Customer Reviews

Lost Regiment 8: The Men of War

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Forstchen has truly created something that far surpasses anything that has come before and probably set the golden standard for the genre. Drake, Pournelle, Stirling, Niven, Saberhagen, and Forstchen's other books do not come close to this series. Rickety aerosteamers and land and sea ironclads, as primitive as they are, somehow have a superior eloquence in conveying the drama of war over the sophisticated spaceships, supersonic planes, or lasers which have up to this decade been the staple of other military science fiction. This concluding chapter itself is a true microcosm of what fans and admirers have come to expect from the series. While this means incredible battles, tense political interplay, fierce confrontations of personality and fate, surprising twists, and some heavy references to the importance of logistics, technology, and strategy, the book also carries with it some of the faults of the series; namely, the inconsistency with the characters' names begs for some coherent editorialism. True to form, Fortschen changes the Rus orthodox priest's name from Casmar to Casmir! At the end of the book one of the character's name is reshuffled in a pretty blatant mistake though it only happens once. I won't risk giving anything away, but readers will see it when they get there. However, as the series has always done, the tremendous story more than makes up for these annoyances. The conclusion to all the important threads is not COMPLETELY detailed, but the book does present a definitive conclusion to the Bantag War and the answer to humanity's future existence or extinction. By the end of the book readers will know which side won the war, what species will dominate the planet, and what the very GENERAL implications for the future of the Republic will be, so longtime readers need not despair on that account. I would have preferred a highly detailed account of the next 100 to 1000 years like one reviewer requested, but as it is, the last chapter which wraps things up is satisfying enough. Beyond that, Forstchen seems to have indicated that he is through with the Lost Regiment, and I commend him for letting this terrific series run its course and ending it with the dignity and the treatment it deserves. The new use for the aerosteamers in battle is some of the most exciting stuff I've read since the rocket barrage at Hispania or Timokin's charge at Rocky Hill! We've all wanted to see the humans on the offensive and wondering how much longer the Republic could hold out under the strain of constant war and here are the answers. This is the worthy conclusion I was looking for.

Oh, and the maps were very helpful.

What more can I say? The previous reviews pretty much sum up my feelings. This is the best series I have ever read. Great plot. Great characters. Great ending to the series. Some authors drag out a series until you lose interest. Forstchen keeps it tight and entertaining from beginning to end through all 8 books. Every book gets my highest recommendation. Go and get Rally Cry (book 1). You won't be able to stop until you complete Men of War (book 8).

To Bill Forstchen: How about starting a new series that picks up a few years from the end of Men of War. An expedition to the Portals in the northern lands has great possibility. So does exploration of the southern lands beyond the Great Sea. I can just picture advanced airship designs that roam the planet!

This book is a great conclusion to a terrific series. I have enjoyed each of the novels in the Lost Regiment series, and they have been excellent in both conception and execution. Forstchen has masterfully handled key concepts like the importance of technology and economics in warfare while keeping the relationships and emotions of the men of war in the forefront of his stories.

While I am sorry to see the series end, it's good to know the author would rather leave the series at a logical conclusion than try to continue it for the money.

I would recommend The Gamestar Wars by the same author for those who liked this series.

Over ten years have passed since Andrew Keane's Union regiment was marooned on a world far from our Solar System by alien technology. During that time, again and again the Lost Regiment has had to engage in battle after bloody battle with the hordes to defend their freedom and that of the Republic which they helped bring into being on that world at unspeakable cost. Now everything they fought and died for may have been in vain. Humanity is weary beyond bearing from relentless warfare with the alien natives of this world, and the hordes have broken the Republic's will to fight. Andrew Keane has resigned his commission over declaration of a peace parley between the Republic and the hordes. He and his remaining veterans begin a clandestine campaign taking the Lost Regiment into the very heart of the Bantag realm to destroy the Bantag's ability to make war on humanity. But it is left to Sergeant Major Hans Schuder to strike freedom's final -- and mortal -- blow against the enemy, and bring both sides kneeling together in the dust of an alien world, confronting a tragedy that will ultimately end the war between them and bring peace with honor to them both. Once more William R. Forstchen brings to life one of the most beautifully realized alien worlds in science fiction. As always, his characters, as rich and complex as any of us in the real world, reveal unexpected abysses and soaring heights within the soul and spirit, both human and otherwise. Mirrors to each other, the aliens and the human beings in this magnificent series show us how low we can fall -- and how unexpectedly we can be redeemed. William Forstchen has the gift of enabling us to experience the universe through alien eyes so well that we are unexpectedly appalled to find what evils "we," his aliens, have perpetrated -- and humbled and exalted to discover what heights "we," both alien and human, can attain. Throughout this enthralling novel I found myself wishing that it and the series of which it is the triumphant capstone would never end. At its wonderfully satisfying close, I wonder now what this supremely gifted author will do next. It'll be more than worth the wait to find out.

Well, Christmas came early this year for me, a new Lost Regiment book complete with maps! Thank you Bill. We open with the struggling Republic on its last legs, strained to the limits by the prolonged Wars against the hordes. The author nicely alludes to the Confederacy in the spring of 1864, worn out and war weary. The Colonel realises that unless the war is won quickly, they will eventually be out produced and swarmed under. So, one last giant effort, a wild risk, an all or nothing gamble to end the war in one stroke is devised and well, thats the story. I won't give away any details but the book is sure to please Lost Regiment fans. The story is full of the great battles, personal sacrafice and heroics and fast pacing that fans are used to. As a huge fan of this series I am sad to see it end but one gets the sense that the author needed a break from the series after eight books, but many allusions are made to possibly continuing the series at some time in the future. I hope so. How about a movie? T.V. series? Enjoy! P.S.-Any recommendations on a series like The Lost Regiment? I've been looking, with no luck.

This is absolutely the best alternate history series that I have ever read- you not only end up caring about the characters, but you want become part of the action. When they say that this series "reads like a bullet" they are not exagerating. Any author that can get me to zip through five or six hundred pages in two or three days is doing something right.

There are scenes that you remember for years- compared with many books these days that you can't remember after a few months.... The idea of Union Soldiers transplanted to an alien world and taking an oath to carry on Mr. Lincoln's war until an entire enslaved planet is free still chokes me up. There are scenes like a brigade strength force forced to form a giant square on an open plain and fighting to the last man (while singing the Battle Hymm of the Republic) that you don't forget. Or a Republic airship sweeping down to rescue Hans and his Zulu and Chin comrades from worse than certain death....powerful images. As for the villians,well, the "Moon Feast" is my definition for evil.

Oh yes, it is also comforting to think that the real life 35th Maine and 44th New York didn't simply dround like rats, but went on to unite Russians, Romans, Chinese, Vikings, Zulus, etc. under the flag of the Republic....

My only real criticism is that if you have any experience in industry and engineering then the speed at which the Yankees manage to industrialise a pre-industrial society (and go into mass production) will drive you nuts!

By the way, this isn't the final book of the series. _Down to the Sea_ brings the Battle of Midway to Keane and the Republic. With any luck Forstchen will bring us even more....

I just finished the book and it was one of the greatest in the series . If not the greatest . The Trouble begins after an ''successful'' river crossing of The 9th Corps over the Bantag Trenchlines . Suddenly out of nowhere the Bantag under Jurak ''THE REAL REDEEMER as Zartak calls him (Zartak is the Bantag equivalent of Schuder) plays his cards and the whole offensive fails within a couple of hours as 9th Corps takes a beating and sustained over 80% casualties . During the Bantag counteroffensive Marcus Gracca falls and so begins a chainreaction in a series of events that divides the Republic . I don't want to spoil the rest of the story but a hint is that the Republic's engineers have something cooked up ..... if you want to know more and find out what happens go out and get the book .If you don't you will regret it. The last few chapters were somewhat unprdictable .

I have read the entire saga for the second time from book one to book eight. For little more than a week I left Earth and went to Forstchen's world to live his characters' agonies and triumphs, to worry about the Republic, the Rus, the Roum, the Chin, even the Cartha and, yes, the Tugars, with Muzta leading them as best as he could. But, most of all, I went back to see the Yankees once more transforming a planet like stranded messengers of the best that the human race has to offer. "Men of War" is the end of this saga and I was elated and sad. the Republic wins, but it's not a smashing victory: this one, like all the other ones, will be obtained paying for it with thousands of lives, making terrible mistakes, letting friends die to win hours that may prove to be crucial. Forstchen, a master story-teller, weaves his tapestry from different angles to achieve a rational conclusion, but one that leaves several doors open, including that of more sequels.

Jurak, the troubled, almost noble leader of the Bantag, is back, bringing with him all the revulsion at a segment of his race gone barbarian, and feeling, apparently, all the guilt that a mamber of the hordes needs to feel at what has been done for thousands of years in that world. Keane is back, too. Not in top form (and one doubts he will ever be in top form again, given the ghosts he had to face in order to lead once more), but even at 80% Keane is better than most. A nice touch is the mention --almost literal-- of a poem by Keats, in page 11, that goes "I know that I shall meet my fate/ somewhere among the clouds above;/ those I fight I do not hate/ those I guard I do not love..." (The poem is "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death"), but in this case it is Jurak who remembers such a poem from his own homeworld.

A dear character will be lost at the beginning of the book, another at the end. "Men of War" has an air of closure that, although not total, seems to invite a continuation in the less immediate future. The problems with the names will continue, as well. This does not bother me very much, but I think it requires more attention. Father Casmar becomes Casmir, and Marcus Licinius Graca is mentioned now as Crassus, which does not make much sense. I have already mentioned the Jamul/Jurak problem. These are details, but they might distract readers from the better parts of the books.

"The Lost Regiment" comes to an end. Or does it? I'm not clairvoyant. I have inside information, so, cheer up: we will see more of the Republic yet. "Men of War" is the end of a story, not the end of "the" story. Happy reading.

Okay, forget my lame review title. Anyway, after a rather disappointing Band of Brothers, I dove into Men of War hoping for far better. And that's just what I got. It's nice to see some more political tensions after Mikhail in book #2. There was some great action, some great quiet moments (especially most of the main characters posing for a Dageurrotype-- God, I hope I spelled that right!) and some good dialogue. The battles actually made sense in this book, unlike the muddled skirmishes in book #7. One of the highlights, I think, is Jurak's sudden change toward the end of the book; That makes ya feel nice. But... yes, there is a but... But there were a few things I didn't greatly care for in Men of War, but only a few! I didn't like the way Marcus ended up, the guy deserves more respect than a blurb in one paragraph. And where was Muzta? After what happened during the Battle of Hispania, you'd think he's come in to help the Republic against the Bantag and Merki. Speaking of Merki, I did like the return of that rat Tamuka. Andrew, unfortunately, was largely ignored here, most of the action centering around Hans. This makes me wonder just who the real main character of the series (or at least the last four books) really was. There were also a great many plot holes, but that didn't really matter. The book had a stunning ending, and it proved to be one of the best novels in the series. And now it's over... Well, it was fun while it lasted.

<The following review applies to the entire Lost Regiment series> I have already written online reviews of Turtledove's "Colonization" series and Flint's "1632". I loved them. I also loved Stirling's "Nantucket" books. However, I would not give any of them five stars. Why not? I was saving that honor for this series. Forstchen's "Lost Regiment" books (this one plus seven previous volumes) are, quite simply, the best Historical SF on the market. Turtledove, Stirling, and Flint all write excellent novels, but none of them can quite match the plotting, action, characters, and pure emotional power of this series. The story (in my mind) is the stuff of legend. A transport ship full of civil-war Yankees (one regiment of infantry and one artillery battery) is mysteriously teleported to a strange new world, a world in which a master race of aliens has reduced humanity (over the millenia, many other groups of people, including Republican Romans and medieval Russians, have also found themselves transported to this world) to the level of cattle, to be devoured at whim. Now it's time for those bastards to start worrying. The Yanks' rifles and cannon are more powerful than any other weapons in the world (although it is implied that the aliens were once a star-faring civilization, they have long ago been reduced to the technology and tactics of Mongol horse-archers), capable of mowing down massive numbers of local warriors. Still, the aliens have them vastly outnumbered. But the Yankees have a much more powerful weapon on hand: the American way. Heartened by the newfangled notions of freedom and democracy, the local humans are ready to take a stand. The Americans, who use their technological know-how to create a modern industrial society, give them a fighting chance. But it will not be such and easy fight, for the aliens learn quickly... The conflict lasts eight books, and never gets boring. This series has it all: terrific battle scenes, excellent characters (I don't think I've ever become so attached to any group of protagonists), dirty politics, brilliant technological innovations, blood-drenched horror (the aliens commit some of the most imaginative attrocities I've ever read about...), heart-rending tragedy, touching romance, and the invincible power of freedom. One thing is always clear: terror and oppression are no match for justice and liberty.