Customer Reviews

Rats, Bats & Vats

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What do Shakespeare, Irish freedom fighters and wet lettuces all have in common? Nothing? Well until I read this novel I would have agreed. In this case they are just a few of the many ingredients that go to make Rats, Bats and Vats an excellent read.

Drunken, lecherous cyber-intelligent rats with a fondness for shakespearean insults; fanatical cyber-intelligent bats with a penchant for blowing things up; a vat-grown human and an heiress. Not the most likely of comrades. And yet when thrown together under trench warfare conditions, the result is an enthralling mix of realism, pathos, gritty humour and riveting, fast paced action. A most refreshing change.

My husband picked this up after telling me "any random book printed by Baen is good" - and, of course, because it has "rats" in the title . . . He read it and laughed his way through it and insisted that I read it, too, to which I agreed readily enough. I won't recap the story, but I will say it is a hoot and a half! The rats are hedonistic Shakespeareans; the bats are revolutionary Irish; and the vats are hapless humans who are just along for the ride. And, of course, you have the land-owners, who have the money - throw in the evil bugs from outer space and the benevolent aliens who are providing the technology to defeat them (or are they?) and you have a mix that is sure to please anyone who likes military science fiction, space opera, or just plain silliness. HIGHLY recommended!!

This is the best science fiction book I've read in a decade. By combining futuristic DNA manipulation with a rollicking good time, Dave Freer has produced a truly great book. The layers of complexity in this story are exceeded only by the unexpected twists and turns. The setting, a colony planet, is beautifully drawn and so realistic it's almost scary. A cloned slave-grunt soldier, the lone human survivor of his platoon, takes on giant maggot aliens in a series of battles that swing between terrifying and hysterically funny. The grunt's companions are genetically engineered bats and rats, which were designed to help fight the human war and seem to be a cross between Mafia rejects and members of a biker gang. A high-ranking, disgruntled officer takes on the whole inept army beaurocracy. The romance between a naïve rich girl and the cynical army grunt adds extra color and hilarity. Even the bad guys turn out to be even badder than the reader expects, forcing the other characters to deal with betrayal and misinformation. The happy ending is satisfactory without being sugary-sweet or predictable. There are just enough ends left loose that the authors could conceivably write a sequal (hopeful hint!). Very highly recommended.

'Rats, Bats and Vats' blasts off in a future world forgotten by the rest of the known human universe, the heros, a mixed species cyber-adjusted strikeforce, find themselves inextricably trapped behind enemy lines between a corrupt 'colonial' regime and the forces of great evil. In this case, a hive of multi-morphed arthropod-like aliens. There's a lot of double dealing and the usual sort of 'corporate'shenanigans, combat action, with the obligatory sex, recipes, and romance, but with a real twist in the tail as it turns out regarding the latter!

It's a classic story of "human colonist struggle against aliens" but with a difference. There are a number of sub-plots twisted into the general story as the main plot gallops along. The turns in the story are unexpected, the characters real, and the action fast. It's a good read, I thoroughly enjoyed it (and the authors sense of humour!).

Didn't think much of the recipes though!

Not my usual sub-genre -- military sf (sort of, anyway). Boy, am I glad I picked it up. I laughed a lot, the ideas were great, the characters surprisingly interesting (who would have thought I'd like a rat?), and it was really hard to put down once I got into it. In fact, I couldn't. After I was about halfway through, I just put off my life until I was done with the book. Watch for more from these two -- they are good!

Oh -- and if you like a good battle-- you'll like this for that reason as well.

A human colony is invaded and mankind, on taking the advice of another race of aliens, tries to use world-war one-like tactics, which fail totally. The human forces are full of soldiers made up from humans grown in vats (who are treated like second-class subjects), uplifted rats who act more like drunk soldiers out of Shakespeare's plays and bats with Irish accents who like to use bombs while singing songs. Lots of humor and combat. DON'T take it too seriously, just ENJOY.

I can't tell you how great it is to once again get a hold on the kind of solid, fast moving, witty, and well-plotted science fiction that got me sold on the genre to begin with.

Freer and Flint are an exceptional combination. I hope they continue to collaborate for a long time to come!

This book manages to combine military SF, comedy (both slapstick and wordplay), satire, class wars, cloning, and genetic engineering with a little romance and still come out swinging. These collaborators can really, well, collaborate.

The hero is the sole human survivor of his platoon. Chip is trapped behind enemy lines ("way behind enemy lines" as one chapter title puts it). His compatriots are genetically engineered "rats" and bats. Imagine if Shakespeare's comical secondary characters were forced to spend time in close quarters with rebellious Irish poets, and you get the general idea of the chaos.

Mix with the daughter of a wealthy shareholder, her alien tutor, and her fluffy companion. Add the clashes between a military commander who knows what he's doing and lots and lots of "authority" figures who don't. Shake and stir.

I read this in the e-book edition (which you can purchase through Baen's Webscription program), but I enjoyed it enough that I'd like to buy the paperback when it comes out. It will be worth it for the cover alone.

My only real problem is that I kinda sorta figured out a major surprise a little too early. But I didn't figure out all the implications of that right away.

Anne M. Marble Reviewer, All About Romance

A human colonized planet learns from a race of friendly starfarers that their home is in the path of a conquest fleet of a race of "insectoids". The friendly visitors offer to help humanity fight off these would be conquerors but things never quite seem to work out right. Partly this is because the technology of the invaders is generally superior to that of the humans. Partly this is because the other side is heedless of casualties. In great measure, though, human losses are due to the corrupt leaders of the planet and its military.

The leaders are a privileged class. They rule the planet for their own benefit and most of the soldiers are "vat grown" to act as serfs and/or cannon fodder. They are aided by genetically enhanced bats and rats with artificially enhanced IQs. None of this, however, seems to be enough to face the enemy.

One Vat, along with his rat and bat companions, becomes cut off behind enemy lines. In his efforts to get free, he learns to befriend the uplifted animals conscripted to serve beside him and, in doing so, create complete chaos for the enemy. He also learns that not all enemies are as bad as they are cracked up to be and neither are the allies.

This is a comedy posing as an adventure story. As long as it is not taken too seriously, it is lots of fun.

Alien maggots have invaded the human-inhabited planet of Harmony and Reason (HAR), gradually overrunning the planet despite the efforts of the military--aided by cybernetically enhanced 'rats' and 'bats.' Another alien race sells humans military technology and advice, but that advice too-often seems either wrong or incomplete. At any rate, the humans are losing and the maggots have just snatched another significant chunk of territory, leaving a small group of soliders (one human along with small groups of rats and bats) behind the new expanded force field that prevents human counter-attack.

Together with his heavy-drinking rats and his revolutionary bats, human Chip Connolly must stay alive in the face of literally millions of maggot soldiers and workers. Worse, the hive's 'group mind' means that even if they kill everyone who sees them, the bugs always know where they are hiding.

Things only seem to get worse when Chip and the others have to rescue aristocratic Ginny Shaw, the heiress to the human colony's greatest fortune and her Korozhet tutor. The young woman at least has the virtue of being attractive (although Chip knows perfectly well what happens to vat-born clones who aspire above their stations and develop interests in shareholders) but the Korozhet is nothing but trouble--and only Chip seems bothered by this. Against the wishes of its generals, part of the human army watches the heroes as they attempt to survive but, as long as the force field remains intact, they are helpless to intervein. Even if they could, the humans have lost every battle they've fought.

Authors Eric Flint and Dave Freer combine in a light-hearted look at the military, space-opera, and revolution. The story maintains a perfect balance between tongue-in-cheek and solid adventure, involving the reader in the characters at the same time as it keeps us smiling. The plight of the cybernetic rats and bats, as well as that of the slave-like clone humans (vats) adds a very mild political message to the light-hearted novel.