The Last Legion [Paperback]

Chris Bunch (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Last Legion | Publication Date: April 1, 1999

The time of the Human Confederation is coming to an end. The rule of the empire weakens daily as its forces stretch themselves beyond their limits to maintain peace and order. For the legionnaires far out in the Cumbre System, cut off from their homeworld, where survival takes precedence over politics. And when a revolution strikes up arms against them, they find they may be the last legion ever to fight in the Confederation's name.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc; later printing edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451456866
• ISBN-13: 978-0451456861
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,622,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reminiscent of the Sten series, July 16, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Legion (Paperback)

Excellent work, best of Mr. Bunch's work since the Sten series with Alan Cole. Much more gritty and realistic approach to his heroes, written by someone who seems to know what really goes on in covert operations. I found the ranking a little too cute, since the structure seemed the same as today, with just an alien sounding name. I think it would have been as effective and easier to keep up with if the ranks had been in english. Excellent work, could not put the book down. His humor had me laughing out loud at times!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A new Military SF book., April 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Legion (Paperback)

Good book, quite engaging. Not a derivitive of the Sten books, but essentially built with the same technical know how. The characters are not saints, but are people. People whose story and actions quickly grab you and draw you into the story. Character development that doesn't bore you, but actually helps to let you get to know the characters. Bunch proves that he has the know how to write good, believable action. He also proves that the good guys do not always win (at least on the first try). He is a master of incorporating everyday politics (ie, backstabbing and stupidity) of human beings into his characters. All in all a good effort, I really enjoyed reading this book!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good thing they're not in Falkenberg's Legion, December 31, 2006

By 

N. Trachta (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Legion (Paperback)

Mr. Bunch's book, The Last Legion, deals with a human space empire has reached a decedent stage, and like the Roman Empire has begun to fragment at the seams. As always, the lonely outposts far from the empire's capital are left to stand on their own or evolve to something new. In this case, Mr. Bunch takes us to a lonely stretch of space where some new recruits are being brought into the military, interestingly enough, into a legion. I say this because in reading this book I couldn't help but compare it to Jerry Pournelle's books dealing with Falkenberg's Legion (several of Mr. Pournelle's books deal with a similar situation). The similarities are there: young recruits that perform well, a world going thru an uprising from a suppressed population, and an empire crumbling from within. In this case though, Mr. Bunch focuses on the rebellion being a mixture of Vietnam and Iraq. Instead of the crisp professionals that Pournelle's Line Marines were, Mr. Bunch's Legionaries come across as a good old boy's club. Mr. Bunch's Legionaries (the line troops, not his force recon guys) stumble into ambushes and fall for whatever the insurgents want them to fall for. Once the Legionaries do achieve the big win (mainly due to their Force Recon), the fight turns to intercity terrorism that smacks of what you can read about happening in Baghdad. In a very predictable way, Mr. Bunch's main hero's lead the way in crushing the insurgent forces.

The bottom line on this book is that while entertaining, it was far from compelled to continue reading. The combat sequences were ok, Mr. Bunch had a major focus on sex, something that made the book seem more like something for the teen market rather than focusing on the political or military situation as Mr. Pournelle did. The story telling was mixed because there were to many points of view that weren't coherent, unlike Ms. Cherryh's novels where things are brought together from multiple viewpoints. Given this, The Last Legion is a three star book.