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103 of 108 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Homage to Heinlien, December 19, 2005
"We crabbed shoulder to shoulder down the cargo nets to our landing craft bucking in the Channel, each GI's bilge -and-sea-soaked boots drenching his buddy below. In that moment I realized that we fight not for flags or against tyrants but for each other. For whatever remains of my life, those barely met strangers who dangled around me will be my only family. Strip away politics and whatever or whenever, war is an orphanage."
-Anonymous letter fragment, Recovered on Omaha Beach,
Normandy, June 1944.
Orphanage begins with this quote but it began a long time ago. This book is written in homage to Science Fiction Greats Robert A. Heinlien, and Joe Haldeman, who each wrote political commentaries on War set in science fiction stories. Heinlein wrote his original Starship Troopers in 1959, and Haldeman wrote his The Forever War in 1972 and revised it in 1975. Each of these books follows a young man from basic training through to great battles to attempt to save the earth from aliens, as does our story.
Our grunt is Jason Wander, a young man mad at the Universe, his parents were killed in the first meteor impact. After a few run-ins with the law because of anger and lashing out after his loss, he is given the choice to serve prison time or in the military. At some point in his training he goes from being apathetic, to deciding to become a good soldier. His adventure lead him to the moon where he is the first human to encounter the slugs who are trying to wipe out all life on earth, then onto Ganymade where the first major conflict of this war begins. Ganymade is the outpost in our solar system for our alien enemies that we are being bombarded from. During the heroic battle as the force of 10,000 is knocked down to a few hundred, he is promoted time and time again, for succeeding and rising to the occasion. Field promotions are hard earned for they come at the loss of good men and women, and with each promotion you become responsible for more lives. Can he take the pressure, can he save earth, read it and find out.
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126 of 136 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fun read, even if it does use every cliche of the genre, November 30, 2004
Like the other reviewers, I really enjoyed "Orphanage". But having read "The Forever War" and "Starship Troopers" recently, I couldn't help but notice that most every major plot point or character stereotype in "Orphanage" was lifted from those two books.
Talented space pilot who happens to be the main characters friend? Check (Starship Troopers). Human handlers psychicly and emotionally attached to a robot/dog scouting the front lines? Check (Starship Troopers). Main character emotionally attached to a female who gets wounded on the front lines? Check (Forever War). Evil aliens thowing large objects at Earth in order to soften us up? Check (Starship Troopers) Main character haunted by the death of a family member who happened to be at ground zero when said object hits Earth? Check (Starship Troopers). Main character part of the first assault wave against the aliens, only to be handed a crushing defeat? Check (both Starship Troopers and Forever War). Main character's military mentor tries to rejoin the front in time for battle? Check (Forever War).
This list goes on and on, right down to the manner in which Jason Wander ends up in the military, with some minor variation. Granted, there are some trademark cliches of the genre that are simply unavoidable. But really, this seems a bit much. "Orphanage" reads like the redheaded stepchild of both of its superior forebears. There are some original elements to it, as Jason Wander becomes attached to military intelligence unit scouting a crashed alien Projectile on the moon. Or earlier on as Wander is sent into the remains of Pittsburgh searching for Projectile debris (including a subplot involving Wander's almost-psychic ability to find said debris, which is never followed up on).
Again, "Orphanage" is a good read, and I am genuinely anticipating the sequel, which is promised in the author's biography. Hopefully, the sequel will be more original than this first volume.
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48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
2004's best Sci Fi novel!, December 20, 2004
I kept reading reviews all over the net claiming Orphanage was the novel of the year, of the decade, this generation's Starship Troopers. Right. I know books. I know Heinlein. So I appointed myself as a Truth Squad and plunked down $6.99 to set the record straight.
Twenty-four couldn't-put-it-down hours later, I reveal The Truth to you all: The reviews are right. Orphanage may be the definitive military coming-of-age story of the Post-9/11 generation. Easily 2004's best SF novel, but it is fast, funny and accessible enough that general-fiction readers can gobble it like Grisham or Grafton.
Orphanage is the story of smart, underacheiving teen Jason Wander, who grows a chip on his shoulder as big as Jupiter after alien bombs kill his mother and millions of others. Jason comes of age in the infantry and winds up "one of the lucky orphans who in one hour will save the human race or die trying." His infantry division must invade Jupiter's moon, Ganymede, and destroy the Alien outpost that is sending the bombs. They have to win with pasted-up antiques. Each time you think things can't get worse, they do.
Halfway through, I thought I loved this book because it was fast, funny, superbly-written entertainment. When I finished it, I realized that I loved it because I would never look at soldiers the same way again. And today that matters.
Warner Books released Orphanage as a low-profile, mass-market, genre paperback. As The Word gets out, my $6.99 for that first-printing paperback is going to look like an investment.
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