown. The society is closer to that of Imperial Rome. No coincidence. The hero, Raj, is modelled on Belisarius, the Byzantine general.

There are lighter moments. The state religion is a worship of Computers (explicitly capitalised), based on a fragmented recollection of their power, prior to the nuclear war that brought down the earlier civilisation. Priests can be female. Fierce theological disputes arise over different interpretations of surviving computer manuals. Which were probably untelligible to begin with, anyway. Those of you who have read Byzantine history can see echoes of the nitpicking arguments that split early Christianity; arguments utterly meaningless to those outside a narrow frame of reference.

Oh, speaking of Christians, here they are like Jews; an unloved minority. But there are plenty of Muslims. In fact, they are the other Great Power on Bellevue. The series revolves around the two Powers confronting each other, to decide the fate of the planet.

Before you read this series, I urge that you do a quick scan of Belisarius in a good dictionary. You will get more from the series this way.

The biggest problem about this series is that it is hard to find in its entirety in a bookstore. You may have to scrounge in used bookstores. It doesn't appear to have been reprinted recently.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding military science fiction!, October 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Forge (The Raj Whitehall Series: The General, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Forge" is the first of a five volume set that details the conquest of an early industrial age planet by a brilliant military commander. The planet Bellevue is a colony world that is sinking into barbarism after an interstellar civil war has cut off all travel between worlds. Each successive cycle of time drags civilzation further and further back. But the one remaining operating computer on the planet has taken on the task of reversing this entropy, and raising man back to his former power - with the help of Raj Whithall, the youngest military commander in the army of the Civil Government.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entire series, and have re-read it at least three times. The characters are engaging, the environment is seamless, and the action will keep you up late into the night. At least you don't have to wait for the next volume to be released like I did!