Customer Reviews

Not for Glory

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book to be not only enjoyable reading, but a sharp look into the psychology of the soldier. As a Lieutenant, I lead troops every day, and I found this book to be helpful in my understanding other mindsets. All this, and a lot of fun besides! I liked the book so much that when my copy 'disappeared', I ordered a used copy from Amazon.

This is book I picked-up by chance (I had never heard of Joel Rosenberg). It was hard to put down, and when I did, I wondered why Joel Rosenberg has gotten away from the future military genre? While I enjoy his other books, especially when one of my favorite detectives is at work, I long for more of heroes with whom I can more easily identify. If you can find a copy, read it. You may need tissue at hand.

Joel Rosenberg tends to write in a very gritty style where bad things happen to good people. This tendency is starkly evident in Not For Glory, a far-future military novel set after humanity has colonized a thousand worlds in the stars.

The descendants of old Israel...and for some reason never explained, Japanese ninjas...were both exiled and chose to make their new home on Metzada, an inhospitable world where everything - food, medicine - has to be imported. To pay for this, the entire male population of Metzada trains from childhood to become the best darn mercenaries (and assassins) ever - and hire themselves out to whomever can pay, committing bloody acts of war in exchange for food for their children.

This rationale gets brought out and drummed every chapter of the book; by the end, one is left with mixed feelings of sympathy for them and the feeling that they're just plain obsessed. Mentions are made of the Meztadan reconstructive surgery and other medical marvels, all home-grown out of necessity when half your population is in the line of fire. Why couldn't they export their medical skills? In a far future world where space travel seems to be a dime a dozen, why not grow food in satellites? We are left to assume that the Metzadan way is the only way, which is fair enough for as short a book as this.

The writing is smooth, the action quick - you won't be left bored with this book. The characters are human and interesting, with some pecularities unique to part-Japanese Jewish mercenaries. Personally, I found some of the Hebrew words thrown around a bit hard to follow, but by and large this is a military book - I found myself looking up words such as 'brevet' and 'bivouac' more often than anything else. Fans of the genre already won't have any problem with the language, and it seems to be very realistic when it comes to war - complete with the kind of language soldiers everywhere use to simplify things.

Not For Glory was well worth reading, but not worth collecting; it made for an interesting book, but not one I'd want to re-read again and again. Your Mileage May Vary.

I've been reading sci-fi/fantasy for over 35 years. Rosie's NFG is in my top 10. 'Nuff said.

This is an awesome book!!!!!!! I would not recommend it to young children becuase it uses swears

I thought this book to be very well written. Both the plot and characters are well developed. I particularly like Rosenburg's attention to detail in making his characters REAL to the reader. This allows us to become more fully engrossed in the story and ensures a more enjoyable read.

The idea of a mercenary world is not new, however, Rosenburg tops all others that I have read. Read this book, then read it again

Metzada has one export: the Metzada Mercenary Corps. Trained to fight with everything from knives to pikes, from crossbows to slugthrowers, they were always for hire. If they didn't get work their kids didn't get food. But now things have become more complex and Metzada must turn to the former General Shimon Bar-El, the most cunning and successful military leader the Corps ever had. And a traitor who nobody trusts. Will he save them or will he be the planet's unltimate ruin?
Now the planet of Metzada and its Corps will have to fight, Not For Glory, but for survival. Very realistic.

I got this book by mail order when I was 14. 20 years later I find it as readable as ever. The characters seem a little over the top at first, but every once in a while there a detail that leaves the careful reader wanting more. I find myself caring about them and wondering who would play them in a film. There are lots of references to things that are never explained that is paradoxically intriguing. It has often made me wonder how the author would explain this history and tie everything together. My one complaint is that this world has 1000 stories waiting for exploration and only a handful have been written. I hope some day Rosenberg delivers us some more.

Joel Rosenber's book has an interesting mix of military history, Jewish nationalism and good-old sci-fi violance. To some extent, he follows in R.A.Heinlein's steps, only that his chatacters are more human and less exciting. He makes interesting references to historic figures (that reveal the age of the book by being already outdated) and makes a half-baked attempt at building a complete ethos for a mercenary society. The book is short enough for Joel Rosenberg to get away with it and so he does. The story is light, very readable, and in fact - fun. If you don't get distracted by the plethora of Heilein's cliche's, you can have a good time with this one.

Not as good as I had heard or read other reviews say it was. Not really a military sci-fi story, it just has people in the military. The main guy, Tetsuo, is not human. You can tell by the ending. His relationship with his family is non-existent, all under the cover of trying to be a good soldier. I get the whole we-fight-to-feed-our-family story, but it was not interesting. No big fights or battles between squads or platoon. No dropships. No armor. No military esprit-de-corps. No camaraderie between people. I know it's an old book, but don't bother. Just re-read Starship Troopers, Armor, Forever War, Halo: The Fall Of Reach, any William Dietz or David Drake book, To Hell And Back, or The Greatest Generation.