Customer Reviews

Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These four stories - adding up to about 140,000 words - mainly about the first Man-Kzin war and the Kzin conquest and decades-long occupation of the peaceful human colony world of Wunderland and what it does to the humans and kzin concerned - are teriffic.
"One War for Wunderland", the first and longest, is the "War and Peace" of the series, with something that's not been wrtiiten about earlier - a big Man-Kzin set-piece battle. The story is narrated by Nils Rykermann, a biologist, who features also is two of the other stories.
"The Corporal in the Caves" is set years later, with the Kzin rooting out the human resistance in the great caves of Wunderland. Like one or two scenes in "One War for Wunderland", the last word in this one, when I read it and realised what had actually happened, moved me to tears, the first time a book has one that for a long while.
"Music Box" is set near the end of the war. There is also a cross-conflict between the humans and kzin who want peace and those on both sides who want the war fought to the bitter end. Also some humans -and kzin - are beginning to change sides. There is a good bit of humor in this one too, as when a terrible-looking but actually relatively kindly old Kzin warrior, Raargh, wakes up a sleeping woman to whom he must deliver a message and to spare her modesty as she wakes and sits up tells her: "No need to cover teets. Raargh has seen before." The last scene is quite hilarious and a relief from a lot of the tension and tragedy earlier. These are real characters whose fates you care about.
"Peter Robinson" is set many years later, in the time of Ringworld, and is a sort of Gothic horror-story in space.

Incidentally, "His Sergeant's Honour" in Man-Kzin IX, seems to occurr between the first two and the last two stories in this volume, which are otherwise in chronological order.
I'm really drawn into the saga now and can't wait to see what happens next!

When I ran across this book, one of the authors' names seemed familiar: Hal Colepatch. In 1981 I knew someone by that name, at the University of Western Australia, in Perth, Australia. Then I read the dustjacket, and indeed it is the same person. Didn't know back then that he was interested in science fiction. Small world.

What I did know in 1981 was that he was quite articulate and logical; no surprise since he is a lawyer. Quite skilled at analysing political issues. In this book, he shows these qualities, along with a polished writing flair. The book is a gathering of short stories set at the start and end of the Man-Kzin Wars. They mesh smoothly into the framework set by the 9 other volumes in this series. No impedance mismatch.

The first story is the most interesting; set when the Kzin invade Wunderland at the beginning of the first war. Earlier volumes have episodes set on Wunderland during and at the end of the occupation. Those contain brief allusions to the invasion. This story fleshes it out. The battle scenes are quite well done, with the requisite gore and minor human victories. The humans cannot actually WIN in the story, you see, because they have to endure a 50 year occupation, as depicted in the previous volumes.

Subsequent stories are set after the war. Not badly done, either. But for me, I found the first to be the most compelling. Its depictions of the social structure of the human world and the underlying tensions made it seem more credible. There is an analogy here with David Drake's well received Honor Harrington series. While those are military science fiction, he has also expanded on the intricacies of the warring societies, and in doing so, made it more than just a cardboard space opera. Something similar seems to be happening here.

Let us hope Colepatch keeps writing!

I loved this book and believe me I am not easy to impress. The thing that really hit home for me was the possiblities, the amazing future we can never fully imagine. A land of no war could it be possible and then we get attacked. What bitter irony, that we the makers of destruction can get attacked by a foe almost as vicious as we are.

But overall it was the humanity of the stories that I loved. The characters so well developed seemed almost real to me, and the world of wunderland a warm place to let the imagination run wild.

The Corporal in the Caves was my favourite followed closely by Music Box.

The honesty and the realities all created a world of truth and possiblities. I love that about these stories, that nothing is impossible. That man can be better than he is and,though it may take a formidable foe to learn the lessons, that we are capable of so much more. Music box spoke to that, to the fact that we are capabe of inflicting such horrible pain. But we are also capable of so much compassion. Like a strange virus we somehow keep surviving no matter the odds.

I found the previous review quite bizarre.

I read this long - 140,000 words - book in a single enthralled sitting, and was not distracted by any spelling or other errors. After reading the review printed below I went through it again carefully, and found no substantial errors - one or two, like a paragraph not fully indented somewhere, that was about it. I'm a free-lance writer and I'm used to looking for such things.

What I did find was a number of subtle jokes and linkages between the stories that I'd missed the first time around. This is a book that re-pays re-reading because re-reading reveals new depths to both the stories and the characters.

The previous reviewer's complaint may be because the author, Hal Colebatch, is Australian and there are some Australian spellings. These are very minor variations, not errors.

What matters is that the stories are excellent - fast-paced, exciting and in some cases moving.

I was near a tear at the very end of "The Corporal in the Caves" when the meaning of the last word sank in, and laughed out loud at the end of "Music Box," with its wonderful relaxation of tension after the nail-biting drama and tragedy of the preceding chapters, and the transformation of Nils Rykermann from the bitter guerrilla (did i spell that right?) warrior and exterminationist into the kindly professor.

More very soon, please!

I've reviewed these stories before, and everyone interested knows what I think of them - very good indeed. So I'll just correct a few things about the previous review.

The reason the climax of "Peter Robinson" is not mentioned in any other story, as anyone with the wit to look at the dateline at the top should be able to work out is that it occurs AFTER them. It even occurs after "Ringworld". AFTER, Geddit? Explorations of Ringworld are mentioned as having happened in the past. Further, Man-Kzin relations have progressed to the point there is some grudging co-operation between them. All this is set out quite plainly.

Our genius goes on to say:

"Colebatch grants two major new abilities to the Kzin. He tells us that all Kzinti have an empathic sense, and the ability to see in almost total darkness. Unless my memory is failing, these are new abilities. On Earth, species rarely have more than two sharp senses, let alone four. What's worse, having bestowed empathic abilities on the Kzin, he makes no use of them.

"In the fourth story, there is a cameo by some Thrintun. Why? Having live Thrint in the story for 30 seconds makes no difference to anything. Why is the finale of the story never mentioned in any other Known Space tale? It certainly would have had a huge impact on everyone."

"Colebatch also introduces a new sentient species native to Wunderland. Did everyone else overlook them before? The species is in a niche that makes their evolution highly improbable too."

It was established in Larry Niven's first story, The Warriors, and in many since, by Larry and other writers, that some of the Kzin are telepaths. This makes it plausible that all Kzin have some ruidmentary abilities for the telepath drug to enhance - it could not enhance nothing.

As for Kzin being able to see in almost total dark, they are felinoids, and are referred to many times as being cat-like. Ordinary terrestrial cats can see in almost total dark - they have a sight-collecting mechanism, called the tappetum, at the back of the eye.

There would be nothing wrong with introducing a new sentient species to Wunderland, which is an imaginary world and changes and develops under the hands of different authors, except that the statement is entirely false. There is no new sentient species introduced. There are some semi-sentient creatures living in caves: "Did everyone overlook them before?" There have not been any stories set in the Caves of Wunderland before, and previous writers were under no compulsion to mention them.

There is no "cameo by some Thintun", another example of this reviewer posting a total falsehood.

Why is it implausible that a species like the Kzin which lives by hunting should not have highly-developed senses?

I can only think the motives for posting the previous review were irresponsible and malicious ignorance. These are great stories!

Having read the two reviews claiming errors of syntax, grammar and spellinbg, and being demanding in this area I re-read my own copy. I can only suppose that other reviewers sopke Californian, not English. I could find none in a fairly swift re-reading.

What I did find was:

1. Maintance of dramatic tension, particularlarly through,
2. Development and interaction of characters, as against
3. a background of the history of Wunderland which itself develops through the interaction of social groups remaining after war.

I was reminded of some of Kilpling's short stories which display these attributes to the full. By this I do not mean to suggest that Colebatch's work is imitative: it is original. But it does touch on the same universal themes that makes Kipling's great. One does not expect to see this in science fiction, but no doubt, science fiction afficionados would say thast the genre has developed well beyond the crude stuff of the 1950's.

This has to be the weakest entry in the Man-Kzin series. The book consists of four novellas (novelettes?), the first three of which involve the same core characters. The stories are mediocre. The fourth story needs a major re-write. It is confused, illogical, and inconsistent. Too bad, since the first three stories span the entire First War, and could have been enlightening.

FWIW, the spelling errors seem to have been corrected in the paperback edition.

SPOILERS:

Colebatch grants two major new abilities to the Kzin. He tells us that all Kzinti have an empathic sense, and the ability to see in almost total darkness. Unless my memory is failing, these are new abilities. On Earth, species rarely have more than two sharp senses, let alone four. What's worse, having bestowed empathic abilities on the Kzin, he makes no use of them.

In the fourth story, there is a cameo by some Thrintun. Why? Having live Thrint in the story for 30 seconds makes no difference to anything. Why is the finale of the story never mentioned in any other Known Space tale? It certainly would have had a huge impact on everyone.

Colebatch also introduces a new sentient species native to Wunderland. Did everyone else overlook them before? The species is in a niche that makes their evolution highly improbable too.

Man-Kzin Wars X: The Wunder War (Baen, 2003/2005)

I enjoyed this volume also, though it wasn't as funny as my favorite stories in Man-Kzin Wars XII. There are some memorable characters--humans and kzin. I look forward to reading more about them. I truly admired Leonie, though there were other characters who were "heroes" also--Dimity, Vaemar, Raargh, and many more. Plus great plots and background, and I enjoyed observing the kzin and monkeys--uh, humans--grow and think and decide that maybe the "aliens" have some redeeming values. I've ordered Man-Kzin Wars IX and XI and will have to track down the earlier books to reread. All the stories in X are by Hal Colebatch, btw. Though I love the humor and interaction in Aquilo Advenio and String (XII), these stories are well written and enjoyable too and worth rereading to catch all the connections. And I appreciate the way some kzin telepaths have been able to overcome their drug-induced limitations (String and Peter Robinson). Speaking of Peter Robinson, the slavers in stasis boxes are some of the scariest characters in the series. I wonder if there's a companion available yet to connect the characters and history? (A chart with arrows would be nice.)

I would have given this book 3 stars (it is interesting but the stories in it are longer and more confusingly detailed than they need to be), except that the last story "Peter Robinson" is extremely impressive. This is the only realistic story I have ever seen in which it can be plausibly maintained that a single character "saves" the entire galaxy.

Another one to add to my collection of Tales of known space