Customer Reviews

Until Relieved (13th Spaceborne, Book 1)

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Rick Shelley has a very believable way of portraying combat, and he does a very credible job of putting you in the heads of combat soldiers. Better still, he understands Murphy and all the things Murphy can do to an operation.

Until Relieved is the first book dealing with the 13th Spaceborn Assault Team (SAT) and it introduces us to the world(s) of the 13th SAT, to its technology, and its soldiers. Shelly has extrapolated the technology of today into a future where anti-grav drives and interstellar navigation are possible, and he comes up with an entirely plausible collection. The weapons effects aren't magical, but are rather functionally a fairly large leap over today's weapons. The difference is one of degree, and the tactics of employing those weapons would be quite familiar to any reasonably modern rifleman from WWII on.

Shelly's take on future combat it entirely likely, and he takes realistic note of the logistical difficulties inherent in projecting power across interstellar distances: Even with 'magical' space drives, the energy cost and time involved mean that your best bet is to send a combined arms force with as many supplies as possible, and go reasonably light on your troop numbers. Further, simple, multi-purpose weapons are likely going to be more practical than more lethal but less flexible weapons. Lastly, anything that can reduce casualties, or return casualties to the line, is a real force-multiplier, and should be sent along. Rick Shelley's Accord of Free Worlds understands this, and they equip their SATs properly. So, very few 'Gee-Whiz' weapons, just simple, serviceable, and reliable ones. The one area for which Shelley fails to account is Sensors. Even today, the rapid advances in sensor technology is staggering, and there is no reason to believe that future societies would have allowed this force-multiplying and cost-effective technology to be neglected: Sensors are relatively cheap to buy, take up relatively little space and mass, and make your force massively more effective. Until Relieved was written, however, before this revolution in sensors was readily apparent to the average man-in-the-street, so I'll grant the benefit of the doubt here.

That quibble aside, this is an excellent example of the genre of small-unit combat. Rick has come up with the perfect excuse for a unit to be cast on it's own, isolated and without resupply: Interstellar logistics. The Accord of Free Worlds is fighting a defensive action to prevent two warring empires from using its territory as a flank-route around each other. Unfortunately, the Accord was caught flat-footed, and has already lost a number of worlds. They aim to fix that problem, immediately, if not sooner. The "Lucky' 13th SAT has been sent off in a near-suicidal diversionary attack, to draw resources away from the real thrust of the Accord's counter-attack. Interstellar logistics being what they are, a diversionary attack should be even more effective than it would be in today's world: The diverted forces will be completely unable to redeploy in time to effect the outcome of the real battle. Unfortunately, that long turn-around time also requires the 13th SAT to hang on for far longer than would ordinarily be the case. Cast into combat with only enough force to make a lot of noise and scare the local garrison, the 13th finds itself being whittled away. It's mission is to hold out as long as possible, but how long will that be, facing superior numbers and running low on ammunition? Desperation, skill, and determination will tell, and the soldiers of the 13th will dig in and sell their lives dearly.

Of course, we can guess how the book will turn out, but that's not the real point. The real point is 'what will happen to the individual soldiers of the 13th?' This is why I kept on reading, because Shelley made me care about the individuals, and their fate.

Well, I won't give away any more, but you can rest assured that this is a very good, very well-written, but ultimately conventional combat arms story. It's well worth reading, and I strongly recommend it.

Stylistically, Shelley starts the book with a similar tone and feel as many books from the '60s: a dry, impersonal, cosmopolitan, official world with no humor or organic warmth. Unfortunately, the rest of the book might have been significantly more enjoyable if I knew that it were that old. It's not.
Shelley moves on to a slightly more personal story as he follows the 13th Spaceborne on a mission to harrass and annoy the military on world recently captured by the enemy while the real action takes place elsewhere. Unfortunately, when I was finished, I had to wonder why I wasn't reading about that series of battles instead of this one. Ah, well, I guess things can't get much worse than being stranded on a backwater world, with the enemy closing in, as supplies run out, while deparately waiting for long-overdue backup to arrive... (ahem)

As a recently retired soldier, I can tell you that Shelley's novel falls prey to one of the worst failures a science fiction author can make: futuristic science that has already been superceded by current science and technology. Much of the story could easily be exchanged with passages from well-written stories of Vietnam or more recent conflict (fiction or not). Although certain things are quite futuristic: the specific type of body armor (though the modern versions sound almost as capable, if they don't offer quite as much coverage), anti-gravity fighters (which, in all fairness, get the most realistic and extensive treatment, in terms of science and believability), faster than light starships, however, MOST of the soldiers' kit is equal to or worse than current US issue equipment. Sure the 'wire guns' or 'zippers' sound cool, and if Shelley went into any detail, I missed it, but they appear to be wire-fed magnetic accelerators. Their failure, like much of the book, is just plain lack of imagination and research on the authors' part. Their effective range is quite a bit less than 300 meters (granted, they are used against body armor), but my M16A4 was accurate well beyond that with a small scope, and these guys are using heads-up infrared and ambient light equipment more than 3000 years in the future!
I was given this book, and after reading through the first couple of chapters, I remembered flipping through several of Shelley's books and not purchasing any of them. If you want to read some moving and intelligent books about future ground warfare, infantry or special operations, try Joe Haldeman's Forever books (Forever War, Forever Peace, Forever Free, etc.), John Steakley's Armor, Peter Hamilton's Fallen Dragon, William Dietz's Legion of the Damned, The Final Battle, and others in the Legion series. If you just want to read some good current military action novels, try Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior books or Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down (the book the movie is based on).
Avoid Rick Shelley. His action is often leaden, his science is extremely hit or miss, and his 'widesweeping cast' comes off like a poor version of Tom Clancy. I haven't been interested in his later books, and I'm giving this book 2 stars only for somewhat accurately portraying the actions and activities of a modern combined arms force in a easily readable form.

I have to say that I enjoyed reading this book more to find out if they were going to get relieved in time or not. Sure I knew they would. There are, after all, sequels. The question was how close would it be?

Except for the new names for most of the weapons this action could have taken place anywhere and any time since the invention of the automatic rifle. For example the story starts out with an interesting use of parachutes and anti-gravity belts but after that initial taste the soldiers are left to slog across the ground on foot for the rest of the book. Tactics and strategies are classic infantry. If you have the technology, why not do something really interesting with it like in "Ender's Game," by Orson Scott Card.

i thought the characters were thought out well. The use of different tech was cool. I always like to hear a new spin on tech. Over all though the characters did what they always do. I dont know if i liked the "zippers"