Insurrection [Mass Market Paperback]

David Weber (Author), Steve White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1990

In the end, the only political system that seems to work are those based on freedom. The inner World leaders of the Terran Federation seem to have forgotten this simple truth. After fighting the Khanate- with the Fringe Worlds to supply the raw material and the fighting men- the Inner Worlds found it hard to give up the powers they had seized during the war. So they decided not to- rather than allow the rapidly expanded Fringe Worlds representation in the Federation, they are inviting the Khanate in, to keep the colonial upstart in their place, The Fringers have only one answer to that: Insurrection.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Baen (November 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671720244
• ISBN-13: 978-0671720247
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( W ) > Weber, David

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alienation and Inalienable Rights, December 26, 2002

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Insurrection (Mass Market Paperback)

Insurrection (1990) is the first published novel in the Starfire series. However, it is the last in internal chronological sequence and should be read after The Shiva Option. It begins several generations after the Fourth Interstellar War against the Bugs.

The Legislative Assembly of the Terran Federation has long been dominated by the Corporate Worlds at the expense of the Fringe Worlds. Now the Corporate Worlds have devised a plan to reapportion the Assembly by merging with the Orion Khanate, thereby reducing the Fringe World power base. They are frustrated at the last moment by bad publicity generated when Oskar Dieter, a Corporate World leader, personally insults Fionna MacTaggart, leader of the Fringe Worlders. However, the leader of the Corporate World delegation, Simon Taliaferro, plots to assassinate Fionna in order to throw the Fringe Worlders into a fury so that they will resign from the Assembly. His plot works as planned, but the consequences are more that he reckoned with.

Terran Federation Navy Task Force 17 moves against Beaufort, Fionna's home planet, as a show of force, but it moves too slowly and the insurrection has started before it arrives. Admiral Forsythe is advised to go slowly and negotiate with the rebels, but refuses and plans on firing on opposed ships if necessary. This triggers a mutiny, with the Fringe Worlders taking or destroying all TF17 ships. As the word is spread, other ships mutiny and flee to the Fringe Worlds. Tenth Cruiser Squadron is too far within the Federation to flee, so takes the desperate gamble of raiding Galloway's World to destroy the largest Federation shipyards. Overall, the Federation loses approximately half of Battle Fleet, about 80 percent of the Frontier Fleet, and most of their shipbuilding capability for at least 6 months. This bad news forces the fall of the current government and brings Oskar Dieter to power as prime minister.

Dieter has been greatly changed by these events and feels much guilt over the assignation of Fionna. He takes the position of prime minister only to alleviate the damage done by the extremists. He continues to rearm while undermining the political power of the Corporate Worlds. He establishes clandestine communications with the rebels to keep them informed of the political situation.

Admiral Ian Trevayne is cut off from the Inner Worlds by the mutineers and forced to flee through Khanate territory to the Zephrain system. With the resources of the Gehenna R&D base on Zephrain A-III, Trevayne has new ships and weapons built for his fleet. An initial attempt by the rebels to take Zephrain is repulsed. Trevayne gains a very tentative channel with the Inner Worlds through the Khanate, but cannot send the new weapons data through that conduit.

The Federation consists of the Rump -- the Inner Worlds -- and the Rim under Governor-general Trevayne. The Federation has lost all the choke points between themselves and the Rump; only Admiral Trevayne's forces have been victorious over the rebels. Dieter is beginning to use the term Terran Republic, the rebels own name for themselves, in cabinet sessions. The situation is bleak.

This story is based on the political and economic situation between the British Empire and its American colonies prior to the Revolution. As with that situation, the Fringe Worlds are being economically exploited by the Federation mercantile class with the assistance of the Legislative Assembly. While Simon Taliaferro is not a king, he is just as mad as King George and just as dangerous to his own long-term interests. The ensuing military actions in this story are naval rather than military, but otherwise the results are much the same. Since the Khanate basically remains neutral, this story is greatly simplified compared to the Revolution by the lack of other major powers.

Of course, this plot has been used many times before -- i.e., the colonies breaking off from the mother world -- but a cliche is not necessarily a falsehood nor need it be trivial. For those that can't relate to the American Revolution, how many wars did England fight against France to establish its own sovereignty? After all, England was a colony of France after William the Conqueror, at least from the French monarch's point of view.

Von Clausewitz's On War is quoted several times in this book. The story reminds me of another axiom: "War is an extension of politics by other means". Politicians should be careful what they ask for; they may get it -- and choke on it.

Recommended for all Weber and White fans and anyone else interested in realpolitik, and warfare, as practiced in the far future.

-Arthur W. Jordin

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first in a superb series, July 1, 2000

By 

Christopher P. Signet (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Insurrection (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read all of Weber's sci-fi works, and thoroughly enjoyed each. The writing in Insurrection is very good. The tempo of events keeps one on the edge of your seat waiting, or dreading, what comes next. The characters are normal people caught up in the most exciting and terrible events of their lives, and trying to do the best they can according to their sense of honor. The reader doesn't have the "god view" big picture knowledge of events, merely the same one the characters have similarly to Harold Coyle's military fiction books. The battles are believable, the technology consistant throughout. I highly recomend this book to readers of science fiction, and the militery genre both.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bland Sequel, July 9, 2006

By 

Raider - See all my reviews

This review is from: Insurrection (Mass Market Paperback)

The fourth book by Weber and White, I found this one to be by far the least interesting.

At first the book has much promise: political intrigue, mutinies, space battles and rebellion. However, the flare quickly dies down.

The Fringe Worlds, often economically subjugated by the Inner (Corporate) Worlds, finally have enough after their political leader is assasinated. When the government sends a naval task force to quell any unprising, it instead ignites it. For those that have read the other three books (Crusade, In Death Ground and The Shiva Option), this comes as no surprise because of the tension always felt between the two. It was inevitable.

The characters quickly lose their zest, not changing and not doing anything that surprises you. They are quite bland in their actions, and it is hard to sympathise with any of them. Nearly all the characters have the same driving force: they were thrown into a higher political/military position than they ever imagined, and it's up to them to make a stand or lead their troops. "Yadda yadda yadda" is a pretty good summation. It might have worked for the first three books, but by now the idea is exhausted, and the characters tiring.

Much of the characters the first half of the book focused on take a back seat or are a no show for the second half, leaving you to wonder why they were used if only to be cast aside. And the personal tragedies don't always work. One character who is injured has something taken away from her she held dear, but with her tiring attitude and persona, it's hard to feel sorry for her in any way. This is pretty much the case with all the characters.

There are really no twists and turns to this book, and the technological surprises Weber and White like to have one enemy throw at another are limited in their quantity and interest. There are some side plots here and there, but nothing that can save the book from the long periods of boring character interaction and inactivity. Unlike the three before it, Insurrection has a lot of filler, and nearly every time momentum is gained, a boring character interaction chapter is added. And not all the time is it relevant to the story.

The first word that comes to mind for Insurrection is dissapointing. The three books preceeding this were never short of interest, but this just seems like a lax effort in comparison. There were times I actually had to force myself to read the next chapter because so little had happened, and frankly by mid book I was hoping all but one main character would meet their end so they could not possibly show up in a sequel.

Insurrection is not of the battle heavy grand scale that are In Death Ground and The Shiva Option, nor does it have the plotical, moral and personal intrigue of Crusade. Instead, it is more like a space soap opera. It's not horrible, but it's like a hollywood sequel that didn't need to be made.